Virtual Console Scheduled for Wii U Appearance in Spring - The UpStream

Virtual Console Scheduled for Wii U Appearance in Spring

posted Sunday Jan 27, 2013 by Nicholas DiMeo

Virtual Console Scheduled for Wii U Appearance in Spring

Remember the Virtual Console for the Wii that allowed you to play all of the old NES and SNES games that you loved so much? Well, good news for Wii U owners: you're getting another upgrade and it's the Virtual Console! After dropping the ball at launch but quickly recovering within the first month Nintendo has been throwing everything it can at their next-gen console in order to make sure it has all the offerings of the other two big boys, and then some. Satoru Iwata announced this week via Nintendo Direct that the Virtual Console will be available to the Wii U this spring.

By also offering GameBoy Advance titles to the platform for the first time, this is sure to please many of the Nintendo fans that were on the fence about purchasing the new console instead of just holding onto their Wii. However, before the Virtual Console can make its way to the Wii U, Iwata said that two big software updates will hit the systems that will address some performance issues.

The good news is that Nintendo will also be sticking to its model of pricing their games to be as attractive as possible and appreciating the loyalty of its customer base, in hopes that consumers will do business in quantity. So, if you've bought a game on the VC in the past and wish to buy it again on the Wii U, you won't have to pay full price. $4.99-$5.99 NES games will only cost you a buck and $7.99-$8.99 SNES titles will run you $1.50.

Also, to celebrate the launch of the VC and Famicom's 30th anniversary, Nintendo will be serving up a trial campaign that will offer select games for 30 cents each over a 30 day period. From January through July, users can demo one of these titles per month from the eShop: Balloon Fight, F-Zero, Punch-Out featuring Mr. Dream, Kirby's Adventure, Super Metroid, Yoshi and Donkey Kong. These games will only be available during the month they're offered, hopefully convincing you to pay the full price for the title when the Virtual Console finally makes its way to the Wii U. New games are also on the horizon by the means of an HD remake of The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Walker, coming out in the fall, as well as a 3D Mario and Mario Kart title, which we'll hear more about at E3.

Lastly, Iwata wanted to apologize for not launching any new Wii U titles in January or February but said that with Nintendo, it's more about quality than quantity. Strangely, I've always known Nintendo to be the platform that had any time of game imaginable, but perhaps the company is turning over a new leaf.

Nintendo takes seriously its responsibility to offer a steady stream of new titles in the very early days of a new platform to establish a good lineup of software. On the other hand, we also firmly believe we have to offer quality experiences when we release new titles. Based on our software development schedules at the end of last year, we concluded we should spend a little more time to satisfy to our Nintendo standard of quality.

At any rate, we'll let you know when the Virtual Console officially hits your Wii U consoles, but until then, enjoy the offerings from Nintendo and let us know in the comments below if this news changes your mind on purchasing a Wii U, if you haven't already done so.

Advertisement

Login to CommentWhat You're Saying

Be the first to comment!

We're live now - Join us!
PLUGHITZ Keyz

Email

Password

Forgot password? Recover here.
Not a member? Register now.
Blog Meets Brand Stats