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[Starwolf_UK]

My thoughts in no order:

* 50Hz. Oh come on. Can we stop living in the 80s already, NOE. To be honest the fact this point exists kind of makes the below more hypothetical than everything.

* Why does it cost more to transfer a SNES game. In fact why do I have keep paying for what is essentially a "done once, done 100 times" type of code (you don't re-write Miiverse from scratch for every game nor do you re-write the savestate code, yet you're paying for that). It would be much better if after a few games it was free.

* Will I be able to transfer everything? Including games unlikely to come out on the eShop (like Super R-Type)?

* On what timescale is the above? When they trickle out on the WiiU? Sounds fun. I look forward to Super Mario RPG with savestates in 2015!

* N64, TG-16, C64, Mega Drive soon? Okay, I won't hope for C64 or TG-16...

* Will 3DS owners also get these special offers? You know in the future when NNID comes along.

* You seriously called the 6 month ¥€£$30 promotion a trial. People are going to think you're charging them for 30 day demos. And if GAF is getting confused...

* Balloon fight hi scores via Miiverse as screenshots? Why not just get the emulator to read the memory address where the score is stored and have that show up on a board or something and have you compare with friends etc...kind of like how other online services handle leaderboards.

The amount of stupidity in this thread is incredible. The fact that some people can't understand that the transferred VC games are playable for free on the WiiU is beyond me.

No Miiverse support, no GamePad support and having to play in the Wii mode sandbox. They're playable but not at optimum.

Aren't Game and Watch games $2 on DsiWare?

They've also not made any Game and Watch titles for a while. Suggests to me people were not biting.

 

[serplux]

The upgrade price dies not bother me. Seems not too bad for a little more flexibility

I'm leaving my 150-200 VC titles on the original Wii hardwares...no need to transfer. Wiis are tailored more to lower res than HDTV, anyways. I have started playing Wii discs on Wii U as the upscale to 1080p is quite nice.

I'll happily buy new titles or double-dip on great classics for the Wii U.

Sad part: was really hoping some VC for new systems for the Wii U...things like GCN or Saturn, DC.

They'll be out there in time. The GBA was already announced for the VC, anyways. Which btw, I wonder how they'll present those games? Are we gonna have to hold something like ZR in order to get them in their proper aspect ratio? And will the border be the original GBA or the SP, since both of those were widely popular.

Edit: Could they even make it look like the GB Player for nostalgic/lazy purposes? Just throwing out thoughts.

 

[shouamabane]

Does Balloon Fight look a little fuzzy to anyone else? It's been a few years, but I remember the Wii VC games looking sharper.

I'm glad the aspect ratio is right and we can reassign buttons.

 

[Fredrik]

Sarcasm?

No? It's dirt cheap since VC is emulators running on the Wii chip/Wii mode and they have to go through every single game to emulate them properly on WiiU while adding new functionalities too. Can't expect them to work for free, this will take years and someone need to get a paycheck when the job is done.

 

[Goodacre0081]

im still wondering about what he said about using the WiiU Gamepad to play games. I understand that we can play older virtual console games like NES,SNES,GBA but what about some of the Wii titles that supported the traditional pad? can I play Xenoblade Chronicles on the WiiU pad?

 

[serplux]

No? It's dirt cheap since VC is emulators running on the Wii chip/Wii mode and they have to go through every single game to emulate them properly on WiiU while adding new functionalities too. Can't expect them to work for free, this will take years and someone need to get a paycheck when the job is done.

I think Nintendo's policy of having a separate and perfect emulator for every game is too ambitious. Besides, anything below N64 level could probably be perfectly emulated with a system-wide emulator, considering byuu's work with BSNES.

I don't like the fact that Nintendo slowly trickles out their releases, but I understand it. If they released their entire library tomorrow, it'd be hard for any game to be stand out, which would result in less sales overall, especially since people tend not to buy a whole bunch of stuff at once but some stuff over a long period of time.

 

[Glass Joe]

some replies of mine to your thoughts (bolded in the post)

My thoughts in no order:

* 50Hz. Oh come on. Can we stop living in the 80s already, NOE. To be honest the fact this point exists kind of makes the below more hypothetical than everything.

I'm not in Euro Land but I agree that's horse shit

* Why does it cost more to transfer a SNES game. In fact why do I have keep paying for what is essentially a "done once, done 100 times" type of code (you don't re-write Miiverse from scratch for every game nor do you re-write the savestate code, yet you're paying for that). It would be much better if after a few games it was free.

As for why it's more, probably just a prejustified percentage thing. The more complex the game, the more testing it will take in the update stage. I wonder if their decision to charge at all stems somewhat from 3rd parties. Most are probably not all that excited to update their shit for what they consider a Wii-centric userbase who already has their product. Capcom, Sega, SNK, Tecmo, etc will have to pay SOMEONE to redo all that stuff, so Nintendo just set the precedent.

* Will I be able to transfer everything? Including games unlikely to come out on the eShop (like Super R-Type)?

I really really don't see that happening. Also bad vibes for some of my Wii Ware stuff like Contra Rebirth and MM9 too...

* On what timescale is the above? When they trickle out on the WiiU? Sounds fun. I look forward to Super Mario RPG with savestates in 2015!

I'm thinking you're right on the mark there. Some games, even if they're in the Wii Shop, probably won't get updated at all, too. Are 3rd parties on board? Sega?

* Will 3DS owners also get these special offers? You know in the future when NNID comes along.

They could turn my spirits easily by making this NES/SNES/etc stuff cross compatible between U and 3DS as part of the "update" premium.

* You seriously called the 6 month ¥€£$30 promotion a trial. People are going to think you're charging them for 30 day demos. And if GAF is getting confused...

Sloppy translation by a Japanese company. Thankfully not true.

* Balloon fight hi scores via Miiverse as screenshots? Why not just get the emulator to read the memory address where the score is stored and have that show up on a board or something and have you compare with friends etc...kind of like how other online services handle leaderboards.

Well, with save states, high scores are useless as it is now anyway. Unless they can signal that savestates were off for the score run, or disable screen grabs when savestates are on, a total missed opportunity for friendly old-school competition.

 

[Rodney McKay]

Goddamn, I sure hope 3DS gets GBA games at the very least. I'm an Ambassador so I've got all the free ones, but I'd love to have Metroid: Zero Mission, all the Mario Advance games, the Castlevanias, Pokemon, and a bunch of one offs I can't even think of.

But seeing as how Nintendo hasn't even released some of the best GBC games (like Metal Gear), I'm not hopeful for the release schedule even if it IS coming to the 3DS.

 

[polyh3dron]

No? It's dirt cheap since VC is emulators running on the Wii chip/Wii mode and they have to go through every single game to emulate them properly on WiiU while adding new functionalities too. Can't expect them to work for free, this will take years and someone need to get a paycheck when the job is done.

This will take years to emulate old consoles when Nintendo has all the documentation for said consoles and they've already emulated them in the past? No. It's a piece of cake for Nintendo to do this.

 

[Vyse The Legend]

I don't mind having to pay an upgrade fee. It's more than I ever expected Nintendo to do.

 

[Eric C]

Does Balloon Fight look a little fuzzy to anyone else? It's been a few years, but I remember the Wii VC games looking sharper.

I'm glad the aspect ratio is right and we can reassign buttons.

It appears Nintendo is purposely using a filter to mimic composite blur.

Though it would be nice if Nintendo gave us some options for filters. So we could choose if we want pixel perfect crispness, or not.

 

[blu]

Just dropping by to say that the Balloon Fight emulation is impeccable - on- and off-tv, customizable controls, save state.

 

[JimboJones]

Wow at the 50htz stuff, thats still going on? Why not even a choice to activate or deactivate between 50 and 60, hopfully people will create a stink on miiverse about it.

 

[radcliff]

Sorry if this has been asked several times, but has it been said if the Wii U VC games will be in a higher resolution than the Wii VC or if they will be re-formatted to properly fit a 16:9 tv?

 

[RaidenZR]

It appears Nintendo is purposely using a filter to mimic composite blur.

Though it would be nice if Nintendo gave us some options for filters. So we could choose if we want pixel perfect crispness, or not.

Agreed. I want the choice for razor sharp pixels. It looks like shit magnified, soft and fuzzy on the gamepad.

 

[Glass Joe]

Sorry if this has been asked several times, but has it been said if the Wii U VC games will be in a higher resolution than the Wii VC or if they will be re-formatted to properly fit a 16:9 tv?

Balloon Fight is at it's correct 4:3 aspect ratio on both my widescreen TV and the gamepad itself. Resolution? I dunno, but it's a little blurry and dull in color.

 

[Sweet Baby Roy]

Wow, that's pathetic.

 

[Fredrik]

The 50hz problem is actually quite interesting. Basically every single 8/16 bit PAL game on any playform runs slower and the image is squished compared to the NTSC version. But that's also what I'm used to in these games. So I don't know. It may sound like crazy talk but I buy these games to get nostalgic and therefore I don't mind the slower speed, having a version that feels like it's running in turbo mode is much worse imo, it takes the nostalgia away for me... even though that's exactly how it's supposed to run. :/

I wouldn't mind a 50/60 hz option though. For pure nostalgia I could choose 50hz and if I never played the game back in the days I could choose 60hz.

 

[Reclaimer]

I wish Nintendo just charged much more, maybe something like $3 per game up to $30 max for unlimited games, to have them transferred over from Wii VC to the new Wii U VC. Some kind of "upgrade pass" to get everything over to the U ASAP..

 

[ThatObviousUser]

Because I'm smart enough where I know how to work around it. It's stupid, and kinda annoying, but it's not impossible to work around. Set the Wii U's display settings to 480p before booting up Wii mode, and you can make VC games in 4x3 using your TV settings. It's an inconvenience, but it's not unfixable.

Going into the Wii U settings and changing things would take more time than actually playing the game.

 

[H_Prestige]

I like how "native playback" is considered an "additional feature".

 

[Trogdor1123]

You can still play what you bought in Wii mode. If you want to switch it over to a new platform, they're offering a discounted rate. No one is forcing you to make the switch, and you don't have to upgrade. Geez. Gamers can be like such spoiled children.

IF you can play it in Wiimode then why does it cost you anything at all to move it over? Maybe im missing something but what has been discribed so far costs them nothing at all to do.

I dont see how anyone can find this even remotely ok. If you buy a game on steam and upgrade upgrade your computer it doesnt cost you more to play the game. If they upgrade steam and add more features as they have done to play the game in new ways it doesnt cost you more. I dont see how they can justify these costs especially when games are going to be sold new for 30 cents but to transfter over the game you have already bought for full price you need to pay 1.50. Perhaps im missing something which is totally possible. It should also be noted that I thought it was ok to pay the 5 bucks to transfer my rockband 1 stuff to rockband 2 so im pretty much a hypocrite...

 

[yyr]

When I know I'm going to do a VC session -- and this is via HDMI, I go to U settings and change to 480p output

While it's nice to know that there is a "quick fix" solution for the aspect ratio problem, I'm sure you can agree with me that having to change system settings (twice...once on the way in, once on the way out) just to play some old games is extremely annoying, at best. Paying the dollar will definitely be more convenient, so it's like...it's worth it, but not necessarily for a good reason. Also, I'm sure this will not be an option for a good many games in the VC library.

Don't get me wrong, I think the Miiverse integration and GamePad support are great ideas and I don't particularly mind paying a dollar for those. But I strongly believe that Nintendo *could* certainly have delivered these features for no cost to former buyers--and, things like day-one, built-in support for Virtual Console, and proper 4:3 aspect ratio support, and a "buy once, play anywhere" policy, and EU-version games that play at the correct speed, and at least some acknowledgement of the Mother series, and a rollout of all currently-released VC games in one shot--IF THEY CHOSE TO.

I believe that the reason so many gamers are irritated is simply that Nintendo chose not to do any of this. And, I believe that despite the fact that we live in an age where so many people feel so entitled that it's beginning to have a negative impact on our society, the irritation is understandable...because while many other companies out there are doing their best to listen to gamers, and give them what they're asking for--even in the face of a crappy economy--Nintendo seems to be marching only to the beat of their own drum, as they always have, for better or worse.

tl;dr: Nintendo is being Nintendo, and there's nothing we can do about it. We can either give them our money or not.

 

[RaidenZR]

IF you can play it in Wiimode then why does it cost you anything at all to move it over? Maybe im missing something but what has been discribed so far costs them nothing at all to do.

I dont see how anyone can find this even remotely ok. If you buy a game on steam and upgrade upgrade your computer it doesnt cost you more to play the game. If they upgrade steam and add more features as they have done to play the game in new ways it doesnt cost you more. I dont see how they can justify these costs especially when games are going to be sold new for 30 cents but to transfter over the game you have already bought for full price you need to pay 1.50. Perhaps im missing something which is totally possible. It should also be noted that I thought it was ok to pay the 5 bucks to transfer my rockband 1 stuff to rockband 2 so im pretty much a hypocrite...

I'm really upset but not surprised they are charging money for this. Nintendo can justify it however they want, too, because people tend to cave and buy into it. I feel really sorry for people who bought Punch-Out on the Wii, 3DS, and are still asked to pay an upgrade fee. And I feel angry at those who will choose to go through with it.

 

[properpropaganda]

I bought Super Mario Bros. for the NES and I am outraged that I have to pay for it again to play it on my Wii/3DS/Wii U.

You purchased the game for the Wii, not the Wii U. You want the additional Wii U features, you gotta pay. If they release a patch to play Xenoblade with Wii U features, do you expect it for free just because you already payed for it?

 

[Game Guru]

Not the best solution, but at least I can still play all the WiiWare and Wii VC games I bought without enhancement on the Wii U, unlike some companies. Sony, I'm looking at you. Really, it should be a mix between the two in that they should be playable without enhancement, but that previous buyers of the game get the enhancements for free.

However, that particular list of games is horrid. The only games worthy of buying are Kirby's Adventure, Super Metroid, and Punch-Out!! and I already own Kirby's Adventure & Super Metroid as Wii VC titles. Punch-Out!! I don't, but I do own the Animal Crossing disc on GameCube with it on it, so I will probably pick up the Wii U version of that and updating Super Metroid and Kirby's Adventure will only cost $2.50.

I do however like that GBA games will be on Wii U though... I've never been a fan of portables but hopefully having a chance to play the GBA Castlevania games like Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow will be awesome. I suppose this is how they are going to get Yoshi's Island onto the Wii U.

I was hoping I could get like Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, Zelda II, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Mega Man 2-5, and Sonic 2, 3 & Knuckles updated on the Wii U since I still have the Gamecube Compilations of them and Wii U doesn't play Gamecube games.

 

[H_Prestige]

I bought Super Mario Bros. for the NES and I am outraged that I have to pay for it again to play it on my Wii/3DS/Wii U.

You purchased the game for the Wii, not the Wii U. You want the additional Wii U features, you gotta pay. If they release a patch to play Xenoblade with Wii U features, do you expect it for free just because you already payed for it?

It's the same game. There are no new "features". It's the same ROM being repackaged in a different emulator.

 

[serplux]

Not the best solution, but at least I can still play all the WiiWare and Wii VC games I bought without enhancement on the Wii U, unlike some companies. Sony, I'm looking at you. Really, it should be a mix between the two in that they should be playable without enhancement, but that previous buyers of the game get the enhancements for free.

However, that particular list of games is horrid. The only games worthy of buying are Kirby's Adventure, Super Metroid, and Punch-Out!! and I already own Kirby's Adventure & Super Metroid as Wii VC titles. Punch-Out!! I don't, but I do own the Animal Crossing disc on GameCube with it on it, so I will probably pick up the Wii U version of that and updating Super Metroid and Kirby's Adventure will only cost $2.50.

I do however like that GBA games will be on Wii U though... I've never been a fan of portables but hopefully having a chance to play the GBA Castlevania games like Harmony of Dissonance and Aria of Sorrow will be awesome. I suppose this is how they are going to get Yoshi's Island onto the Wii U.

I was hoping I could get like Super Mario Bros, Legend of Zelda, Zelda II, Ocarina of Time, Majora's Mask, Mega Man 2-5, and Sonic 2, 3 & Knuckles updated on the Wii U since I still have the Gamecube Compilations of them and Wii U doesn't play Gamecube games.

The titles listed are promotional titles. They're not the full list. We're going to receive probably around 10 NES and 10 SNES titles at launch, with (hopefully) a steady stream of releases afterwards. I will eat my non-existent hat if Super Mario World, Zelda 1, and Metroid aren't available VC launch. Also, it'll only cost you 60 cents to update Kirby and Super Metroid, since they're a part of the promotion.

 

[kitsuneyo]

Stupid question: Is my copy of Balloon Trip going to stop working in 30 days? Or does the promotion last 30 days?

 

[perfectchaos007]

just discounts?

wtfisthisshit

C'mon, Nintendo DID have to spend development time ( albeit a very short amount of time ) to make the games play on our WiiU pad and add new menu options. $1 - $1.50 is a fair price to be able to play those games on the pad.

 

[serplux]

Stupid question: Is my copy of Balloon Trip going to stop working in 30 days? Or does the promotion last 30 days?

Nah, it's yours to keep. It's just the wonky wording by Nintendo that's confusing everyone.

 

[kitsuneyo]

Nah, it's yours to keep. It's just the wonky wording by Nintendo that's confusing everyone.

Thanks. I can't believe they're going to sell F-Zero and Super Metroid for 30p each. I've never really played those games before, I was up for paying full whack for Metroid.

 

[RaidenZR]

I bought Super Mario Bros. for the NES and I am outraged that I have to pay for it again to play it on my Wii/3DS/Wii U.

You purchased the game for the Wii, not the Wii U. You want the additional Wii U features, you gotta pay. If they release a patch to play Xenoblade with Wii U features, do you expect it for free just because you already payed for it?

You're comparing a 30 year/6-console-generation gap to a singular generation's timespan (or less if you include 3DS VC). Plus, as it has been mentioned in this thread already, the fact that competitors of Nintendo are providing content across multiple devices at no extra cost to consumers. The standards and expectations change, especially when you consider that the 3DS and WiiU acknowledge and communicate with each other.

A small fee or discount is certainly reasonable, in my opinion, but they aren't acknowledging that they're still charging full price for the games on the 3DS and they don't factor into the whole discounted WiiU upgrade.

 

[JavyOO7]

Nintendo still should address for those folks out there who bought Super Mario Bros on Wii VC should also be playable on 3DS as well without having to pay for it again. That's just extremely dumb.

They should also reduce the VC prices when they come to the WiiU by half. And then I'm sure more people would buy stuff.

But I just want cross play between 3DS/Wii U. And for them to fix their NNID accounts...

 

[H_Prestige]

C'mon, Nintendo DID have to spend development time ( albeit a very short amount of time ) to make the games play on our WiiU pad and add new menu options. $1 - $1.50 is a fair price to be able to play those games on the pad.

Sony also had to spend time making ps1 and psp emulators (those ps1 classics and psp downloads don't work through magic). Yet once you've bought a game through PSN, it will work on any device that supports it, without charging the customer again each time.

It blows my mind that nintendo still can't grasp the concept of a platform agnostic DD service. The 3ds has its own shop. The DS has its own. The Wii has another. Now the Wii U is getting its own. They all have their own little virtual console sections that have the same games overlapping, yet they are considered different games and have to be purchased separately.

Sony has multiple systems, but one PSN store tying them all together. Apple has multiple devices each connected to the App store. Once MS' new system comes out, you will see the same thing.

 

[kitsuneyo]

You can all still play your Wii VC games on the Wii U. You don't HAVE to do anything.

The fact that you all WANT to switch to the Wii U versions only proves that there's VALUE in the upgrade.

 

[yyr]

However, that particular list of games is horrid. The only games worthy of buying are Kirby's Adventure, Super Metroid, and Punch-Out!!

What?! For the asking price of 30 cents, all of those games absolutely are worth buying.

Maybe you misunderstood? It will cost 30 cents each to buy the Wii U versions of those games, free and clear. No upgrading necessary. This is the one aspect of today's announcement that is just great, no matter how you look at it.

You can all still play your Wii VC games on the Wii U. You don't HAVE to do anything.

Yeah, except go to System Settings, go to TV Options, go to Screen Resolution, switch to 480p, mark 4:3 aspect ratio, and then switch all of that back to whatever HD resolution you were using when you're done. It's dumb.

 

[RedSwirl]

Each emulator is custom for each game hence Balloon Fight being 35MB.

This is pretty much the reason behind everything. If it was just one big emulator for each "platform," Nintendo would probably be able to get the library up there about as fast as Sony is getting the PS1 library available on the Vita. Instead Nintendo wanted higher quality emulation, and that's going to take them much longer to upgrade.

 

[H_Prestige]

This is pretty much the reason behind everything. If it was just one big emulator for each "platform," Nintendo would probably be able to get the library up there about as fast as Sony is getting the PS1 library available on the Vita. Instead Nintendo wanted higher quality emulation, and that's going to take them much longer to upgrade.

Is Nintendo's emulation any better than Sony's ps1/psp emulation? I haven't come across any issues and I haven't heard of any either.

This custom per game emulator business makes no difference to the end user AFAIK. It has only served as a technical roadblock slowing nintendo down in getting content out. And they're already slow to begin with.

 

[Doctor Decimate]

i bet all the people bitching about having to re-buy think the 3D classics should be free, too

 

[serplux]

This is pretty much the reason behind everything. If it was just one big emulator for each "platform," Nintendo would probably be able to get the library up there about as fast as Sony is getting the PS1 library available on the Vita. Instead Nintendo wanted higher quality emulation, and that's going to take them much longer to upgrade.

I can't imagine that it'd be too hard to make a system-wide emulator (for N64 and below), especially considering that they have documentation (unless they lost it, lol). They should probably just ask byuu to port BSNES if they're that worried about perfect emulation, as I'm sure that it's not worth the time and effort to make it absolutely perfect for each individual game.

 

[Mileena]

i bet all the people bitching about having to re-buy think the 3D classics should be free, too

keep telling yourself that buddy :lol

 

[Doctor Decimate]

keep telling yourself that buddy :lol

what? it's the same principle

 

[H_Prestige]

what? it's the same principle

No it isn't. That would be more like HD remasters or bluray vs dvd of the same movie.

 

[RaidenZR]

No it isn't. That would be more like HD remasters or bluray vs dvd of the same movie.

These are poor analogies. The 3D Classics take a lot more work, and obviously weren't sustainable/profitable enough for them to continue. Nintendo's clearly dropped them.

 

[DjRoomba]

What is "Yoshi"?
Is that Yoshi's Island?

 

[Davey Cakes]

What is "Yoshi"?
Is that Yoshi's Island?

No, it's some Yoshi puzzle game that's already on the Wii Shop Channel.

 

[Doctor Decimate]

No it isn't. That would be more like HD remasters or bluray vs dvd of the same movie.

they both required additional development on Nintendo's part to utilize features specific to the system.

 

[Koren]

You can all still play your Wii VC games on the Wii U.

Which was already a 'gift' from Nintendo since when you bought the game on Wii, it was clearly a Wii-bound sale.

It was a bit disappointing that the game were tied to the console, but you still got more than you could expect. I would of course have liked having the upgrade for free, but a 1$ upgrade for Upad support is not a huge deal either...

 

[Morts]

What about the NES games on my 3DS? Can I get the "special price" on the Wii U versions of those?

The list of sale games is unimpressive (I've already got VC Super Metroid and 3D Classic Kirby Adventure) so I'll wait and see what the service actually has when it launches. Hopefully it's at least as much as Wii had.

I'm considering spending the 30 cents on Balloon Fight just so I can't rant about the VC in a Club Nintendo survey...