[Stet]

No, no, no. You're not paying to access your purchased games, you can do that for free. You're paying IF you want to add features to those games, like off-TV play and Miiverse. Do not understand the continued confusion over this. If people disagree with being charged to update, that's one thing. I think it's a fair charge, but at least that disagreement is a matter of opinions. People blindly and wrongly being outraged at the thought they have to pay again for an unaltered transferred game is another. That isn't the case, and has been very clearly stated.

Those aren't game features, those are system selling features. They should apply to all first party releases by default.

[brandonh83]

I don't own my original Wii, sold it years ago. But I had a lot of VC games, which are reflected in my Club Nintendo account so I have proof that I bought them. But I'm still not eligible for the discount because I can't transfer the old & busted versions to a Wii U? Fuck you Nintendo.

Sounds like you're in my boat. It would be a pleasant surprise to discover otherwise.

[SAB CA]

Point is: no $1-$1.50 fee for the privilege of playing your previously purchased games on your new device with a handful of new features. Keep in mind that the Vita has specific/new features for PS1 titles as well... for free.

This is still, all after taking BC out of PS3 at launch, charging for expensive memory cards for play on Vita (and to a lesser extent, PSP), and having you buy the games all over again, even if you were already playing them on an old BC PS3. It's not like they had all this stuff straight from attempt 1 on PS3 either.

And ignoring the point that the PS3 has nothing like Miiverse attached to any of it's games, so global sharing of screenshots and such with an online community from within the game/system is totally out of the question.

And again, the point that Sony's portables are playing-catch-up to Nintendo's... of course some of their portable offering are going to appear generous, in order to try and ramp up the system popularities.

And what Sony-provided way is there to freely transfer my saves between all these consoles? I had to buy a memory card unit for PS1 to PC saves. There's no PS2 card reader slot on PS3. Even with Plus, I'm pretty sure there's no way to share saves between PS3 and PSV on PS1 games, I've asked in the Vita thread before, as I wanted to play Alundra between both. Unlike the Wii U, the PSV came with no system memory off hand, and I can't even begin to think about playing my shared games on the Vita without buying memory cards that cost almost the price of a system for good storage size.

Sony offers a nice gesture, but it's silly to think they're not offering these things in order to make up some money on development cost, same as Nintendo.

Why does everyone keep ignoring that all of these various options have their own positive sides, as well as negatives? Why do people continue to act like each option exist in a vaccum, without any outside factors influencing the various methods and price points?

-----

As a gamer, these complaints over these small chuncks of change... In 10 years, if I payed $9.99 for Final fantasy tactics on PSN, or 13 dollars for an 8-Dollar download of Secrets of Mana +1 dollar each for the next 3 generations of Nintendo consoles, and 2 dollars for the 4th... Am I really going to care, if I got 10 years of fun out of those puchases?

I get so much more out of my gaming dollar NOW a days, than I used to in the past. Even with "nickle and dime" content now, I also get free patches left and right, and very often, multiplayer that's not limited to the friends I could invite to a house, or the people I could find in my area, who like my taste.

I get 10 and 15 dollar downloadable games that last as long as many console games I had in the past. For the price of rentals, I get full games I can keep.

What I once paid 50 dollars to get and use on a system for 4 years, I now smetimes pay 5, 8, 10, or 15 dollars to get, and play on the next 2 or 3 generations of console going forward, as is the case with many PS1 games.

I used to have to wait a year or more for a game to drop 20 dollars on sale. Now you have deals that do such a thing in a few weeks. I NEVER got a game for less than 20 dollars during some of these system generations. Now I can walk into places and get 4 or 6 month old games for 4.97, 6.75, 9.98...

Compared to the prices of everything else I enjoyed as a kid, Gaming has become oddly cheaper. While my old 3.99 action figures now go for 12.99, sometimes with less articulation and cheaper parts, many games that rival what I'd spend 20 dollars + on a visit to the arcade to play, can now be had for 7.99 / 9.99, without a need to even travel anywhere to get, or play it.

In light of it all, some of these complaints just seem so ridiculous. Heck yeah, I would have payed a dollar to be able to share my scores on Milon's Secret Castle with a few friends, after buying the game a few months back. Heck yeah I would have payed a Dollar to show some of my favorite moments of Rollergames, Kabuki Quantum Fighter, and T&C surf designs to someone, NOONE knew what this stuff was back then!

I would have loved to have been able to pay a buck-fifty to be able to play Run Saber on a handheld unit, while my brother wanted to watch TV.

We can get SO MUCH with our games, for comparatively so LITTLE now, that even the little stuff becomes an issue! Oy.

[Hi i'm Caleb]

annnnd precedent. Welcome to next gen!

[StAidan]

People blindly and wrongly being outraged at the thought they have to pay again for an unaltered transferred game is another. That isn't the case, and has been very clearly stated.

Sorry, but you're objectively wrong.

The games are unaltered. You're paying a per-game fee to transfer them to the Wii U emulator.

[ZeroGravity]

I honestly think $1.00 is a VERY fair and reasonable price considering that these aren't just some ROM dumps. Sorry guys.

Yup. But people love their outrage.

[Atmej]

I don't own my original Wii, sold it years ago. But I had a lot of VC games, which are reflected in my Club Nintendo account so I have proof that I bought them. But I'm still not eligible for the discount because I can't transfer the old & busted versions to a Wii U? Fuck you Nintendo.

When you sold your Wii, did you include your VC games as a selling point?

[Zeer0id]

I don't own my original Wii, sold it years ago. But I had a lot of VC games, which are reflected in my Club Nintendo account so I have proof that I bought them. But I'm still not eligible for the discount because I can't transfer the old & busted versions to a Wii U? Fuck you Nintendo.

If you sold your Wii without taking into consideration the value of the games downloaded to it, it's really your own fault there, bud. Sorry to sound harsh.

You basically sold your VC games away for free. If I were going to sell a Nintendo system with games on it, I'd make it clear that it's coming with games, and the buyer won't be getting those as freebies.

[Eusis]

I think the price is... acceptable. Not ideal, but it sure as fuck beats rebuying like on 3DS.

I've seen it brought up how you can get an iPhone app and use it on iPad, but to me this seems like getting the iPad version at a discount. Not AS good given that's actually a higher resolution (or so you'd hope), whereas this is always running at the same resolution and off screen play should be insignificant to add, but still a mild upgrade.

... I'm more worried they'll drip this stuff out or something. If they rush a lot of the games already out on VC onto Wii U VC then I'll be content, especially if it urges support revival.

[TheGreyHulk]

I honestly think $1.00 is a VERY fair and reasonable price considering that these aren't just some ROM dumps. Sorry guys.

$1.00 to use a game you bought already on a different system is not reasonable.

they very much could be rom dumps and the only thing they updated is the emulator to use the gamepad and miiverse functions.

the people who bought the games on the virtual console shouldn't be charged period.

[SuperJay]

And since they're charging $1.00 or $1.50 for upgrades, does that mean NES titles will now be $6.00 and SNES titles will now be $9.50 with their extra features?

Ohh, lol, whoops. I was totally thinking Nintendo was dropping the price to $1 and $1.50 for games. I was all excited about buying a bunch. $6 and $9.50?? I'll pass.

Nintendo should really consider pricing these games to move. These games are old, they've already made their money. Slap a cheap price on them, treat them like mp3's or phone games, and rake in that micro-transaction dough.

As a cheap ass gamer, I can tell you I'd gladly shell out 10 bucks for 10 NES games. But 6 bucks for 1? I will never make that purchase. So, because they're not aggressive with pricing, Nintendo gets 0 dollars instead of 10.

Honestly Nintendo, I know you never will, but just let go. These games have made their money. They don't owe you anything. Price to move, get competitive, and give gamers a reason to say wow about Wii U digital content.

[Palette Swap]

If/when WiiU is hacked, this will look pretty ridiculous compared to emulators.

[Clay Davis]

The Wind Waker HD remake (and lack of required analogs in some GC games) kind of made me realize they'll probably do the full priced HD remake route for noteworthy Gamecube games. Kind of how they made OOT 3DS and Star Fox 64 3DS. I wouldn't be surprised to see Sunshine HD added to that list someday soon. Maybe even Luigi's Mansion HD. Maybe if we're lucky they'll be $50 instead of $60 (slight sarcasm). But hey, that way Nintendo can pump out more U games since they apparently are struggling with the longer development times.

There's 1 game they're making an HD remake for. And that's in a series that already had a 3DS remake, and probably works as a good marketable prototype towards future Zeldas. What's to say N64 won't come later, after Nintendo is well into getting things to work with the 2 systems they announced already? Not to mention they haven't said anything about TG16, Genesis, Neo Geo... There's no real reason to think this is the end of BC updates onto the Wii U.

good point, but I tend to agree with glass joe. nintendo will probably see the dollar signs involved in hd remakes and go that route and not bother with gc vc games. :/

[mackattk]

Ohh, lol, whoops. I was totally thinking Nintendo was dropping the price to $1 and $1.50 for games. I was all excited about buying a bunch. $6 and $9.50?? I'll pass. Nintendo should really consider pricing these games to move. These games are old, they've already made their money. Slap a cheap price on them, treat them like mp3's or phone games, and rake in that micro-transaction dough. As a cheap ass gamer, I can tell you I'd gladly shell out 10 bucks for 10 NES games. But 6 bucks for 1? I will never make that purchase. So, because they're not aggressive with pricing, Nintendo gets 0 dollars instead of 10. Honestly Nintendo, I know you never will, but just let go. These games have made their money. They don't owe you anything. Price to move, get competitive, and give gamers a reason to say wow about Wii U digital content.

Its still 4.50/6 for new purchases. You can upgrade for $1.00/1.50 if you bought them before.

[bkfount]

How many times does one need to purchase Super Mario Bros.? Sure, I'll go for a digital purchase if all I owned before was the physical cart. But in today's digital world, I'd darn well better be able to buy a license to play my game, and then play it on whatever device I want. If I wanted SMB on the NES, I had to buy the cartridge. If I wanted SMB on the GBA, I had to buy the classic series re-release (cartridge). If I wanted SMB on the Wii, it was available through a convenient digital download. If I wanted SMB on the 3DS, I had to buy the download again, but there it was. Now on the Wii U, guess what, there I am shelling out money for it again. No. I'm done buying Super Mario Bros. I'm done buying Balloon Fight, I'm done buying all of it. RetroUSB's got an HDMI-modded NES coming out in a few months. At that point, my NES carts are moving from my CRT cabinet to my big, bad HDTV to be played in high definition glory. No more of this digital download garbage from Nintendo.

They should have one unified shop, one unified account, and VC titles should at least be able to work on the WiiU and 3DS.

Although, we'll have to see how MS handles stuff like XBLA BC. It's not like there's tons of precedent out there for just getting stuff for free simply because we've bought it once already.

[Glass Joe]

$1.00 to use a game you bought already on a different system is not reasonable. they very much could be rom dumps and the only thing they updated is the emulator to use the gamepad and miiverse functions. the people who bought the games on the virtual console shouldn't be charged period.

People can use the VC game they bought on Wii on Wii U already. The aren't charged, that transfer was free. If they feel that the enhancements (gamepad functionality, Miiverse) are worth it, then they can upgrade if they'd like. They can choose not to upgrade and still fully enjoy their original VC game on U regardless.

[Reclaimer]

Any news on emulator enhancements?

What kind of upscaling are we getting, if any?

Scan line options?

Playing on the Wii u Gamepad might be neat, but I already have an actual SNES and upscaler that makes my games look far better than anything on the virtual console so far. I want Nintendo to really show these old games some love with an excellent emulator, but I'm guessing ill be disappointed.

People can use the VC game they bought on Wii on Wii U already. The aren't charged, that transfer was free. If they feel that the enhancements (gamepad functionality, Miiverse) are worth it, then they can upgrade if they'd like. They can choose not to upgrade and still fully enjoy their original VC game on U regardless.

Exactly. I'm not sure why people are so upset about this...

[Omegasquash]

When I get one, I won't be using the VC until they clean their act up.

[Glass Joe]

Any news on emulator enhancements? What kind of upscaling are we getting, if any? Scan line options? Playing on the Wii u Gamepad might be neat, but I already have an actual SNES and upscaler that makes my games look far better than anything on the virtual console so far. I want Nintendo to really show these old games some love with an excellent emulator, but I'm guessing ill be disappointed.

No emulator enhancements and honestly Balloon Trip doesn't look very crisp on either the TV or the pad. Maybe when VC officially rolls out they'll add some bells and whistles but no reason to really get your hopes up there.

[Reclaimer]

No emulator enhancements and honestly Balloon Trip doesn't look very crisp on either the TV or the pad. Maybe when VC officially rolls out they'll add some bells and whistles but no reason to really get your hopes up there.

Oh well, thanks for the info!

[EscapingJail]

I'm pretty sure there's no way to share saves between PS3 and PSV on PS1 games, I've asked in the Vita thread before, as I wanted to play Alundra between both.

You can transfer saves back and forth. You have to hook up your vita via usb to the PS3 and run content manager.

[jimi_dini]

No, no, no. You're not paying to access your purchased games, you can do that for free. You're paying IF you want to add features to those games, like off-TV play and Miiverse.

A developer stated that off-TV play takes 5 minutes to implement. And who cares about Miiverse. So you are actually paying a few dollars additionally for each title just for some Nintendo developer to add a few lines of code. Great

Anyone who supports this: in a few years, think about what you have done, when Sony asks for just a few dollars each so that you can play PS3 titles on PS4 with 4K support or something like that. Ask for retro games to get filtered video output - another few dollars.

Why not even pay them because you can now play Wii games using HDMI cables, which you previously couldn't do as well.

[Oersted]

$1.00 to use a game you bought already on a different system is not reasonable. they very much could be rom dumps and the only thing they updated is the emulator to use the gamepad and miiverse functions. the people who bought the games on the virtual console shouldn't be charged period.

You still can play your VC games purchased on Wii, on Wii and WiiU. The only thing that changed that you now have the option to buy a upgraded for one buck.

But I doubt you even have a WiiU.

[Dinosaur]

Can't believe people are defending the upgrade fee. God dammit Nintendo.

Is it possible to only transfer some of my VC games to Wii U?

[WiiRevolution1]

So many people complaining, wow.

Meanwhile, when they release them, I will finally be enjoying SNES games like SMW, ALTTP, F-Zero, Super Punch Out, Super Metroid, and more for only $1.50 each when I was expecting it to be $8. Plus third party games, plus the awesome GBA games.

NES games are meh, I'd rather play everything on my 3DS with sleep mode anywayz, but glad to have the SNES and GBA games on a current portable system. With a activity log.

Only downside is having to transfer my stuff from Wii to WiiU. Its gonna delete my Wii Nintendo Channel Activity Log. Fuck.

Esit: Holy shit. Just googled and it doesn't transfer the message board, which means it doesn't fuck with the Nintendo Channel's Activity Log.

FUCK YEAH!

[qko]

Ohh, lol, whoops. I was totally thinking Nintendo was dropping the price to $1 and $1.50 for games. I was all excited about buying a bunch. $6 and $9.50?? I'll pass. Nintendo should really consider pricing these games to move. These games are old, they've already made their money. Slap a cheap price on them, treat them like mp3's or phone games, and rake in that micro-transaction dough. As a cheap ass gamer, I can tell you I'd gladly shell out 10 bucks for 10 NES games. But 6 bucks for 1? I will never make that purchase. So, because they're not aggressive with pricing, Nintendo gets 0 dollars instead of 10. Honestly Nintendo, I know you never will, but just let go. These games have made their money. They don't owe you anything. Price to move, get competitive, and give gamers a reason to say wow about Wii U digital content.

No, it'll be $5 ($6 for JP imports) for new NES purchases and $8 ($9 for JP imports) for SNES new purchases.

The $1 (NES)/$1.50 (SNES) is the price if you've bought and transferred your games from the original Wii.

[Shalashaska161]

The upgrade fee sucks but honestly the biggest disappointment with this announcement is the lack of systems. Just NES, SNES and GBA later? What about all the other systems on Wii Virtual Console? I hope they show up sooner than later.

[d0c_zaius]

not upgrading, rebuying, whatev

EAD VC

[Dinosaur]

Yeah I honestly can't believe how much trouble they seem to have with Virtual Console stuff. It seems they don't really care. Maybe it's not a big money maker? Probably because of the prices.

[PhantomR]

$1.00 to use a game you bought already on a different system is not reasonable. they very much could be rom dumps and the only thing they updated is the emulator to use the gamepad and miiverse functions. the people who bought the games on the virtual console shouldn't be charged period.

Integrating Miiverse, off-screen tv, and implementing customized controls while adding in backwards compatibility with the Wii Remote and Classic controller makes it worthy to me of the $1 upgrade fee.

Sorry, but I think it's pretty fair. I'm fine with it.

[SAB CA]

good point, but I tend to agree with glass joe. nintendo will probably see the dollar signs involved in hd remakes and go that route and not bother with gc vc games. :/

Probably matters on a case by case basis, I'd hope. Personally, I'd find it kind of nice to see some bite-size-price remakes of some not-as-well-known N64 titles... a few straight ports, and full retail HD upgrade for the games that really deserve it. But maybe that's expecting too much...

You can transfer saves back and forth. You have to hook up your vita via usb to the PS3 and run content manager.

Well, there's that, but the file doesn't go to anywhere that's actually useable. It just stores itself in a folder, to be transfer back at a later date, like a storage / backup device.

Unless something changed with a recent firmware update.

I really like how easily cross-play works on the official Vita games, but it's seemed all kinds of odd for BC games to me.

[Madouu]

A developer stated that off-TV play takes 5 minutes to implement. And who cares about Miiverse. So you are actually paying a few dollars additionally for each title just for some Nintendo developer to add a few lines of code. Great Anyone who supports this: in a few years, think about what you have done, when Sony asks for just a few dollars each so that you can play PS3 titles on PS4 with 4K support or something like that. Ask for retro games to get filtered video output - another few dollars. Why not even pay them because you can now play Wii games using HDMI cables, which you previously couldn't do as well.

You can play your purchased virtual console games from the Wii on the Wii U without paying anything.

Integrating Miiverse, off-screen tv, and implementing customized controls while adding in backwards compatibility with the Wii Remote and Classic controller makes it worthy to me of the $1 upgrade fee. Sorry, but I think it's pretty fair. I'm fine with it.

As a consumer, I'd prefer if it was free obviously, but it seems fair to me too.
What should be possible is transfering these games from one system to another as many times as you would like which would be feasibile with a unified account system. Sadly Nintendo is still a bit late on this regard.

[Stet]

You still can play your VC games purchased on Wii, on Wii and WiiU. The only thing that changed that you now have the option to buy a upgraded for one buck. But I doubt you even have a WiiU.

Honestly what is the draw of the WiiU VC if not to play the games on the gamepad? It's the same game. There would be no point to a different WiiU VC otherwise.

[Glass Joe]

A developer stated that off-TV play takes 5 minutes to code. And who cares about Miiverse. So you actually are paying a few dollars additionally for each title just for some Nintendo developer to add a few lines of code. Great Anyone who supports this: in a few years, think about what you have done, when Sony asks for just a few dollars each so that you can play PS3 titles on PS4 with 4K support or something.

Why doesn't this happen?:

"Damn you Miramax! I bought Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2 on DVD and *now* you expect me to pay full price for the the special edition just for the privilege to see the bonus features. I already own the movie, I deserve this for free! And *now* I have to pay full price to get to see the uncut edition that has both movies combined. And *now* it's full price for me to get it on Blu Ray so I can make use of my new hardware. And *now* there's a digital version and if I want that I have to pay full price too! I already own the movie, I deserve all these free!!!"

Instead I make a decision as to whether or not to pay out the nose to buy the same shit I own again. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. But something tells me if I'd bought Kill Bill Vol.1 and 2 once on DVD back in the day, and they offered each of those future enhancements to me for a buck or two a piece, I'd be friggin' elated.

[DeuceGamer]

In an ideal world the Virtual Console would have been seen as a platform for games, rather than the current broken up mess. When Nintendo launched the VC on 3DS, they should have allowed people to bring over their Wii games. But that wasn't possible because there was no account system. We should be at a point where Nintendo hit a switch and everyone can download all of their VC games (Wii, 3DS) and play them in the new Wii U wrapper (and at 60Hz for PAL people). What instead is happening is people are essentially having to pay three times for ROMs. Plus it seems Nintendo are starting all over again for Wii U. NES and SNES. Where are Mega Drive games? Where are N64 games? Virtual Console should be an expanding universal platform for Nintendo devices, not some broken up mess where Nintendo want to charge you for each platform and for the purpose of getting the emulator for the Wii U. They should have made all the Wii U emulators work on Wii U then put up all the existing ROM dumps in the eShop. We should be starting with GameCube games for Wii U but I guess Wind Waker HD put a bullet in that.

This I agree with. You should be able to play the games on Wii, 3DS, and Wii U (assuming they are on each system). It should be tied to an account and it should be accessible on each system.

That said, in the case of Wii>Wii U the games are available. The only difference is you can either choose to pay a small fee to have the additional features, or you can keep the game you paid for originally. It's sort of like GOTY releases coming with all DLC. Just because you bought the original game and they released DLC and a GOTY version that contains all the DLC doesn't mean those that purchased the original game get all the new features.

[jimi_dini]

You can play your purchased virtual console games from the Wii on the Wii U without paying anything.

The Wii U controller was meant to sell the system and you have to buy Wii U first, which costs quite a lot. And now you have to pay an additional fee to be able to play your games using that controller. Why not ask for a fee as well to pay all your physical Wii games on the Wii U pad as well. Just 1$ each. Nintendo will make a fortune on some people ITT.

Want to play PS3 games on your PS4 using your PS4 controller? You will need to pay an additional dollar. Sony should have done that on PS3. Want to play your PS1 + PS2 games using the wireless PS3 controller? Pay an additional fee. Totally fair, because PS2 controllers were wired. Want to get PS1 games filtered? Pay an additional fee as well. Want to play PS1 games using a higher resolution? Pay an additional fee too.

I wonder if Nintendo will support Wii virtual console on Wii U 2. Possibly not. Will probably only support Wii U virtual console. Which will then mean you need to pay every generation just to be able to play your digitally bought (overpriced) games.

[Dinosaur]

Integrating Miiverse, off-screen tv, and implementing customized controls while adding in backwards compatibility with the Wii Remote and Classic controller makes it worthy to me of the $1 upgrade fee. Sorry, but I think it's pretty fair. I'm fine with it.

Wait, where does it say we can customize controls? That would be awesome, SMB 3 would actually be playable on the Upad (Y=B, B=A).

And who the fuck wanted Miiverse integration for VC games? Just sounds like an excuse to charge more money. Not to mention Upad play should be a given, that's who whole point of the system.

[JoshuaJSlone]

Any news on emulator enhancements? What kind of upscaling are we getting, if any? Scan line options?

No options. Looks like a turd, bilinearly filtered and dark. I don't have the ability to take a proper screen grab, but I've taken a shot on a PC emulator and then modified it to approximate what it looks like on Wii U.

Original:
Wii U VC approximation

Wait, where does it say we can customize controls? That would be awesome, SMB 3 would actually be playable on the Upad (Y=B, B=A).

I don't know where it says it in press releases, but it's there in the program. You can go through the buttons on the Gamepad (or I presume any other controller you're using) and assign it to a button on the emulated controller.

[serplux]

No, it'll be $5 ($6 for JP imports) for new NES purchases and $8 ($9 for JP imports) for SNES new purchases. The $1 (NES)/$1.50 (SNES) is the price if you've bought and transferred your games from the original Wii.

See, they say that imports will cost a dollar more, but Mario 2 on the 3DS VC still only costs $5. I thought that was an indication that the policy was gone.

[serplux]

Wait, where does it say we can customize controls? That would be awesome, SMB 3 would actually be playable on the Upad (Y=B, B=A). And who the fuck wanted Miiverse integration for VC games? Just sounds like an excuse to charge more money. Not to mention Upad play should be a given, that's who whole point of the system.

I think Miiverse integration is a cool idea for all of us retro gamers out there who wanna share info about a game in the playground like when we did when we were kids.

[SAB CA]

Anyone who supports this: in a few years, think about what you have done, when Sony asks for just a few dollars each so that you can play PS3 titles on PS4 with 4K support or something like that. Ask for retro games to get filtered video output - another few dollars.

Drama, drama. Over history, I've actually like service that one could say "should be free" but yet ask for some money. Why? Because people tend to treat paying customers better.

PSO went from Free-to-Play to Pay-to=Play, and the kind of content offered, and the size of it, became much more interesting. If a company wants to keep getting money from a service, they keep improving it.

A free service does bring them income (Well treated customers are happy, and wish to support you!), but they could also say "Well, it's not direct money, so we don't have to do much to make people happy... it was free anyway!"

I already mentioned it in my post above, but if in, say, 10 years, I think "man, I payed 14 dollarsoverall, to have BC with one of my favorite games, across multiple console generations!"

... I'm not going to be mad. Rather pay a few dollars over the course of years, than have to hunt down working systems and new controllers, get repairs from foreign places for no-longer-supported products, and have to worry about hunting down antiquated TV hookups, or go through the work of learning how to rewrite the system myself, just to play an old game I miss.

I do hope Nintendo is pressured into / has already planned out how to prove that the additional cost is worth it. (We already have quite a few great options and additions mentioned in this thread!) If not, then we can all complain and give some constructive criticism at a later date. But for now? Bring on the WiiVC!

[Dinosaur]

I think Miiverse integration is a cool idea for all of us retro gamers out there who wanna share info about a game in the playground like when we did when we were kids.

Yeah that does sound nice actually, I jumped the gun on that. But still this is ridiculous. I mean we already overpaid for the ROMs in the first place.

[Madouu]

The Wii U controller was meant to sell the system and you have to buy Wii U first, which costs quite a lot. And now you have to pay an additional fee to be able to play your games using that controller. Why not ask for a fee as well to pay all your physical Wii games on the Wii U pad as well. Just 1$ each. Nintendo will make a fortune on some people ITT. Want to play PS3 games on your PS4 using your PS4 controller? You will need to pay an additional dollar. Sony should have done that on PS3. Want to play your games using the wireless PS3 controller? Pay an additional fee. Totally fair, because PS2 controllers were wired. I wonder if Nintendo will support Wii virtual console on Wii U 2. Possibly not. Which will then mean you need to pay every generation just to be able to play your digitally bought (overpriced) games.

I ... don't get your point and your analogies are definitely wrong: You can play Wii games on the Wii U without paying anything extra including your virtual console titles. If you find that the additional functionalities are worth the extra dollar, then you can pay it. If you don't, you can still play your game the way it was meant to be played on the day of your purchase. You have the choice.

I wish I had the choice to play wii games on the gamepad only with Miiverse integration if I wanted to.

Now of course, as a consumer I wish this was free, but this particular point seems very fair to me.

Like I said, the only real issue is the fact that you are limited to one system transfer and that your games are tied to your console. But this has been an issue since the Wii and has been discussed a lot. I agree that on this particular point it sucks but this definitely doesn't seem to be what you are arguing.

[Steve Youngblood]

What does Miiverse integration even entail? That when I hit the home button, I can access the game's specific Miiverse? I'm not sure why it follows that this requires overhauling the roms, when it seems clear that it's an overhaul of the emulator.

[jimi_dini]

Why doesn't this happen?: "Damn you Miramax! I bought Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2 on DVD and *now* you expect me to pay full price for the the special edition just for the privilege to see the bonus features.

Bonus features? You are comparing 5 lines of code to a completely new transfer of the movie including audio commentaries, making of features and even having a whole movie in physical digital form? You are kidding, right? One of those takes less than 5 minutes to do. The other thing takes a LOT more time.

Do I get an audio commentary when playing Super Metroid on Wii U virtual console? Would pay top dollars for that. Oh wait, I don't? The unmodified video output is just sent to another screen? And you are supposed to pay again?

A valid comparison would be: You owned a CRT before. Now you bought an LCD/LED HD TV. And now the DVD company asks you to pay a dollar just to be able to play that content again on your new LCD/LED HD TV.

And you can't even sell your Wii virtual console game. You can sell your old VHS tapes. Nowadays they won't get you much (although a few rare tapes can get you quite a high price, just like really rare DVDs can get you a really high price, although everyone is into BluRay now), but back then when DVD was kind of new I sold my Twin Peaks VHS cassette set for a really high price so that I can get Twin Peaks on DVD instead.

Like I said, the only real issue is the fact that you are limited to one system transfer and that your games are tied to your console. But this has been an issue since the Wii and has been discussed a lot.

Nintendo should offer you an upgrade so that your games are not tied to a specific console anymore. Will cost you a few dollars of course... Isn't digital content great? for the company, yes of course

[mackattk]

Why doesn't this happen?: "Damn you Miramax! I bought Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2 on DVD and *now* you expect me to pay full price for the the special edition just for the privilege to see the bonus features. I already own the movie, I deserve this for free! And *now* I have to pay full price to get to see the uncut edition that has both movies combined. And *now* it's full price for me to get it on Blu Ray so I can make use of my new hardware. And *now* there's a digital version and if I want that I have to pay full price too! I already own the movie, I deserve all these free!!!"

I think this analogy really doesn't work too well. I am not seeing new levels in super mario brothers, I am not seeing behind the scenes bonus features or directory commentary, I am certainly not seeing a high definition upgrade akin to 480p > 1080p with surround sound audio.

What I am seeing is a few lines of code that enables off screen gameplay, controller remapping, and Nintendo to make a new forum on Miiverse that includes the games' name. All three of these things is something I would expect Nintendo to do anyway with their launch of Virtual Console for the Wii U.

I ... don't get your point and your analogies are definitely wrong: You can play Wii games on the Wii U without paying anything extra including your virtual console titles. If you find that the additional functionalities are worth the extra dollar, then you can pay it. If you don't, you can still play your game the way it was meant to be played on the day of your purchase. You have the choice.

I think his analogy works fine. Unless you want to boot up into a special PS3 mode, and use a completely different controller scheme to be able to play the games than whatever PS4 will launch with. His analogy is EXACTLY what Nintendo is doing right now. Wii U Gamepad support? Better pony up an extra dollar for that. You want to play your game on Vita? Different controller AND screen. Better pony up a dollar.

[Pociask]

Why doesn't this happen?: "Damn you Miramax! I bought Kill Bill Volume 1 and 2 on DVD and *now* you expect me to pay full price for the the special edition just for the privilege to see the bonus features. I already own the movie, I deserve this for free! And *now* I have to pay full price to get to see the uncut edition that has both movies combined. And *now* it's full price for me to get it on Blu Ray so I can make use of my new hardware. And *now* there's a digital version and if I want that I have to pay full price too! I already own the movie, I deserve all these free!!!" Instead I make a decision as to whether or not to pay out the nose to buy the same shit I own again. Sometimes I do, sometimes I don't. But something tells me if I'd bought Kill Bill Vol.1 and 2 once on DVD back in the day, and they offered each of those future enhancements to me for a buck or two a piece, I'd be friggin' elated.

Because that analogy sucks? Here's what doesn't happen:

Damn you Panasonic! The digital 1080p movies I bought from the Panasonic Online Store displayed on my old Panasonic television at 720p, which was its maximum resolution, and now that I've upgraded to a 1080p Panny Plasma, you want me to pay you another dollar to redownload that movie so I can watch it in 1080p, even though I've already bought the movie from you, and you're not changing the movie in any significant away?

Edit: Beaten badly.

[hachi]

The discount is very reasonable. I'm quite happy with this arrangement.

[SuperJay]

No, it'll be $5 ($6 for JP imports) for new NES purchases and $8 ($9 for JP imports) for SNES new purchases. The $1 (NES)/$1.50 (SNES) is the price if you've bought and transferred your games from the original Wii.

Ok, but you're missing my point. These are digital copies of old games. Like someone said earlier, I can go download 100 of these games for free right now. I don't want to do that. I want to pay Nintendo. But I'm not paying 5 or 9 bucks for old, non-physical copies of games PERIOD.

So this pricing scheme pushes me out as a consumer in this market. That's fine. Nintendo has decided it's not worth appealing to me. They probably think it's not financially worth appealing to me. I'm saying I think it is. Who is going to care about buying and rebuying an old NES game if they're priced to move like mp3's at .99 cents?

New retro-styled games, fine. Price them 4.99 or 9.99 and I might buy a few. But old games which I've probably owned in some form or other already over the years and can get free with a few clicks right now? Just not worth it for consumers like me.

[Glass Joe]

What does Miiverse integration even entail? That when I hit the home button, I can access the game's specific Miiverse? I'm not sure why it follows that this requires overhauling the roms, when it seems clear that it's an overhaul of the emulator.

Miiverse is just basically a link to a Nintendo message board in cyberspace. Not really rom related at all. Well, some functionality in the emulator to allow for screen shots, but yeah, total non-issue.

The issue is that Nintendo, instead of having one universal emulator they popped into every NES game, made custom ones for each title. And couldn't predict a streaming 6.2" tablet controller at the time they made them, obviously. So apparently they have to tweak each game to make it stream, double check for emulation problems (since it will run on different hardware now, U instead of Wii mode), and recreate digital manuals. And that coding/testing process costs man hours.

Poor planning? Yeah I can agree with that. But I'll accept the route they've taken because they technically made every Wii VC game compatible with the U from the start, which during the Wii days, certainly wasn't promised.

EDIT: I'll admit my VHS / DVD / Blu Ray / Digital analogy isn't the greatest. It's an intentionally over the top reaction to an argument that I think is also an over the top reaction.