Honestly, their absence makes no sense to me so I have to think that the only reason they are missing in action has something to do with the legal realm. Why do you think the games are missing?
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N64 and Gamecube games on Wii U
- Thread starter KevinRightWing
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0098386
Suspended
Emulation problems/refinements maybe? I'd love to finally get N64 games on the Wii U, and for Nintendo to make an N64 controller (like they did with the Snes controller).
GC? We're more likely to see HD ports of Gamecube games than emulation at this stage...
T'hain Esh Kelch
macrumors 604
It is definitely not a legal problem as Big N owns most of the desireable games. I think the problem is proper emulation of GC games. I do not think the console is powerfull enough to do it properly with a complete makeover as with WW.
I hear you, but that doesn't explain the lack of N64 games. Doesn't make sense to me.
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As far as Gamecube HD remakes, again that is also money left on the table. I would love to play Luigis Mansion HD or Metroid Prime HD. The system has been out over 2 years and nothing has happened besides Windwaker HD.
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As far as Gamecube HD remakes, again that is also money left on the table. I would love to play Luigis Mansion HD or Metroid Prime HD. The system has been out over 2 years and nothing has happened besides Windwaker HD.
Well there are N64 games available on the VC, but the library is limited, I doubt that you are going to see GC games - I have never seen emulation available for GC games so I doubt that Nintendo has gotten it working well enough.
My guess is that the lack of N64 games available is due to a combination of rights and lack of desire. It also may have to due with emulation quality with the analog stick.
Nintendo’s library of virtual console material is really weird as to what is available for what consoles and what developer. Some games that even Nintendo made are only available for certain consoles even though it doesn’t seem to make sense why.
ETA: Whats even more funny is that some Nintendo produced games aren’t available at all. Donkey Kong Country got pulled a while ago and I can’t understand why...
My guess is that the lack of N64 games available is due to a combination of rights and lack of desire. It also may have to due with emulation quality with the analog stick.
Nintendo’s library of virtual console material is really weird as to what is available for what consoles and what developer. Some games that even Nintendo made are only available for certain consoles even though it doesn’t seem to make sense why.
ETA: Whats even more funny is that some Nintendo produced games aren’t available at all. Donkey Kong Country got pulled a while ago and I can’t understand why...
Intell
macrumors P6
The Wii U is very capable of fully emulating a GameCube. Various people have shown it to be able to load a GameCube .dol/.iso from an SD card in the hacked Wii interface and play it without any slow downs. Because of the PowerPC chip that drives the GameCube, Wii, and Wii U, the emulation would be fairly easy to accomplish. The worst part is that GameCube games are not overly pretty in 1080p. Nintendo could possibly use some of the extra CPU/GPU power to upscale the content, but sadly it would all have to be downloaded as the Wii U's optical drive cannot work with the GameCube mini discs.
0098386
Suspended
That's on the Wii, not the Wii U. Though oddly enough the Wii Mode on the Wii U plays N64 games fine.
The Wii U's virtual console is just plain weird. There are only NES, SNES and GBA games on it, with one DS game released ages ago and none added since. No Master System, Mega Drive, Commodore 64 (though these were removed from the Wii's Virtual Console completely), Neo Geo games at all.
My theory is that they didn't make as much money as they thought they would with the Wii VC, especially when it came to the N64 games it had. So, they don't feel it's worth the effort for the Wii U. I doubt we'll ever see N64 and GameCube games on the Wii U VC. In short, I think it all comes down to the opportunity cost.
FYI Nintendo just let the Virtual Console trademark go, didn't renew it :/
http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77014165&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch
http://tsdr.uspto.gov/#caseNumber=77014165&caseType=SERIAL_NO&searchType=statusSearch