M2 is the company responsible for the amazing Sega 3D Classics range on the 3DS, but that's not the only thing that has been keeping the firm busy of late. Nintendo has clearly been impressed by M2's handheld offerings as it has transpired that the studio was commissioned to assist with bringing Game Boy Advance games to the Wii U Virtual Console.
A posting on the official M2 site revealed the news, stating that the company was in charge of "development in general".
Eight Game Boy Advance games are due to launch this month, with Mario & Luigi: Superstar Saga, Metroid Fusion and Advance Wars all arriving this week.
[source mtwo.co.jp, via gonintendo.com]
Comments (59)
Hopefully Nintendo just get a contract out for like 5 a month minimum and that's part of the virtual console covered.!!
Nintendo needs to ALWAYS use those folks for emulation purposes. Letting them take a crack at some Nintendo 3D Classics would also be welcome!
Maybe with M2 involved we will actually see virtual console games released at a decent rate.
I am hoping the GBA games on the Virtual Console will lead to "Mother 3" getting the same treatment that "Sin and Punishment: Successor of the Earth" got.
now its time for gcn for wii u vc and gba for 3ds vc
Hopefully they will add different viewing and filter options! I know Nintendo wouldn't on their own.. >_< They will be too pixelated otherwise
Think maybe they could improve the 3DS GBA Ambassador games? Nintendo trying to mimic the original GBA LCD side-effect by forcing the hardware to add ghosting was just a poor decision which has held me back from playing the games. Back when I had my original 3DS, it wasn't too bad, but I transferred my stuff to an XL, and it just looks horrendous.
@Manaphy2007
I still think that there will be a 3DS(U) announced at E3 that will work as a Wii U controller. On the go it plays all VC games and 3DS titles (and uses the new Wii U home screen as 3DS OS), at home it plays VC titles, Wii U games and (3)DS games on the controller & TV.
All it needs to make this work is a (detachable) 2nd screen for the controller.
Many 3DS users will feel the urge to upgrade (to enjoy GBA and DS titles on the 3DS) and the Wii U and 3DS install base grows. I really think this could "save" Wii U.
Nintendo should throw more money and resources at M2... They seem to be da bomb when it comes to VC releases
Maybe they should hire these guys to sort out the whole Virtual Console service once and for all too.
I'm more hyped now strangely
This is great the M2 guys to me are the best at this.
What about GBA on 3DS?????
If M2 are making them it makes me wonder if GBA games will have extra features, like a purple GBA screen border or something.
That explains both why so many titles are hitting this month and why there's extra features in them. Please hire them for N64 games next!
Ahh really hoping Nintendo would sign an extensive agreement with these marvellous wizards.
Nintendo should give them free hands to bring GBA & DS also to 3DS and N64 & Gamecube to Wii U.
Awesome! Go M2!
@penfold007 THIS x infinity.
We need a steady stream of new VC releases.
Ok, now I can say M2 are Legends
M2 is top flight. Even happier now to be playing M2-handled VC games. Good move Nintendo. Do it again!
G-B-A-on-3-D-S [repeat] !
@Goginho
Problem with repeating is that people will get sick of it in a hurry
It was explained a good few times why no GBA games are planned for the 3DS outside of the ambassador games.
For the love of god Nintendo, give these guys the freedom to add extra stuff!
Now I definitely have to buy at least one GBA game for Wii U. I want to see what M2 will do differently than Nintendo. Now that I think about it, who made the Game Gear VC games for 3DS?
I'll be playing Metroid fusion later today I'll actually have a chance to beat the game. Hopefully these guys will work to bring more great titles I hope to see Golden Sun 2 as the first Golden Sun is really only half the story.
Hm, question is: how long did it it take M2 to get all these VC titles ready and running? Their development speed and capabilities will determine the frequency of future titles.
But this brings a big problem to mind. If developers other than Nintendo want to release their GBA titles as VC, will Nintendo handle project assignments, can they contact M2 directly, or will those be out of luck?
@Jazzer94 To me they are not - they don't care about the sound ever. (M2's Neo Geo Station - sound is off but the Wii VC stuff by D4 Enterprise isn't). Metal Slug 2 is better on the PS3 though because it can overclock the emulator to remove most of the lag (M2 did that).
How about commissioning them to get them up and running on 3DS as well? M2 are emulation gurus. Wish Nintendo would let us customize our buttons on on 3DS VC and not making the res feature for GB/GBC/GBA games be a "secret".
M2 is full of win. Team up with vc is win X2
Well at least there's someone there actually working on emulation now. To me it's bizarre and inexcusable that the Wii U didn't launch with a full VC library including all the games that were available on the Wii VC.
The fact it didn't is nothing to do with the difficulty in porting the games. There are plenty of competent emulators for these systems that play the games perfectly, and they've been available for years.
It's more a question of trickling releases out to fill gaps and generate excitement about things we really shouldn't be so excited about - like the release of SNES Mario Kart. Yes, it's great to be able to experience the nostalgia, but giving us that nostalgia is effortless and free of cost to Nintendo.
OK, so maybe these guys can code a GBA emulator for the 3DS too, right?
Whatever happened to 3D Classics tho?
I'm glad Nintendo is finally starting to work with M2
Am I correct in thinking SEGA own M2?
The less I talk about GBA on WiiU, the better.
(I mean, what about getting M2 working on GBA games for the 3DS instead?)
@originaljohn No idea. Strange they do stuff for SNK / Konami / Nintendo if that is the case. This implies they are independent : http://www.mtwo.co.jp/en/corp-profile/
Many people want to see GameCube games on the WiiU eshop. I think it would be amazing to have them on the 3ds instead. Or both. But GameCube on the 3ds, yes please.
GBA on 3DS & Wii U was the decision Nintendo should have made. Not really wanting to play portable games on my HDTV.
I would love to buy games like F-ZERO GX on the Wii U, instead.
@originaljohn As far we know that M2 fellas are hardcore fan of Sega.
@ikki5
I hope that the functionality between Golden Sun 1 & 2 is kept intact somehow if GS2 makes it. If you beat GS on a GBA, you can carry your save over to a new game of GS2 and it will keep some of your stats, decisions and whatnot, a la the Mass Effect series.
@Kaze_Memaryu great points, I was just thinking how long might this have taken and why would they not be hired to do more, if not ALL vc stuff. It begs the question: if Nintendo weren't doing this ....what are they actually DOING??
Mk8 is completed, ssb is worked on by a small select team. Zelda will have been in production for some time with a separate team also. That leaves nes remix 2 which shouldn't be a big workload. I'm wondering what that are actually programing right now. The vc has been a joke so far compared to Wii and there really isn't allot of games a incoming from Nintendo right now. I don't get why they are not doing more to change things?
Yet, they somehow still couldn't emulate/recreate multiplayer for GBA VC games? If they ever come to 3DS, (doubtful) they better have that feature in tact... (I mean, Game Gear games on VC have it in tact.)
@PinkSpider Dude, right? I'm probably going to buy Advance Wars, at the very least.
Nintendo should buy M2 and use them for all the classic VC ports. They said they were looking more into mergers and acquisitions, didn't they? Get on it, Nintendo!
Great job M2 keep up the great work.
@ULTRA-64 Funny thing is that Nintendo doesn't develop NES REMIX, either.
But they do work together with BandaiNamco on SSBU/SSB3D, as well as most likely having Aonuma's team get busy on a new Zelda title (speculation) close to Project Hyrule Warriors, and possibly working on Pokémon Battle Tournament.
But yeah, from the looks of it, Nintendo's folks seems to sit on their thumbs right now, which points to either them developing unnanounced stuff, and/or sorting out internal problems as well as discussing improvement features to enhance thevWiiU experience. Who knows...
GBA on 3DS is not gonna happen, at least for a long while. Nintendo wanna push WiiUs with this. 50x people asking for it here's not gonna change this. Please stop whining...
These guys are the master of emulation!!!!!!!! Loved the work they did on the 3DS Sega Classics, glad to see the were hired to help Nintendo make GBA games even more awesome!
@Extremist
If we stay quiet, Nintendo will think there's no audience for GBA games on the 3DS.
@Rin-go There were also no plans for a unified account system and look what happened there. Point is, "no plans" doesn't mean yes, but it doesn't mean no.
I'm hoping the Sonic Advance trilogy will make an appearance on the VC.
I just hope they pick up the pace of VC releases at some point. The time they take to distribute all these games is agonizing. Hackers have managed to get tons of old games to run on the Wii, and I just don't see why Nintendo wouldn't be able to do that. Or am I missing something there?
I guess saying that nintendo should use M2 to make their VC games in every one of my club nintendo surveys worked out well. Now maybe they will bring GBA and SNES to 3DS if I keep typing that as well.
@Kaze_Memaryu I guess the good thing with them is they always have SOMETHING planned! I'm still optimistic that the software that defines the console is still to come....it's just getting hard to be patient still. For me personally, my favorite ip's are still to come so I'll be happier if/when there is a starfox, wave race and Zelda game out. It's just hard to not get mad when there appears to be little happening and the console is bombing =(
@penfold007 In a way, that's very likely. Successor of Earth was already in english and Mother 3 has a professional fan translation. Heck, Tomato (M3's translator) already said he would give Nintendo the files for the translation if they want.
...They should really work on the SNES games now, would be nice if I had the option to smooth out Earthobund's visuals on my TV.
@HarryK
I don't mean to rain on your parade, but the chances of that happening are somewhere between zero and none. Wild speculation and personal hopes have spread like wildfire lately- this is just the latest I've been hearing from a whole multitude of Nintendo fans. Just letting you know, try not to get your hopes up. Hate to see all these people crushed when they find out that's never going to happen.
Wow, I must have not been alone on Club Nintendo when I mentioned that the Sega games had a better emulator then the Nintendo ones.
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