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Why Wii U ports when Wii and Gamecube games need HD Remasters?

ZoronMaro

Member
Oct 30, 2017
525
Your heart is in the right place, but most people didn't get a Wii U and the games they missed out on on that console are fresher in their mind then the games they might have missed out on for even older consoles. I know for me, and I'm going to just assume a lot of the people wanting Wii U ports, I had a GameCube and I played almost everything worthwhile there so personally it's the Wii U games I want. Not to mention the first two GC games that come to my mind as needing HD remasters already got them, but on the Wii U...
 
v2_0

v2_0

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maximumzero said:
I'll take a Kid Icarus sequel over a remake/remaster/rewhatever.
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I agree but isn't that something we could say about any port/remaster ever? New game is always better, if you really want to play the prequel you can just buy the damn platform it already is available on. And if there are many games then that makes that move even more relevant to make.
 
maximumzero

maximumzero

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Oct 25, 2017
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ZoronMaro said:
Your heart is in the right place, but most people didn't get a Wii U and the games they missed out on on that console are fresher in their mind then the games they might have missed out on for even older consoles. I know for me, and I'm going to just assume a lot of the people wanting Wii U ports, I had a GameCube and I played almost everything worthwhile there so personally it's the Wii U games I want. Not to mention the first two GC games that come to my mind as needing HD remasters already got them, but on the Wii U...
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I missed out on the Playstation 2, personally. I wish more companies would port their PS2 content to the Switch.
 

ZoronMaro

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Oct 30, 2017
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maximumzero said:
I missed out on the Playstation 2, personally. I wish more companies would port their PS2 content to the Switch.
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I feel like you're making fun of me and I just don't get it. I'm not saying Nintendo should personally cater to me, but it sounded like OP was concerned with people constantly demanding ports of newer games rather than older games that might be more deserving of a touch up. I'm just saying even though GC didn't sell much better than Wii U it's been out longer and if people had a game they really cared about they either already played it or forgot about it, so that's why you hear more demand for the more recent Wii U games.

As far as Nintendo as a company, they see that demand and also a Wii U port would be way cheaper and faster than any HD remaster so I think it's a sensible thing for them to do to beef up the switch's library while it's still young. I'm sure they'll do some remasters of older games later on.

As an aside I missed out on PS2, and I love that both PS3 and PS4 are getting ports there, my only complaint is there should be more.
 
Calamari41

Calamari41

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Oct 25, 2017
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As others have said, underappreciated Wii U games can very easily slide into prime release dates and act as tentpoles on their own, with very little work needing to be done. Tropical Freeze, 3D World, etc would easily be seen as brand new releases to the general public.

A Smash 4 Complete Edition would be a major tentpole like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. I'm no programmer but I can't imagine that it would be harder to port that game over than it would be to remaster Mario Galaxy into HD and figure out how to make it work effectively in portable mode (sans waggle).

There's definitely a place for remasters of old classics, but easy Wii U re-releases should not take a back seat to them at all. Ideally, remasters and ports would be peppered throughout the coming years to fill in gaps in the release schedule.
 
Metallix87

Metallix87

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ZoronMaro said:
I feel like you're making fun of me and I just don't get it. I'm not saying Nintendo should personally cater to me, but it sounded like OP was concerned with people constantly demanding ports of newer games rather than older games that might be more deserving of a touch up. I'm just saying even though GC didn't sell much better than Wii U it's been out longer and if people had a game they really cared about they either already played it or forgot about it, so that's why you hear more demand for the more recent Wii U games.

As far as Nintendo as a company, they see that demand and also a Wii U port would be way cheaper and faster than any HD remaster so I think it's a sensible thing for them to do to beef up the switch's library while it's still young. I'm sure they'll do some remasters of older games later on.

As an aside I missed out on PS2, and I love that both PS3 and PS4 are getting ports there, my only complaint is there should be more.
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Correct. My point was that I see people demanding more Wii U ports, and while that's fine, and it makes financial sense for Nintendo, there are games on older systems that could use a visual update to better mesh with our Modern technology. I feel like more people should desire that.
 

Deleted member 14002

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The Wii U has an amazing catalogue of games that very few people played. Porting them to a system that people actually own with minor upgrades is probably cheaper/less effort than doing that for sub HD consoles 2-3 generations back.

Also both Windwaker and Twilight Princess (GC and Wii) Zelda's were on the Wii U.
 
Posty McPostface

Posty McPostface

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Oct 27, 2017
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maximumzero said:
I apologize, I wasn't trying to attack you personally. I see the "I missed the Wii U so I want those games on Switch" comment all the time and I just think it's the weakest argument in regards to ports and remasters. I was merely stating a similar opinion because it's just as weak.
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It's not a weak argument, though, and your analogy is incredibly poor for reasons that should be self-evident.
 
rodtrindade

rodtrindade

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Oct 25, 2017
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It probably makes more sense financially to Nintendo to port games that already have HD graphics to a more popular system, with a growing user base. I wish more people played Donkey Kong Tropical Freeze, for instance. Such an incredible game that used Wii U's GamePad as a normal controller and could be on any other platform without a hassle.

That's not saying I don't want HD GameCube games. Number one on my list is F-Zero GX, the best game of its kind ever made.
 
arturo2666

arturo2666

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Oct 25, 2017
971
The reason it's pushed by people here? A lot of people didn't buy a Wii U despite it having a really good library.
 
Posty McPostface

Posty McPostface

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Metallix87 said:
Correct. My point was that I see people demanding more Wii U ports, and while that's fine, and it makes financial sense for Nintendo, there are games on older systems that could use a visual update to better mesh with our Modern technology. I feel like more people should desire that.
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But I think the point is that people would rather play games they haven't played at all because they didn't own a Wii U vs games they have played simply getting the HD treatment. A lot of people here did play or have access to these Wii and GameCube games because they owned one or the other (and if you owned the Wii, you owned the GameCube, essentially). Not nearly as many owned the Wii U. So that may be why you see people "desiring" the Wii U ports more.

I think, aside from maybe an exception here and there, that GameCube games will simply be available on the VC. Not sure exactly what we will see with respect to the Wii, but I'm sure there will be some remasters.
 
maximumzero

maximumzero

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Posty McPostface said:
But I think the point is that people would rather play games they haven't played at all because they didn't own a Wii U vs games they have played simply getting the HD treatment. A lot of people here did play or have access to these Wii and GameCube games because they owned one or the other (and if you owned the Wii, you owned the GameCube, essentially). Not nearly as many owned the Wii U. So that may be why you see people "desiring" the Wii U ports more.

I think, aside from maybe an exception here and there, that GameCube games will simply be available on the VC. Not sure exactly what we will see with respect to the Wii, but I'm sure there will be some remasters.
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If I wanted to play Playstation 3 games and owned a Playstation 4, I'm fairly certain most would tell me to go out and buy a Playstation 3.

If you want to play Wii U games and own a Switch...why not purchase a Wii U?
 
Posty McPostface

Posty McPostface

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maximumzero said:
If I wanted to play Playstation 3 games and owned a Playstation 4, I'm fairly certain most would tell me to go out and buy a Playstation 3.

If you want to play Wii U games and own a Switch...why not purchase a Wii U?
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This is not relevant to the question of why people desire Wii U ports over GameCube remakes. Your post undermines the entire point of this thread.
 

Deleted member 14002

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Metallix87 said:
I'm aware, they're the basis for my suggestion on the matter, as mentioned in the OP.
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Apologies, this person said what I was trying to say but better.
Madao said:
Wii U ports are easier to make. a straight port with a resolution boost is easier than a remaster. compare the work that went into TPHD and TWWHD compared to the work that went into MK8D or Pokken DX. plus, most of the Wii U games were held back badly by the userbase, more than GC or Wii games.

it'd still be neat to see certain HD remasters, especially froms eries that are dead or don't receive games frequently (Metroid or F-Zero).
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I am not against seeing remasters of games from that era, I would personally love a TTYD remaster. I do think that it would be more taxing to bring those games instead of a Wii U library.

Why spend the money doing a GC game remaster instead of porting two Wii U games?
 

Robdraggoo

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It's also possible that gc and Wii ports will come in the form of the new vc which we are supposed to see early next year.

Here's hoping for little kings story!
Oh and skyward sword with hd rumble, or just get rid of motion altogether. either way
 

Deleted member 9486

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Well for people asking for them, the obvious reason is that the Wii U was a huge failure so many people didn't own it and missed those games.

For Nintendo, those games and assets are already in HD so they should be quicker and easier to port which means more profit per copy sold.

Personally, I agree I'd rather those GC and Wii games get HD remasters/remakes as I still have my Wii U. I would like Mario Maker to come over or get a sequel though as that's a game they should have on every platform as it's a constant stream of user-created content.
 

Shifty1897

Member
Oct 28, 2017
702
iceblade said:
Thread posted on behalf of Metallix87

I've seen numerous people on here push the idea that the Switch will receive ports of numerous Wii U games, such as Smash 4, Mario 3D World, and Mario Maker, in the future. I'm not opposed to that idea, and I actually believe it would be a net boon for both the Switch and gamers, given that so many people passed on owning a Wii U. That being said, I think a bigger opportunity lies in Nintendo remastering their pre-HD era (Gamecube & Wii, specifically) games for the Switch. We've already seen the company show interest in this with remasters of Wind Waker and Twilight Princess on Wii U.

The obvious next candidates would be the Super Mario Galaxy games, though there's definitely numerous others that would make good candidates. The Gamecube, in particular, was a console with limited success, similar to the Wii U. The Metroid Prime Trilogy would look great in HD, and the Joy Cons would allow for great controls. How about Kirby's Epic Yarn? That game looked great on Wii, and I think it could be a visual stunner on Switch with a polished HD Remaster. Nintendo could even work with third parties again on this endeavor. How about Star Fox Assault and F-Zero GX, both in HD with online multiplayer?

This is definitely where I want to see Nintendo eventually go with remasters on Switch. Thoughts?
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Because most people don't have Wii U's, so to most people, they are new games.
 

ZoronMaro

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Oct 30, 2017
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maximumzero said:
I apologize, I wasn't trying to attack you personally. I see the "I missed the Wii U so I want those games on Switch" comment all the time and I just think it's the weakest argument in regards to ports and remasters. I was merely stating a similar opinion because it's just as weak.
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No offense taken.
It's just asking for ports from one of the best selling systems ever to a console made by a completely different company isn't analogous at all to asking for ports from the worst selling system to the new console made by the same people. Better analogy would have been if you said, "I missed out on the Vita, they should port more Vita games to PS4." To which...I'd agree they should!

I think that "I missed out on a console, therefore, I want these games, therefore, they should port them to the new thing" isn't a worthless argument, remember if one person is saying something there's many more thinking it and that means there's demand. I'm leaving out a multitude of factors (such as how large the demand is), but at the end of the day from a companies perspective this means they can make a profit by meeting that demand. So a person saying I'd really like a new IP has as much value as someone saying I'd really like a port.

Slightly related is there's also the fact it's better for the big three if you the consumer buy a game on new hardware (and get you into a new ecosystem where you could by more new things) than on the old hardware (where it would likely be used or discounted and they aren't going to make much money from you). So it's actually in Nintendo's interests for people to NOT by those cheap used Wii U's that have recently flooded used markets and instead by a Switch; porting Wii U games is a good way to do that.
 
Flabber

Flabber

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Oct 31, 2017
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I think everyone's made the point that it's much quicker to port something from Wii U to Switch, more people will have missed out, and those games will be fresher in everyone's minds.

To speak to the second point briefly, I owned a Gamecube but wasn't super into gaming around then, so when I got a Wii and seriously got into gaming I picked up a load of Gamecube games that I'd missed out on the first time round - things like Metroid Prime, F-Zero, New Play Control Pikmin 1 + 2, Eternal Darkness.

I mean compare sales of Mario Galaxy and Mario 3D World - the latter has 5.7M units sold, and the former has more than double at 12.75M, and they're both the third biggest selling games on their respective systems.

And again personally, I owned a Wii U but I'd buy Tropical Freeze, Pikmin 3 and plenty of others over again for the Switch just because I didn't enjoy playing them on the Wii U all that much so never got very far with them - it was always a pain to start the thing up, it seemed to take forever, then the Switch on the other hand is always lying around somewhere and is ready to go in fractions of a second (also I haven't sold my Wii U but it's on an extended loan to my ex-gf so I don't have the option to just get those games out for a quick go either).
 
kc44135

kc44135

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Cuz no one owned a Wii U, and no one wants to ever have to buy one at this point. I can sympathize with them, even though I owned one. I wish I hadn't...
 
Liam Allen-Miller

Liam Allen-Miller

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I think that getting Wii U software out on Switch is probably higher on their priority list since the games probably have a higher chance of moving hardware while Switch excitement is still high, plus they don't really need as much work to get them on Switch at modern standards. Remastered Wii and GameCube stuff would probably perform the same saleswise whether they're released tomorrow or two years from now.
 

Deleted member 1839

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Probably because more people played on the GameCube and Wii than the Wii U. Shit sucks that Bayonetta 2 is tied to the system so hopefully it gets ported.
 
Vadara

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LewieP said:
F-Zero GX (it's playable without them, but you're somewhat hampered).
Super Mario Sunshine (they could do a workaround where they map "fully pressed" to one shoulder button, and "partially pressed" to another).
Metroid Prime 1+2.
Smash Bros (not massively essential).
I think Luigi's Mansion.
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Analog triggers are extremely important for Melee at competitive levels...and competitive players are the only ones who are gonna give a shit about a switch remaster of Melee. Granted, they'd probably come out with a gamecube adapter for it and Smash 5 when the latter inevitably comes out.
 

Deleted member 1635

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Would be awesome if I could get the Mario Galaxy games on the go without any motion controls. Those are the only two I would really want.
 
hibikase

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It is a crime that Super Mario 3D World is exclusive to that massive flop of a console. More people need to experience it.
 
hibikase

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Vadara said:
Analog triggers are extremely important for Melee at competitive levels...and competitive players are the only ones who are gonna give a shit about a switch remaster of Melee. Granted, they'd probably come out with a gamecube adapter for it and Smash 5 when the latter inevitably comes out.
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The Switch already supports the existing adapter since last major firmware update.
 
kc44135

kc44135

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Zeel said:
It was worth it alone for:

Xenoblade X
Mario Kart 8
DK Tropical Freeze
BOTW
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Ehhh, beyond the other issues the system had (like the entire concept of the Gamepad being kind of bad) I was honestly pretty disappointed with the games output, tbh. Bayonetta and Tropical Freeze were both great, the Zelda remasters were solid, and Mario Kart was cool, but other than that? There wasn't much for me, personally.

BOTW was available on the Switch the same day that it launched on Wii U, and the Switch version was far superior (better resolution, portable, and the framerate on Wii U was absolutely horrible, especially in towns). NSMBU was the same old, same old. Super Mario 3D World, while not bad per se, was incredibly disappointing/underwhelming as the system's only 3D Mario, especially compared to 64, Galaxy, and what we just got with Odyssey. Star Fox and Paper Mario both let me down. Didn't care for Xenoblade X (too grindy, with systems it didn't explain very well to a newbie like myself, and a lame story) or Pikmin 3 (just not my thing). Sooo yeah, I probably made some of y'all pretty salty there, but... I just wasn't a big fan of most of Wii U's games, and it's the only time I've ever really felt disappointed with Nintendo in that respect.
 
kc44135

kc44135

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Akela

Akela

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Nintendo re-releasing Wii U games on the Switch feels like them trying to recoup the investment they put into those games more then anything else - it's obvious that the dismal sales figures of the Wii U meant that none of the games they released made anywhere near the amount of profit Nintendo expected. Mario Kart 8 was the best selling Wii U title, but it still "only" sold 8.38 million copies. Which is a pretty huge amount of sales, but compare that to Mario Kart DS, that sold 23.60 million, or Mario Kart Wii that sold a massive 37.02 million copies. With the Switch release, Mario Kart 8 should eventually be able to reach a number that is more in line with the series average.

The Wii games on the other hand don't exactly need to be re-released, they were huge financial successes already. Though a Mario Galaxy collection would be huge sales-wise (and it would be great to play it in HD, on the go.)
 
Gunny T Highway

Gunny T Highway

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It is much easier to port games from the Wii U then it is to create Remasters/HD Ports from the Gamecube era. I would love Gamecube ports more than anyone but there are some great Wii U games that should be available on the Switch that are now stuck in a console a ton of people have not played.
 
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