You can legally play it on WiiU right now though..., digital is good if used right... I'm hoping Nintendo will have a way to play it for free on 3DS and others from there on out for doing the $1 update, after all it's not like they would have to recode to get to the 3DS, they do however have to recode for GamePad or from wii VC, but they wouldn't from WiiU VC to 3DS VC (unless they add 3D, which going by the current 3DS VC NES... There isn't)

Yeah, you can play it legally on the Wii U when it is in Wii mode. Wii Mode is a fully virtualized Wii system inside of your Wii U, with all of the limitations and privileges therein.

The sad thing is that Nintendo will probably make you do that when their next console rolls around.

Most likely not since the wii didn't have IDs and the WiiU does... Just enter the ID

I'll believe that when I actually see it happen.

Well isn't that why all you guys were clamoring for IDs?

I'm not too concerned about paying an extra dollar for upgrades. I just don't think I can take another slow trickling of VC games again, and I'm betting we won't see any TG16 games this time around. The VC was fun while it lasted, but I suppose this is an end of an era. This news all but confirmed I will not be purchasing a Wii U, at least anytime soon.

I'll just upgrade the games that I play the most (Super Mario World, Majoras's Mask when N64 comes to Wii U VC, etc).

No one is forcing you to buy the upgraded versions. And you can still play them in Wii mode if you want. This really isn't a big deal in my opinion.

That's my feeling too. The inclusion of GBA is a faint glimmer of hope that new consoles will make their way to the service in the future, but yeah. Nintendo is starting from scratch. This time Capcom better put some newer arcade games on the eShop.

@Brooks83: How many games at once do you play?

@Ryno_Choryzo That's not the point Brooks was making. There are a ton of VC games so far and with them only slowly starting with NES/SNES apparently. it's going to most likely be a long while before we see future systems/games running. For people who've been simply hoping to play their N64 and other console collections, who knows how long until that will be possible at the pace things have been going.

The slow release schedule is another issue because it could take forever for people to get games there that they would want to buy with the updated functions and all.
Source? Look at how many N64 titles were released.

Did Sony's fee for rebuying games onto PSN for PSP games on the Vita if they were UMDs tick you off?

Nintendo is adding features to the games. It's much closer to DLC than an update. True updates are for things like bug fixes. If more is offered then it is generosity. Video games is a business, not a charity. Nintendo's adding the ability to play on the pad, change buttons, and has miiverse integration. And for a dollar. That's as close as it gets to free. And, if one just can't stand it, then he or she can still play all of his or her games on the Wii U anyway.

I just don't see the problem. It's more than having access to the game without going into Wii mode.

I've been following the VC since it first launched and I have watched the service grow to nearly 400 games. To see it start over from scratch is kind of depressing. I understand there are probably some legal issues that keep Nintendo from bringing the entire catalog to the Wii U (and hopefully they change this for future consoles) but I for one am not interested this time around. I'll just continue playing my save state-less VC games on my Wii.

I just feel terrible for those with huge collections. As has been pointed out, that little $1.00-$1.50(and likely more when other systems like N64 come around)...that's going to add up quickly if you'd like everything together.

Just seems odd to me that a fellow big retro gamer like yourself is so put off by Nintendo starting anew with a retro gaming service for its new system with some enhanced features.

It's more about the release pace there. At the rate the Wii's VC was going, we'll probably get 8 Gamecube games by the end of the Wii U's life, if we're lucky.

I'm not sure what you're getting at. With Nintendo starting all over, it will take years for the catalog to be as big as it was on the Wii. I will have to sit through week after week of them releasing games they have already released on the Wii's VC, rather than them simply building on the catalog they started in 2006. I guess save states and gamepad play just aren't that important to me.

Well, I'm betting we'll be able to use the pro controller, updated to full HD, 5.1 surround, Gamepad use and more VC options. I have around 24 VC games, and 15 Wii Ware. I think I might update some of them, but who knows, I might just leave them in Wii Mode like others are saying. Just use a paycheck you would usually use to buy a couple $50-60 games and upgrade them all at once and get it over with. If you wanted your games to be on Wii U VC so extremely bad, you would just pay the 99¢. Besides, that was in £/€, so maybe it will actually ge $0.75 in U.S.

I don't understand the problem here. As others have said if you have a Wii or you transferred your stuff you have Wii mode - no one is stealing from you and no one is ripping you off.

I have a Japanese Wii with pages and pages of VC content on it, most of which was never released outside of Japan. Until that machine dies I have those games I can play whenever I please; if they NEVER appear in the Wii U eShop, I'll still have them. None of them are HD; none of them are 16:9 anamorphic so it doesn't really matter what the menu system is I choose them from.

I will still be happy to take advantage of the GENEROUS discount Nintendo is offering me to purchase the games which I had on my PAL Wii system (those which I choose to download again; I can live without the SNES Prince of Persia, thanks) on my NEW Wii U console because I will enjoy the new features and not having to launch Wii mode.

Now if you want to complain about Nintendo charging nearly a fiver for a single emulated classic game when you can buy the entire library of Atari Corp. published Arcade and 2600 console games for fifteen quid in the App store, then I'm right with you brother, but getting charged a very small amount for a non-essential upgrade when they could just as easily charged you full whack? Sorry, I'm not joining the picket lines for that.

Agreed and we'll probably only get one or two games a month starting out unlike when the Wii VC originally came out and we got two or three games a week for a while.

As for paying again, $1 or $1.50 isn't that bad at all. It's actually great news for me because I was worried that Nintendo would make us pay full price for the game again like they do for the NES games on the 3DS.