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[RobFox64tm]

I'm really curious how these games are going to sound on my set up. GBA games always had a tinny shrill to them, but I don't know if it was the limited hardware or just compression techniques used in the software.

 

[roknin]

Welp, I'm down for some Advance Wars. Been a loooong time and I never did complete the original.

Welcome to every Nintendo thread over the past *10* years.

Fixed, unfortunately.

 

[Incitemaybe]

Are these going to be altered somehow to make them look decent blown up like that?

 

[Jito]

So when are these handheld games being released on a handheld?

 

[March of the Crabs]

Where's my Mario Kart Super Circuit?

Last I saw on GAF everyone seemed to hate that game yet I loved it I'd be one happy fella if it was put on VC

 

[jph139]

Hopefully it's out in the US soon, too - there's a few GBA games I never got a chance to play (Minish Cap, Metroid Fusion, Advance Wars, Golden Sun).

Part of me would want them on the 3DS but I do enjoy playing games on the Gamepad, so frankly it's a wash. Crossbuy/play would be ideal, though...

 

[El Sabroso]

"Wii U has no games!"
*Wii U gets games*
"I don't want a Wii U, fuck you Nintendo!"

Not talking about you specifically, just a general trend I've noticed.

The more games, the better! Bring em on, Nintendo!

totally agree, I want this to be confirmed in Americas too, now i feel envy for EU getting this VC titles pretty soon

 

[Mr-Joker]

So when are these handheld games being released on a handheld?

When the 3DS successor gets released.

 

[Roo]

Last I saw on GAF everyone seemed to hate that game yet I loved it I'd be one happy fella if it was put on VC

Probably they sucked at it.

 

[kizmah]

Will get this if priced no more than 5 euro moneys.

 

[SloaneRisette]

If Advance Wars were to have touch screen controls I'd get that in an instant.

 

[Waylon Drums]

Eh, I don't think everything they do is bad...matter of fact their indie content is downright nice. It's just that when they do things like this while the competition is leaps and bounds ahead, everyone wonders why they don't do what's really obvious and just cash in by giving fans what they want.

You're right, and I didn't mean to imply that you were one of the bitchers

 

[Ushojax]

Actually, NES games on the original Wii were dark too. The reason for that was so they can maintain their original color palette when viewed on a CRT through RF/Composite connections, as most games were designed with this limitation in mind. I assume GBA emulation is done in much the same way because games were designed with the original's very dark screen which required overly bright palettes to be used in many games. The dark thing isn't an emulation flaw, but an intentional choice. Of course that doesn't mean everyone will like it; I hated that NES games were dark for a long time, but eventually I kind of understood why after going back to emulators where the colors looked to garish in comparison.

To me if whites look grey, it's not acceptable. A miniscule proportion of gamers will play these GBA titles on a CRT, at the very least they could include options for CRT/HDTV that would stop the games looking so bad. Something like Yoshi's Island simply looks wrong on the 3DS. The games look better on my DSLite which is crazy.

 

[Kurtofan]

Where's my Mario Kart Super Circuit?

On my 3DS

 

[SuomiDude]

The 3DS can do good GBA emulation. Source: The 10 gba games already playable on 3DS.

Already explained that they are not actually emulated.

Nintendo "announced" wii u support for GBA games in the infamous panic direct where they announced a ton of things that they had barely even started working on in a poor attempt to make up for the incoming drought, right after it had become obvious (and they realised) the console was going belly up.

The console was released in November 2012, the announcement of GBA on VC was on January 23rd 2013 apparently. Wii U was selling pretty well in the beginning, so Nintendo was in no panic mode.

And you can't spot the fallacy in releasing on wii u instead of 3DS in the "They want more people to get to play them!" argument?

I have the original GBA, I don't have 3DS. I have Wii U and I'm pretty excited about GBA games on VC. And I especially mentioned the good emulating.

 

[Exile20]

The 3DS can do good GBA emulation. Source: The 10 gba games already playable on 3DS. Nintendo "announced" wii u support for GBA games in the infamous panic direct where they announced a ton of things that they had barely even started working on in a poor attempt to make up for the incoming drought, right after it had become obvious (and they realised) the console was going belly up.

And you can't spot the fallacy in releasing on wii u instead of 3DS in the "They want more people to get to play them!" argument?

Do you make up history on your own? When the GBA decision was make they were not in this situation.

Stop making stuff up.

 

[Linkstrikesback]

Already explained that they are not actually emulated.

You apparently missed the point where I don't care how they did it. They have GBA games playable on 3DS, I would pay money for more done in the same way. The emulation is absolutely fine and I couldn't tell the difference between them and the GBA originals.

The console was released in November 2012, the announcement of GBA on VC was on January 23rd 2013 apparently. Wii U was selling pretty well in the beginning, so Nintendo was in no panic mode.

Nintendo was in panic mode.

These headlines all came from emily rogers article here, and they speak for themselves. http://www.notenoughshaders.com/2013/05/18/wii-u-two-years-of-negative-brand-momentum/
Go to that page to see the separate links to each article.

“Wii U’s Failure to Launch: What Nintendo Needs to Fix in 2013″ – Jan 3rd, 2012 (Entertainment Fuse)

“‘Crysis 3′ not coming to Wii U due to lack of “business drive” – Jan 7, 2013 (Digital Spy)

“Game industry poor sales party due to Wii U says Pachter” – Jan 7, 2013 (Cinema Blend)

“When it comes to the Wii U’s online store, Nintendo is dropping the ball” – Jan 8, 2013 (Kotaku)

“Next Xbox, PS4 already have a leg up on Wii U” – Jan 9, 2013 (GameSpot)

“A sense of dread shrouds Nintendo’s Wii U” – Jan 11, 2013 (Yahoo)

“How the Wii U didn’t steal Christmas” – Jan 16, 2013 (GenGame)

“Big games slip out of Wii U’s launch window” – Jan 17, 2013 (Yahoo)

“Wii U launch line up dries up as several big games slip” – Jan 17, 2013 (Kotaku)

“Is Nintendo’s Wii U doomed already? Or just fashionably late?”- Jan 17, 2013 (Kill Screen Daily)

“Nintendo’s Wii U problems turn into a crisis” - Jan 18, 2013 (Yahoo)

“Nintendo ‘behind the next gen curve’ – Screen Digest” – Jan 25, 2013 (ComputerAndVideogames)

“Wii U misses out on Tomb Raider due to unconventional controller” – Jan 28, 2013 (TheVerge.com)

“Waning support from third party publishers spells big trouble for Wii U” – Jan 28, 2013 (Financial Post)

“Why Stranger’s Wrath and Other Oddworld titles are unlikely to come to Nintendo” – Jan 29, 2013 (Gameranx)

“Nintendo’s Wii U sales struggle” – Jan 29, 2012 (Eurogamer)

“Is Wii U the next Dreamcast?” - Jan 29, 2013 (Nintendojo)

“Nintendo lowers Wii U sales outlook” – Jan 30, 2013 (Yahoo)

“Nintendo Lowers Forecast for Wii U” – Jan 30, 2013 (New York Times)

“Nintendo posts unexpected loss as Wii successor falters” – Jan 30, 2013 (Yahoo)

“Will Wii U join the gaming graveyard?” - Jan 30, 2012 (Fastcompany.com)

Calls for Wii U price cut begin after Nintendo financials – Jan 30, 2013 (Edge)

“Nintendo chief rules out price cuts for Wii U” – Jan 31, 2013 (Yahoo)

“We Didn’t Know Nintendo Wii U Sales Were This Bad” - Jan 31, 2013 (Inquisitr)

“Is it game over for Nintendo?” – Jan 31, 2013 (Yahoo)

But no, numerous talk and sales figures about lowered sales, poor performance in that month and being the point where 3rd parties were starting to drop support left and right, of course Nintendo wasn't worried about anything. (I couldn't be more sarcastic if I tried). And the prior Decembers news was no better.

I have the original GBA, I don't have 3DS. I have Wii U and I'm pretty excited about GBA games on VC. And I especially mentioned the good emulating.

Oh, well, you have a wii u and not a 3ds, good for you. Since it needs to be spelt out, for you, there is a roughly 35million deficit of hardware sales in favour of the 3DS vs Wii U. "They want more people to play the games!" as you put it is no reason to put them on wii u, because they would obviously be putting them on 3DS and not Wii U if that were the reason.

 

[topplehat]

The "infamous panic direct"...what will you guys think of next?

 

[ZSaberLink]

No, putting their legacy lineup on the less future-proof of their platforms when their goal is to move to a single architecture within the next 4-5 years would be foolish.

This. Nintendo's investing in their next platform. The Wii U is likely on that new platform and the 3DS's successor will likely be as well. Not sure why Advance Wars looks so dark though.

 

[Oersted]

Wh-w-wha-what? What new pricing model?

Are you making things up? Bc there never was a new pricing model announcement.

Based on our account system, if we can offer flexible price points to consumers who meet certain conditions, we can create a situation where these consumers can enjoy our software at cheaper price points when they purchase more. Here, we do not need to limit the condition to the number of software titles they purchase. Inviting friends to start playing a particular software title is also an example of a possible condition. If we can achieve such a sales mechanism, we can expect to increase the number of players per title, and the players will play our games with more friends.

I guess we will hear more at E3.

 

[SuomiDude]

These headlines all came from emily rogers article here, and they speak for themselves.

Ok, it seems the bad news started to roll out before the announcement, I'll give you that.

Oh, well, you have a wii u and not a 3ds, good for you. Since it needs to be spelt out, for you, there is a roughly 35million deficit of hardware sales in favour of the 3DS vs Wii U. "They want more people to play the games!" as you put it is no reason to put them on wii u, because they would obviously be putting them on 3DS and not Wii U if that were the reason.

That just tells that they can't seem to get the GBA VC to work on 3DS. Maybe later with more time, but right now Wii U is their only choice, and I and many many others are happy about it. There's no way around that this is actually a good news.

But Nintendo, no matter what they do, can never win. It's always a lose lose situation for them, it's so apparent in threads like this, and basically any Nintendo related news, be it good or bad. Even in this thread we have someone saying how backwards Nintendo is, can't even get this right compared to their competitors, but we have PS4 and XBone which can't play any older games. That's the way to go apparently.

 

[WrenchNinja]

Your position here, as elsewhere, is "Based on Nintendo's judgment, Nintendo's judgment is good."

Nintendo over estimates the amount of people who give a shit about 3DS features while playing a game. The excuses aren't valid when a simple disclaimer or pop up at the start of the emulated game or in the case of the GBA, on the purchase page would suffice.

But people want to defend them with this dumb excuse. It's pretty amazing.

 

[Hibiki Kurosawa]

Oh my goodness! NA better be getting this next week! I would prefer it on 3DS, but I'll take it on my Wii U if it's there! I want more Advance Wars!

 

[AzaK]

I still don't understand why they're doing GBA VC on Wii U

Easier to make emulator. Free money.

 

[Glass Joe]

It looks like they darkened the screen.

You're not wrong:

[[Top: Nintendo PR Screen / Bottom: PC Emulator (?) ]]

My theory is the GBA roms were designed in a certain way with the limited lighting conditions in mind. As in, the assumption that sunlight or a lamp was over the unit. The PC emulator adjusted the levels to make them look vibrant like SNES games. This comparison makes the official VC look dark as shit because they didn't bother tweaking the levels to make them appropriate for the set-up it's on.

 

[Josh7289]

You're not wrong:

[[Top: Nintendo PR Screen / Bottom: PC Emulator (?) ]]

My theory is the GBA roms were designed in a certain way with the limited lighting conditions in mind. As in, the assumption that sunlight or a lamp was over the unit. The PC emulator adjusted the levels to make them look vibrant like SNES games. This comparison makes the official VC look dark as shit because they didn't bother tweaking the levels to make them appropriate for the set-up it's on.

My guess is that GBA games were designed to be brighter than console games to compensate for the dark, non-lit screen of the original GBA. So when you play them on a modern screen through an emulator, they can look too bright, so Nintendo darkened the color in their GBA emulation to compensate for the original games' color compensation. But it still looks too dark to me.

 

[Linkstrikesback]

But Nintendo, no matter what they do, can never win. It's always a lose lose situation for them, it's so apparent in threads like this, and basically any Nintendo related news, be it good or bad. Even in this thread we have someone saying how backwards Nintendo is, can't even get this right compared to their competitors, but we have PS4 and XBone which can't play any older games. That's the way to go apparently.

The win win situation here seems obvious really. Release anything feasible on both (obviously we won't be getting gamecube VC on 3DS at any point) with crossbuy/play for all VC titles.

I just can't put 2&2 together when Nintendo, who have been making losses for a while now, doesn't seem to want my money.

edit: Wow, that screen is horrifically dark. I always thought advance wars was supposed to look really bright and colourful (You know, other than dark conflict/days of ruin). Maybe it looks better on an actual wii u/the gamepad with the brightness turned up.

That has to be a mistake if it doesn't.

 

[Converse]

On one hand, great news that GBA Virtual Console titles are coming so soon, and that they're kicking it off with one of the finest titles.

On the other hand, I'd really prefer that Nintendo focus on portable titles on the portable VC and console titles on the console VC. I'm usually all about Nintendo weirdness, but I can find no sense in this move -- so we don't have GBA titles on 3DS, but we do on Wii U?
And we don't have N64 titles on Wii U? Will those be on GBA? Come on. This wouldn't be a problem if Nintendo had cross-play.

Also, that screen looks very faded. Don't pull an NES-filter on us, Ninty.

 

[Glass Joe]

My guess is that GBA games were designed to be brighter than console games to compensate for the dark, non-lit screen of the original GBA. So when you play them on a modern screen through an emulator, they can look too bright, so Nintendo darkened the color in their GBA emulation to compensate for the original games' color compensation. But it still looks too dark to me.

Hmm. Ya know, maybe I have it reversed, that seems to make more sense to me. I just followed the assumption of no work done. I didn't consider too much work. But if so, they took it way too far. That's how GBA games should look if I were wearing 3 pairs of sunglasses. But ambassador games which were just roms looked too dark too, I don't know.

On one hand, great news that GBA Virtual Console titles are coming so soon, and that they're kicking it off with one of the finest titles.

On the other hand, I'd really prefer that Nintendo focus on portable titles on the portable VC and console titles on the console VC. I'm usually all about Nintendo weirdness, but I can find no sense in this move -- so we don't have GBA titles on 3DS, but we do on Wii U?
And we don't have N64 titles on Wii U? Will those be on GBA? Come on. This wouldn't be a problem if Nintendo had cross-play.

I think the 3DS must have some sort of technical limitation preventing accurate GBA emulation. Some oversight they didn't consider when designing the thing. I do remember reading the ambassador games ran in GBA mode in RAM, which is why they were glitchy and dark and couldn't go into sleep mode, etc. Only thing that makes sense to me because it makes NO sense.

 

[Blues1990]

Actually, NES games on the original Wii were dark too. The reason for that was so they can maintain their original color palette when viewed on a CRT through RF/Composite connections, as most games were designed with this limitation in mind. I assume GBA emulation is done in much the same way because games were designed with the original's very dark screen which required overly bright palettes to be used in many games. The dark thing isn't an emulation flaw, but an intentional choice. Of course that doesn't mean everyone will like it; I hated that NES games were dark for a long time, but eventually I kind of understood why after going back to emulators where the colors looked to garish in comparison.

This is confusing. I thought the bulk of the games (that were emulated for the Wii Virtual Console) were almost 1:1 perfect ports, aside from a couple of games that looked a shade darker (such as Kirby's Super Star). Also, I wouldn't mind these visual filters so much IF you had the option to turn them off. :/

 

[MrSaturn99]

This is confusing. I thought the bulk of the games (that were emulated for the Wii Virtual Console) were almost 1:1 perfect ports, aside from a couple of games that looked a shade darker (such as Kirby's Super Star). Also, I wouldn't mind these visual filters so much IF you had the option to turn them off. :/

What makes it even more confusing is that the NES games look perfectly fine on the 3DS VC and don't have that dark filter at all.

 

[CastleRybread]

Hoping more than Advance Wars comes out. I plan on buying Metroid Fusion.

I hope GBA games lead to more emulation on the system. I want GameCube virtual console games to become a thing.

 

[foxuzamaki]

Oh hell yeah.

 

[Lynd7]

Last I saw on GAF everyone seemed to hate that game yet I loved it I'd be one happy fella if it was put on VC

I feel many didn't take the time to adjust to the different playstyle of SC. Its a great single player MK, I had a ton of fun with it back in the day and still enjoy it now.

Also, red shell mines!

 

[Glass Joe]

What makes it even more confusing is that the NES games look perfectly fine on the 3DS VC and don't have that dark filter at all.

Heh. Go boot up an NES VC game on your Wii U in Wii mode. Looks much better. No blur, crisper colors too.

 

[thebisonxrc]

This is great news. I'm surprised that Advance Wars will be the first title, but I'm not at all disappointed! Now to wait for specifics regarding North America...

 

[MrSaturn99]

Heh. Go boot up an NES VC game on your Wii U in Wii mode. Looks much better. No blur, crisper colors too.

When playing Earthbound, I found the Gamepad presented the game with its normal brightness while the TV display had the dark filter. Nintendo is weird.

 

[Neff]

Unfortunately, it isn't. The way WiiU VC works right now, the game running internally at 50Hz and then being forced to output at 60Hz via pulldown conversion, is totally fucked up, doesn't make any sense and doesn't resemble the original game in any way. Pal cartridge games were steady 50Hz, not this mess.

Agreed. The original 50hz releases might have been terrible when stacked against their 60hz originals, but these stuttering, lagging, frame-doubling Wii U optimisations are something else. It's an appalling compromise.

 

[echthegreat]

I keep checking this thread to see if NoA has announced that the US is inexplicably getting Super Mario Advance or something equally awful as its first GBA VC game. Instead, I keep seeing the same stupid post whining about 3DS VC over and over.

Ugh.

*crosses fingers for NA release of Advance Wars*

 

[bobawesome]

Classics such as F-Zero and Advance Wars can be yours for the low, low price of $20!

 

[Glass Joe]

Classics such as F-Zero and Advance Wars can be yours for the low, low price of $20!

650 yen if the places that announced it after the Japan Direct are accurate. So between $6-$7 is what I'm expecting.

 

[CLEEK]

Where's my Mario Kart Super Circuit?

On your 3DS.

Unless you're a filthy late-to-the-party casual.

 

[bobawesome]

650 yen if the places that announced it after the Japan Direct are accurate. So between $6-$7 is what I'm expecting.

Huh...well, I'd be happy with that. Now if only Nintendo would adjust prices for the other systems on the virtual console.

 

[Dr.brain64]

Ugh i'm pretty sure nintendo will charge too much for the games. I'm not looking forward to it but it's nice for the people that never played gba i guess.

 

[jimi_dini]

Nintendo just shot themselves in the foot.

I don't know how much the rest of you know about GBA games (I'm an expert), but honor and shame are huge parts of it. It's not like PSP games where you can become successful by releasing them on a home console. If you screw someone over in the 3DS gamer community, you bring shame to yourself, and the only way to get rid of that shame is repentance.

What this means is the 3DS gamer community, after hearing about this, is not going to want to purchase GBA games on Wii U, nor will they purchase any Wii U games. This is HUGE. You can laugh all you want, but Nintendo has alienated an entire market with this move.

Nintendo, publicly apologize and cancel GBA VC for Wii U and also Bayonetta 2 or you can kiss your business goodbye.

 

[Jucksalbe]

Nintendo just shot themselves in the foot. [etc.]

Do people honestly still find this funny?

 

[KingSnake]

Do people honestly still find this funny?

In the light of the overreactions in this thread I think it is funny.

 

[Buddha Beam]

I want to be excited about this. Hell, I'm definitely looking forward to it.

But the snail's pace at which Nintendo releases things for the VC really has a way of deflating any hype I have for this.

 

[rekameohs]

I just mean that I'd rather have them on something rather than nothing and, for me, the Wii U is actually the preferred option.

You see, the word "option" implies that there's actually an option.

 

[DigitalOp]

Does anybody really not feel weird that the 3DS can't play GBA games?

I mean I understand its due to different architectures and all...

But then I look at my PC, Wii, Smartphone, PSP, Tablet, hell everything under the damn sun...

It doesn't really feel right, doesn't it?