Topic: Wii U Virtual Console Detailed

[King Bowser Koopa]

Nintendo's classic download service will return with some new surprises.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/33097

Wii U's Virtual Console service will begin immediately after a system update to the console scheduled for this spring.

Because titles are being reworked for off-screen use on the console's GamePad controller, Nintendo is unable to provide the entire existing list from the very start. However, a selection of NES and SNES titles will be available to start things off.

Prices will be the same as they were on the Wii Shop, though those who have already purchased titles on the Wii and used the System Transfer to move their data to Wii U will be able to purchase the upgraded versions for a significant discount. In the U.S., the discounted price will be $1 for NES and $1.50 for SNES games.

Furthermore, Game Boy Advance titles will be added to the eShop in the near future following the launch of the Virtual Console service, the first handheld Nintendo games to receive a Virtual Console version on a home console. No statement has been made whether these titles will also become available on the 3DS eShop to go with their Game Boy and Game Boy Color relatives.

[broodwars]

GBA support on the Wii U Virtual Console was unexpected. Depending on what those games blown up into HD looks like, it may even be undesirable.  However, this price markup to play your Virtual Console games on the GamePad is ridiculous, as is that the only games right now that will support the feature are NES and SNES games.  That's a feature that should have been on the Wii U at launch.  Nintendo's merely making changes to a single emulator for each platform, & then repackaging it w/ the existing games.  Charging for this "feature" for each game you dare to desire to play on the GamePad (when "U playing all by Urself with the Gamepad" is one of Nintendo's big selling points with the Wii U) is pretty ridiculous.

[azeke]

I only have N64 game, Virtual Arcade title and WiiWare mostly.

Let me guess -- i should wait two years for Wii U VC rereleases and some most of them won't be converted.

Oh wait i also bought two genesis titles -- Street Fighter 2 with online and Monster World IV.

Yeah, i don't think i will see them on my gamepad any time soon if at all...

[C-Olimar]

GBA support on the Wii U Virtual Console was unexpected. Depending on what those games blown up into HD looks like, it may even be undesirable.  However, this price markup to play your Virtual Console games on the GamePad is ridiculous, as is that the only games right now that will support the feature are NES and SNES games.  That's a feature that should have been on the Wii U at launch.  Nintendo's merely making changes to a single emulator for each platform, & then repackaging it w/ the existing games.  Charging for this "feature" for each game you dare to desire to play on the GamePad (when "U playing all by Urself with the Gamepad" is one of Nintendo's big selling points with the Wii U) is pretty ridiculous.

You paid to play your games on the Wii. You thought that the price was fair, otherwise you wouldn't have paid it. When you buy a boxed video game, you get only one copy of it. Why should a download game be different? I didn't expect Nintendo to give me Ocarina of Time 3D for free, nor do I expect them to give me Wind Waker HD for free. Why do you expect Nintendo to give you an enchanced version of a game you bought on a different console, for free?

[broodwars]

I didn't expect Nintendo to give me Ocarina of Time 3D for free, nor do I expect them to give me Wind Waker HD for free. Why do you expect Nintendo to give you an enchanced version of a game you bought on a different console, for free?

1.  Ocarina of Time 3D and Wind Waker 3D are all-new retail remakes of old games, not Virtual Console games, so your analogy is invalid.

2. Because it's goddamn consumer-friendly, and these are all ancient games that we've been overcharged on already on the Wii. I know that's a foreign concept to a company that charges people multiple times for the same game on multiple platforms, but one could always hope.  On Sony's Vita, if I bought a digital PS1 or PSP title, they just work on the Vita (or PSP) with no upgrade fees (but with new features) despite being a new platform, and it's the same on the PS3 with PS1 titles as well

I shouldn't have to pay extra just to enjoy a feature I already paid $350 (+tax) to enjoy, and I certainly shouldn't have to pay extra for every game I ever purchased when Nintendo's merely changing a single emulator on each platform. If Nintendo was merely charging a flat $10 or so to transfer all your games over, fine. Whatever. But they're not, and I'm not paying the probably around $50 or so just to play old games on my Gamepad.

3. And to make matters worse, they're not even supporting all the platforms on VC out of the gate, and I bet games they've removed from the VC like the Donkey Kong Country series (which are among the games I'd want to play MOST only on the Gamepad) won't be elligible.

4. Those VC prices were never "fair", but unfortunately they were (and they still are) the only "legal" way to play those games so yeah I bought them.

[NeoThunder]

I think it should be $1 across the board for all VC games

[Soren]

You paid to play your games on the Wii. You thought that the price was fair, otherwise you wouldn't have paid it. When you buy a boxed video game, you get only one copy of it. Why should a download game be different? I didn't expect Nintendo to give me Ocarina of Time 3D for free, nor do I expect them to give me Wind Waker HD for free. Why do you expect Nintendo to give you an enchanced version of a game you bought on a different console, for free?

Oh goody! I get to pay $1 extra just to play SMB3 on my GamePad!!

Enhanced? What exactly are they enhancing? You mean I have to pay extra just to enjoy regular features on the console I already paid for? (Off-TV play, posting to Miiverse). VC games were already overpriced as is! The markup is ridiculous and I don't think there's anything wrong if people are pissed off by it.

[NeoThunder]

If we have to pay $1 to upgrade of VC games, does that mean NES games will now be $6 on WiiU?

[TJ Spyke]

If we have to pay $1 to upgrade of VC games, does that mean NES games will now be $6 on WiiU?

Um, the article says "Prices will be the same as they were on the Wii Shop".

[Razorkid]

People complaining about paying a dollar or a buck 50 for

• a new emulator
• save/load states
• off-tv play
• miiverse intregration

for a game you already own on a different system (probably multiple times) are quite ridiculous.  The sense of entitlement as a WiiU owner here is amazing. So just because you bought vc games for a completely different console, games that you can still play on your WiiU, it means that any new enhancements to games you own should be free? Enhancements that take money to develop (and no, it isn't just a switch that's flipped to make things work), test, and put up for submission. Suddenly it's anti-consumer to charge for something new. Did people really believe that their entire Wii VC library was going to be enhanced on the WiiU and for free? Never since the system was announced did Nintendo say your existing VC library was gonna be enhanced for free, so why are you guys spouting nonsense like,


 "I already spent $350 for these features."


when you really didn't.


Also,VC games are not overpriced and whoever believes that either hasn't checked ebay prices of their favorite games of yesteryear or are too use to playing pirated roms on pc emulators. I will happily buy SMB3 for $5 knowing that

• The games works every time I wanna play it and without glitches
• I have save states
• It's convenient
• It's cheaper than a physical copy and more reliable besides
• It's legal

For a game of that quality (that debuted at $50, 24 years ago) $5 is a steal.

Complaining that you have to pay a measily $1-$1.50 for enhanced versions of your favorite VC games is dumb. If off-tv play, miiverse, and save states aren't worth four quarters to you, don't pay for it. Geez, VC prices aren't even increasing once it hits the e-Shop.

That PSP/Vita/PS3 analogy is apples and oranges.  PSOne games are the only ones that work almost universally reliably across those platforms and only recently with Vita.  All PSP games do not work on Vita, regardless if you own it digitally and for the UMD transfer system in Japan, publishers were charging waaaay more than $1-$1.50 to convert the physical license to digital. Besides, the PS family of systems are only emulating 1-2 systems (PSONE and PSP), whereas Nintendo's VC is emulating 9 (if you count the handhelds).

TL:DR

• WiiU's VC service features sound great, Miiverse integration was a nice surprise
• Getting charged $1-$1.50 vs. regular price for games I choose to purchase again on a new system is nice
• VC games prices will remain static
• Complaining about choosing to re-buy games you already own multiple times on different systems is dumb. Especially when you are currently not locked out from enjoying your VC library on your WiiU.

Folks are never happy unless everything is given to them YESTERDAY and for free.
 

[broodwars]

Dude, we're talking about Nintendo charging money for you to play games with the Wii U's controller. Last time I checked, that was a selling point of the console, not an excuse for microtransactions.  And I'm not paying Nintendo probably the $20-$30 or so to "enhance" (  ) a portion of my games to allow me to use the controller of the console I'm playing them on (or, for that matter, to even let my Wii U know that these games exist on the console, since Wii mode is partitioned off the Wii U OS).

And as I said, though, the big problem is that they're charging for these games individually rather than a one-time transaction to pay for a new emulator that would cover your entire VC collection.  This just reeks of nickel & dime-ing people because Nintendo knows its fans are that gullible.

[TJ Spyke]

The selling point of the GamePad was to play Wii U games with it, not Virtual Console games. And it's not fair to make someone who owns 2 games pay the same as someone who owns 200 games. It's a minor fee to have a game get upgraded. This sounds like people bitching at a studio like Warner Bros. letting you pay $5 to have the DVD copy of your movie be exchanged for a Blu-ray Disc copy of it.

[broodwars]

The selling point of the GamePad was to play Wii U games with it, not Virtual Console games. And it's not fair to make someone who owns 2 games pay the same as someone who owns 200 games.

The people who own 2 VC games probably don't care about playing them on the GamePad.  The ones who own 200 probably do.

[Adrock]

I always thought Virtual Console games were overpriced which is one of the reasons I never bought any (I also have most of the ones I would want anyway). Still, I don't have to buy them so overpriced or not, it makes no significant difference to me.

Charging more for the enhancements is kind of lame from a purely consumer standpoint, but entirely expected. Nintendo is putting extra work in so i can see why they would charge. They could have been dicks and made people rebuy everything at full price... and people totally would too. Really, if I had any VC games, I would pay the extra $1+ specifically so I didn't have to open the Wii channel to play them. I'm living life in the fast lane. Ain't nobody got time for that.

[Ceric]

Personally think that Nintendo is overcharging for the WiiU VC games and that the upgrade charge is a big F U fans.  Now I will say if that same charge was instead to make the games playable on your 3DS ok thats a little different. 

I'm just floored that the 3DS did it better than the WiiU.

eShop fully integrated with DSiWare: Check
Cool Useful Stat Tracking: Check
Digital BC integrated into the Menu System: Check
Interface Responsive: Check

I expected the Wii U to be on par or better.

[TJ Spyke]

How are they overcharging for Wii U VC games? They will cost the SAME as on Wii.

[Ceric]

How are they overcharging for Wii U VC games? They will cost the SAME as on Wii.

Hence Overcharging.

[TJ Spyke]

Maybe for some games (like Golf), but $5 for something like SMB3 or $8 for SMW is not bad. And it's even less plausible to call them overpriced on Wii U considering all the enhancements they will have (like Off-Screen play and Miiverse support).

[Stogi]

I feel bad for all you people who can't deny yourself a new version of the same game. That itchy cold sweat you feel when looking over your catalog and it not being complete.

The dread...The absolute dread...

Sorry Nintendo, but I'll take my dollar to the nearest strip club thank you very much.

[Adrock]

Personally, I thought the VC games were overpriced on the Wii so they're overpriced on Wii U by default. Then again, I bought Super Mario All-Stars on Wii like an asshole so I may have no idea what overpriced means...

Anyway, DSiWare was integrated into the eshop far more smoothly because it was probably planned that way. It was likely a testing ground for what the eshop became which thank glob for that **** because the 3DS eshop rofl-stomps DSiWare. I'd blame Nintendo's lack of foresight for the issues they're having with transitioning VC from Wii to Wii U. No surprises there since Nintendo tends to do that.

[Fatty The Hutt]

People complaining about paying a dollar or a buck 50 for

• a new emulator
• save/load states
• off-tv play
• miiverse intregration

for a game you already own on a different system (probably multiple times) are quite ridiculous.  The sense of entitlement as a WiiU owner here is amazing. So just because you bought vc games for a completely different console, games that you can still play on your WiiU, it means that any new enhancements to games you own should be free? Enhancements that take money to develop (and no, it isn't just a switch that's flipped to make things work), test, and put up for submission. Suddenly it's anti-consumer to charge for something new. Did people really believe that their entire Wii VC library was going to be enhanced on the WiiU and for free? Never since the system was announced did Nintendo say your existing VC library was gonna be enhanced for free, so why are you guys spouting nonsense like,


 "I already spent $350 for these features."


when you really didn't.


Also,VC games are not overpriced and whoever believes that either hasn't checked ebay prices of their favorite games of yesteryear or are too use to playing pirated roms on pc emulators. I will happily buy SMB3 for $5 knowing that

• The games works every time I wanna play it and without glitches
• I have save states
• It's convenient
• It's cheaper than a physical copy and more reliable besides
• It's legal

For a game of that quality (that debuted at $50, 24 years ago) $5 is a steal.

Complaining that you have to pay a measily $1-$1.50 for enhanced versions of your favorite VC games is dumb. If off-tv play, miiverse, and save states aren't worth four quarters to you, don't pay for it. Geez, VC prices aren't even increasing once it hits the e-Shop.

That PSP/Vita/PS3 analogy is apples and oranges.  PSOne games are the only ones that work almost universally reliably across those platforms and only recently with Vita.  All PSP games do not work on Vita, regardless if you own it digitally and for the UMD transfer system in Japan, publishers were charging waaaay more than $1-$1.50 to convert the physical license to digital. Besides, the PS family of systems are only emulating 1-2 systems (PSONE and PSP), whereas Nintendo's VC is emulating 9 (if you count the handhelds).

TL:DR

• WiiU's VC service features sound great, Miiverse integration was a nice surprise
• Getting charged $1-$1.50 vs. regular price for games I choose to purchase again on a new system is nice
• VC games prices will remain static
• Complaining about choosing to re-buy games you already own multiple times on different systems is dumb. Especially when you are currently not locked out from enjoying your VC library on your WiiU.

Folks are never happy unless everything is given to them YESTERDAY and for free.
 

Yes to all of this.
Thank you, Razorkid. Could not have put it better myself.

[AV]

Basically your paying to upgrade , it's optional and if u want to not pay you can play in wii mode
. I rather a flat fee depending on how many games I have . This is really ugly and I agree with both sides so ill probably pick and choose any games I may want on wii u mode now if I even bother . What about games taken off shop and wii ware I guess those games are forever on wii mode .
If you let me play virtual console on 3ds for that $1 than its more bang for my buck

[Kairon]

That's a great idea Adolp Vega. If only Nintendo could work it such that once you own a VC game on one platform, each additional platform is an extra dollar. That way I could easily see myself "upgrading" the majority of my VC library every five years as new consoles come out. I have no problem with what I see as this convenience fee to renew my VC library "licenses" for future consoles: I anticipate that this $1 will not just let me get a Wii U version of my VC game, but that I'll have a compatible version of the game when the Wii U 2 comes out and no longer supports Wii backwards compatibility.

[Soren]

We all vote with our wallets.

Doesn't mean we waive our right to complain. Doesn't mean we're ungrateful because we complain.

[Ian Sane]

Well I was expecting Nintendo to just make you buy the game again outright at full price to play it on the Gamepad screen so this is certainly a much nicer way to do it.

But the whole real reason that the Gamepad functionality was not there was because Nintendo stupidly packaged each game with the emulator.  Their own short-sighted stupidity created a technological hurdle to get Gamepad support that should have been ridiculously easy to do.  To fix it obviously costs money so they pass that cost on to us.  I get it but it's dumb.  We shouldn't have to pay for Nintendo making a mistake that pretty much no existing person with a basic knowledge of videogame emulation would make.  Converting these games to work on the Gamepad should not ever have been any more complicated than merely updating the emulator for each system (arcade would still have to be contained obviously).  No redownload, no payment, no waiting to see which games Nintendo chooses to do this with.  The slightest intelligent design and EVERY VC game works on day one.

In the "working around nailing your own dick to the floor" sense, they're actually doing this pretty much the best way they can.  Now are they smart enough to seperate the roms and the emulator this time or is this just a problem waiting for the next generation?