News: Critical Hit | Nintendo Wii U Virtual Console: Retro Heaven or Archaic Hell? Page 1

Critical Hit | Nintendo Wii U Virtual Console: Retro Heaven or Archaic Hell?

26.01.2013

Image for Critical Hit | Nintendo Wii U Virtual Console: Retro Heaven or Archaic Hell?

Nintendo confirmed details of the Virtual Console service for Wii U this week, a spruced up version for the latest home console that introduces GamePad and Miiverse support to the mix. Whilst there are a matter of months before the Wii U Virtual Console launches in Spring 2013, Nintendo have already started to release a series of $0.30 / 30p / 30 Yen games to celebrate the 30th Anniversary of the original Nintendo Entertainment System.

With multiple aspects to the Wii U Virtual Console service and campaign, the Cubed3 Team got together to discuss Nintendo's announcements , the positives and what needs changing when the full Wii U Virtual Console launches.

We've also put a quick video overview on the Nintendo Wii U Virtual Console and the debut title Balloon Fight (NES).

Jorge Ba-oh, Editor & Founder

I still love hooking up the older Nintendo consoles, giving cartridges a good blow and plodding away with enlarged pixels on the flat screen. The House of Mario have a huge catalogue of games to tap into for the Virtual Console and have been doing so since the days of the original Nintendo Wii.

The inclusion of retro games on the Nintendo Wii U of course doesn't come a surprise - with the smaller handheld screen and a better structured Nintendo shop, there's solid ground for the company to pursue these retro gems. What did come as a surprise, however, are the added extras that have come about. I was expecting a standard affair: games, GamePad support and that's about it. But Nintendo have proven to care more about their legacy this time round then perhaps ever before.

Each game will be hooked up to the Wii U Miiverse service, allowing seasoned fans and newcomers to talk about these older titles, plus there'll be the option to fully remap the controller to suit the player. If that's not enough, save states will allow you to perform a quick save at any point and resume without hassle. The Virtual Console setup is a smooth and usable experience so far, offering a handful of features commonly reserved to fan-made emulators. One niggle though was sorting out multiplayer if using a GamePad and a Wii Remote; it needs tweaking to set the GamePad to player two (see our guide here), and it's unclear from a multiplayer perspective.

Having to pay for these upgrades if you've already shelled out £5/£10 on these titles on the Wii is a disappointing move. There is of course business logic behind the decision - upgrades and re-releasing costs time and resources, but for those who did pay full price for the original Wii Virtual Console release; a Wii U upgrade should be free of charge. That said, upgrading is optional and you can still play the game through the Nintendo Wii Mode to avoid making the jump.

The bigger drawback about the Wii U Virtual Console, for PAL gamers, is the decision to start releasing games in 50Hz - a move that fizzled out on the Nintendo 3DS but by the looks of things, may well return on the Wii U. With this in mind, we're petitioning for change, hoping Nintendo will at least give players the option to download the 60Hz version instead.

So far a good start for Nintendo and the Wii U Virtual Console, something that will hopefully be addressed when the service rolls out in full this spring.

Adam Riley, Operations Director

Virtual Console, the haven for games gone by, and all at a pocket-friendly price, right? Well, no, to be frank. The cost of these 'classics' (some really stretch the meaning of the word beyond recognition) is simply far too high. For anyone that had laid down plenty of cold, hard cash for the sake of building up their collection, it would have made perfect sense for Nintendo to allow gamers to transfer all of their wares across to the Wii U internal hard-drive and have instant access to things likes GamePad support. After all, it was possible to move DSiWare content to Nintendo 3DS, and it is even a reality that 3DS eShop titles can make the transition from system to system. Therefore, surely Nintendo would not let consumers down after such a strong track record…

Well, congratulations Nintendo on letting people down again. Argue as much as you like about how the added Miiverse integration requires extra work that constitutes charging consumers something, but at the end of the day nobody should have to pay again for something they already own. It sounds a bit backwards to me, anyway. Paying extra for Miiverse chat rooms, the ability to play on the Nintendo Wii U GamePad, and messing around to get multiplayer to work properly, what advantage is there again to this process? Perhaps it has slipped my mind.

Image for Critical Hit | Nintendo Wii U Virtual Console: Retro Heaven or Archaic Hell?

The only reason for having to part with money is if the '3D Classics' route was taken, perhaps sprucing up the sprites to look better when viewed in HD format. Currently, the whole idea seems ludicrous and something that only people with money to burn will take up. Personally, switching to Wii mode to access the Virtual Console collection is preferable.

On a positive note, however, the trial service to encourage people to dip into the past is intriguing, although Brits get burned in the conversion rate in order to stick to the '30' theme! Still, 30p for Super Metroid? Yes please! Hopefully there is a strong response to this particular scheme so that Nintendo decides to do regular sales on a wide variety of titles further down the line.

Lastly, the addition of Game Boy Advance games to the ever-burgeoning format list was pleasing to see, but what about other systems? Where are GameCube, Dreamcast, Saturn, Lynx, WonderSwan, NeoGeo Portable, and so on? Come on Nintendo; try to not hold out on too much, please!

Shane Jury, Feature Writer

Although it was unfortunate that the Nintendo Wii U's eShop service did not launch with the Virtual Console intact straight away, I do feel that it was the better move to promote the newer indie titles on the service and allow Wii owners to still be able to play their purchased games on Nintendo Wii U albeit in a limited form. Now we know more about the retro titles that are set to be released in spring and onwards, looking at it objectively paints quite a rosy picture.

The full service itself is not due for a few more months yet, but the Famicom 30th Anniversary promotion gives us a good look at what to expect in the way of Save States and Controller Support, with the only major elephant in the room (for Europe at least) being the needless 50hz restrictions that need to vanish, and do so quickly.

From what we know at this point, one select Virtual Console title with be uploaded each month and set at 30 pence for the remainder of that month, which even with unfortunate picture setbacks, is a bargain worth going for. With luck, Nintendo have learnt that regular sales drive purchases and store visits more so than otherwise, and implement regular discounts in the future (though probably not this low in hindsight).

We also know that there will be a slight charge when upgrading from already-owned Wii Virtual Console games to the new Wii U Virtual Console version which sounds like sheer profiteering except when taking in account the game-restructuring needed to enable Off-TV Play, customizable control and an entire dedicated Miiverse community. Even without this, the games are still playable through Nintendo Wii Mode so there isn't an absolute need to upgrade should you not want to pay that bit extra.

One thing to consider at this point is that for the Wii U Virtual Console's full launch there will undoubtedly be a higher number of games added to the service at once; whether they'll just be updated versions of titles already on the Wii Virtual Console or not is anyone's guess, although it would be safe to assume that they would fall under the three confirmed formats of NES, Super NES and Game Boy Advance software. It is odd to see Game Boy Advance support for a home console before a handheld (minus the Ambassador titles of course), but it is by no means unwelcome.

I was slightly disappointed that there were no mention of Nintendo GameCube-era support for the Virtual Console, though something like that might be best left for an E3 reveal anyway, and in the case of the recently revealed HD remake of the The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker, GameCube remakes and upgraded ports might be what Nintendo is considering to pad out Wii U retail releases. Their comment about knowing the small install base of the GameCube leads me to believe they will give special focus on that machine's library even if it ends up just being stuck on Virtual Console.

Az Elias, Deputy Editor / Database Manager

I've got mixed feelings with regards to the future of the Virtual Console on Nintendo Wii U. Firstly, and I would stress this as one of the most important areas that needs addressing for PAL regions where Wii U is sold, is the matter of whether future games will be in 50Hz or 60Hz. Wii owners were made to put up with the fiasco last generation, which caused a huge number of fans to either not support the service, import NTSC Wii consoles, or take other measures. With the first Wii U VC game, the NES' Balloon Fight, being made available for download in 50Hz format, this has rubbed me and many more Nintendo fans the wrong way, with an overwhelming amount of people expressing their anger at this decision online and through Miiverse. There is no excuse for us PAL gamers to be made to pay for the archaic 50Hz versions in this day and age, when NTSC regions get the games how they were designed to be played: in 60Hz. I am desperately hoping Nintendo understands how much of a deal this is to us and sees fit to ensure we get the option of downloading the original 60Hz versions in the future. Otherwise, just like with the Wii, I can safely say I will not be purchasing any VC games on Nintendo Wii U.

Another matter that has me very disappointed is charging those that bought VC games on Wii to download them on Wii U. Yes, I understand that they will come with the benefit of being playable on the GamePad and will support Miiverse features, but I don't agree that it is fair that people must pay again, whether that is a discounted price or not. I know some people have downloaded an awful lot of Wii VC games and it would still cost a hefty chunk to repurchase them on Wii U. To squeeze even more money out of fans that were looking forward to playing their VC games on the GamePad is cruel. Of course, Off-TV Play in itself is a very enticing feature, and I'm sure a lot of old-school classics are going to look great on the small screen.

In light of the NES' 30th anniversary, the 30p/$0.30/30 Yen offers on select games are very welcome. However, I'd like to see discounts much more often, and indeed a regular stream of additions to the Virtual Console catalogue. Nintendo has a terrific history of games at its disposal, and really didn't push the VC service on Wii as much as I would have liked, with it sadly being forgotten about over time. I really want to see Nintendo adding a good consistency of games, hopefully with some more interesting touches such as online play or one player playing on the GamePad whilst a second player competes on the TV. I was particularly happy to see the Game Boy Advance listed; obviously the GamePad means portable games fit the Wii U VC service very well, but it also allows us to play such games on the big screen, too, acting like the GameCube's Game Boy Player.

Speaking of the GameCube, clearly one of the big announcements of the Nintendo Direct was a remake of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. Since no mention of GameCube games coming to the Wii U VC has ever been officially confirmed, this makes me think remakes and enhanced ports might be the way Nintendo chooses to go. It would mean a lot less potential GameCube games arriving on Wii U in some form, surely, but it leaves us to ponder just which games have the best chance of receiving such upgrades. I do feel that in the case of The Wind Waker, this will prove to be a good decision to fill in the gap before the next true Wii U Zelda arrives. At least fans will have something to tie them over until then.

What do you think of the Nintendo Wii U Virtual Console service so far and the potential for the future? What changes would you like to see Nintendo adopt with the Virtual Console for launch and the months ahead on Wii U and 3DS?

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SignZ 26.01.2013#1

While I think the idea is really great, I'm kinda sad that (apparently) only the Wii U gets SNES VC games. I'd love to play some Secret of Mana or Terranigma on my 3DS. Smilie

Azuardo 26.01.2013#2

SignZ said:
While I think the idea is really great, I'm kinda sad that (apparently) only the Wii U gets SNES VC games. I'd love to play some Secret of Mana or Terranigma on my 3DS.

This...isn't true.

NES, SNES and GBA have all been confirmed. More will follow.

Edit: Apologies, you mean SNES games aren't available on 3DS? That is unfortunate, I agree!

( Edited 26.01.2013 15:31 by Azuardo )

David (guest) 26.01.2013#3

I think they have the best offering for digital services out of the three console makers. Out of the box Wii U is full back compat with everything on the Wii. Having a small fee for people that want to upgrade is not asking much. No DLC or arcade games transferred from the original Xbox to the 360 plus it had horrible emulation of the disc games that DID work. PS3 pulls PS2 support and then charges for a download of each game? Only thing I want improved is for certain games to see a release outside of Japan, like Earthbound. Plus I am sure there will be other consoles added in due time.

Forest_GS (guest) 26.01.2013#4

There really is no excuse for them not to have ALL the old nintendo through N64 games on the system. I mean, they should of been working on it since the release of the Wii. And there's no excuse to exclude games like Pokemon Stadium.

SignZ 26.01.2013#5

Azuardo said:
SignZ said:
While I think the idea is really great, I'm kinda sad that (apparently) only the Wii U gets SNES VC games. I'd love to play some Secret of Mana or Terranigma on my 3DS.

This...isn't true.
NES, SNES and GBA have all been confirmed. More will follow.
Edit: Apologies, you mean SNES games aren't available on 3DS? That is unfortunate, I agree!

Yeah, that's what I meant. I wish the 3DS would get SNES VC titles, too.

David (guest) 26.01.2013#6

Forest_GS (guest) said:
There really is no excuse for them not to have ALL the old nintendo through N64 games on the system. I mean, they should of been working on it since the release of the Wii. And there's no excuse to exclude games like Pokemon Stadium.

Would make no business sense to release a ton of games at once.

JayUK 26.01.2013#7

I've got pretty much nothing to complain about, I really don't mind playing a small fee for gamepad miiverse support. The one thing I don't want is a piddly 4 games a month being added to the VC. You've got six years of Wii VC games to release, step it up a notch. I don't wanna wait 3 years for Chrono Trigger and Sin and Punishment to recieve the update.

meeto_0 26.01.2013#8

I read audreys article on IGN about why Nintendos approach is Fair. She made valid points I never considered. First of is the £1-£1.50 cost for transferring titles which she cites is payment for additional services I have no entitlement to.

I agree with this but then shouldnt it be a one of cost per title and not a structured price relating to how expensive the game was in the first place? £1 for every title would make the most sense. This issue is not going to be a huge hit on me financially since I have less then 5 titles. I definitely want more I just couldnt be arsed to use the Wii VC. I will now wait until the games I want are on WiiU VC.

Overal I think this VC will be successfully implemented. I just hope they dont release on a handful of games each month.

siera (guest) 26.01.2013#9

Adam said: "Nintendo on letting people down again ... nobody should have to pay again for something they already own."

Well Adam, they don't. I can STILL play the tetro games I purchased for the Wii, I just don't get the advantages of the Wii U Virtual Console on Wii U. To paraphrase you, argue all you want that they didn't add functionality that users should pay for, but in fact, THEY DID.

Sorry Adam, we all like deals, but your logic as to why we should get to move across our game for free to the new Wii U virtual console, is faulty.

Don (guest) 26.01.2013#10

i just hope gamecube games become virtual i would love to play so many of those games again

Flynnie 26.01.2013#11

David (guest) said:
Forest_GS (guest) said:
There really is no excuse for them not to have ALL the old nintendo through N64 games on the system. I mean, they should of been working on it since the release of the Wii. And there's no excuse to exclude games like Pokemon Stadium.
Would make no business sense to release a ton of games at once.

Please explain this?

Nintendo won't discount their games so why not fling on the majority of their titles on it. Like JAY UK said i don't want to have wait years for them to re-re-release a title on the Wii U VC.

I wouldnt mind if they fixed up some games and gave them a polish, but they won't...so there isn't too many excuses there? A company like Nintendo with huge resources should be working faster on a service like this to exploit our wallets!

Azuardo 26.01.2013#12

The argument is that simply releasing about 20 of your best games in one day will not be as profitable. By focusing on certain games at a time it gives them a chance to promote them and sell better in the long run than if they had got lost in a swarm of other games released around the same time.

But at this point, they really should be a lot more relaxed on the matter, although the fact that they're indicating it will take time to get certain games up and running makes me think it might be another case of them slowly trickling out. Agreed - we shouldn't have to wait months, or years, before certain games hit the service. I don't think people are asking for them to release their whole catalogue in one week, but they need to come out a lot thicker and faster. You can still space them out and market them for profit, but not to the extent of the Wii's VC.

Really hoping Nintendo do take it that step further and, like Adam mentioned, get some other systems on there. Saturn, Dreamcast, HD upgrades on the other consoles - they need to get on there. Nintendo just doesn't strike me as the sort of company to pester and badger other companies like SEGA to get their games on their console, though, so unless SEGA etc comes to them, can't really see it happening.

jesusraz 26.01.2013#13

Azuardo said:
Really hoping Nintendo do take it that step further and, like Adam mentioned, get some other systems on there. Saturn, Dreamcast, HD upgrades on the other consoles - they need to get on there. Nintendo just doesn't strike me as the sort of company to pester and badger other companies like SEGA to get their games on their console, though, so unless SEGA etc comes to them, can't really see it happening.

So far Wii U has NES, SNES and Game Boy Advance confirmed...there has to be more than that. All I can think is that perhaps N64 and GC games are getting some sort of special treatment...?

Adam Riley [ Director :: Cubed3 ]

UNITE714: Weekly Prayers | Bible Verses

Flynnie 26.01.2013#14

Azuardo said:
The argument is that simply releasing about 20 of your best games in one day will not be as profitable. By focusing on certain games at a time it gives them a chance to promote them and sell better in the long run than if they had got lost in a swarm of other games released around the same time.

I do take your point in this...but Nintendo don't market these games in any way really do they?

They had a weekly feature on the home page with new releases but apart from that could you honestly say the actively promoted games on the Wii VC? I doubt their approach has changed, you could also argue that purposely delaying a title is also limiting the time that it would be on the 'shelf' to purchase thus losing money in sales?

It just seems silly to me, i wish they take a bit of a 4OD approach and just wack their back catalogue on asap! Maximise revenue and make people happy!

WP-Final 26.01.2013#15

I just hope we're not waiting years for them to release the games already on the Wii Virtual Console. Nes and Snes only to begin with is annoying.

Azuardo 26.01.2013#16

You are right - they don't actively go and advertise them. But spacing the releases out ensures better sales for each game one at a time. The thing is, they're already up there on the Wii VC anyway, so people could just grab them off there. If the service was account-based and made simpler so that all Wii VC games would work right away on the GamePad, we probably wouldn't even have this issue of Nintendo re-releasing them and charging since they'd already be there. But we do have this issue and now Nintendo can make an extra pocket full from it.

Now you're gonna have Mario Bros available to buy on the Wii VC and Mario Bros available to buy on the Wii U VC. What if someone less tech savvy bought the Wii VC version and then realised they couldn't play it on the GamePad because they didn't buy the Wii U VC version? Unless there's some serious indications then it's an actual possibility, isn't it?

Whole thing just seems a bit of a mess to me. You can be happy the service is there at all, sure, but the fact is it's been there since the beginning of the Wii - some, what, 7 years ago? Now we're back to the start again - re-releasing games, 50 fucking hertz, silly prices, slow releases. I am assuming that last one. But in all this time, improvements have to be made. Still plenty of time to see what they do - it's not even launched on the Wii U yet, but not so good early impressions for me.

( Edited 26.01.2013 21:19 by Azuardo )

jesusraz 26.01.2013#17

...and Az just summed up why my section was so overly negative! Not impressed at all Smilie

( Edited 26.01.2013 21:21 by Adam Riley )

Adam Riley [ Director :: Cubed3 ]

UNITE714: Weekly Prayers | Bible Verses

Flynnie 26.01.2013#18

I would like to think they might fix the 50Hz issue, it's not too late and people do seem to be making a big deal about it on MiiVerse.

I still disagree about staggered releases, i can understand that with brand new releases of course, but i don't think putting them up one by one will really help. I would have thought "small" purchases such as this would be classed as impulse purchases, i mean i look at my VC library and i just bought them for the thought of it! I have barely played them!

As Ninty are trialing the service now I would like to hope that they don't even need focus groups/research, they could just use MiiVerse for feedback...lets just hope they do use it!

I personally just don't want to be waiting until 2014/2015 until i am playing a certain Nintendo VC game! It would just seem ridiculous if they had it ready all along!

Azuardo 26.01.2013#19

I'm in agreement with you. But that's the argument they would make against putting so many up in one go.

Consider someone getting a Wii U who used to play Nintendo back in the day and going "Sweet! I can download the old games I used to play." He looks for Mario 3, but it isn't there. Lost sale.

Having so many up for grabs so people can flick through them all is ideal, and like you say, people will see a game and impulse buy.

Mandown 26.01.2013#20

Lame so far. Charging loyal customers to transfer collections and gain minor features is absolute BS, I would need to fork out well over 100 quid.

Flynnie 26.01.2013#21

Linkyshinks said:
Lame so far. Charging loyal customers to transfer collections and gain minor features is absolute BS, I would need to fork out well over 100 quid.

Smilie You have that many VC games! Wow....

jesusraz 26.01.2013#22

Linkyshinks said:
Lame so far. Charging loyal customers to transfer collections and gain minor features is absolute BS, I would need to fork out well over 100 quid.

Thank you - glad to see I'm not in the minority here! I find it crazy that we have to pay again for the privilege Smilie

Adam Riley [ Director :: Cubed3 ]

UNITE714: Weekly Prayers | Bible Verses

Flynnie 26.01.2013#23

I guess its not too much of an issue for me, it will probably only cost me around £5-£10 for the ones i want on the Gamepad, but i do feel sorry for you as Ninty have rewarded your loyalty with a judo chop to the throat!

Mandown 26.01.2013#24

The most loyal customers, get punished on Nintendo platforms.

First it was the ridiculously labour intensive transfer/redownload process, which is still as cumbersome and crap as it was on Wii, and now this. Actually being charged money, for the indignity of spending an entire weekend of my life, with a handrawn paper list redownloading my games. This will never happen on the other platforms, they would never treat their most ardent fans so poorly.

I really feel like boycotting it entirely. Playing in Wii mode, until they phase that out with their next console.

JayUK 26.01.2013#25

The argument for a staggered approach with games already on the Wii VC seems to hinge on each game getting their time in the limelight. This is silly, they could achieve the same amount of exposure by having a weekly sale featuring a select few VC games. There are hundreds of VC games on Wii, I don't expect them all available instantly, I do however expect them to be all available within a year of the Wii U Virtual consoles launch. Any longer than that and they're stalling.