Why We Should Be Excited And Worried About N64/DS Games On The Wii U

Nintendo recently announced it would be adding Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS games to the Wii U Virtual Console. The news is exciting for the Wii U as it adds a considerable “buy me” factor for Nintendo’s current console. Nintendo has always been a company that has relied heavily on its nostalgia factor. Being able to play past favorites like Mario 64 and Donkey Kong 64 is a smart move for the company. Something about this news that is worrisome is that it falls into the recent trend that many have noticed lately coming from the long-time industry leader. Whether it’s Amiibos, NintendoDirect/Virtual Console versions of past generation titles, or the recent news about plans to work on Nintendo mobile games with DeNA, all these improvements are reactionary.

[marloc_x]

$9.99 for Mario64!?

The should charge that for 4 hours of play ;)

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Yeah! And that rental should be tied to a streaming service, so that you have to be online just to access what you paid for, 'cause being able to download and keep your games totally sucks!XD

People these days are trying way too hard to link every decision Nintendo makes to either Wii U abandonment or console abandonment in general.XD

[ShinMaster]

"a streaming service, so that you have to be online just to access what you paid for"

So I guess I should be outraged at Netflix too for forcing me to be online to access the service I paid for? /s

It would be a different story if it was advertised otherwise, as in digital and physical copies requiring you to be online at all times. But that's not the case.

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Fact; if Netflix gave people the option, many would choose to download and keep those movies, if they liked them enough.
Besides, movies and games are on different planes of interactivity.
Games have higher potential for replay value than movies.
Once you've seen a movie through about two or three times, you've seen all there is to see.
But with games, even the fifth time or more around can be different than the first depending on how you interact with it, meaning there's more reason to keep them to come back to them.

But in any case, no matter how you spin it, streamed rentals just can't beat full downloads for games.
It's certainly not something I'll ever be suckered into, no matter which game company does it.XD

[ShinMaster]

You cannot say "fact" and follow it up with an "if". That is not a fact.

People know what they're getting into. It's a streaming service and it is advertised as such.
You're not purchasing a game. You're paying for the service which allows you to stream and play multiple games.

http://i.imgur.com/xbSr7yM....
That's $20 for 1 month and the library keeps growing. Are you suggesting that you can buy all of those games for less than that? You can also rent a single game for about $1 a day.
Now, whether or not you find any value in any of those games and whether or not you've played them before is an entirely different subject.

And in no way did I compare it with downloads or claimed that it would beat them.

[ZeekQuattro]

I hope Nintendo never does that. Don't even joke about it. lmao

[Geekman]

Wait, so you're somehow tying the release if virtual console titles to the NX?

Why? All that's happening is that we get to play N64 and DS games on the Wii U. This shouldn't cause ANY controversy, and we certainly shouldn't be worried about it.

[stragomccloud]

Wait.... how is it reactionary? Nintendo was the first to announce a classic games service library in 2005 and then released classic games in the Wii's virtual console service for years. So how is this reactionary to Sony and Microsoft who started releasing classic games much later?

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Tis the season for Nintendo bashing, it seems...can't have a single article about Nintendo, lately, that isn't tied into doom and gloom.XD

[ZeekQuattro]

People eat up doom and gloom. It brings the clicks hence pays the bills. No need to actually do research. Just type it or make a video and they will come.

[DragoonsScaleLegends]

So because I'm buying classics on my Wii U that is somehow a bad thing for Nintendo? I wish I could do the same on my PS4.

[hkgamer]

its not a bad thing. its probably some people want nintendo to release these games and charge a dollar or something. lol
however it is dissapointing that it is not available on the 3ds as well. would also like to mention that they need 1 virtual console, not a virtual console for wii, wiiU and 3ds. its still a good job that nintendo is doing though, sooner or later the wiiU would be able to play classics from every previous nintendo devices.

ps4 is lacking on this and not sure what the xbone is like at this point.

[hkgamer]

virtual console is a great thing.
the only problem is that it should be unified. the technology exists so that it should be easy to implement and whatever we buy on virtual console should be available on any devices we decide to play it on.

its also about time that nintendo allows us to play gamecube games on the wiiU. if they did that then the wiiU would be the ultimate nintendo machine. we all know it is capable of playing gamecube games because of the hacks that enabled that feature.

same should apply to ps4 aswell, psone games should be enabled. ps2 should be emulated because we all know the ps4 is powerful enough for this.

[mamotte]

Brilliant. Next time I talk about a great SNES / N64 game, I'll tell him to buy a used system so he canplay it.

[Wonderful101]

N64 games on the Wii U? Yep, Nintendo just pulled the plug.

NX can't come soon enough to undoom Nintendo with its Zelda launch title. But then, Nintendo will be somehow doomed again because the DeNa mobile games won't satisfy hardcore gamers, and for that reason the NX won't be worth it.

And so, Nintendo will be forever doomed, always on the verge on becoming third party so they can undoom themselves again, but never actually doing it.

#haterlogic

[hemmo1986]

OMG! What a waste of money. I've already got every N64 game on emulators. Why the heck would I wanna purchase a game I bought when I was in primary school? You people are mad if you buy this crap. Money doesn't grow on trees

[wonderfulmonkeyman]

Most of us here don't pirate games when they're legitimately available for sale through some sort of service.
It feels good to have those old games gathered together on the same latest console as our new ones.

[tweet75]

its an amazing thing especially for new young gamers. SO much new gaming greatness. Its a great thing for long time gamers playing great gamees from their past. The worst and saddest thing about it is that these retro games are the highlight of nintendo offerings. No company should rely on the past to support themselves.

[Xof]

I'm neither excited nor worried. I just don't expect much. Nintendo's support of the Virtual Console has been abysmal... I expect we'll get a handful of first-party N64 and NDS games in the next month or two, and then nothing else for a huge span of time (possibly eclipsing the WiiU's lifespan).

It's just pathetic that the WiiU has been out for more than 2 years and there are still vastly more VC titles available on Wii than WiiU.

[KryptoniteTail]

I would love a PSNow from Nintendo.

[Coachkeys]

C mon people... Paper Mario!! They should release super mario rpg a week before...

[Coachkeys]

FACT: IF salt falls in my water. It will become salty...