Select GCN games being repackaged for Wii
Thursday, October 2nd, 2008 at 6:24am by Derek
Nintendo is bringing “enhanced GameCube software” to Wii.
The first games in Nintendo’s “Play on Wii Selection” will be Pikmin and Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat.
According to Nintendo President Satoru Iwata, the games will have additional Wii functionality. Both have Nov. 2008 releases in Japan.
Pikmin was originally released for GameCube in North America in Dec. 2001, and Jungle Beat followed in Mar. 2005. Nintendo has not yet revealed pricing details.
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:43 am
Yay, more ports.
(Nintendo)
we rehash everything we have and make you buy it more times then a port of a Final Fantasy game.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:27 am
I would have hoped there would have been a way to simply download something for GC games to allow them to be played from the GC disk on wii as wii games.
like, download the game to the wii, but that game gets all it’s content like textures, sounds, ect from the original gamecube disk, then just charge say 500 wii points for this addon that lets you run some GC games as wii games.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:55 am
Despite skeptism here, I think it’s a great choice. Some of the GameCubes better titles have become difficult to find second hand, but are still worth playing. The GameCube didn’t have nearly the install base of the Wii, so it probably makes sense to give new Nintendo owners a chance to catch up on some of the really neat games they missed.
I’m not sure what the “added Wii functionality” will be like, but it can’t hurt either. I’d pick up Pikmin as is… but changing the controls to use the Wii remote pointer would be awesome!
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:55 am
Finally. They talked about this back in 2006. Here’s hoping it’s slightly more than just ports, however, which it sounds like it is.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:06 am
I am somewhere between Damien’s disappointment and ejamer’s optimism. It will be disappointing if they are direct ports, but Jungle Beat in particular deserves a larger audience than it had on GameCube.
Metroid Prime 1 and 2 with Wii controls? I’m ALL for that.
October 2nd, 2008 at 8:56 am
My wife will be so disappointed if this is the Wii Pikmin game that Miyamoto confirmed at E3.
These ports had better be cheap.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:13 am
JonKind - that’s my fear too. I was so psyched for a new Pikmin entry, and if this is it… well, that blows - not to say it’s not cool, it’s just not nearly as good as I’ve been expecting since Wii launched.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:23 am
“Metroid Prime 1 and 2 with Wii controls? I’m ALL for that.”
Wow, I was so busy thinking about how much better Pikmin would be with Wii controls that the obvious port was forgotten. Metroid Prime 1 & 2 would be a definite buy for me if they include upgraded Wii controls. Do you think it’s too much to ask for some online code?
“My wife will be so disappointed if this is the Wii Pikmin game that Miyamoto confirmed at E3.”
To remain optimistic, if they do update Pikmin to use Wii controls then Nintendo is halfway to creating a new game. At that point they would have the engine and most assests ready for the next game.
October 2nd, 2008 at 9:28 am
I’m with Derek. On one hand, I’m pretty sick of the Wii’s library relying so much on last gen ports. Plus the Wii can already play GC games.
On the other hand, there were a lot of great GC games, several under the radar, and yeah they are getting harder and harder to find. The added Wii functionality or whatever sounds a bit gimmicky though. And I would hope they would charge no more than $20 for these titles. Anything more and I’m crying money grab.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:01 am
“… Upcoming titles in the collection include Chibi Robo, Pikmin 2, Mario Tennis GC, Metroid Prime, and Metroid Prime 2 Dark Echoes …”
Read that quote on another website — Joystiq, I think? — and also saw that the games will be budget priced (but maybe not budget enough) at roughly $35 when first released. The Pikmin and Metroid Prime series have my attention, but a purchase decision at that price will depend on whether Nintendo adds online play and nails the Wii controls.
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:36 am
So I already own 2 copies of Metroid Prime and Echoes. Now I have to buy them again as GCWII? Aarghhh!
October 2nd, 2008 at 10:37 am
Am I being a jerk to say that pricing for these GCWII games should be $19.99?
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:15 am
@Gunder
Hasn’t Pikmin 3 been confirmed already? Perhaps this’ll just ad to that title since they get to test out a complete Pikmin with Wii controls before they finish Pikmin 3.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:28 am
An updated version of Mario Tennis with Wii controls would be awesome (I love that game). I haven’t bought that game yet for the Cube, and this just might be the incentive I needed to spend the money on it.
Metroids 1 and 2 also sound promising.
October 2nd, 2008 at 11:47 am
I’d heartily agree with that price, @Brian. No way should these ports should be over $30. I mean $30 is the usual Player’s Choice pricepoint isn’t it? Haven’t these games already been Player’s Choice titles? At the very least they shouldn’t go UP in price, new controls or not.
I’m being a bit negative, I think these games will be way fun to play but it really feels like another instance of Nintendo wanting us to buy the same games again and again, at least give people a break with the cost of doing that.
October 2nd, 2008 at 12:43 pm
I’ll gladly buy a Wii-vamped Metroid Prime 1 & 2. Two of my favorite games from last gen.
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:19 pm
I’m definitely all pumped for a Wii version of Pikmin 2 (but not Pikmin)!
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:37 pm
There’s a lot of people that never had a Gamecube and missed out on some of these great games. It gives these titles another chance to shine. Personally I’ve never played Donkey Kong Jungle Beat. Always wanted to, but never got around to doing so. If the price is right ($30 sounds good), I’ll be picking it up.
October 2nd, 2008 at 1:38 pm
So Prime and Echoes = no brainer.
Who wants to bet that the Mario Kart Double Dash or whatever it’s called won’t get this triitmeant?
F-Zero GX? I want a new F-Zero. Star Fox Command? Sure.
How about Star Wars Rogue Squadron II: Rogue Leader Wiimade? I know it’s made by a third party, but that’s a game I would love for them to consider. Of course they won’t but… wow!
Super Mario Sunshine? Sure, but I haven’t even finished the GC version yet. It’s kind of hard.
Lastly, they’d better leave in the GC controller option for all of this Wiimakes. I don’t think you should remove a feature just because you added a feature.
October 2nd, 2008 at 4:38 pm
Battalion Wars 1 should be Wii-ed. Also judging from the short videos of these games, they are graphically updated as well.
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:21 pm
the first Pikmin game can be found for about £4-5 here in the UK ($8-10) so this news is ok, but I’d be very happy if Pikmin 2 and Chibi-Robo were to get budget releases on Wii, Pikmin 2 had a very limited run here and I’ve seen copies on eBay very recently selling at £35-40 ($70-80) each.
I’ve also heard Pikmin 2 is a lot better than the first one, and i’d much rather try that one first (I’ve yet to play either).
long story short, if Ninty can get me Pikmin 2 on Wii for around £15, or thereabouts, i’ll buy.
October 2nd, 2008 at 6:49 pm
“Nintendo
we rehash everything we have and make you buy it more times then a port of a Final Fantasy game.”
You are right. Exactly.
The thing is, we DON’T have to buy these titles, if we DON’T want to.
I agree with you 100% but am not very upset with the news because it was going to happen thats how greedy and un-innovative the company can be at times. I wish this time and effort was centered upon making new games, but unfortunately it is wasted on rehashing WiiMAKES.
Oh well, like me, just don’t buy these last gen bloody games.
Not a big deal.
October 2nd, 2008 at 7:42 pm
This has got to be the lamest thing I have ever seen. I don’t know what’s worse — corporate greed, or the people who actually buy into this.
October 3rd, 2008 at 1:41 am
[...] Bron: Infendo [...]
October 3rd, 2008 at 11:52 am
Yeah the real news here certainly isn’t Jungle Beat. It’s Metroid. Sure, Pikmin is cool and playing by being able to drag to select your little guys like in a PC RTS will be cool. But tacking the Prime 3 controls onto Prime 1 and 2, especially 1, is what we were all dreaming about back when Corruption came out. So…. hells yeah.
October 3rd, 2008 at 4:00 pm
I too think this will be a great opportunity for a lot of gc games that didn’t get to shine like they should have to get another chance at life. I for one coudn’t afford to buy every good gc game that came out so I’ll be psyched to pick up pikmin 1 +2 and dk jungle beat. I may pick up the primes ( I beat the first and third but never played the second).
I don’t understand the negativitey here though about this announcement. I agree with Wii Wii here in that you don’t HAVE to buy (or re-buy) these games at all!
This is primarily for those who missed out on alot of gems ( that still look and play great today) and for those who may want to experience those games again with (presumably) a more interactive control scheme.
C’mon! How can you get mad at Pikmin, Prime, frickin Mario Tennis with wii controls?
I also nominate:
-Battalion wars 1
-Fire Emblem
-Luigi’s Mansion
And any other game that would make sense to add any wii-hancements.
Besides, do you people think that this is ALL Nintendo is doing with their game development time?
October 3rd, 2008 at 8:30 pm
its a fine line. its a good idea for a few games. some games would really be great for it, like metroid prime 1, maybe pikmin, luigi’s mansion. but they can definitely overdo it. i wouldn’t make more than 10 remakes. and its gotta be games that would work better with the wiimote. too many remakes would really be overkill and kill an otherwise good idea. i highly doubt fire emblem will be wii’ified. they didn’t wii’ify it with the wii version.