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[Vena]

It's not like Iwata is the CEO of NOA or anything...

oh.

Irrelevant.

Reggie makes most of the local decisions (he is the President, and Iwata's CEO position is more for control over the larger schemes of the organization and mostly an "in name" position... as is the case with many CEO positions) and has been doing so for a long, long time and long before Iwata took over. NoA has been spotty (at best) since Kimishima was promoted from the role. He's always been condescending with fan things as well, usually following the line of "we know best" which is generally the opposite of the other branches. Iwata and NCL have no real reason or incentive to keep titles from releasing in the states while releasing them elsewhere without even batting an eye, these are calls coming from the branch directly.

Reggie is a marketeer and commerce man, he's not a gamer. There's a reason a lot of actual gaming fans prefer Bill over Reggie, while Reggie himself is more of a pop/meme-icon. He moves and acts like a businessman, though, and the gears in his head click much the same way. He moves as he thinks is business logical (not releasing dead-end titles like D3rd, that would inevitably just lose them money) rather than someone like Shibata and going with it for the sake of fans.

This is why the growing influence/notoriety/autonomy of Treehouse and Bill is a good thing for the company in the Americas and as a whole. It's been a gradual thing for some time but you can really see how they've kicked off into full gear since E3 2014, and were given a lot of freedom with Splatoon's promotions which they ran.

Treehouse is probably why we're even getting FF5.

 

[Drilbit777]

Seriously this is ridiculous, there is so many titles from the Wii they could release on VC.. Especially another code R and Fatal Frame 4.

 

[Shauni]

Yeah, I found that pretty weird, too. Nintendo has always treated the VC in a slow drip manner, but still, you look at GBA, DS and N64, and all of those slowly got games whenever they were added. Wii was like...dead on arrival after the three games (in NA, I think EU got a few more).

 

[Vena]

Yeah, I found that pretty weird, too. Nintendo has always treated the VC in a slow drip manner, but still, you look at GBA, DS and N64, and all of those slowly got games whenever they were added. Wii was like...dead on arrival after the three games (in NA, I think EU got a few more).

The drip-feed is a remnant of Dan Adelmann, and a generally shitty strategy that he put into place on the basis of drip-fed items seeing higher sales per title vs. potential buyer distraction over too much at once. This policy has been in affect for some time, though it has recently been removed and we've been getting more "bulk" releases even though the general schedule is still rather barren on the emulation front for any of the VC systems.

Adelman did some good but he did some real bad too, and it wasn't until after he left that the Nindie project (again... Treehouse and Damon Baker) actually kicked off. Damon Baker has, in general, done more for their indie initiative in less time. This may be because of his higher ranked position in NoA.

These last few years have been getting some interesting shake ups within NoA...

 

[Hugstable]

The drip-feed is a remnant of Dan Adelmann, and a generally shitty strategy that he put into place on the basis of drip-fed items seeing higher sales per title vs. potential buyer distraction over too much at once. This policy has been in affect for some time, though it has recently been removed and we've been getting more "bulk" releases even though the general schedule is still rather barren on the emulation front for any of the VC systems.

Adelman did some good but he did some real bad too, and it wasn't until after he left that the Nindie project (again... Treehouse and Damon Baker) actually kicked off. Damon Baker has, in general, done more for their indie initiative in less time. This may be because of his higher ranked position in NoA.

These last few years have been getting some interesting shake ups within NoA...

Makes you wonder who has say in the Wii download service games then, Adelman was already gone from the company by the time the Wii game inititive started. I just don't see what could tale so long in just getting the few games up that are already up in other regions. Probably gonna write a big letter to nintendo support or something, i don't know.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

Who cares? You know what he meant.

And I agree OP, it's pretty weird. I bought all 3 personally.

That distinction actually does matter, because it makes the pathetic rollout all the more bizarre. Wii games on Wii U are literally just ISO dumps with a special loader (which would be universal). They are, for all intents and purposes, literally free money. There's absolutely nothing stopping them from uploading a shit-ton of 1st party titles right now and suddenly having a massive digital Wii marketplace, other than their completely insane policies regarding the eShop.

It makes it all the more sad that by fall Microsoft will have over 100 360 games running on Xbox One, via emulation, which until they announced it was considered to be a technical impossibility and which took a lot of hard work and time to pull off. In five months Nintendo has released three ISO dumps that are being sold at $20 a pop. The fuck.

Yeah, I found that pretty weird, too. Nintendo has always treated the VC in a slow drip manner, but still, you look at GBA, DS and N64, and all of those slowly got games whenever they were added. Wii was like...dead on arrival after the three games (in NA, I think EU got a few more).

EU has gotten at least 8 so far. Still sad, but it makes NOA look even more pathetic.

 

[Vena]

Makes you wonder who has say in the Wii download service games then, Adelman was already gone from the company by the time the Wii game inititive started. I just don't see what could tale so long in just getting the few games up that are already up in other regions. Probably gonna write a big letter to nintendo support or something, i don't know.

The Wii service was obviously thrown together as a stop-gap, and probably a test of sorts on wrapping ISOs for the GX chip emulation. It may or may not be something that was getting a test-run for NX considerations. I'd love to see some more titles hit the Wii emulation front, particularly the hard to find ones like FE, but I do think the general initiative died with the WiiU, lol.

As to who has a say on the matter? Reggie and the marketing department (which includes Damon Baker and Bill). Why they are so slow is any one's guess, though, as I doubt there are any actual barriers to release for games like, say, Pandora's Tower (which I think they actually own as an IP). Nintendo published the game in Japan, yet for whatever reason it wasn't brought over by NoA but XSeed and much later in time. This would lead me to believe that someone at NoA is barring its release as a "pointless title" or "unwanted" for their store front. There's no cost to such digital releases to Nintendo, and Iwata wouldn't care about an NoA release any more or less than he would about one in NoJ. So a title released there, especially digitally, is likely never even getting to him or even part of his general considerations as CEO.

NoE and NoJ are still getting titles, though, so it really has to be someone at NoA doing something to block a lot of these releases. It may well be some sort of back-up/clusterfuck in the eShop runnings from the turn-over from Adelman to Baker (though I don't think the latter is in full control of the digital storefront, just the indie side of things). It could well be a policy issue remnant that has a lot of red-tape that's simply left over from before, or Reggie may just be sitting there with a hammer smashing keyboards over certain games. Who knows.

Who did Bowser take over for? Why was he hired rather suddenly to such a high position?

 

[JazzmanZ]

That distinction actually does matter, because it makes the pathetic rollout all the more bizarre. Wii games on Wii U are literally just ISO dumps with a special loader (which would be universal). They are, for all intents and purposes, literally free money. There's absolutely nothing stopping them from uploading a shit-ton of 1st party titles right now and suddenly having a massive digital Wii marketplace, other than their completely insane policies regarding the eShop.

It makes it all the more sad that by fall Microsoft will have over 100 360 games running on Xbox One, via emulation, which until they announced it was considered to be a technical impossibility and which took a lot of hard work and time to pull off. In five months Nintendo has released three ISO dumps that are being sold at $20 a pop. The fuck.



EU has gotten at least 8 so far. Still sad, but it makes NOA look even more pathetic.

If there's literally nothing stopping them why haven't they? is there another factor you haven't accounted for yet?

 

[NoKisum]

I know that sometimes, when it comes to interviews with major public figures, they might provide a list beforehand with topics not to bring up in said interview in order to "avoid inciting controversy".

I wonder if the slow trickle of Virtual Console and Wii eShop titles is one of those topics. Because it's the only reason I can think of that no one has brought it up with Reggie, Iwata, or anyone else at Nintendo in recent interviews.

Spoiler

Then again, everyone's probably too busy yelling at them about Federation Force.

 

[Vena]

It makes it all the more sad that by fall Microsoft will have over 100 360 games running on Xbox One, via emulation, which until they announced it was considered to be a technical impossibility and which took a lot of hard work and time to pull off. In five months Nintendo has released three ISO dumps that are being sold at $20 a pop. The fuck.

The comparison is completely flawed. The WiiU out of box can play any Wii game flawlessly, the X1 cannot do this and never will be able to make such a claim with software emulation.

Nintendo releasing ISO dumps to sell for convenience (and to pad its release schedule) at a snails pace is irrelevant in this case. I have had the ability to play my Wii games since launch (which is why I even picked up the WiiU initially), the majority of the my X360 games remain unplayable. An ISO dump or lack thereof isn't going to make my WiiU suddenly emulate better or worse.

 

[WhiteRabbitEXE]

If there's literally nothing stopping them why haven't they? is there another factor you haven't accounted for yet?

The Nintendo factor.

i.e. inexplicable insanity.

Like I said, they're literally just ISO dumps with a special loader. Nintendo has officially stated as much. It just loads the game, kicks the console into vWii and runs it natively as it would any other Wii software. There's no emulation work or anything in particular that must be done for any individual title to be made ready - the loader would be universal. Some games get repackaged with a couple updated IOSes for GamePad input support, but again, those updated IOSes are universal and have already been made. With all that there's nothing stopping them from putting up any 1st party titles, as they own those and can do whatever they want from them. And from what we've heard from MS regarding 3rd parties, they'd definitely be willing to allow their titles to be sold as well. There is no good reason other than bizarre internal policies practically designed to self-sabotage. Like keeping with the VC drip-feed policy, that was designed to allow WiiWare titles some breathing room, long after WiiWare ceased to be a viable platform.

The WiiU isn't emulation anything, and the comparison is completely flawed. The WiiU out of box can play any Wii game flawlessly, the X1 cannot do this and never will be able to make such a claim with software emulation.

Nintendo releasing ISO dumps to sell for convenience at a snails pace is irrelevant in this case. I have had the ability to play my Wii games since launch (which is why I even picked up the WiiU initially), the majority of the my X360 games remain unplayable. An ISO dump or lack thereof isn't going to make my WiiU suddenly emulate better or worse.

The difference doesn't make the comparison flawed, but rather it further illustrates the ridiculousness of Nintendo's distribution "strategy". The fact is that there's no effort required for Nintendo to distribute these last-gen games, and yet they can't even compete with the speed that MS is achieving what was once considered impossible with its own last-gen distribution methods.

Yes, the Wii U can natively play Wii discs (and Wii Channel software) out of the box as opposed to the 360, but that's largely irrelevant. That ability doesn't suddenly make downloadable Wii games irrelevant or address the fact that there's no reason for the paltry rate at which they're being released, or the fact that the Wii U desperately needs software any less true. They could easily start flooding the eShop with huge groups of Wii games that people are willing and wanting to buy and instantly provide a major reason to dig into the eShop and get people spending money. Especially considering that there are many Wii games that are virtually un-buyable now, unless you want to spend $50 for a used disc. And that many older Wii games are edging in on 9 years old, and many people were unable to play them at the time of release. Instead they'd rather release 3 games and call it a day.

 

[cloudstrife]

Nintendo has neutered the eShop's originally more packed schedule of future N64/GC/GBA/Wii releases, because they are being held back for the NX and the new Nintendo membership/subscription/loyalty service that is coming.

We are getting Nintendo's take on PSN+/XBL.

 

[Hugstable]

Here's the list from the wiki so everyone can see it up here. Just sucks to see so many purple boxes for US

 

[Shauni]

EU has gotten at least 8 so far. Still sad, but it makes NOA look even more pathetic.

8! The serious fuck

 

[Vena]

Yes, the Wii U can natively play Wii discs (and Wii Channel software) out of the box as opposed to the 360, but that's largely irrelevant. That ability doesn't suddenly make downloadable Wii games irrelevant or address the fact that there's no reason for the paltry rate at which they're being released, or the fact that the Wii U desperately needs software any less true. They could easily start flooding the eShop with huge groups of Wii games that people are willing and wanting to buy and instantly provide a major reason to dig into the eShop and get people spending money. Especially considering that there are many Wii games that are virtually un-buyable now, unless you want to spend $50 for a used disc. And that many older Wii games are edging in on 9 years old, and many people were unable to play them at the time of release. Instead they'd rather release 3 games and call it a day.

Except for the fact that Nintendo can't just release random Wii games or the vast majority of what existed on the Wii. Their releases during the Wii-era aren't even that numerous once you start picking away what has been released, what has been "ported" elsewhere, or what has main entries on the console already (like Smash, Kart) and you don't want the new entry to be galvanized.

Microsoft isn't even in the troublesome position (as far as I am aware) of selling you software that they don't actually own, they are simply getting permission to allow you to play it if you already own it.

The Wii digitial distribution has been a steady drip for Japan and Europe, with Atlus being one of the few publishers putting up a title that Nintendo doesn't own. In NA its anemic and a crapshoot.

The situations are, as I said, not for comparison.

 

[UncleSporky]

I don't understand why NoA is awful at all virtual console related stuff across all platforms.

If you compare the VC releases on Wii with Wii U, almost everything that's missing on Wii U is due to third parties not re-upping their games to the new service.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Virtual_Console_games_for_Wii_(North_America)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Virtual_Console_games_for_Wii_U_(North_America)

398 games on Wii
175 games on Wii U

- No Sega Master System (15 games)
- No Sega Genesis (73 games)
- No TurboGrafx (59 games)
- No Neo Geo (54 games)
- No arcade (21 games)
- Most other missing games from pubs who just didn't return, like Square Enix

Most of those above, the publishers are either tied up in legal issues since Wii (Konami owning Hudson) or they just decided it'd be more lucrative to maintain control of their own back catalog and resell old games on their own time (Sega).

Just the games counted above, that's 222 missing games that Nintendo can't do anything about. And in fact 398 - 222 puts us almost exactly at the current total of VC games released on Wii U.

They're missing a few more from other consoles like NES and SNES, but are making up for it in other areas like GBA and DS. As has turned out this gen for Nintendo in general, they're having to go it alone and mostly release their own games.

 

[Tadpole]

I'd like to see more Wii gems that I might have missed.

 

[AntiFacebook]

I say this with a straight face:

I would rather import the NX from Europe then ever associate with NoA's anti-consumer practices.

Personally I will only buy the NX if it's region free.

There is just no justification for a system to be region locked in 2016-17

 

[redmetal86]

Japan got Zangeki as a downloadable?! Son of a bitch!

 

[randomhugs]

Reggie is a PR guy through and through. If anyone else had been in his position when the Wii/DS took off they'd be the President of NoA instead. He doesn't know what he is doing. He got lucky and is now playing it as safe as possible so he can keep his job until he gets lucky again.

 

[Hatchtag]

Sometimes I kind of wonder if they have staff employed solely to find new and exiting ways to further disappoint Wii U owners.

 

[SegaShack]

All of VC on Wii U and Wii and 3DS is garbage compared to what it should be.

So many games just not ever released. This is why I am glad to have collected classic games over the years instead of doing any digital stuff.

What we need is a 3DS Player for Wii U (3DS and DS cartidges) and we're set.

 

[klee123]

The PAL Wii U VC store is an absolute joke and it's just infuriating.

 

[Bowl0l]

What we need is a 3DS Player for Wii U (3DS and DS cartidges) and we're set.

The million dollar will be how much Nintendo will charge for this peripheral?

Spoiler

I bet it will be $100.

Will it have region lock?

 

[Pikma]

It's fucking NoA, they're dumb and don't give a shit about being on par with what the other regions offer, nothing we can do about it.

 

[Jigorath]

NoA sucks. I'm not sure if it's Reggie's incompetence or Iwata not giving them enough power but they're pretty much worthless nowadays.

 

[UncleSporky]

The PAL Wii U VC store is an absolute joke and it's just infuriating.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Virtual_Console_games_for_Wii_(PAL_region)

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_Virtual_Console_games_for_Wii_U_(PAL_region)

385 vs. 180. Your ratio is better than than the US's 398 vs. 175 that I outlined above. Again, read the breakdown I posted to see why it's lacking. It's beyond Nintendo's control.

 

[FloweryMarston]

i would love to see skyward sword on eshop. The game is still really expensive in a lot of places.

 

[BKSmash]

Can they please release Mario Sluggers so we in Europe can actually play it, no? Didn't think so either..


AT LEAST gimme Super Paper Mario..

 

[Roldan]

Only noticed that the Wii Virtual Console isn't called "Virtual Console" (thus leading to believe that there's no emulation) because some people said here lol

If the Wii U is running these Wii games natively, Nintendo should have less trouble in getting more games on that library, shouldn't they? Unlike VC, that has to deal with compatibility issues etc.

I know there's also all that licensing stuff, but still...

 

[Rich!]

Only noticed that the Wii Virtual Console isn't called "Virtual Console" (thus leading to believe that there's no emulation) because some people said here lol

If the Wii U is running these Wii games natively, Nintendo should have less trouble in getting more games on that library, shouldn't they? Unlike VC, that has to deal with compatibility issues etc.

I know there's also all that licensing stuff, but still...

Haha, no man its not native. The only games that run natively on the Wii U are Wii and GameCube games.

For everything else its still emulation. They use the same basic wrappers that they did with the Wii.

Anyhow, having all my GameCube games on my Wii U is fantastic. Not sure why Nintendo haven't offered it as a solution yet. I love that my Wii U is a console with Melee and Smash U on it at the same time!

 

[Roldan]

Haha, no man its not native. The only games that run natively on the Wii U are Wii and GameCube games.

For everything else its still emulation. They use the same basic wrappers that they did with the Wii.

Anyhow, having all my GameCube games on my Wii U is fantastic. Not sure why Nintendo haven't offered it as a solution yet. I love that my Wii U is a console with Melee and Smash U on it at the same time!

But are these Wii digital games on Wii U running natively? That's what I was assuming.

 

[BKSmash]

Anyhow, having all my GameCube games on my Wii U is fantastic. Not sure why Nintendo haven't offered it as a solution yet. I love that my Wii U is a console with Melee and Smash U on it at the same time!

Wait, what.. you can play GC games on Wii U? No way..

 

[Rich!]

But are these Wii digital games on Wii U running natively? That's what I was assuming.

Yes, as do GameCube games. The Wii U has full native backwards compatibility with Wii and GameCube software.

 

[Madao]

Haha, no man its not native. The only games that run natively on the Wii U are Wii and GameCube games.

For everything else its still emulation. They use the same basic wrappers that they did with the Wii.

Anyhow, having all my GameCube games on my Wii U is fantastic. Not sure why Nintendo haven't offered it as a solution yet. I love that my Wii U is a console with Melee and Smash U on it at the same time!

there's no easy solution for GC games on Wii U. not having the analog triggers breaks a lot of them.

also, making the Smash adapter required wouldn't go well with most people.

 

[Rich!]

Wait, what.. you can play GC games on Wii U? No way..

Indeed.

http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=927094

All games from all regions run without issues. Can load from SD or USB. Support for all controllers including Wii U pro controller and GameCube adapter.

there's no easy solution for GC games on Wii U. not having the analog triggers breaks a lot of them.

also, making the Smash adapter required wouldn't go well with most people.

Fewer games require the triggers than those that don't. Melee would be fine, for example. As would many other titles.

 

[Rich!]

Oh shit, I only just realised this thread is primarily about the Wii emulation! I answered all posts above assuming it was about the VC as a whole.

Sorry for any confusion!

 

[Fox Mulder]

NoA sucks shit.

Their lazy cheap bullshit is really turning me off the entire company.

 

[danwu]

Pandora's Tower, Sin & Punishment 2 are on the eshp, just need The Last Story.

 

[Fox Mulder]

Pandora's Tower, Sin & Punishment 2 are on the eshp, just need The Last Story.

not in NA. Havent got shit since the first ones in january. Metroid Prime Trilogy, Punch-Out, and Galaxy 2.

other regions have got more since, but we have NoA.

 

[thesurfshop19]

Mario Galaxy 1 is the most baffling one. Perhaps they're saving it for the build up to Super Mario Maker.

 

[Doczu]

Well, it's not a part of the Virtual Console service, for one. It's just Wii retail games downloadable on Wii U. There is not one reference to them being a part of the Virtual Console. .

Really? I always thought it is, because it shows up on the vc section of the eShop, next to the other consoles. Anyway, i do like to call it vc.

And regarding the releases. I did say it would end like that. Nintendo is like a big vhild. They get all pumped up when they start doing something new, and after a while - they loose all interest in it.

 

[AzureTranquility95]

Nintendo releasing ISO dumps to sell for convenience (and to pad its release schedule) at a snails pace is irrelevant in this case. I have had the ability to play my Wii games since launch (which is why I even picked up the WiiU initially), the majority of the my X360 games remain unplayable. An ISO dump or lack thereof isn't going to make my WiiU suddenly emulate better or worse.

This is truth. I think the biggest reason most people want digital re-releases of Wii games is to hopefully drop the prices of second-hand copies for some of the late-gen software releases like Kirby's Return To Dream Land and TLOZ: Skyward Sword. Unlike older games, I think digital re-releases could affect prices for those games a good bit.

NoA needs a huge shift in management for it to do well. Nintendo WILL die in the west if they don't make some huge changes. I've been Nintendo-only since N64 but if they don't clean up their act, I have to switch over to a competitor.

Or you could be a Nintendo+PlayStation gamer. Literally the best of both worlds and all you're missing out on is Xbox-related stuff, which isn't really much unless you really love Halo.

Seriously though how you passed up PS1 and PS2 at least, it boggles the mind.

 

[Triggerhappytel]

Reggie and his team still make many decisions for this region. Also, let's not pretend NoA hasn't had these issues for the past five years. Iwata has only been CEO for a couple of them.

And he hasn't done shit, despite pledging to understand the market better.

 

[Hugstable]

I wonder when the next Nintendo direct is going to be? Going to hold out at least to that for some new announcements on this, but I don't have much faith that we are really going to see any of those other games that have been released in all regions. I just don't see why NOA would even start the program if they were just going to drop it so fast if people didn't buy much (I bet they had "alright" sales, but NOA probably wants things that sell straight up)

This is truth. I think the biggest reason most people want digital re-releases of Wii games is to hopefully drop the prices of second-hand copies for some of the late-gen software releases like Kirby's Return To Dream Land and TLOZ: Skyward Sword. Unlike older games, I think digital re-releases could affect prices for those games a good bit.



Or you could be a Nintendo+PlayStation gamer. Literally the best of both worlds and all you're missing out on is Xbox-related stuff, which isn't really much unless you really love Halo.

Seriously though how you passed up PS1 and PS2 at least, it boggles the mind.

That's one of the biggest reasons for me, finding a copy of Kirby's Return to Dreamland is hard since none of my local Gamestops have it, even though it's a 50$ title still. Amazon is even more pricey at 64.99 for the first new and 54 or so used.

And yeah being a gamer who switched between Nintendo and Playstation stuff like every 3 months is great, get the best of both systems exclusives and it's nice to switch between the 2 as for Nintendo I love my platformers which I can't really get much off on playstation (well Tearaway is coming soon, that game was amazing on bita so I'm definitely looking forward to ps4 version)

Will post what I plan to send in the email to Nintendo later, I just don't know how else to get their attention on this because journalists and stuff sure as hell ain't going to ask questions about it, seems like everyone avoids asking anything about Nintendos VC and download games service.

 

[Roto13]

They release new stuff every week.

 

[entremet]

Gimme Kirby Wii (U.S.) please. Game is crazy expensive.

 

[Hugstable]

They release new stuff every week.

We are talking about the Wii Download Service. My bad on the title I got the Download Service confused for Virtual Console

Though for Wii Games, we haven't had a single release since the initial 3, big chart in OP should show how bad it has gotten, and the list will probably keep growing as Japan and Europe get more games

EDIT: Wish there was a way to edit titles to change it to "Wii Download Service" instead of Wii Virtual Console, oh well lol

I mean I'm not really asking for much I don't think, I just want to have games and releases that other regions are able to enjoy as well, let alone some of those releases being tough to find games, and one like Kirby being pretty damn expensive.

 

[.J.]

I'm honestly surprised anyone is buying WiiU VC titles. With Nintendo still not having a good system to transfer that stuff between consoles via a consistent, shared account, and with the death of the WiiU imminent, it seems silly to invest in much of anything.

This is coming from a bitter ex Wii owner who lost hundreds of dollars in VC titles due to a robbery years ago, though.

 

[Kadin]

This (VC stuff) continues to be an issue for NoA and I'm starting to believe they really don't have the resources to tackle all of this while also trying to create and/or import new games to the Wii U and 3DS.

They really can't be that stupid to turn away money like they do unless they simply can't due to limited developers, etc. At least that's what I've convinced myself.