Wii U Virtual Console Coming, Time to Repurchase Your Games!

[MikeWehner]

Wii U Virtual Console Coming, Time to Repurchase Your Games!

You already own five versions of Super Mario Bros.? It'll still cost you a buck to play it on the Wii U.

If the slow trickle of new content for the Wii U has you hankering for some old-school gaming, Nintendo's Virtual Console is here to save the day... and snag a few bucks for itself in the process. Nintendo announced today that the Wii U version of the Virtual Console service will arrive this spring, bringing with it many of the popular NES and SNES games featured on the Wii iteration. Game Boy Advance titles will arrive at a later date, and no other retro consoles were mentioned.

The games will be priced in a similar manner to their Wii counterparts - NES at $4.99/$5.99 and SNES at $7.99/$8.99. If you already own the Wii versions, don't expect to score the titles for free, as the Wii U editions will still cost you $1.00 for NES and $1.50 for SNES. The added price, we imagine, is to cover the cost of adding new features to the Wii U versions, including customizable controls and the ability to play the titles using just the gamepad.

You can expect to see the Virtual Console sometime after the Wii U's planned spring update, though no firm date has been offered.

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[TheSchaef]

I'll take a dollar to not have to actually re-buy everything from scratch.

Hopefully they'll expand it to the other retro consoles so I can also have Mario Tennis and Samurai Shodown on my actual WiiU menu and not buried half a dozen clicks down in the Wii Boot Camp.

 

[mew4ever23]

Uh. No. I'm not paying again for games I already have on the Wii's virtual console. Try again, Nintendo.

 

[Zer0Saber]

Yeah, now I can watch them never update the NES catalog just like on the Wii.

 

[Fappy]

If this isn't a greedy cash-grab I don't know what is.

Classy move Nintendo.

 

[Kekkonen1]

This is nothing short of insulting. 1-2$ is what the games should cost to _begin_ with! These games are 10-20 years old, digital and cost nothing for Nintendo to sell in terms of development and overhead (due to the nature of digital goods). They should learn something about price elasticity and going for volume when selling digital goods.

Also, to force people to repurchase things they've already bought is a HUGE slap in the face to those loyal fans that actually bought many Virtual Console-titles on the Wii for those exorbiant prices. Pleeeeeaasseee Nintendo come into the digital age with the rest of us!

This is how it should work:

Games should be 1, 2 and 3$ for nes, snes and N64-games respectively (or just 1$ for the lot). As opposed to physical copies, there are no additional costs for Nintendo if they sell 100 digital copies or 1,000,000 digital copies, so they should take a cue from games such as Angry Birds and go for huge volumes instead of low high-cost volumes. Making the games cheaper would enable people to buy in impulse more, and I personally would feel less ripped off paying for games that are VERY old by now.

Games should be playable on all compatible Nintendo-machines. If I've bought Megaman 2 on my Wii I should be able to play it on my 3DS and Wii U as well with no problems.

 

[Rad Party God]

I kinda have a love/hate relationship with the Virtual Console, in concept, it's a retro gamer's dream and it already has a sizable and respectable library on the regular Wii, but on the other hand, Nintendo itself seems kinda hellbenting on ruining their own service, with pricey games and draconian DRM (if your console goes kaput, you're out of luck).

If they start uploading GameCube games, maybe that'll change my stance a bit. Just a bit.

 

[The Artificially Prolonged]

I think the Nintendo are slightly missing the point with the whole digital copies of games. You see Nintendo, if I buy an android app I can use that on any compatible device that is linked to my account. Likewise I can play my steam games on any computer I want as long as I am logged into my steam account. See the advantage of that Nintendo?

What value is it to the customers to re-buy games that they already own on the wii virtual console that really should (according to my knowledge the WiiU's Wii mode) already work on the WiiU? Shouldn't it be easy to move over compatible digital purchases between the old and new console? Otherwise we are still stuck with the old keep your old console if want to still play the games you bought or save some space in the living room by not problem.

 

[cerebus23]

and all them emulators and rom sites floating around out there......really? alot of old nes games and etc were abandonware only way to play them was to grab an emulator and rip the rom if you had the gear or dl the rom file.

now it sees so many older "abandoned" games are getting reflipped and sold again via various ways across all platforms.

here is a thought though how about all that backwards compatibility we were promised and etc? or when our consoles actually could play the older generations games? why cant i play my ps2 games on my ps3? and big big props to the ps2 guys they deserve a medal.

sony did it the same reason nintendo is doing it so they can make you buy your games even if you do own them in the cd/card etc already you need to buy the converted version for the console with some upscaling or whatnot to make it run "hd"

can do the same with a emulator as well as force AA AF run the game via dx or gl run at native or 10x resolution if your pc can handle it. some even support custom textures.

so whatever, just wish metal gear solid 3 ran better on pc.....

 

[Jas0913]

I don't understand where all the hate for the Wii-U virtual console is stemming from. I love that nintendo is finally realizing how much capitol can come out of virtual market and how much consumer demand their is for it. Them charging the $1 to buy back a game you purchased on the Wii seems greedy but I see how it makes sense. Nintendo is enhancing their catalog of games and making the virtual shop way more accessible for gamers and developers, doing that costs money.

 

[Jas0913]

I don't understand where all the hate for the Wii-U virtual console is stemming from. I love that nintendo is finally realizing how much capitol can come out of virtual market and how much consumer demand their is for it. Them charging the $1 to buy back a game you purchased on the Wii seems greedy but I see how it makes sense. Nintendo is enhancing their catalog of games and making the virtual shop way more accessible for gamers and developers, doing that costs money.

 

[Jumwa]

If the slow trickle of new content for the Wii U...

The console came out two months ago with a relatively large launch lineup. What is expected here?

Why must every console launch be followed with a constant stream of complaints about how there's nothing out? This is nothing new, give it time.

The WiiU has done surprisingly well with titles by my estimation, especially when you factor in the eShop titles.

And to clarify: you can still play your downloaded Virtual Console titles from the Wii on the WiiU without paying anything. You just wont get the extra WiiU-only features.

 

[funksobeefy]

no n64 games? well i hope that changes, no reason to get the wii U if i cant buy Starfox 64 or Mario 64

deal me out captcha

 

[The White Hunter]

Neat, although I use my 3DS to download some old games, although GBA games? Interesting...

Pretty expensive though, almost 10 for a SNES game? I can get a SNES game for 2 quid in an old retro shop over in England.

Thats my big gripe with eShop at the moment, NES games and Game Boy games are nearly £4, or in some cases nearly £6!

Sell em for a £1 or £2 and I'll blow a fortune on there, especially if you make it account based and not friggin system locked Nintendo! If I bought Ghosts N Goblins on my 3DS why can't I play it on my Wii U? I may ever snap a Wii U tablet in two and have to buy a new one!

Think of the profit you could make from that scenario Nintendo!

 

[The White Hunter]

If the slow trickle of new content for the Wii U...

The console came out two months ago with a relatively large launch lineup. What is expected here?

Why must every console launch be followed with a constant stream of complaints about how there's nothing out? This is nothing new, give it time.

The WiiU has done surprisingly well with titles by my estimation, especially when you factor in the eShop titles.

And to clarify: you can still play your downloaded Virtual Console titles from the Wii on the WiiU without paying anything. You just wont get the extra WiiU-only features.

Not to mention the fact that the current release list for the Wii U has just been pumped chock full of goodies for our enjoyment...

 

[redknightalex]

I never invested money into the virtual console, probably because I never liked the Wii to begin with and having to buy yet another controller to play them well was too much for me, I mostly shrug at this news and wonder why everyone is surprised. Nintendo is hardly the company you remember as a kid, when they could do no wrong. And some games are worth buying more than once: I've bought Mass Effect 2 three times already (with a fourth on the way in the form of a trilogy bundle). I agree that they could at least make some of the virtual console games you purchased on the Wii transfer over, but if they don't why not just keep your Wii?

Frankly, I like keeping older console and running the older games on the console it was built for. Probably why I still have an N64 to play OoT on; the GameCube and virtual console games never felt the same.