Topic: why GBA on Wii U?

I think its so the Wii U VC isn't a repeat of systems of Wii VC. If it's different they can attract buyers again. And they will. I'm confident Nintendo will have all it's consoles represented in some capacity on VC within this decade.

@Artwark First off, you answered your first question with your second. Why GBA on Wii U? So people like you would have to get a Wii U, hopefully sooner, rather than later. Next, the 3DS isn't getting them because... well, really just because it doesn't need them. It's selling just fine, on its own. That said, the 3DS can definitely handle GBA games. Implying it can't is silly. Dunno who said it can't, but it can.

On another note, the GBA had plenty of games that weren't SNES ports. It did have a lot of SNES ports, but implying that was most of what it had would be like saying the DS had mostly N64 ports. Sure, it had plenty, but there was a lot more than just that.

Also, you mention that there's a control problem with the Wii U from GCN games... where? Just port all the GCN controls to the Pro Controller and make both the triggers a Z button. Problem solved. Heck, as I recall, the Classic Controller Pro could handle GCN games, couldn't it? Port the controls to that! It's no different from needing a GCN or Classic Controller to play N64 games on the Wii.

VC games aren't going to do much to convince people to buy a Wii U, so that's a pointless reason.

Upto a point. Best case scenario for game scaling you scale it exactly to a set number of pixels. So a 8x8 image can be scaled to 16x16 by just making all of the pixels twice as large. The problem is that when you scale it 1.5x or 2.5x instead of 2x it looks pretty average. It's those odd numbers and particularly at <2 where you run into problems.

With the GBA on the Wii U though it's not a big deal. On the GamePad it's 3x so they just make each GBA pixel 3x3 GamePad pixels. On the TV at 1080p it.s 6.75x which is not even but is equally not that big a deal because of how many pixels you're playing with. You can scale it and have every other pixel 6 instead of 7 which isn't as bad as going 1 and 2 because there's not as big a difference. Alternatively you could put a gap on top and bottom of 60pixels. So not that big a deal.

This is why DS games on the 3DS look average but NES games on the Wii U look awesome.

^Also, if there isn't a whole number, they can shrink the screen; kind of like what they do for VC and Wii Mode, already.

You can still play GBA games on 3DS XL at the same size of the GBA screen, by holding select when you boot up a GBA ambassador game, but I'd still rather play with the washed out and dull color, because it takes up the entire screen, and is overall more enjoyable.

EDIT: Fixed. Also, I'm guessing GBA ambassador games on the regulsr 3DS, at native resolution, are the same size as a GBMicro.

this thing with making GBA and DS digital games Wii U exclusive is Bizarre, Nintendo clearly thinks making those Wii U exclusives would help sell Wii U's while the 3DS doesn't need the help but really how many people are so desperate for those that they would buy a Wii U just to play them..... but if they put those on the 3DS, now that's where they would sell a lot........ and GBA and DS digital games are Wii U exclusive but SSB is Wii U/3DS the one game which make lots of sense to have as a Wii U exclusive..... I really don't get Iwata's thinking...

Exactly.

Nobody is buying a new console to play old games, no matter how good they might be. New games sell new consoles. The VC is just a bonus and is an easy way for Nintendo to make money and keep customers somewhat content between big releases.

Why not release GBA games on the 3DS too? I don't understand. Is Nintendo afraid that it would hurt WiiU sales if GBA games weren't WiiU "exclusive"? I'm not convinced that the 3DS and WiiU are directly competing. Are they afraid of upsetting "ambassadors"? I'm one, and I couldn't care less. I still have my 20 free games.