Nintendo announced earlier today on its Nintendo Direct video program, a slew of plans for its Wii U console.
You may have been a bit unimpressed by the Q1 lineup announced a few days ago by Nintendo. And I haven’t been too generous about the console’s lackluster launch, even though it didn’t stop me from getting a Wii U anyway. With today’s announcement, Nintendo has established a gleam of hope for the system, with news about the Virtual Console, addressing concerns about load times, and announcing the sequels we’ve all been waiting for amongst their best intellectual properties.
Bear with me, this is a lot of news.
Yes, the Wii U Virtual Console is here today!
Nintendo has planned two system updates, one for spring and the other for summer, with a goal of addressing loading times on the Wii U system menu and unveiling the Wii U Virtual Console. The new Virtual Console will not contain all of the games that were on the Wii’s Virtual Console, rather, like the 3DS’s Virtual Console, Nintendo will be recoding and re-releasing games individually. This will allow Nintendo to prepare Wii U GamePad support, a feature highly requested by fans since before the system’s launch, meaning players can access their VC library without having to turn on the television. This feature only applies to Wii U Virtual Console games and not any VC titles that were transferred or purchased from the original Wii Shop.
Before you start screaming and complaining, Nintendo will be offering an extremely generous discount to Wii owners who want to re-purchase any VC games they already own, so they can then play the enhanced versions of these games on the GamePad, access the Miiverse community, and save backups of game progess. The discounts announced so far apply to NES and Super NES titles at $1 and $1.50 respectively. To clarify, that’s how much existing owners will have to pay to get the enhanced versions of these games. This is an optional fee, so if you are content with accessing your Virtual Console library via the virtual Wii Menu and only playing on your TV, so be it.
The Wii U Virtual Console will contain Game Boy Advance titles. No price yet for GBA, but regular prices for NES and Super NES remain the same as the original Wii, ranging from $5 to $9. The Wii U Virtual Console was also launched today with its first game, Balloon Fight, at a special sale price of 30 cents. The price stems from a promotional trial Nintendo is holding for the 30th anniversary of the Famicom (Japanese name of the NES), in which one NES or Super NES game, each month from now till July, will sell at 30 cents for only 30 days per title. In other words, you have 30 days to buy a Wii U and grab Balloon Fight before the price jumps up to $5. Current owners of Balloon Fight on the original Wii will actually be able to purchase the game for 30 cents even after the sale price expires. The monthly sale titles are shown in the next image below.
Other new Virtual Console features Nintendo didn’t mention in its video, that I discovered for myself after purchasing Balloon Fight, is the ability to map your own button layout on the GamePad and play games in the correct 4:3 aspect ratio (with black bars on the sides) in 1080p.
The Miiverse community will soon be accessible from web browsers with a smart phone, although they also have a smart phone app in development. And Nintendo is hard at work on new first party titles, with no retail releases in the pipeline for January or February, however, they have announced the latest sequels that they are working on for Wii U, one of which is a follow up to Wii Party, the Mario Party-esque game that focuses on playing as Miis (instead of your favorite Mario characters) in a similar board game and mini-game fashion.
As expected, a follow-up to Super Mario Galaxy 2 is on the way, though it’s unknown if it will be a Super Mario Galaxy 3 or an entirely new entry in the Mario series. If that’s not enough Mario, Nintendo is also working on Mario Kart 8.
Yoshi’s Island fans can look forward to a a new entry from Takashi Tezuka, director of Yoshi’s Island and Yoshi’s Story, and the team responsible for Kirby’s Epic Yarn. The title is currently known as Yarn Yoshi, but it will likely see a name change before release.
Also announced is a collaboration title from the creators of the Fire Emblem series and Atlus’ Shin Megami Tensei, currently titled Shin Megami Tensei x Fire Emblem. Further details have yet to emerge.
Then we have Monolith Soft apparently developing a sequel to Xenoblade Chronicles, according to a trailer revealed in the Nintendo Direct video.
Now for the big news: a new Zelda title for Wii U. Are you surprised? Yeah, neither was I. Excited? Of course! But it gets better. While we wait for the new Zelda game, Nintendo will be releasing an HD remake of The Legends of Zelda: The Wind Waker, featuring all new graphics, GamePad support, and a “tune up of the overall game experience.” The Wind Waker will be released by fall 2013; it is currently unclear if this will be a downloadable only title or retail disc.
Now is a good time to go ahead and purchase that Wii U if you’ve been waiting.
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