Topic: Game Gear, TurboGrafx coming to 3DS Virtual Console

[MegaByte]

These platforms join the handheld download service. Updated.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/25558

During Iwata's keynote, it was announced that Game Gear and TurboGrafx-16 (through the TurboExpress handheld, which played the same games) would be joining Game Boy and Game Boy Color games on the 3DS Virtual Console when the service launches in late May.

No information is available yet for what games will be released. So far only Super Mario Bros. and The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening have been confirmed for the Virtual Console portion of the eShop. Virtual Console will be accompanied by 3D Classics, 3D versions of classic console games.

UPDATE: Five classic Game Gear releases from Sega are planned for the Nintendo eShop launch.

[motang]

This was bound to happen.

[Bman87301]

TurboGrafx games too? Isn't that kind of cheating? If they're going to allow that they might as well allow Genesis games too since there was the Nomad. C'mon Nintendo, don't sell out. If you're going to try to keep handheld and console games separate, be consistent with it.

[Bman87301]

Also, what if you already bought a TG-16 game via the Wii Virtual Console? Will you be able to re-download it to your 3DS without an additional purchase? Probably not. Which is kind of a rip off, since with the original TurboCard, the same game would work on both the TG-16 and TurboExpress. If Nintendo is going to allow TG-16 on 3DS, they should at least honor previous Wii VC purchases of the same titles.

[Ian Sane]

This TurboExpress thing seems to be opening a whole can of worms.  I agree about how existing TG-16 purchases should be transferable and the Genesis should "count" as well.

It either has to be completely unique from the Wii VC or exactly the same.  They can't have crossover.  Either one big VC for everything or a console one and a handheld one with no "cheating".

[MaryJane]

Who said Nintendo is trying to keep consoles and handhelds separate? Mario 64 DS? OoT 3D? NSMB? They're a business trying to make money on two fronts. Maybe they'll come out with Nomad games, who knows? It's way too early to call, and more especially, way too early to complain about.

[Bman87301]

Who said Nintendo is trying to keep consoles and handhelds separate? Mario 64 DS? OoT 3D? NSMB? They're a business trying to make money on two fronts. Maybe they'll come out with Nomad games, who knows? It's way too early to call, and more especially, way too early to complain about.

I meant separate as far as Virtual Console goes. They haven't offered any games for Game Boy or any other handheld on the Wii VC, and are only offering them now on the new 3DS VC. Clearly, that's keeping them separate. Also FYI, there's no such thing as Nomad games. Nomad only played Genesis games.

Besides, the examples you've given technically don't back up your case since, even though two of them may be ports of games that originated from consoles, they're still their own exclusive portable formats meaning you can't take the DS cards and play them on your console. And  NSMB doesn't fit your argument at all -- at least the first two were ports of console games, but the original NSMB and NSMBW are two entirely different games, so I don't know what kind of twisted logic you're using.

[TJ Spyke]

Who said Nintendo is trying to keep consoles and handhelds separate? Mario 64 DS? OoT 3D? NSMB? They're a business trying to make money on two fronts. Maybe they'll come out with Nomad games, who knows? It's way too early to call, and more especially, way too early to complain about.

I meant separate as far as Virtual Console goes. They haven't offered any games for Game Boy or any other handheld on the Wii VC, and are only offering them now on the new 3DS VC. Clearly, that's keeping them separate. Also FYI, there's no such thing as Nomad games. Nomad only played Genesis games.

Besides, the examples you've given technically don't back up your case since the all ARE exclusive to to their systems with exclusive content. Especially NSMB-- at least with the first two were ports of games that originated on consoles, but the original NSMB and NSMBW are two entirely different games.

There aren't any TurboExpress games either, it just plays TurboGrafx-16 games.

[Kytim89]

The whole point of the virtual console is for the gamer to relive the past, so if certain consoles and games can be shared between both the Wii and 3DS VC services then I support that decision on Nintendo's part. If I can play Genesis and TG16 games but not the other consoles then I am fine with that for nostalgic sakes.

[Chozo Ghost]

The Game Gear is technically just a portable Master System, so by the same logic Master System games should probably be allowed as well. But they might as well just go all out and offer any sort of game which the 3DS hardware is capable of.

[BlackNMild2k1]

But they might as well just go all out and offer any sort of game which the 3DS hardware is capable of.

That I agree with.

I might buy more regular VC games if I could take them on the go with me.

They should let some non-pointer dependent WiiWare games play on the 3DS too while they are at it. Or patch the pointer into the touch screen interface instead. I'm sure it would never happen since it would require effort, but they could work it out if they were interested.

[Ian Sane]

  The Game Gear is technically just a portable Master System, so by the same logic Master System games should probably be allowed as well. But they might as well just go all out and offer any sort of game which the 3DS hardware is capable of.

Yeah but you could not play Game Gear games on the Sega Master System.  You went to the store and there were Game Gear games on the shelf.  But there were never Nomad games or TurboExpress games on the shelf.
 
They should probably offer Super Game Boy games on the Wii VC as well.  Don't forget the Game Boy Player.  Any Game Boy game could technically be classified as a console game.  It can go both ways, right?
 
Ideally I want to be able to play any game on both unless there is some technical restriction that would prevent it.

[TJ Spyke]

The Game Gear is technically just a portable Master System, so by the same logic Master System games should probably be allowed as well. But they might as well just go all out and offer any sort of game which the 3DS hardware is capable of.

Where did this logic come from? Game Gear may have been about as powerful as a Master System, but it was still a different system and different games. The TurboExpress literally just plays the exact same HuCards as the TurboGrafx-16 (so you could take it out of your TG16 and plug it into your TurboExrpess and play it on that), same with the Nomad literally playing Genesis cartridges. Think of the TurboExpress and Nomad as portable DVD players, just letting you play you DVDs on the go.

[Bman87301]

There aren't any TurboExpress games either, it just plays TurboGrafx-16 games.

*Bangs head on desk*

As if that wasn't my whole point in the first place...

[gojira]

What about the Atari Lynx?  I want Stun Runner.

[Mop it up]

It's interesting that they still haven't mentioned Game Boy Advance support yet. I wonder what reasons they have for holding it off.

[Bman87301]

The Game Gear is technically just a portable Master System, so by the same logic Master System games should probably be allowed as well. But they might as well just go all out and offer any sort of game which the 3DS hardware is capable of.

Sure, both systems had very similar hardware which is why so many of Game Gear's games were direct ports of those from Master System. But, each were considered their own separate system, had different specs, and their games were written in their own separate formats. In other words, you couldn't take a Game Gear cart and stick it in a Master System or vice versa. TG-16 and TurboExpress on the other hand, shared the all the exact same specs, and used the same game cards-- they weren't separate systems.

As far as Virtual Console goes, Nintendo has clearly been keeping portable and console games separate-- never releasing any games from a handheld on the Wii's VC, and with the exception of TG-16, has only announced games from portables for the 3DS's VC.

Granted, NEC did release a portable variation of the TG-16, known as the TurboExpress, but once again, it wasn't considered its own system. It simply played TG-16 games, just as Sega's Nomad was merely the portable variation of the Genesis and only played Genesis games.

Today's announcement confirmed TG-16 and Game Gear support. So, so far that makes Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Gear, and TG-16-- all handheld-specific formats except for the latter, making TG-16 the glaring exception to the rule. It's clear from the other supported systems that they're trying to keep console games exclusive to the Wii VC lineup, and handheld ones to the 3DS (besides TG-16).

So the question is, why are they making an exception for TG-16, and not others? And since many of us already bought TG-16 games via our Wiis, will we be able to transfer them to 3DS as we will DSiWare?

[TJ Spyke]

Because TG16 games were playable on a handheld system, I think it is simple as that. If the TurboExpress didn't exist, then we wouldn't be seeing TG16 games on it. I do wonder if they will make us rebuy the games though.

[BlackNMild2k1]

So the question is, why are they making an exception for TG-16, and not others.

Because TG16 games were playable on a handheld system, I think it is simple as that. If the TurboExpress didn't exist, then we wouldn't be seeing TG16 games on it. I do wonder if they will make us rebuy the games though.

So what about the Genesis games that were playable on the Nomad....?

[Bman87301]

Because TG16 games were playable on a handheld system, I think it is simple as that. If the TurboExpress didn't exist, then we wouldn't be seeing TG16 games on it. I do wonder if they will make us rebuy the games though.

Clearly that seems to be reasoning they're trying to use to rationalize it. But going by that same logic, why hasn't Genesis support been announced since the Nomad existed? If Nintendo is going to skew their rules whenever it's convenient, it's likely going to come back and bite them in the ass in the end.

What they SHOULD do instead is just add 3D effects to all the TG-16 games and put them under the "3D classics" lineup alongside the NES games.

[MegaByte]

So the question is, why are they making an exception for TG-16, and not others. And since many people already bought  TG-16 games via their Wiis will be be able to transfer them as we will DSiWare?

Maybe because there wasn't a dedicated Turbo handheld. Or maybe they just made a big push to make it happen like they did recently on other platforms.

[TJ Spyke]

So the question is, why are they making an exception for TG-16, and not others.

Because TG16 games were playable on a handheld system, I think it is simple as that. If the TurboExpress didn't exist, then we wouldn't be seeing TG16 games on it. I do wonder if they will make us rebuy the games though.

So what about the Genesis games that were playable on the Nomad....?

Maybe they will announce that at E3?

[MaryJane]

Maybe Nintendo simply trying to be a money making business? They've had to be planning this handheld VC for awhile, and as someone mentioned, NEC managed to convince Nintendo to put their games on the 3DS VC. Sega and Nintendo have reasons to keep their VC offerings separate, in that they can get people to buy what amounts to the same game twice in some cases.

Or maybe I'm wrong and Wii VC will be on the 3DS, but I'm betting that only happens next year after the NGP is out, or sooner if it sells better than Nintendo expects.

[Chozo Ghost]

The hardware of the Master System and Game Gear are the same thing. The only difference was that the carts were different sizes so they couldn't physically fit into the other respective systems, but there do exist third party adapters which allow you to play Master System games on the Game Gear and vice versa.

So again, the hardware is basically the same. The carts were just physically different.

If you don't believe me look on Wikipedia and see for yourself:

The later Sega Game Gear is effectively a hand-held Master System, with a few enhancements,^[14] although it required an adapter to play actual Master System cartridges.^[14]

As I said in the previous post, the same logic that is allowing TG-16 games on the 3DS should also allow for Master System games because the Game Gear was a portable Master System.

[MegaByte]

It wasn't just the carts. The resolutions were different, so more substantial modifications have to be done to get them to play.