I heard a While back that GB and GBA games might eventually be offered on the Dsi shop. I haven't heard another thing mentioned about it since. Have these rumors been confirmed or is it just speculation?
Nothing was said about it at E3 so I assume it's just wishfull thinking right?

i haven't heard any news but i hope the rumor is true!

Wait Till the Next Conference around i think September or around that time bet they'll give it to us then

It's coming. We just don't know when. They've already leaked the info once, but we're just going to have to wait until they get good and ready to announce it. I'm guessing Tokyo Game Show, but it could come sooner.

I was beginning to think we got our hopes up too soon but it's good to hear it's still coming. That would be my main reason for buying a Dsi. Gotta love the classics. The old cartridges are so hard to find these days. Most used game stores wont even carrry them anymore and prices on E-bay are insane. Guess I'll just keep waiting then. Thanks.

I am fully convinced that we're getting it. I'm not ENTIRELY sure why there's a delay, but I assume it's to break up the waves of DSi purchasing. It surged to the top of the charts on release already...by adding a VC they can cause another gigantic (ie: newsmaking) spike in sales down the line. That looks better on paper than one big spike at first and a continual tapering off of sales into eternity.

My guess.

Means nothing.

But we are getting it.

Your guess makes sense, Chicken Brutus. It falls in line with the way Nintendo delayed the release of the DSi outside of Japan simply because the DS Lite was still selling really well! It sucks for us core gamers who just want the stuff released already, but...

I hope this rumour is true too and I agree with Chicken Brutus give it a year or two, if they did make games from the GB or GBA which games would you want? I would like yoshis island or one of the pokemon games what do you think?

As a preface, I need to reiterate for the millionth time that I badly want a DSi VC. It would actually be a system seller for me. But I am just a bit skeptical.

I don't understand why people are so confident in this rumor. It was "confirmed" by one source that I know of, and Nintendo promptly denied it and has continued to give no word on it when they've had ample opportunity. There are any number of reasons why they wouldn't want to do a VC, at least not in the near future.

• Lack of confidence in the DSi. Yes, it's sold well so far, but will it ever achieve DS Lite numbers? They might do best to wait on a true successor to the DS rather than an upgrade.
• On a similar note, Nintendo has already said they had a fully new handheld system ready but decided against launching it just yet. If they only plan to be letting the DSi run for a couple years before dropping this bomb on us, maybe the VC would be best saved for that system which ought to have more storage. Who knows, maybe it'll be an all-download system like PSP Go.
• DSiWare may seem more profitable, and they'd rather not split sales between it and the VC. Gameboy games do look very primitive. I'm not sure the target audience of the DSi would really appreciate that. Plus, most of the popular GB games were simple puzzle games like Tetris which would be better served by a DSiWare update.
• Wii's VC hasn't had as much third-party support as we'd like to see, and there may even be less interest in the DSi's VC.
• They might be saving it for when Wii's VC releases cease trickling and coming to a full stop, which could potentially happen within a couple years, though that's pure speculation.
• Maybe Itoi doesn't feel like it.

I could go on, but it's a bit depressing to discuss reasons why a service, which I very much would like to see, might not appear. Chicken's guess sounds good, though putting on my skepticism hat again, I have to wonder how big of a system seller a VC would be. It'd sell it for me, but to the average user? Old GB games don't have the sparkle that Art Style games have.

There are a LOT of core gamers who don't want to upgrade to a DSi without a VC for it. It's a definite selling point any way you look at it. Based on the kind of software we've seen on DSiWare thus far, I don't think there's very much overlap in demographics between it and a potential DSi VC anyway.

Also, it was confirmed from two different sources, though the second was much lesser known. He reported that SEGA was looking to get Game Gear on the DSi VC as well, according to the event rep where he went.

EDIT: And wasn't it lack of confidence that made the Wii VC so awesome for the early period? That's what I've heard, anyway, which would suggest that if they aren't confident in the DSi, a VC would be PERFECT to fill out the benefit set!

Except that a home console lasts for years, and if it failed, that would have been the nail in the coffin for Nintendo. They had to represent strong with the Wii. The DSi is something they could shrug off if they had to, and may well plan to after a couple years depending on how it does since it is just an upgrade to a system that is still selling. They didn't have that luxury to wait and see with the Wii.

@Adam

Your first couple of bullet points are incorrect, I would say, as I believe that the DSi and its ability to carry the popularity of the DS Lite into the downloadable arena is the one and only centerpiece of Nintendo's handheld strategy right now; I really don't think they're pondering a successor in any way right now (well, the hardware division is probably always tinkering with ideas, but you know what I mean).

I concur with your later points, however. "Gameboy games do look very primitive." Yes, and I feel that there might be a real issue with resolution -- I've used Gameboy-classic emulators on my DS Lite in the past, and you lost a very high ratio of your screen, since the original resolution of a Gameboy is so low, yet not low enough to double the image on the DS. So, you either have a whole lot of black with a tiny image in the center, or you have to scale it using methods that are far from perfect (like flickering), since the pixel ratios just aren't at all convenient. That might not bother some of us, but I'm sure Nintendo has taken account of how disappointing that would be to many consumers who try to download a GB title on a whim.

Anyhow, I still hope it comes about, but there are various issues with it. Still a great decision that would bring some of the retro gamers onboard.

Nintendo already said they had a successor ready. They have definitely pondered it, even if that statement they released in the Iwata Asks sessions was an exaggeration of how ready such a successor was.

But if Nintendo wanted to, they could release a VC on the DSi and make preparations to allow such titles to transfer over to the successor later on, so those were really minor points to begin with. I agree that the appeal and practicality of the service is more of an issue than possible successors.

Just thought I'd toss out anything that came to mind to show that there could be multiple reasons for what on the surface seems like a pointless move (or non-move, rather) by Nintendo.

About the successor, though, I agree that it was possibly near completion, but that makes me draw the exact opposite conclusions. The fact that they shut down the other project, after presumably spending quite some time working with it, only points to the fact that they've had a complete shift in their attitude towards following the DS, away from a new system and towards a gradual movement to downloadable content while retaining the user base, all hopefully made possible by the DSi. Canceling the other project is a sign, I'd think, that they are truly throwing all their weight behind the DSi for the future of their dominance in the handheld arena.

Considering the Gameboy didn't use enhancement chips like the SNES did, Nintendo would only have to code 3 emulators (Game and Watch, Gameboy/Color and Gameboy Advance), one of which (Game and Watch) is presumably already done. This would mean that they cannot possibly make a significant loss, as they wouldn't spend much on those, and I plan to download several of the first party games they put on the service, and I know others will do the same. Bearing in mind Nintendo already own these games, so it is free for them to be put up there.

And based on the assumed popularity of the Wii's VC, a VH is unlikely to be a flop.

Elemento, from what I've read, the GBA hardware is in tact within the DSi. I don't think there would really be emulation issues at all. Seems like they'd all run natively, no? I am no tech guy, so it's just an assumption.

Well in that case, they'd have even less work to do, less money needing to be spent, and more profits. We all know Nintendo loves money more than they do their fans, so I just want to know why Reggie says they don't plan to do it!

@warioswoods: Personally, I'd be just fine having big old black borders on my DSi screen if it meant I could play my classic Gameboy games on it and not have to fuddle with game carts anymore. As long as Nintendo made it clear that this would happen, I don't think it'd be a problem. They just need to actually DO it already!

It should be very little trouble to get GB/GBC/GBA games going on the DSi. I'm betting that Nintendo is just trying to push DSiWare a bit before they go and make a big announcement about the DSi VC. They leaked it once, so they'll likely be careful about the real announcement when it comes. Just be patient.

The whole mess seems stupid to me, since the Wii started with classics and got new (mostly) garbage later, and the DSi is (hopefully) doing it BACKWARDS!