Wii virtual console details

by Kyle Orland { Nov 6th 2006 at 9:55AM }

Computer and Video Games has put up an excellent interview that answers some of the lingering questions about the Wii virtual console. Among the interesting points:

The virtual console controller will not work on GameCube games, but the GameCube controller will work on Virtual console games. (To recap: VC controller + GC game = NO. GC controller + VC game = YES)
NES virtual console games can be played using the packed-in remote.
Games are locked to a specific system on download and can't be transported from house to house on an SD card.
Games can be re-downloaded for free in case of deletion or system failure.
Gamers can store up to 10,000 VC points ($100) on their account at once.

Personally, I'm stoked that my GameCube controllers will work on any virtual console downloads, as I wasn't relishing spending $80 for four classic controllers just to play some multi-player Bomberman.

Tags: classic, controller, download, virtual console, VirtualConsole, Wii

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

DCSimian @ Nov 6th 2006 10:03AM

Well, for people that own Gamecubes, that's all nice and well. But if you don't have a GC and want to play a GC game on the Wii that you may have missed in the last generation, means you have to go out and buy a separate controller.

Granted, I don't think that'll be a huge number of cases, but it's still a tad sucky. Otherwise, the rest of it sounds ok.

BlindsideDork @ Nov 6th 2006 10:03AM

Sweet! I was afraid that I couldn't play VC games cause I wasn't ready to buy a classic controller...now I might grab some Nintendo Points and use my GameCube controller!

BlindsideDork @ Nov 6th 2006 10:06AM

#1 DCSimian

I can see your point but there are some exclusive GameCube games that are worth it and perfectly made for the GC controller! Especially Metroid Prime! It was made perfectlly for the controller and it shouldn't be all hard to track a controller down, I mean there was around/over 20 million GameCubes SOLD! I am sure you can find a controller or go to a store to buy one, a thrift store would probably have one cheap.

Ombre @ Nov 6th 2006 10:09AM

That "system failure" bit isn't exactly comforting...

T-Man @ Nov 6th 2006 10:09AM

Don't forget the shit-tastic region lockout that is going to prevent me from buying 'sin and punishment', among other games. Arbitrary regional lockout on digitally delivered goods is so 20th century.

Fuzz @ Nov 6th 2006 10:09AM

I think I'm gonna need to build a special cabinet just to hold all these controllers! 4 Wii, 2 nunchuk, 4 GC, and a classic controller(no way am I going to attempt to play a game requiring the D-pad an a GC controler). Not to mention all the accessories(gun, steering wheel, etc). Time to hit the workshop!

Dogle @ Nov 6th 2006 10:10AM

Man, that controller looks so sweet. Just wish it was wireless.

@ Nov 6th 2006 10:11AM

The GC controller is one of the best, imo. And, you can score one for cheap on eBay.

What would be very cool is if they released a wireless NES or SNES pad with the exact specifications as the originals (plus the wireless).

Christopher7xii @ Nov 6th 2006 10:12AM

So if it's locked down to your console... You have to buy it for each console if your house has multiples? Kind of lame. Also, what if the console you have breaks, you have to repurchase all your games? That could suck a lot I'd imagine. Considering the 360 you can work your way around the limits, and for PS3 they're allowing sharing up to 5 consoles, it's kind of dumb IMO for Nintendo to go this route.

Mode7 @ Nov 6th 2006 10:14AM

I need a bit of clarifacation on the "Gamers can store up to 10,000 VC points ($100) on their account at once" part, cos i'm stupid.:) This means that you can have 10,000 UNSPENT points on your account at any one time right? Not that you can only have $100 worth of VC games on your account at any one time, because that would not be good.

Darkness @ Nov 6th 2006 10:19AM

Christopher7xii, the article states that if your Wii breaks, then you can call Nintendo and they'll have a fix to get the games you downloaded again. So all is not lost. :)

Chris @ Nov 6th 2006 10:21AM

"Man, that controller looks so sweet. Just wish it was wireless."

It is (sort of). The wire goes to the Wii remote, and then the remote clips into the back.

Steve @ Nov 6th 2006 10:27AM

#6 Fuzz:

>> no way am I going to attempt to play a game
>> requiring the D-pad an a GC controler

Are you saying that you prefer the D-Pad over an analog stick or are you saying that Nintendo is not going to support the use of the analog stick as the NES/SNES D-Pad? If the latter is the case I find it ridiculous that Nintendo would impose a limitation like that, but then that would be Nintendo for you because they love to screw up the little details.

There's no reason that the analog stick's movements cannot be mapped to the more simplistic D-Pad inputs. The analog stick is just easier to use, so if Nintendo disables its use on NES/SNES games then its out of laziness and I'll probably take a pass on downloading its games for that very reason.

In fact if Nintendo doesn't even allow customizing the controller's layout of analog buttons (i.e. swapping the A and B buttons) then it will appear that Nintendo is totally halfassing the virtual console.

Art Guy @ Nov 6th 2006 10:27AM

So if:

Wii games don't require you to use the Classic Controller....

and

You can't use the Classic Controller with GameCube games...

Why does the Classic Controller have dual analog sticks?!?!
--------------------

This pisses me off for no other reason than I HATE the GameCube controller and was really looking forward to finishing Metriod with the Classic Controller on my pre-ordered Wii. There is no good reason as to why the Classic controller should have been made to not work with GameCube titles.

martinj88 @ Nov 6th 2006 10:29AM

The Classic controller has the ability to play GameCube games I wonder why Nintendo don't upgrade the Wiis firmware to enable them to work

Steve @ Nov 6th 2006 10:35AM

#14 Art Guy

This pisses me off for no other reason than I HATE the GameCube controller and was really looking forward to finishing Metriod with the Classic Controller on my pre-ordered Wii.

>> There is no good reason as to why the Classic
>> controller should have been made to not work with
>> GameCube titles.

I agree (though I love my Pelican wireless GC controller), though I think it's incorrect in stating that the classic controller doesn't work with GCN games. I think I read on IGN that they do, and if they do not why does the controller have the Z button that only appeared on the GCN?

The classic controller was a big disappointment in my mind. The left analog stick was demoted in position so that an uncomfortable D-Pad could take its place (Jeeze, I'm so SICK of the D-Pad!) and another thing I heard is that the shoulder buttons are digital instead of analog like those on the GCN. It would have been trivial to use analog shoulder buttons on this controller and design them to act as digital buttons when emulating systems with digital shoulder buttons.

Sometimes I just don't get Nintendo because they LOVE to screw up the small things.

Erwos @ Nov 6th 2006 10:37AM

Ugh, another dual-shock-esque analog stick configuration. When will these people learn that the 360's configuration is infinitely better?

Also, what happened to "no one will make games for non-included peripherals?"

T-Man @ Nov 6th 2006 10:38AM

using an analog stick in place of a d-pad, on snes/nes/genesis games would suck gaint amounts of ass.

Art Guy @ Nov 6th 2006 10:38AM

Steve - You can't use the analog sticks with any VC games except N64 titles. They won't work on NES or SNES games at all.

From the article: However, a game will only be playable with the control mechanism it was designed for. So, for example, you will play NES games with the D-pad, not an analogue stick or motion-sensitive functionality.

Art Guy @ Nov 6th 2006 10:44AM

Steve - According to the linked article, you can't use Classic Controllers for GameCube titles. I really hope this Nintendo rep is wrong, as that would both suck and blow at the same time. It could cause the universe to collapse.

Nintendo: Nintendo GameCube games can only be played using Nintendo GameCube controllers. The Classic Controller will not work on these games.

Mullinator @ Nov 6th 2006 10:46AM

Actually Steve they do have a good reason for not letting the classic controller work for Gamecube games.

It's probably for technical reasons relating to the fact that undoubtably VC games you download are being modified to be able to use these new controllers. Since Gamecube games are the games that you will play using the original disks it means Nintendo can't modify them, at least not the existing ones on the market so they simply didn't have a choice.

crono141 @ Nov 6th 2006 10:49AM

Kinda disappointing that VC controller won't do GC games. I was looking forward to shelving everything GC. Oh well.

Saneless @ Nov 6th 2006 10:52AM

"why does the controller have the Z button that only appeared on the GCN?"

Apparently you've never looked at the bottom of an N64 controller.

My guess is that the top triggers aren't analog, which is why it won't work.

crono141 @ Nov 6th 2006 10:58AM

Mullinator:

That problem can be worked around in hardware (or firmware). If Wii detects VC controller is connected on GC bootup (If statement), then it maps VC controller buttons to the gamecube buttons before the software gets to it. In other words, the software doesn't know the difference, it sees GC controller, and accepts those inputs.

This might introduce lag (like miliseconds of it), but other than that, I don't really see what a problem it would be. Kinda like all those PSX>USB adaptors for PC.

ConstyXIV @ Nov 6th 2006 10:58AM

I think the reason the VC pad won't work on GameCube games is because when you put in a GCN game, it disables the extra Wii hardware, including the Wiimote, and therefore VC pad.
@22: The games are not modified at all, they are running in emulation (programs written to fake other hardware). The Wii just passes on input from the pad to the emulated hardware.

Brandon @ Nov 6th 2006 11:18AM

So classic controllers like this only cost $20? Sweet! I wasn't too excited for them, but that's cheap. If I wait long enough, I'll be able to pick up extras for next to nothing!

Nick @ Nov 6th 2006 11:27AM

Yeah classic controllers are only 19.99 at gamestop, not a bad price really. But it's nice to know you can plug in your GC controllers and avoid the purchase if you want. Nintendo is notorious for creating a system that requires like 4 different accessories to get the full value out of the console. Things are looking up.

Nick @ Nov 6th 2006 11:28AM

Mode7- All that means is that you can have 100 bucks of CREDIT on your account at once. Once you spend it and it you can always have at least 100 not spent like on reserve.

Steve @ Nov 6th 2006 11:39AM

#24 Saneless
>>Apparently you've never looked at the bottom of
>>an N64 controller.

I just pulled out an N64 controller, turned it over and there it was. I played that system for well over 4 years but I have absolutely no memory of that button.

#19 T-Man
>> using an analog stick in place of a d-pad, on
>> snes/nes/genesis games would suck gaint amounts
>> of ass.

All it has to be is a choice. If you want to use the analog stick as a D-Pad then you can. If you want to use the D-Pad as the D-Pad, then you can. There is no technological reason why the analog stick cannot be setup to act as a D-Pad and the emulation code should easily be able to handle it. It would probably take a developer an hour or so to add that functionality to the emulation engine(s).

Tetris on the N64 disabled the analog stick and that sucked a giant amount of ass. I read all of the reasons why it wasn't implemented and it all sounded like total BS. Then when the GCN version was released the makers suddenly decided that the analog stick would work after all because it was supported. I played that game a lot and the analog stick worked perfectly.

Nintendo's stubborn refusal to allow the user some flexibility in laying out the controller as they see fit may become even more annoying. It's likely that the virtual console will map the radically different controller layouts of the Genesis and Turbo Graphix games to certain buttons on the virtual console and that will be it. If you have a preference that will be too bad because Nintendo will make that decision for you with their iron fist! (Like that emphasis?) What would be so difficult about providing a menu where the user can choose the setup of the digital buttons? It would be trivial for the emulation engine to translate these selections when reporting button commands to the game. One thing I remember about the old pre-Genesis Sega days was that they generally used the opposite button for jump than the NES did, and I assume that carried forward on the Genesis.

Derek @ Nov 6th 2006 11:50AM

I'm taking this information with a grain of salt. Why would the classic controller have two analog sticks if it doesn't work with Gamecube titles? No system on the virtual console requires two analog sticks - the N64 only had one.

Also, Nintendo should release a glossy white Wavebird for the Wii!

Seroth @ Nov 6th 2006 12:32PM

You guys are assuming the classic controller is JUST for VC games.

Remember, the classic controller is also there for developers who are afraid of the Wiimote. The classic controller will be usable in certain Wii games as well. Maybe even a few non-classic VC games will use the two analog sticks.

As for using the analog stick as a d-pad, I don't see why you wouldn't be able to. Even Animal Crossing's NES games let you use the analog stick instead of the d-pad.

TzakShrike @ Nov 6th 2006 12:40PM

Well, this is a double loss for Nintendo here...
I was going to buy 4 Wiimotes and 4 Nunchuk units anyway, and I wanted some classic controllers as well. I already own 4 gamecube controllers, all offical (but the C-stick is mildly broken on one of them). In my region, you cannot actually buy the nunchuk units and classic controllers seperately, so I was really hoping to do away with my old GC hardware completely (except for memory cards) and play the stuff on the Wii. But apparently now I can't. This really annoys me, especially considering that the only reason I can see for this is that the analogue L/R triggers are missing and the 10 or more games I own for the GameCube don't care about analogue L/R triggers. (By the way, this in itself shits me Nintendo... why is the digital mapping of the L/R triggers set to 50% when they clearly have a "click" near 100%? Seriously? I can't release/control the friggin' thing properly!). But in any case, I have no choice but to buy 4 classic controllers if I want 4 nunchuks, and now, despite having 4 seemingly compatable controllers, I have to lug around and wirelessly attach four ridiculously short cabled GC controllers? Piss off Nintendo. Man I hate you sometimes.

Alex @ Nov 6th 2006 1:25PM

I got a question about the Wii? Will games like Madden 2007 be able to play online against other people? I've tried looking online everywhere for some information but haven't found anything.

Thanks

Chris @ Nov 6th 2006 1:35PM

2 analog sticks = N64 analog + C button replacement via GameCube.

Gerwurztraminer @ Nov 6th 2006 2:01PM

Good news for those that like Wavebirds. I've been wondering if the GC controllers would work on VC games for a long time.

As far as the VC controller goes, I think I'll try one of those nifty adapters that allow you to connect a PS2 controller to a GCN first.

Tyrael @ Nov 6th 2006 3:34PM

So, I wonder if there's a method to using the VC controler for regular Wii gameplay. Like the analog sticks would control different forms of movement or something?

Just a thought.

Pince @ Nov 6th 2006 4:17PM

I wonder if the VC controller will see alot of use in that case.

Actually, I will likely buy one if the D-pad is good (the GC controller d-pad is awful), but still, it seems like most people that know about the GC controller compatability, if they dont have GC controllers already (and a lot of people getting a Wii do) would just go out and buy old GC controllers for the virtual console games.

Between the remote and a GC controller, it seems like most people would be fine as far as VC games go.

But, woe to those that don't have a VC or GC controller and want to play SNES/N64 games. That could be a source of much ire for those people (heathens).

Are VC and GC controller the only way to play SNEs or N64 games on the virtual console. This seems almost silly to ask because that is already 2 different controllers supported, but seeing as Nintendo's new philosophy seems to be "what way would you like to control your game today" - see metal slug anthologies - you almost expect people to be able to play Mario 64 using a combo of the nunchuk, an old MarioPaint mouse, and a DDR dancepad...oh man, that sounds fun.

Saneless @ Nov 6th 2006 4:37PM

"Why would the classic controller have two analog sticks if it doesn't work with Gamecube titles?"

Dunno.. lots of arcade games had 2 sticks, maybe that's what they're going for.

crono141 @ Nov 6th 2006 5:15PM

Virtual console isn't just for old games, but new games that don't have the budget for a brick and mortar release.

The controller had to be an all encompassing jack of all trades, master of none controller.

James @ Nov 6th 2006 5:45PM

I got a PS2 pad adapter for GC, since the Dual Shock is basically the pinacle of gamepad engineering (and I say that as a dyed-in-the-wool Nintendo fanboy), back when Lik-Sang still existed. I would like to tell anybody who cares that it's absolutely worth 10-15 bucks, and the one I got will work on GC and XBOX, meaning I can get one decent PS2 controller and use it on any of my current-gen systems, and now apparently the Wii as well!

mike @ Nov 6th 2006 5:57PM

Of course, the reason for two analog sticks with the 64 should be obvious. The n64 had the game playing positions: Hands on outside(dpad left, buttons right) left hand center(left hand analog stick, buttons right), and the rarely used right hand center(left hand dpad, analog stick right hand). Two analog sticks allows all these without changing hand positions. Further supporting this is the inclusion of what looks like two z buttons, one for each hand. Just my speculation.