Nintendo has already confirmed that batteries in the GamePad will hold about 3-5 hours of juice and will take about 2.5 hours to completely charge.  Nintendo has also confirmed that after 500 charges, which amounts to about 2,000 hours of gameplay, the internal GamePad battery will only hold 70% of it’s charge.  This may sound alarming but Nintendo has you covered.

Unlike many other big electronics manufacturers that make devices with internal rechargeable batteries, Nintendo has made the GamePad’s battery easy to replace.  What does this mean to you?  Well it means that you can order a replacement battery for your GamePad and install it with just a screwdriver.  In the photo at the top of the post, which shows a view of the back side of a Wii U GamePad, you can clearly see an access door secured by two small screws.  Remove those screws, replace the battery, and you are good to go.  You don’t have to fuss around with ordering a whole new GamePad replacement and waiting for the new one to arrive.

Nintendo has done the same thing with the Wii U Pro Controller.  The rechargeable battery in the Wii U Pro controller can also be replaced by you.  This is much less of an issue since it has been previously reported that a Wii U Pro Controller can last an impressive 80 hours on just one charge.

It seems as if Nintendo has covered all of their bases when it comes to replacing batteries in the Wii U’s controllers but they did not stop there.  You will even be able to change the battery in the Wii U console itself if the system’s internal clock goes haywire.  The odds are very slim that you will ever have to replace this battery in Wii U console but it is nice to hear that Nintendo has gone great lengths to make things, such as battery replacement, easier for consumers to do themselves.

Replacement batteries will be available through the Nintendo’s support website or by calling Nintendo Customer Service.  There has been no official announcement as to how much these replacement batteries will cost.