Video: We Compare the NES Mini Emulation With the Wii U Virtual Console

If the nes mini looks that good compared to the Wii U sign me up for that. I don't ever want to see those images on the right ever again.

What they need to do is make an nes mini 2 with even more games!

I get so frustrated when I see articles like these. Yes, I know it's great. I just wish it were available to order!!!

Night and day difference...

It may be visually superior but the sound emulation is garbage.

I wish I didn't know. They looked fine to me on Wii U before.

Mario still has a purple sky. Why...?

Well thats the quality you can expect if you pay only 5 euro´s for a 30 year old game.

@nesrocks Not really

@nesrocks Could you elaborate on "the sound emulation is garbage"? I'm listening to it and it sounds fine to me.

I don't get why they don't fix color temperature of WiiU emulation, even if it means updating the emulator to use the NES Mini one now...

Kinda disappointing.

To be honest, you could compare the Wii U NES emulation to Margret Thatcher's left bollock nailed to a dead horse and it'd still look crap.

How does the Mini compare to Wii virtual console games running on the Wii U in Wii mode?

wow that really is a big difference

@gizmoto please change your avatar. i cant stop looking at it

Just look how much better it is on the Classic. Oh how wrong Nintendo got it all on the Wii U. It's no wonder the console flopped; I mean with junk like this. And, to be very clear, this is just one of Wii U's many issues as far as I'm concerned, so I'm not claiming it flopped solely because of terrible VC games. Anyway, hopefully the Switch VC is up to par with the Classic's emulation—if it even does a proper VC (I really hope it does).

So, hey kind of unrelated question. Why does recording software show blinking characters go completely invisible? I'm not much of an a/v guy, so that's always bugged me.

I've just played my NES Mini for about an hour tonight and I'm loving it! The games look and sound great, the emulation is definitely good from what I can tell. And I love being able to view replicas of the original manuals on my phone that can be downloaded as PDFs too.

The joypads feel great, but the cords are definitely too short. I'm keeping my eye out for an extension cable in the UK.

The only other 'miss' I think they've made is the fact the choice of games can't be extended. They could have done something cool like have the games on a game card (think 3DS) but shaped like a mini replica NES cart that plugs into the cartridge slot on the NES Mini. It would make the whole experience feel even more authentic, whilst at the same time allowing them to release additional compilation carts down the line.

Please do this for the SNES Mini Nintendo! 😀

For me it clear that both consoles have a same quality but Wii U VC is always used a crap video filters to make them look like a "retro". And that's the main reason why I never bought (and never will) any virtual console title. Despite of piracy, a homebrew emulators are provides an unreachable level of gaming in compare of Nintendo and it's a shame for the latter.

That is night and day. What a bloody disgrace the Wii U VC has been!

Nintendo if you charge premium prices for your backlog of games then provide the premium experience.

The quality of emulation had better be great for the Switch! And it better be free for already purchased games!

@bherdm http://forums.nesdev.com/viewtopic.php?f=3&t=15073

If Nintendo want to make another Mini series, please make it compatible with physical retails.

Um, that's great and all, but...my Wii U controller is wireless. $60 to sit 3 feet from a 40" tv to play these games does not sound awesome to me.

Now dust of your NES and compare it to that, original is best

The SNES VC games look fantastic, they definitely should have done the same for the NES stuff. Anyway, I only play on the Gamepad with brightness set to max and it easily does the job for me. It's darker, sure, but I just skip watching comparison vids and play on happily because the comparisons are pointless. Make no mistake, I think the NES Mini looks fantastic but it looks nothing like a NES hooked up to a CRT with RCA cables. The Wii U wins for "authenticity" if that's what your after.

Erm, I appreciate the hard work you do on your videos, Alex and any other other NL staffers who may be involved, but GameXplain did this exact comparison a month ago now...

(Granted, they did show different games, so this was still worth a watch.)

Mini NES has 3 different modes. One of the modes looks like the original NES and Wii U versions, but the mode shown here in the video above is a new HD mode, and while it looks better it doesn't look like the originals but like remakes.

For Switch Nintendo should allow players to play in the mode they want, and not force them to play only one version.

I like the Wii U version more because it's classic and pure, bad-looking just like the way it was back then, but 100% the same, like it's supposed to be.

However, if Nintendo wants to continue VC on Switch having all the display options of the NES mini available would be the prefered choice.

I don't get the NES mini though. For me it needs a small harddrive and an online shop.

@DrRandle That's what happens when a game running at 60 fps is recorded or played back at 30 fps. When you get hit, and you see the "invincibility frames", they programmed it by alternating displaying the character's sprite and making it invisible, giving it a flicker effect. Back then, and even sometimes now, they created that flicker by alternating displaying the sprite and not displaying the sprite every frame. In a 60 fps game being recorded / played back at 30 fps, you either see the sprite completely disappear or not flicker at all.

@gaby_gabito Same here, reviews saying it's great and recommending to pick one up, except... you can't.

I prefer the screen on the right.

The NES Mini is the Sun to the WiiU's Moon.

Isn't the Wii U version a lot closer to how it would look on an 80s CRT?

The sad thing is this comparison isn't about how good the NES mini is, but how bad the Wii U is. Wii VC games looked fine but Wii U VC has always been muted.

So glad I never ported my Wii VC to Wii u.

My dream now is a SNES mini.

@chardir It is. The problem is that people don't want it to look CRT. They only want it to feel like they remember it (ie better than it actually was). It does a great job at emulating a CRT TV, a little too great.

@Peach64 It's not really bad. It's probably the best available emulation of playing on a CRT TV. The problem is that nobody really wants it to look that true to the original.

Uh... to me it's obvious the Wii U looks better, what's with this horrible twinkling on the NES mini, it basically makes games unplayable? The only "fault" of the Wii U is games look darker, which they don't on my TV since it adjusts light automatically. Wii U wins hands down and I wouldn't touch the NES mini with a 10 foot poll.

I never realized how dark the games are on Wii U.

@Yoshi Okay, that makes sense then! I figured it had to do with the recording, but I wasn't sure what about that process was causing it. I guess I never took into account the 60 fps vs. 30 fps difference, and that causing the invincibility frames to be the only thing present. Thanks for that! : )

You too, @Alex0lney !

I find this test to be a bit relative to T.V. settings. aside from the resolution and frames. but the lighting people are talking about is very relative.

Wii u is the original copy.classic mini is fine tuned.i love it but I will still take the original cart look