SpentAllMyTokens

Iwata-san was truly an artist. He couldn't NOT be creating. While Nintendo made money, he never sold out. He created games and experiences that everyone could enjoy for the sake of making the best games and experiences for people to enjoy. The world lost an amazing artist, leader, and human being. If all leaders were like him - the world would be so awesome.

My wishlist:

1. Great games with awesome local multiplayer experiences. It'd be wonderful to see something revolutionary, but those days may be over.

2. Off TV play in some way. That feature was probably my favorite thing about the WiiU.

3. Sweet VC - get all the games from Wii/Wii U plus maybe GCN and DC games. Backwards compatibility for Wii/WiiU games too. Reward us loyal fans by not making us pay full price again if we already have the game.

4. Unified account system - if a game is on the console and portable - let me buy it once and get both versions (for a new retail game, like smash that had to be developed from the ground up for both systems, I'm happy to pay more for a "bundle", but not so much for a NES rom-dump.

I just wish they'd throw the sonic games up on the WiiU VC

Great article. This is such a huge loss. Iwata was truly a visionary leader who truly cared about everything Nintendo - quality games, fun for gamers, and his dedication to the staff and company were unparalleled.

I am worried about what will happen to Nintendo without his vision. He stood up to investors in regards to selling out with mobile games. He was not the fastest moving leader, but you could be sure when he did something, he would put the time and care into things and do it right - hopefully that's what we'll see with the mobile strategy moving forward now, as opposed to just slapping a Mario skin on a Candy Crush and Farmville and counting cash.

I fear that's likely what many investors want, because it's quick, low-risk cash. Hopefully NX will blow everyone away to prove those investors that Nintendo can still be successful in the console world (and keep making awesome games I want to buy), because without someone like Iwata at the helm...I fear Nintendo could be the Sega of the 21st century.

Ooh, rumble is back! That's why I didn't by the Wii version (had the GC disk with Master Quest). I also have the 3DS version, but I'll probably get this if it goes on sale. I prefer to play it as I remember it. On a big screen with cubes. I just can't justify spending full price on buying this game AGAIN when I can play it on the 3DS. Now, if Majora's Mask hit the VC... I don't have the 3DS version of that, and without a Master Quest, it's not really worth me spending $40 on a retail cart to play that title.

Multiplayer is great for the WiiU/home consoles. But my husband isn't super interested in buying his own 3DS, and as it's a portable, I'm often out and don't have access to wifi when playing it. In my opinion, portable games should always have a robust single player (with the exception of maybe sports/smash bros type entries), since that's likely how many would play it.

Nothing wrong with a game having/being built around a strong co-op experience. I'm sure there's a market for it (couples with two 3DS's, siblings, kids who play at lunch/on the bus at school) - it's just not as easy to pull off for people as with a home console, so the single player should be worth buying the game for as well, for the most part.

I'm just kind of bummed that they are starting to be used more and more to unlock content already on disk...I don't care about the occasional costume or anything, but if I pay $60 for a game, I want the whole game. I get that people who buy the amiibos want value too...but you could do that if they didn't come out with a whole new line for every game. Plus, you get a physical, collectible object. That's great for some people...for me though, I don't need that clutter around the house (I'm happy to have fewer game boxes due to downloads).

I'm bummed that actual gameplay is starting to be locked behind amiibos. I'm voting with my wallet and not buying any. Hoping that the few activities/missions/whatever I'll miss by not owning any will be made up for by the awesome NX console/new games made from the financial windfall of the toys. I just worry that since amiibos are probably a whole lot of profit, Nintendo starts seeing games as purely marketing tools for the figures....

If they did a subscription service, it would be awesome if they did a Netflix model where you can access the whole catalog for a monthly fee. As long as you're a member, you can download and play whatever you want (though I wouldn't expect to be able to keep any games I downloaded afterwards, of course). That would encourage me to try more games. Ultimately, I'd just prefer cheaper downloads and buying what I want, but if a subscription model gets more games I want on the system, because it's more profitable, I'm ok with that - as long as it's not crazy expensive. (I'm not playing 9.99/mo. to putz around a couple hours here and there for Mario 64, for example).

I went with the N64 version. Perhaps it's nostalgia, perhaps I'm just old and crappy at smash...

Some people consider the N64 version "limited" or "barebones." I find it to be clean. I can actually see where my character is on the screen, because the stages aren't bigger than the TV with a million different things going on. The roster was small, but the important core characters were there. The only issue was it was a lot easier to resort to "cheap" moves.

I haven't bought it yet, because I'm out of space on my WiiU, and I'm waiting for my hard drive to come in the mail. If you run across a crappy samus or kirby online, it might be me.

Ugh, I was really hoping to use it for N64 VC games (hate playing those with a classic controller). Guess I'll just download this game from the eshop then. Does anyone know if there's a third-party adapter or something I could buy that I could use to turn my GCN controller into a Classic Controller? I just can't play N64 games with the CC layout.

I agree with @Gilantus - the parents I know don't buy their kids a tablet, but they will give them their old tablet or phone when they're ready to upgrade themselves. Also, many parents let their young child borrow their phone/tablet on the metro or while waiting in line to give them something to keep them distracted - so in that temporary situation, it's not worth it to carry a separate device.

I know mostly parents of young children (2-4ish), so their kids mostly aren't asking for video game systems yet. Also, I think there's a much larger selection of games on the App store that can be played by YOUNG kids, plus they can watch videos on it too. Most Nintendo games don't start being REALLY playable until about 5 years old. For younger kids, it's a waste to drop extra money on separate hardware and then at least $15 on a cart that is small enough to choke on for a game no better than 99 cent apps on the app store - we're not talking Mario or Final Fantasy here, we're talking "Count with Big Bird."

Tl;Dr Parents give kids old models when they upgrade and for preschoolers, touch screens are easier to use and games aimed at that age group are no better on the 3DS but are more expensive.

If they do something similar in the US, I'm game. I got SMK from club nintendo on my Wii for free, so I'd pay the $1.50 to upgrade and get a discount on MK8. I couldn't really get into SMK - too dated for me, and I don't really have nostalgia for it, but I will be getting MK8 pretty much immediately, so it's worth it.

My suspicion is that they were originally porting this over to be one of the first GCN VC titles for WiiU back when Reggie was dropping hints for that before launch.

Then when 3rd party publishers dropped the WiiU and first party games all got delayed, Ninty realized they definitely needed something quickly to promote to fill the hole. They probably had the SD version of the game mostly up and running for a VC release, which would include some of the more difficult aspects technically, such as off TV play, and decided to just quickly upscale it and move it to retail. That's my suspicion as to why there's not very much in the way of new features.

Hasn't this been their policy for a while (at least since gen. 4)? Hacked Pokemon have never been allowed in official tournaments (they're ability to actually catch them nonwithstanding). Call me when they have a way to keep obviously illegitimate pokes off the GTS.

So I guess we're probably not getting the cut dungeons back. That's a shame.

I wonder when that data was collected. Sure, how many people are playing original Xbox games at the end of this generation? How many people payed gamecube games on the Wii in 2012? It's different in the beginning of a new console's life though, I'd think. Being able to sell the previous gen system at a decent price helps soften the blow of the new console's release price. The old system's backlog also makes the initial release draught easier to bear.

I can totally buy that the cost it would add to the system to put it in may not be worth it, but I'm skeptical of the 5% number in the beginning of a console's lifecycle.

Dat discount... day 1 buy for me!

I like the reduced price promo they're doing with SMB2. I can't take advantage of it, since I'm upgrading, but I hope that becomes a trend. I would impulse buy so many more VC games if there were sales.

So...basically what this article is saying is younger people (who have grown up with games and online access) are comfortable with facebook selling their personal data when they "like" a company as long as they get a coupon? It's just another way to deliver coupons to people for the purpose of buying something they wouldn't have bought anyway. Instead of spending time clipping from newspapers, they're giving away personal information.

I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing, but I think it's hard to make the arguement that, as a generation, they will be better off financially because of it. Like anything else, some will be smart and benefit, others will just end up drowning in debt (ironically on cards they were "pre-approved" for according to a social media ad). Companies wouldn't waste money on thes promotions if a majority of people who take advantage of them would have bought whatever they were selling anyway.

Yes, I will be upgrading this one. Only $1 to play on the gamepad? Yes, please. With 480p resolution, these old games look great, much better than on my big HDTV.

Seemed silly to offer that game anyways this month. Really just offer something else good and wait until after the promotion is over - that would make the most sense.

While I will miss the hype of E3 - I've done enough meeting planning to know that a stage show like that must be astronically expensive. They can see all their investors and business associates in smaller meetings, and have a demo booth for press. Most people get their E3 news from gaming websites anyway. They'll still probably get all the new announcements and trailers. We just won't have to sit through an hour video to see it all. Being able to skip through the announcements we're not interested in may heighten the excitement and lessen the disappointment about E3 reveals - which is often more about the presentation itself than the games anyway.

They should have had this accessory from day one. Luckily, Nyko pretty much did, so I've been rocking that. The Nyko one works quite well (though I think mine is starting to have trouble.

Seems weird to be releasing Super Metroid now, given it will be out on the WiiU VC for cheap soon. Fine with me though - since I don't have the coins to buy it now anyways (gold nunchuck woo!).

I remember lurking around the old VC-Reviews site and thinking that this was some crazy April Fools' joke. I don't really have time to play much here anymore (Thanks job and Reddit), but this place is still my go-to for Nintendo news.

Definitely looking forward to hearing more about games announced at the last Direct!

Blew all my coins on the gold nun chuck, so my account is still recovering - it'll be a while before I'm getting any CN games - maybe by then they'll be offering WiiU VC games???

Yes I would want that. If they could have perfected the camera (time/effort could have been taken away from some of the extraneous characters, though I did like the mixed perspectives of the story) - SA would have been pretty much perfect. Love that game. SA2 had an awesome concept too - though I wish they had kept tails out of the eggwalker thing.

Meh, we all knew this was coming. It's a shame it's not dropping first on WiiU for a period of exclusivity at least though. The delay sucks for those waiting for new games.

If they make significant gameplay updates like add the missing dungeons back in, I have no problem with this.

I think I'll get everything except DK and Balloon Fight. I have Balloon Fight as an ambassador game on the 3DS and never play it, and I also have DK Original Edition which is the complete game, not the NES version with the missing level.

Definitely picking up the rest though - the only game I have already on the Wii is Kirby's adventure, and it's cheaper to pick it up through the promotion than as an upgrade. I'm most excited for Super Metroid though.

Are there still a lot of older TVs out in the wild that are only compatible with the 50hz games? I know probably most of those people won't be VC junkies, but that could be the reasoning (it's the only one that makes sense to me). In a perfect world, Ninty wouldn't be super lazy, and would just offer the option to switch to either one in Europe, but I'm just impressed they're putting effort into recoding the game roms to work on the gamepad and with the pro controller - that's better than they've ever done before.

No love for Clyde?

I don't play smash enough to warrant getting two titles - I'll probably just get the WiiU one.

Maybe. I haven't really played much WarioWare - though honestly, when it comes to mini games, I don't know if I'll need another fix as early as March. It's not like Ninty's running a shortage. I'll wait for the reviews.

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 don't mind picking up games again for 30 cents each, but I'm dismayed that after charging so much for these old games on the Wii, that Nintendo is just saying "screw you" to those who supported the service. I bought Sonic 1 on my iPhone 3GS for $4.00 a while ago, not the $8.00 Nintendo is STILL asking for on the Wii. I could play it on the iPhone 5. The benefit of digital is NOT having to rebuy games on every platform every generation.

I'm sorry, having to patch/update games with upgrades is not a problem for ANY OTHER DEVICE. I'm not going to be getting VC games on the WiiU eshop, because when the next console comes out, I don't want to play them in a gimped, slow-loading "WiiU mode," and then lose them completely when the console after that releases. I wouldn't even be opposed to paying for upgrades if there are enough new features (save states and gamepad only play would be worth probably about $1/game or so for me).

@Hyperstar
And I just saw your post - so I can upgrade games from the WiiU VC for about the asking price I offered? I'm off to do some reasearch, but n/m, not mad then if that's true. In fact, very happy!

As much as I'd love to see a major new title, a VC announcement, and 3DS/WiiU NNID integration, I know what we'll probably see is a pikmin 3 and lego city release date and trailor. I always get hyped for these, and really, they're just glorified press releases that usually aren't exciting at all.

I'm not buying anything on the WiiShop anymore anyways. I don't want to throw any money away on games that won't run natively on the WiiU (and probably won't be transferrable to the next Nintendo console.)

This is nothing new - we already pretty much knew this. What I want to know, is if I'll be able to upgrade my VC purchases from the Wii or if I'll have to rebuy the titles all over again to get the gamepad support. Will the WiiU VC even have all/most of the games on the Wii VC or will it just be newer generations?

Why are people selling systems anyway this early in the game? Crazy that you can even find used WiiU's to pick up?

The answer for savvy pre-owned sellers is to advertise the downloadable games that come with the machine when you're selling to increase you're console's value. Not perfect, since gaming tastes rarely match exactly, but you'll probably at least recover a little bit extra than a game-free used console would.

I wouldn't be surprised (though the true casuals don't seem to know about it yet), that the Nintendo market skews away from places like Gamestop and is more likely to buy from Target, Best Buy, Wal-Mart, etc. Unless you are really good at working trade-in deals, Gamestop just isn't a great deal. I get 5% off everything at Target with my credit card, so why would I get video games (which are priced the same everywhere) anywhere else? I'd imagine Wal-mart and Best Buy have similar discounts with their credit cards and Best Buy has a free rewards program (don't you have to pay a fee for Gamestops?).

My Target had NSMBU, Sega and Sonic All-Stars Racing, Nintendoland, and I think one other game sold out when I went there, and I can't ever remember Wii games selling out, so unless my store just got crappy shipments, this could be an isolated event. Let's not also forget the Deluxe promotion on digital games make buying new releases a better deal online than in most stores, unless you get a preorder deal. I have a feeling it may just be them...

To be honest, it would be too much of a pain to do games that connect with multiple 3DS's. I have one, but I can't see using more than one at a time. A four swords adventure type game that used 3DS's as controllers for everyone would fall to the same problem the Gamecube game did. Not everyone has a 3DS.

Would I like to see a 3DS/DS player for my WiiU? YES! Would I like games that work on both to share a save? YES! Would I like the eShops to be integrated, so that for compatible games (especially VC), I can pay once and access the game on both systems? YES! Asymmetric multiplayer? That's what the gamepad is for. The whole point of the WiiU is that you can play that type of game out-of-the-box without worrying if your friends have other systems.

Not surprising for a few reasons:
1) Wii was cheaper than its rivals, where the WiiU is more expensive.
2) Who didn't pick up WiiPlay just for an extra remote. If you wanted a deeper, full game, neither WiiSports or WiiPlay had you covered, so that's one extra title you picked up.
3) I think the Wii launch was heavier on Nintendo exclusive (though there were GCN/PS2 ports). Except for ZombiU, Nintendoland, and NSMBU the big titles are all multiplat and have been out a while.

Lame! That was quick for NA removal. No warning? It seems like these removals had affected Europe more until now, and involved 3rd party games. Nintendo had no issue releasing these games, so this is very strange.

Im glad I was able to snag an in store preorder at target after the first rush of preorders sold out.

This is no surprise to me. The deluxe set is easily worth $50 more than the basic set. That being said, it will be interesting to see if any nonfanboys think any wiiu is worth $300-350.

This is obnoxious. You know they're not going to give up the free money selling the orignal Super Mario Bros. brings. The Wii VC will be on the WiiU VC at some point (and I'm sure you'll be able to access the entire Wiishop from the eShop on WiiU like you can access DSiWare on the 3DS.

I can totally get not having the option available at launch, but I hope these games can be updated for free (or in bulk for a very small cost - $1/game or less). The VC games were overpriced to begin with compared to same-gen games ported to the PS3 shop (Sega is the easiest way to compare here). I'm definitely not buying Mario again every generation, though the older games are so perfectly suited for gamepad only play it hurts. I would be able to play so many more (read: justify BUYING many more, Nintendo), if I could play them while my BF watches TV.

Well, I know what request I'll be crowbaring into every Club Nintendo Survey I take now.

Still wondering how theyll prevent spoilers.

I lwouldnt have preordered the system without backwards compatibility. I still have a bunch of Wii games to play. May keep my wii around to play GCN games though.