Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks Coming to Wii U?
Posted on February 01 2014 by Tyler Tag
The wait, it seems, may be over. Nintendo announced today that it plans to bring DS games to the Wii U’s Virtual Console. While no concrete details have been revealed, Nintendo president, Satoru Iwata, explained that getting DS games, with their dual screen gameplay, on the Wii U GamePad has created a hurdle. Hit the jump to read more.
Iwata said Nintendo plans to double-down on the Wii U GamePad, and will work to prioritize the controller and make software that takes advantage of its specific hardware features.
“We are now sure that we can solve the technical problem of displaying Virtual Console software from Nintendo DS on the GamePad. […] The dual-screen Nintendo DS, one of which is a touch screen, has a very strong software lineup, and so we plan to add the Virtual Console titles from Nintendo DS software to the future Virtual Console lineup for Wii U.”
While Iwata didn’t announce which Nintendo DS titles will be supported on Wii U nor when we should expect them, he acknowledged that the rich software lineup of the DS could benefit the system’s Virtual Console lineup.
In a presentation slide, Nintendo’s mock-up images display screenshots from Brain Training, with the two screens being displayed side-by-side. Another option may be that games will display one image on the TV screen and one on the GamePad. However, Nintendo didn’t release additional details so we, sadly, don’t know which games will be available. We will have to wait and see if Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks will be available on the big screen.
This release will solve one of my gripes with Nintendo and the Wii U in particular. Nintendo is known for piggybacking its new and old systems. GameCube games are supported on the Wii. Wii games are supported on the Wii U. DS games are supported on 3DS and 2DS. When I got my Wii U, I looked at the GamePad and was so disappointed that it didn’t have a DS game port. The Wii U has suffered poor sales that I think could’ve been remedied by allowing DS compatibility. By opening the Wii U up to this option, I think Nintendo is going to increase its sale of the Wii U.
What do you think of this? Will having the availability of DS software on the Wii U increase your interest in wanting a Wii U? Will you play the DS software on Wii U? What games are you hoping will be available? Speak your mind below in the comment section!
