Nintendo Reveals Plans For Wii U Virtual Console

Wow, that's extremely poor.

GameBoy Advance? Do you know how awful that will look when upscaling it? Hopefully Nintendo will do their magic and make it look good.

It would be nice if you could redownload the games already without the extra features.... unless you can do that already. I don't know. Haven't gotten a Wii U yet to transfer content.

That sounds fair. A buck is worth the enhanced versions to me.

Could anyone remind me what the prices were in the UK?

Yeah, sounds alright to me. Ive got all my games on wii u, so if I want to upgrade for 99p I can live with that.

@edhe On the Wii they worked out as £3.50 for NES games, £5.60 for SNES games.

I hope that the Gameboy Advance games come to the 3DS also.

What a joke really not happy that I have to buy the games again, a
so I end up in the long run paying more for a game than a guy who who hasn't downloaded it yet . really disappointed Nintendo

I'm not thrilled at having to spend more than people who haven't bought the vc games already, but it's only a buck and I'm very happy that this is happening. Can't wait till spring!

@antonvaltaz The upgrade would have been much less than that, wouldn't it?

Also, what was that Famicom Anniversary thing about? If I heard right, for 30 days for each month up untill July (or something), you can effectively rent games for 30pence/cents and when the time expires, you can then buy them for the reduced price.

The games hardly interest me anyway. Donkey Kong? Meh.

Punch Out on the other hand might be a reasonable purchase for me.

Nice to hear there will be save state, might be better to put the Gameboy Advance games on on 3DS VC IMO.

I'm more annoyed that I have nearly 30 snes games and about 30 other games across nes, mega drive and neo geo.
This should have been instantly free to download for people who have bought them already
Nintendo you suck!

On the plus side, if you have a Deluxe model and 60 odd Wii NES VC games, you can get £5 back, lol. XD

Great news. The small cost is a bit of an annoyance and I may not pay for all of them, but the fact that I'll be able to jump right into games again without switching to the Wii menu is very nice.

Metroid Zero Mission and even Fusion on the big (and medium) screen? Sweet.

Is there no seperation between the Wii and the Wii U Virtual Console on this Website anymore?

Well I am not happy that I have to add an extra €1 to each nes game. They really should just be added the feature for the people who bought them already for free .

How does the save state work on 3DS? Do you get multiple save states? I assume it's different than the one that exists on the Wii already. Any improvement is nice.

great news for me! like N is making all my dreams come true. well, step by step, no haste, but still, she eventually does!

So...no GBA games on my 3DS then?

This makes me angry about the GBA situation (but I won't go any further)...

This is ridiculous, no gba games for 3ds but there'll be on WiiU?

This makes me mad.

I think the ''special price'' is fair. It's not like I will be getting every VC game again anyway just to play them on the game pad.
Also, maybe GBA still has a chance on 3DS? Perhaps not.

Just realised that some systems will cost more than $1 - WTF! I can only imagine that N64 games will be another $2-$3 each to upgrade, and those are the games I want to upgrade the most. Also, why no mention of N64 games for the VC? It had terrible support on Wii so I was hoping that might finally change. Guess not. GBA is an interesting choice. People always used to complain about the Wii not having GBA games and now people are complaining the Wii U has GBA games? lol

@edhe
No, you heard that wrong. In the anniversary offer you can download those games at a token price. They are then yours to keep. If you want to buy them after the 30 period whey will still be available but will cost full price.

As for UK prices, they were not announced.

Based on Iwata's comments about the Famicom promo, it sounds like the Wii U VC will be launching in late March/April. Around the 11 minute mark, he says "the titles coming before april will be available before the official Virtual Console service starts."

How are the games "enhanced"? It's also pretty ridiculous that it's only launching with NES and SNES games. It should be launching with all the numerous consoles already supported on the Wii VC, plus some new ones like maybe Gamecube and Dreamcast.

^^ Gameboy Advance Games!
-_-' Pay extra for games I already have?!

Better have a good GBA line up and bring it fast

How are the games "enhanced"?

Save states like on 3DS.

And companies wonder why people pirate games.... maybe because emulators have been doing these things for years. Save states should have been implemented with the first virtual console titles. So basically features get withheld, you buy the game, then they make you pay to get "new" features. I think Nintendo should allow them to be downloaded free of charge as a courtesy to loyal customers who continue to support their systems. For people who downloaded a LOT of games, that $1/$1.50 charge will add up quick.

@cornishlee looks like the UK prices are the same but with the $ replaced with a £ - so £1 for NES and £1.50 for SNES.

I know a few of you have over a hundred VC games so, assuming they all cost the minumum price of a NES game, it'll cost you over £100 to transfer them all. Of course that's assuming they do that for every title - I can't see games that have been removed from the service getting this treatment.

A better way for them to have done this is with a firmware update, which is more than possible to do to allow your VC games on the Wii U interface and add gamepad functionality but they wouldn't get any money off you that way.

The service has already started! xD

It's just it will be in hibernation after Balloon Fight

Awesome news, hopefully the Genesis, TG-16, Dreamcast, Neo Geo, N64, VC Arcade, and GameCube got some love too.

@hypercoyote

"So basically features get withheld, you buy the game, then they make you pay to get "new" features. "

If it bothers you, you shouldn't buy the game without the implemented features. Obviously you thought it was worth the price without the implemented features. Now you can make the same call: do you think $1 is worth the new features? You can play the game just fine on your Wii U without it. No one's putting a gun to your head.

@edhe Neither did I get how the promo works, at first Iwata makes it sound like @cornishlee explained, but at 12:24 he says "So I hope you will try out this games during the campaign period to see if you might be interested in buying a particular game". And from that I understand that the 30 cents downloads will only work for 30 days or for the campaign period, having to buy the game at normal price after that period to be able to continue using it. Of course I am not an english native speaker, so I could've misunderstood or missed something. Could @anyone please clarify on this?

@madgear
I kind of assumed it would be. 60p is too much to hope for!
Even if NES/MasterSystem and SNES/Megadrive games were £3.50 and £5.60.

@madgear: I'm sure it cost money on Nintendo's part to update the emulation or whatever else they did so it outputs to 1080p and plays on the GamePad and all that nice stuff. Otherwise they wouldn't be charging anything. If it gives PAL owners the 60Hz version then it's WELL worth the extra quid/buck.

Just bought Balloon Fight. It still seems EU versions of VC games will run at 50hz. Le sigh. I thought we were past that with the 60hz 3DS VC games, but I guess not...

Well that doesn't sound all that good. I'd rather not pay extra for a feature like that, plus I have a ton of NES games downloaded on Wii.

Why isn't Balloon Flight on the US eShop?

I only had a few Virtual Console titles on my Wii, so I really don't have anything to worry about with the upgrades. I am excited to get my hands on Super Metroid when it comes out in May.

Well, I'm most likely going to upgrade most of my titles after I get a Wii U. There's a few I don't care for, but many I do. I'll hold off on getting Metroid and Super Metroid though until I get a Wii U and this launches.

As for the GBA situation? That kinda surprises me that they aren't going to make them available on the 3DS eShop. I mean, as for emulation on Wii U, I'd suspect something like the GameBoy Player, so this might actually work. But like I said, you have a handheld to download classic handheld titles - why not just keep them there? Unless maybe they'll have a connectivity feature that lets you use your 3DS and Wii U in tandem for the games. Or Nintendo is really committed to the Ambassador Program.

I have no problems paying an extra 0.99 for the games again, I own ALOT of Wii VC games so I guess I'll be choosing my favourites to get but overall I'm happy with the huge discount for previous owners, delighted with the GBA games(especially for using on the Gamepad!!) I just hope that Mega Drive, Turbografx etc are carried over too, and that Sega Saturn, Dreamcast and Gamecube games are added over time!

@Zach777 Actually, it is, they just aren't advertising it. Just search for it in the search bar.

Once the service is available, I will probably update some of my favorite VC titles, but probably not others.

@Tasuki: You have a very valid point there. It's really no different than buying an enhanced remake of a game or a HD version of a movie.

I was afraid of being nickled & dimed on games I already have, but know it could've been worse. Now I can have save states for games like StarTropics, and Ninja Gaiden III, that have been kicking my flank for ages! That is assuming the games will be available. Are ALL NES & SNES Wii VC games going to be available, or are they going to trickle out at the typical VC pace?

Also... No mention of established VC systems (N64, Genesis) or new systems (GameCube, Dreamcast), but they're putting GBA games here instead of on 3DS??? Nintendo, you are so random... Playing GBA on the TV is what my GC's Game Boy Player is for!

Maybe I'm a purist, but VC-wise I'm for keeping console games on the TV and handheld games on handhelds. I take it that that means our GBA ambassador games will never be updated.

Also, apparently old GameCube games will be kept off, for the purpose of making HD remakes to charge full price for. Will we see any new systems, beyond certain-to-be-pixelated-as-HAYL GBA?

Not sure how to process this Wii U VC news. Guess I'll take a "wait and see" approach.

What I'm angry about is why they're putting GBA games on the Wii U VC. People with a 3DS are MUCH MORE LIKELY to want to play those games, and on a handheld as well. Seriously Nintendo, what?

@Bass_X0 - But we still cant play them on the gamepad?

@Big-A2 it may indeed cost them but they don't have to do it for every virtual console game. That odd £1/£1.50 is a lot of money if you have a large VC collection. An easier way would to have the function built into the Wii U software, as standard, out of the box instead of a seperate Wii menu. When you transfer your Wii U games they all move to the Wii U menu, which resizes, upscales and transmits the original ROMs. It can easily be done. The upscale is artificial anyway as they're not re-made games, they're the emulated originals.

It's all irrelevant to me anyway as I've decided against a Wii U but I still don't like to see my favourite games company making such bad descisions and treating the loyal fans this way.

I didn't really understand the whole famicom 30th anniversary thing but I just bought Balloon Fight for $0.30 so I'm happy Hopefully I don't have to pay any more later...

@PinkSpider Yup, one whole dollar. Sometimes, a buck fifty! And if you're smart and buy your Wii U giftcards on sale and with Rewards points, 40 whole cents. 40 cents to add save state ability to Contra, FF6, and Chrono Trigger. Man, think what you can do with 40 cents! You can buy 11 M&Ms, the front half of a Cadburry egg.... enough petrol to get you 11,000 feet!

@madgear A lot of money? I have maybe 15 Virtual Console games not including N64. Buying the Wii points on clearance as I normally do, that's... $9.50. That's what, 25 minutes of pay at a decent job? To add save states and tablet support to my entire collection?

@Geonjaha GBA games on a handheld, eh? They should release some kinda fancy controller for the Wii U, that looks and feels like a handheld. Oh wait...

They should put GBA games on 3DS VC instead of in the WiiU. Also, they don't seem to have planned to include GC games on the Viertual Console. Hopefully they'll include them in the future.

Since I bought the Deluxe WiiU, I'll just be using the money I earn back from downloading to gradually switch my NES and SNES VC games 5 at a time. (Or at least pick my favorites)
The one thing I want to know is, since the game when I redownload it will be on the WiiU Menu. Will there still be one on the Wii Menu? Because I would hate to have to get as far as I am in Castlevania again (since I would assume the save data won't carry over since they are redoing the save feature)

It seems justified to me. You pay a little extra for the added GamePad features. It makes sense.

In other news: Japan is getting Mother 2 on the Wii U VC!

@FluttershyGuy
I think NES and SNES games were mentioned specifically as being the first to appear, which kind of makes sense, By the sound of it they won't all the Wii VC titles will not be available on day one, but I am expecting the process of transfer to be considerably quicker than the original "release" schedule on Wii. I'd also expect the other Wii VC /2platforms" to follow in the next 6-12 months.

Which brings us to Dreamcast/Gamecube. I still expect them, but not until next year. Not all GC games will get the Wind Waker treatment.

Well at least we aren't paying full price, besides I've already beaten most of my NES & SNES games anyway so not much incentive for me to update as of now. What I am waiting on is the return of the N64 & GameCube.

@aaronsullivan
Sadly, you only get one save state, but it differs in that you can save it or reload the save state whenever you want. It's not like with the Wii where you close the game and it starts back up (though that's there too), but you can choose to reload a save point if you die and it takes you back to the beginning of a level. I spammed this function to beat certain bosses on Link's Awakening. Lol.

Also, I can understand some people's frustration if they have a lot of VC games (it's certainly going to get pretty pricey), but honestly it costs Nintendo to develop these functions, so I think it's perfectly reasonable for them to charge us a small price to get a new version. If you don't want to pay, feel free to keep on playing them in Wii Mode.

Some people should really pay attention to those pesky little "user agreements." You agreed to pay to play for a license of the software to be played on your Wii. My goodness, some of you really just expect to play these games forever on every Nintendo console you will own for the rest of your life for free even though there is a cost involved for Nintendo?

Its a shame I couldn't pick of both polls. I understand why the price is charged but I don't think the fees are fair. e.g. Why is it more for a SNES game?

Also people with large collections who like to have all their games in one place are going to pay a lot (I guess some would argue this is no different to rebuying your DVD collection on Blu-Ray). I mean, the core work of update emulator, Miiverse code is a "done once, done 100 times" affair so I propose the following: The special price gets cheaper the more games you transfer. Say like after 5 or even 10 games it becomes free. That would be more likely to keep people on board rather than going thats 30 NES games and 20 SNES games...£60!

However, if each game had a specific enhancement it would be more justified. I know of emulator scripts that enhance Metroid by adding a map, beam selection, starting with more than 30 HP.

But my biggest concern (besides the will it be emulating 60Hz) is will ALL current VC games be playable on Wii U gamepad one day? Given only NES and SNES have been announced suggests the answer is doubtful (I don't see C64 or Arcade coming back myself). Will the Wii U 2 have Wii support? Also on what timescale will the roll-out be. Having to wait potentially years for GamePad support is not ideal.

I also ask, will 3DS VC ever have the same special price? (yes I know about the wait for 3DS to also use NNID...)

@Starwolf_UK
That is a good point about the disparity in price between formats.

My guess is that "enhancements" means a dollar fifty for a savestate feature.

Never had a GBA so this is good news.

So Nintendo likes ripping us loyal Wii owners off? Eff them then.

Also, it's great GBA games are coming to the Wii U, but I'll probably pass. They'll likely put them on the 3DS VC and force you to pay for them even if you downloaded them on the Wii U, because they love their money after all.

$1 for Miiverse, off-TV, and save states is no big deal to me. It's not like I'll be re-buying all of them anyway.

I was hoping for Gamecube and other Sega systems to get announced for it, though. I really want some obscure classics on here.

^Well, those will get re-added eventually, I'll bet. I would be more concerned for Turbografx or C64 getting re-added.

And now we get to re-live the VC trickling games at a slow rate all over again. Congratulations Nintendo, you lost yourself a loyal customer.

Are they not going to do anything about all the Turbografx-16, Mega Drive games or WiiWare titles?

Most of my Wii VC downloads are Turbografx-16 ones

@brooks83 Patients geeeez people these days are too picky.... Once you can play them on GamePad, thes no reason you'd have to pay again in a future system since they most likely won't add anything (unless 3D) so you won't have to pay again, but of you do in 5 years for wii 3 or 4DS, then I'm done with games for good... But for now... I'll wait

@pntjr You'd be surprised i played them on my wii since i softmodded it and they look no worst than an snes game

@russellohh You do realize how many total games are on the VC? Believe it or not, there are people with HUGE collections and that $1.00-$1.50(and who knows how much for N64, etc.) 'per game' is definitely going to add up for them.

As for what I think? I'm with all those who question GBA being on Wii U instead of 3DS, seriously? Even if they do add them to the latter, with no account systems in place we'll likely have to buy them again(no discount).

Sure there was a lot of fantastic news, but they also hid in some big disappointments. :/

I don't agree with paying anything for VC game I've already paid for, but it could be worse.

I hope they'll honour the upgrade prices for stuff I bought after getting the Wii U....

I'd rather get the Advance on the 3DS then Wii U

The people complaining about the $1.00 or $1.50 surcharge for VC games should just play them in Wii mode for free. When you bought those games there was no promise that they'd convert to the next system. For $5, Nintendo did not enter into a lifetime service agreement.

i am pissed off at NINTENDO about the "Gameboy Advance" Virtual Console being on the "Wii U" instead of the "NINTENDO 3DS". My friend said I can trade in my Wii for a Wii U for $50-100 off. Where at?

So you're going to trade in a Wii U because of something the 3DS doesn't have?

No I am planning to bu one anyway. That last sentence was just a different thought.

I would of preferred to have GBA on the 3DS.

It might have been okay if people who buy these games for the first time would have to pay more than on the Wii's VC too. This is not a good way to treat people that support your company two generations in a row imo.
Also strange how they always stress that they want their portable games to really feel different than home console releases and yet let them come to the Wii U first.

Gameboy Advance? Okay that is a bit odd especially considering that a lot of the best Gameboy advance games and NES games are on the Gameboy Advance.

Castlevania Aria of Sorrow HD PLEASE!

Is anybody else's Wii U taking a long time to open Balloon Fight? I tried opening it and my Wii U has been processing this for an hour. =( PLEASE HELP

@Chriiis @antonvaltaz

The Wii U VC games cost £1/£1.50 more to buy so you are only paying the difference. Lets hope the N64 games don't cost £5 to transfer!

I would have expected the GBA VC to be on 3DS first though hopefully it does, for some reason never been into playing my portable games on the TV, never got the GB player and such good to see won't have to pay much for the Wii U upgrade though, oh and please Nintendo when it comes to the N64 get some more games up, DK64, Turok 1&2, Mischief Makers, Wetrix, are a few i'd like to see.

So, the Virtual console will finally be a part of the Wii u e-shop. But instead of making all the old titles available, they choose to yet again offer them as if they are new! The excuse this time: The games must be programmed again because of the Wii u gamepad. I think that's utter pants!

It means that people hoping that Nintendo expands the virtual console (like myself) are out of luck! So you are happy with Super Mario bros on the Wii? Now you can buy it again on the 3DS!! And yet again on the Wii u, how fun is that?!

I rather have some "new" vc games, like Adventure island 4 to give a example!

Well, at least GBA games are coming (they should be on the 3DS, but this is also okay), at least people who transfered can easily upgrade to the new versions (by paying a little), and there will be a 30 cent per game offer. That's certainly not bad!

I find it really strange that GBA games will be on the Wii U instead of the 3DS. And no mention of N64 games! I'm sure those will cost more than $1 to upgrade.

I was expecting the Wii U's VC to be a step forwards not a step backwards. I was hoping the Wii U eshop would have every VC game that the Wii had and add some new consoles like Saturn, Dreamcast and Gamecube. Maybe some newer arcade games from the 90's and 2000 onwards but instead we're back to square one again. The save points are a nice addition though and could be very useful but I think we should be able to freely upgrade to the newer versions of games we already have and I think GBA games would make more sense on 3DS VC.

@pntjr I play GBA titles on my Game Boy Player for GCN and they look great. I never even thought that they looked worse at all... on the contrary, I noticed a load of details that I hadn't on a small screen.

It looks to me like you are just paying the difference between the price of the Wii and WiiU versions to add the extra functionality, or you can choose to keep the Wii versions.

I have over 240 VC and WiiWare games, and look forward to giving Nintendo even more money. I'm upset that it looks like TG-16 games will never be transferred over to Wii U.

eh, I think it's ok, I personally think it's cool playing on the gamepad, especially when you can't use the TV

I guess the added features are why Nintendo are releasing them all over again but I still think that they should add all the Wii VC (and Wiiware games) onto the Wii U eshop and trickle out the updates rather than the games themselves. I guess it's understandable that you have to pay for the updates as it would have cost Nintendo money to add them but I still think all the games available on Wii VC should be available on Wii U VC with or without the added features.

I don't agree with paying anything for VC game I've already paid for,

You have not paid for the save states. You won't need to update every game you own. Even with the added features, if you own a lot of games, there will still be many games you won't play anymore.

The 3DS VC games are more expensive than they should be, but now I realise that maybe we are paying for the save state feature as well as the game.

I like the added features, but I personally think we shouldn't have to pay to re-buy them. They should be for free if you already bought them.

@Bass_X0
This is true to an extent. From my own point of view, the Nintendo titles I downloaded were first time plays for me and most of them I'm unlikely to play again (not to say that they were bad). All of my Megadrive and Master System titles were purchases fuelled by nostalgia, however, and I know I will want to play them many times again in my life. Those that have been Nintendo fans for a long time may have a lot of titles fall into that bracket (as opposed to my 20 odd Sega games), however, and that's before you get to those people who simply must have all of the games they've ever played on their current system where possible.

I think you should make this point clear in all of your articles about the VC - it seemed like it wasn't in another one (I know it's my bad for not paying attention, but still - this is super important for this community).

I think the games were overpriced on Wii, but I will say this, the addition of save states and gamepad only play are worth the upgrade asking price for me. Those are pretty significant features. I was really worried they wouldn't deliver, and this is amazing news. Sucks that I'll have to wait to get some of these games, but I know I'll get a lot more gameplay out of them by using the gamepad. Save states also are kinda necessary for me to get through some NES games - I just have too many games and not enough time to be restarting games over and over again every time I die (which happens all the time due to the high difficulty).

"I was expecting the Wii U's VC to be a step forwards not a step backwards. I was hoping the Wii U eshop would have every VC game that the Wii had and add some new consoles like Saturn, Dreamcast and Gamecube. Maybe some newer arcade games from the 90's and 2000 onwards but instead we're back to square one again"

Yeah, that was what I meant! Why can't it be like Sony? As far as I know, when you download a old game on the PS3 you can download it again for free on any PS3 you buy and even on PSP,s or PSvita,s!!

Wat happen N64 & GameCube??

Are there any other enhancements apart from save states and gamepad play?