Topic: Wii U Virtual Console Detailed

[NWR_insanolord]

I love that my reaction and a lot of other people's is "I expected it to be a lot worse."

It'd be nice if the upgrades were free, but I understand the extensive process Nintendo goes through to test these things isn't cheap, and honestly I'm more than willing to pay the asking price to get the new features. Then again, I've rebought a fair number of NES games on the 3DS, so I've already proven myself to be willing to let Nintendo take advantage of me.

[Razorkid]

We all vote with our wallets.

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

That doesn't excuse the fact that people are complaining at the level they are. Didn't we just recieve some good news here? Before this Direct, we had no info or news about WiiU's VC or how Nintendo was going to handle games rerelasing that we already owned on Wii's VC. It could have gone horribly, but all that's happened is we get charged a pittance to upgrade what we already bought or pay the regular (unchanged) price for it new. Like Ian Sane said, this is literally the best we could have realistically hoped for and we got it. Yet folks first inclination is to complain?

As far as I'm concerned, Nintendo (incredibly and surprisingly) addressed ALL my questions and concerns regarding the WiiU up through E3. I saw nothing but good news all around and the WiiU VC announcement was part of that. I don't know, I prefer to discuss the positive in announcements like these instead of nitpicking and blowing things out of proportion when that energy could be focused on issues with the system that aren't being addressed (lack of western 3rd party support for example)

[Soren]

Prefering to discuss the positives in announcements doesn't mean we have to discard the criticisms that come with it. There will always be criticism with Nintendo announcements and I don't think the criticism here was any more intense that it is in other places. Just because Nintendo addressed all YOUR questions doesn't mean it addressed the concerns of all users for the service.
Wii VC came at launch with 12 games from 4 systems. Wii U VC came two months after launch with a drip feed of 1 game per month until July with an unspecified number of NES and SNES games coming after that. Then GBA games at a later date.


I don't want to completely crap all over VC, but right now, as is, it's pretty underwhelming. I hope things get better and we get more systems and newer games.

[azeke]

My problem with Wii U VC is not the price, and seriously 99% of the complaining folk don't even own a single VC game.

It's one dollar or five dollars who cares.

I just want all of my purchased games with miiverse and gamepad support and freed from ghetto wii mode right now. I'm ready to pay for it if you do it today. Now. For all of my games.

But with this scheme it's obvious i am in for a long wait and that some titles won't be converted at all.

And what about WiiWare?

[NWR_insanolord]

WiiWare would take a lot more work, outside of the few games that only use physical controls.

[Kytim89]

Any idea on how much the other Virtual Consoles will cost?

• Genesis: $1.50
• Master System: $1.00
• TG-16: $1.50
• N64: $2.50
• Neo Geo: $3.00

[GK]

If they gave some of these multiplayer VC games online play, I'd be leaning more toward tossing them a dollar a game...

[Fatty The Hutt]

Just played a bunch of Balloon Fight, using:
save states,
Miiverse,
controller customization,
WiiU Pro controller support,
Gamepad off-TV play,
two player support with
the Balloon Trip mode.


Friends, THIS is the ultimate in Virtual Console service. I am so sold. Nintendo can charge whatever it wants. All I will say in reply is, thank you sir, may I have another.
There simply isn't enough time left in my life for how much fun I am going to be having with the Wii U.

[NWR_insanolord]

I would have paid full price for Off-TV play on a lot of games I already own, so in my case this is better than I would have expected. I'll probably end up spending the same amount with these upgrades, but I'll get more for it.

Sometimes Nintendo setting the bar insanely low works out for them.

[Zieborn]

Wait, so you're saying I can't play my VC games on my Wii anymore.  They are going to disappear!?  But I just got some of them last month!  This is an outrage...  Wait.  They're still fine.  Oh. 
Okay, so you're telling me I bought old games from the 80s and 90s for the Wii, got to play them on Wii and then they don't transfer to the Wii U!  That's somewhat disappointing!  I expect at least one generation of backward compatability from my consoles thank you very much.  If I lay out FIVE WHOLE DOLLARS for Mario 3, one of the best games ever, I expect to be able to play it on at least two seperate systems across over a decade of support or I will feel somewhat let down!  Wait, I can do that.  Oh.
Hmmm.  What is everyone crying about again?  Oh I see.  Nintendo didn't personally tuck you in last night and give you a kiss goodnight. 

[ThomasO]

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

Hence Overcharging.

If you take inflation into account, VC games are actually cheaper than they were six years ago.

[TJ Spyke]

Any idea on how much the other Virtual Consoles will cost?

• Genesis: $1.50
• Master System: $1.00
• TG-16: $1.50
• N64: $2.50
• Neo Geo: $3.00

Why would you think Neo Geo games would be more than N64 games? The likely reason SNES is $0.50 more than NES to upgrade is because SNES games cost more on the VC. N64 games are $10 while Neo Geo games are $9, so I would expect Neo Geo to be less than N64.

[ShyGuy]

Zieborn is rocking the suburbs with KNOWLEDGE.

[Kytim89]

Any idea on how much the other Virtual Consoles will cost?

• Genesis: $1.50
• Master System: $1.00
• TG-16: $1.50
• N64: $2.50
• Neo Geo: $3.00

Why would you think Neo Geo games would be more than N64 games? The likely reason SNES is $0.50 more than NES to upgrade is because SNES games cost more on the VC. N64 games are $10 while Neo Geo games are $9, so I would expect Neo Geo to be less than N64.

It just seems that SNK would charge that much for their games.

[TJ Spyke]

Nintendo determines the prices for VC games, always have. Besides, SNK hasn't released any of the Neo Geo games on VC, D4 Enterprise did all the work.

[broodwars]

So on a whim I decided to turn my Wii U on for the first time in a month to see just how much Nintendo's "enhancements" (the vast majority of which I don't want or need) would cost me for JUST my SNES and NES collection? The answer? $49, close to the cost of a full game, and that's assuming that de-listed games like the Donkey Kong Country games would even be eligible.  No, Nintendo. No.  I am not paying you almost $50 for the "privilege" of playing a portion of my VC games on the controller the Wii U came with. You can go **** yourself.  "George Banks is saying 'NO!'" I'll just continue to give that money to Sony, who for all their faults at least understands the concept of an account system.  Hell, I have dozens of digital PS1 and PSP games (which are fully compatible on my Vita, my PS3, & my old PSP) I should probably be playing anyway instead of old NES/SNES games.

I wouldn't have had much issue with a small one-time fee to cover all of my VC collection, but I'm not paying you $50 for part of it on a single device. Your loss, Nintendo.  Meanwhile, my Wii U returns to being powered-down and collecting dust.

[NWR_insanolord]

The Wii VC games are already compatible with the Wii U; you're paying for new functionality. What new functionality has Sony added to those PS1 classics over the years? Sony half-asses those, to the point that some of them are basically unplayable, while Nintendo goes above and beyond to make sure their releases work, which isn't cheap. If you don't think it's worth a dollar or two to get Off-TV play, save states and control customization, then you don't have to pay it.

[broodwars]

The Wii VC games are already compatible with the Wii U; you're paying for new functionality. What new functionality has Sony added to those PS1 classics over the years?

Graphical filtering options and Analog Stick support on games released during that Dualshock transition period. Along with graphical filtering options of their own, the PSP games also have enhancements to let you map button commands onto the right analog stick (which, for some games, means you can emulate dual analog support) & rear touch pad (which, naturally, the PSP didn't have).

And no, I don't think it's worth an additional $1 - $1.50 per game for Off-TV play, because that's why I already paid $350+ for a Wii U.  A one-time fee to cover everything would be one thing, but for the amount of money I would have to pay to "upgrade" just these NES and SNES games, I could practically buy a new game.

[Fatty The Hutt]

If you don't think it's worth a dollar or two to get Off-TV play, save states and control customization, then you don't have to pay it.

And Miiverse integration. Don't forget that. It's wonderful.
Go spend the 30 cents on Balloon Fight and you will see.

[Oblivion]

Broodwars, you didn't pay 350 dollars for Off-TV for a Virtual Console that did not exist at the time. If you did, then you're an idiot, because the only one who promised you that for free is your own mind.


Stop bitching, dude. If you don't want the Off-TV play and MiiVerse integration, keep playing through Wii Mode. The option is there for people who want it. I, for one, will do it for select games.

[NWR_insanolord]

The Wii VC games are already compatible with the Wii U; you're paying for new functionality. What new functionality has Sony added to those PS1 classics over the years?

Graphical filtering options and Analog Stick support on games released during that Dualshock transition period. Along with graphical filtering options of their own, the PSP games also have enhancements to let you map button commands onto the right analog stick (which, for some games, means you can emulate dual analog support) & rear touch pad (which, naturally, the PSP didn't have).

And no, I don't think it's worth an additional $1 - $1.50 per game for Off-TV play, because that's why I already paid $350+ for a Wii U.  A one-time fee to cover everything would be one thing, but for the amount of money I would have to pay to "upgrade" just these NES and SNES games, I could practically buy a new game.

I refuse to give Sony any credit when it comes to old games until Final Fantasy V works the way it's supposed to. If I have to choose between paying a little more to Nintendo for games that work right or paying Sony a bit less for games they obviously did no testing on at all, I'm going to take the former every time.

[Mop it up]

This is actually what I had expected to happen regarding the Wii U VC. I did not think there would be GBA games on it though, that's a little odd, especially since there is still no word of GBA on 3DS.

[smallsharkbigbite]

Not saying this would make a big difference, but I think it would be cool if Nintendo tried to reward the early adopters (whom they make the most $ off of) by at least offering a limited time to update their VC games for free.  Something like free for the first 6 months of the Wii U life and then charge for all updates after that. 


Maybe that would push people with Wiis that have a big VC collection to upgrade to the Wii U soon to take advantage of the change. 


Sony doesn't do everything right.  But allowing the classics to be played on PS3 and PSP/Vita was brillaint.  The VC would have much more value to me to be portable rather than tethered (within 20 ft) to a tv, but not using the TV. 

[tendoboy1984]

"Because titles are being reworked for off-screen use on the console's GamePad controller"

Oh please. "Off-screen play" should have been a native feature that was built-into the Wii U's OS. There is no reason for it to be a per-game feature.

[tendoboy1984]

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

Hence Overcharging.

If you take inflation into account, VC games are actually cheaper than they were six years ago.

Ah the myths of inflation. That doesn't apply to digital content.