Topic: Game Boy Advance Virtual Console Finally Coming to Wii U

[King Bowser Koopa]

We got your Metroid Fusion, your Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, and more.

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/36554/game-boy-advance-virtual-console-finally-coming-to-wii-u

Game Boy Advance games are finally coming to Virtual Console on Nintendo's Wii U platform.

Originally mentioned by Nintendo right back in January at the start of last year, the news comes at long last from today's Nintendo Direct press release.

Initially, the only three games announced have been Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga, Metroid Fusion and Yoshi's Island: Super Mario Advance 3. More games are coming later on. The games will be hitting the Wii U eShop from April this year onwards.

In Japan, the lineup is more locked down. Super Mario Advance 2: Super Mario World, WarioWare, Kirby and the Amazing Mirror, Golden Sun, F-Zero: Maximum Velocity, and the Japan-exclusive Advance Wars 1+2 are all hitting on April 3. Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap, Mario Tennis: Power Tour, Wario Land 4, Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land, and Metroid Fusion will launch on April 30. All titles will sell for 650 yen. 

There has been no confirmation that these games will be available to download on the 3DS Virtual Console service in the future.

[Leo13]

Yea...they're coming? WHEN? Super Mario Bros 3 was supposed to come in 2013 and it's still not on the Wii U VC!

[Pixelated Pixies]

Wake me when these portable games are available on a portable system.

Nintendo's backward-approach to everything Virtual Console is sometimes astounding.

[sisibakbak]

Do I get to to download all the games I already own on my GBA for free? Seriously if I have to pay for something I already bought once to play on a completely different console knowing that I bought it to play on that console and nothing more I'm going to be really pissed off.

[Leo13]

Don't be stupid! There's no reason that should piss you off! If you already own one or more of the games they put on there and it's not worth it to you to pay again for a game you already own (which is very understandable) THEN DON'T BUY IT!
I had a GBA, but I didn't own any of those 3 games. It might make sense for me to get one of them. Others loved them on GBA and want to play them on the big screen (of coarse when I want to play GBA on the big screen I pop it in my Game Cube/Game Boy Player, but they certainly can.
Don't pretend you're pissed because Nintendo offers to sell you something you don't want. Some of us may want it and we just may buy it!

[BlackNMild2k1]

was there a date of when this is happening? Because there are alot of things coming to VC on Wii U, but when? we have been waiting on GBA games to VC forever (1.5yrs?), but that still hasn't shown up on 3DS, so I just want to know when are we expecting to actually see VC support materialize on the Wii U?

[Adrock]

No exact date. Per the article, "from April this year onwards."

[Ian Sane]

If you're going to pick only one VC to put these on the Wii U makes no sense.  Particularly when we know the 3DS has an emulator because of the ambassador program.  If you want to demonstrate to somehow how bizarrely idiotic Nintendo has become this is as good of an example as any.  "We'll release those handheld games ONLY on the console!"  How does anyone suggest that and not get laughed out of the boardroom?

Personally I prefer to play all games on a TV so if some GBA game I didn't already own and wanted came out it would be nice to know I could play it the way I want.  But that should just be an option.  In a perfect world I would just have one VC for all Nintendo devices that let play the same games on all of them so I could play Metroid Fusion on my 3DS and then come home and continue playing it on my TV through the Wii U.

[pokepal148]

Wake me when these portable games are available on a portable system.

Nintendo's backward-approach to everything Virtual Console is sometimes astounding.

This, why don't we have n64 yet on there

[Leo13]

Weather I agree with it or not, I can tell you why these are "coming to Wii U" and not 3DS. They need more exclusive content on Wii U. There's why they didn't get laughed out of the board room.
However, Yes I knew they said April, but until I see it in my eShop I don't believe it. I again site Super Mario Bros 3 in 2013 as my example. It's still on in the Wii U eShop

[Leo13]

If they would have said available now I would have believed it.

[Adrock]

If you're going to pick only one VC to put these on the Wii U makes no sense.  Particularly when we know the 3DS has an emulator because of the ambassador program.  If you want to demonstrate to somehow how bizarrely idiotic Nintendo has become this is as good of an example as any.  "We'll release those handheld games ONLY on the console!"  How does anyone suggest that and not get laughed out of the boardroom?

No. It makes sense because if you really want these GBA games, well, you'll have to buy a Wii U. 3DS doesn't need the boost of a GBA Virtual Console games and Wii U needs all the help it can get at this point.

But, yes, ideally, there would be one VC between console and handheld. At the same time, how many times does that need to be said? We all f-ing think this.

[Pixelated Pixies]

But, yes, ideally, there would be one VC between console and handheld. At the same time, how many times does that need to be said? We all f-ing think this.

Too be fair, how can you respond to this announcement/update without talking about how dumb the decision is in the first place? It's worth reiterating because it's so half-witted.

I also disagree with the premise that this was some kind of strategic decision to get people to take another look at the Wii U. If NSMB U and SM3DW can't move the needle significantly for the Wii U, chaining the GBA catalogue to the sinking ship that is the Wii U isn't going to do a damn thing. Nintendo need some kind of win right now, and having an entire catalogue of classic handheld games made available on a successful and viable handheld platform like the 3DS seems like a good place to start.

[Pixelated Pixies]

But, yes, ideally, there would be one VC between console and handheld. At the same time, how many times does that need to be said? We all f-ing think this.

Too be fair, how can you respond to this announcement/update without talking about how dumb the decision is in the first place? It's worth reiterating because it's so half-witted on Nintendo's part.

I also disagree with the premise that this was some kind of strategic decision to get people to take another look at the Wii U. If NSMB U and SM3DW can't move the needle significantly for the Wii U, chaining the GBA catalogue to the sinking ship that is the Wii U isn't going to do a damn thing. Nintendo need some kind of win right now, and having an entire catalogue of classic handheld games made available on a successful and viable handheld platform like the 3DS seems like a good place to start.

[Soren]

I can't wait to find out which 1 (or maybe 2!!) GBA game(s) get released each month on VC. Let the slow, agonizing trickle begin!

[sisibakbak]

Don't be stupid! There's no reason that should piss you off! If you already own one or more of the games they put on there and it's not worth it to you to pay again for a game you already own (which is very understandable) THEN DON'T BUY IT!
I had a GBA, but I didn't own any of those 3 games. It might make sense for me to get one of them. Others loved them on GBA and want to play them on the big screen (of coarse when I want to play GBA on the big screen I pop it in my Game Cube/Game Boy Player, but they certainly can.
Don't pretend you're pissed because Nintendo offers to sell you something you don't want. Some of us may want it and we just may buy it!

I'm only kidding mate.<$1alt="" title="" onresizestart="return false;" id="smiley__$2" style="padding: 0 3px 0 3px;" />

Just making fun of all the people who moaned when it was announced you'd have to pay to upgrade Wii VC games if you wanted to play them on the GamePad and stuff. In my eyes this is the same thing. If you bought a VC game on Wii, you bought it specifically to play it on Wii, nothing more. If you can carry them over to the next console then awesome, but you shouldn't have bought them anticipating that that would be the case. And, you CAN do that, but if you want anything extra then you have to pay which is totally fair in my eyes and it bugged me when people whinged about it.

Nobody bought GBA games expecting to pay once and play those games on every Nintendo console they bought afterwards with extra features so why did people expect to be able to play their VC games on everything afterwards (which, again, really made their arguments stupid because they already could play their games in exactly the way they paid to play them)?

[Adrock]

Too be fair, how can you respond to this announcement/update without talking about how dumb the decision is in the first place? It's worth reiterating because it's so half-witted.

I don't I agree with it; I just think it's pointless to continually bring up. Did anyone forget about or stop desiring a unified Virtual Console? Anyone, anyone? Bueller?

I also disagree with the premise that this was some kind of strategic decision to get people to take another look at the Wii U. If NSMB U and SM3DW can't move the needle significantly for the Wii U, chaining the GBA catalogue to the sinking ship that is the Wii U isn't going to do a damn thing. Nintendo need some kind of win right now, and having an entire catalogue of classic handheld games made available on a successful and viable handheld platform like the 3DS seems like a good place to start.

How is it not? Nintendo loves re-selling their old games and why shouldn't they? Nintendo makes a killing from the Virtual Console. It may not be the best strategy, but it certainly looks like it's the one they're going for.

[Mop it up]

I find it funny how they're releasing the GBA version of Yoshi's Island instead of the SNES version.

[Ian Sane]

If this is a strategy to sell more Wii Us... it comes across exactly like the sort of delusional idea that a company that thought the Wii U would be a success product in the first place would come up with.  Who is going to buy a $300 console for old GBA games?

[Mop it up]

Nintendo makes a killing from the Virtual Console.

I'm actually not so sure that's true, otherwise I would think that games would be released more frequently. I get the feeling that the reason why releases slowed so much to begin with is because it just doesn't make much money anymore.

[Pixelated Pixies]

Nintendo loves re-selling their old games and why shouldn't they? Nintendo makes a killing from the Virtual Console. It may not be the best strategy, but it certainly looks like it's the one they're going for.

I actually agree. I just think the better strategy would be to sell loads of GBA games on 3DS, which has a relatively large install base, rather than the vain hope that making them available on Wii U to the exclusion of 3DS will push people to buy Nintendo's failing console.

That's the reason I keep bringing the issue up. I'm just flabbergasted that Nintendo seemingly have no intention of releasing these games on 3DS. It's baffling.

I can tell you're bored with this particular aspect of the topic though, lol, so I'll leave it at that.

[Phil]

I'd really like some cross buy action going on up in this Nintendo deal. Am I right, or am I right?

[Adrock]

Who is going to buy a $300 console for old GBA games?

I'd think of it more along the lines of that extra push for those on the fence. And if you can get the same thing on 3DS, that's not really helping Wii U.

I'm actually not so sure that's true, otherwise I would think that games would be released more frequently. I get the feeling that the reason why releases slowed so much to begin with is because it just doesn't make much money anymore.

I was under the impression it was because Nintendo insists on emulating each game individually. Couple that with Nintendo's consistent lack of urgency and I'm not really surprised by how long it takes. Nintendo sells NES games for $5 because they can.

[Mop it up]

If that were a factor then how come they used to release VC games at a much faster pace? Plus, Nintendo haven't discussed VC sales figures in a long time, and they're a company who really like to talk about their successes. One thing's for sure, it's hard to tell what's going on because of the lack of information.

[Etopen]

Calm down, 3DS games are obviously coming to 3DS eventually, they'll just be timed WiiU exclusives for a while to give it a boost.