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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Wii U won't play GC games

darkknightkryta on 10 June 2011
NJ5 said:
darkknightkryta said:
NJ5 said:
thetonestarr said:
In order to make it backwards compatible with GCN as well as Wii, they would have to incorporate GCN hardware into it as well as Wii. Multiple consoles' hardware is tedious and cramped.


They're probably not incorporating Wii hardware on the Wii U, because Wii hardware can operate in GC mode which is supposed to be how the Wii does backwards compatiblity. If they did incorporate Wii hardware, GC compatibility should be very easy.

I'm guessing they'll do some sort of emulation for the GPU and possibly the CPU (not sure if the Wii's CPU is binary compatible with POWER7 CPUs).

Unless ATI did something seriously crazy with the GPU and completely changed the assembly, there's no reason why Gamecube games don't work on Wii U.  None at all.  Unless Nintendo didn't go with IBM with their CPU and then Wii games won't work properly on the Wii U.   Ultimately this makes no sense at all.

The GC/Wii GPU doesn't even use shaders, so yeah, they did something "completely crazy" in the 10 years since the GC. If the Wii U is using a standard modern AMD GPU as they wrote in the press release I don't think that's directly compatible.

The shader technology doesn't change the assembly, it would add to it but no remove anything to make the current code base useless, if that were the case Quake 3 and Unreal wouldn't be able to run on current machines.



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iluvgaming on 10 June 2011

if the ps3 can play ps1 games why cant wii u play gc games :(



theRepublic on 10 June 2011

kain_kusanagi said:

I'd prefer it if all consoles where backwards compatible with all previous versions no matter how many slots and disc drives they have to have to play everything. Just think how great it would be if you could have one Nintendo consoles that played 25 years worth of games without having to rebuy the games you have sitting on a shelf.

That console would be big, ugly, and expensive.



Switch Code: SW-7377-9189-3397 -- Nintendo Network ID: theRepublic -- Steam ID: theRepublic

Now Playing
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kain_kusanagi on 11 June 2011
theRepublic said:

kain_kusanagi said:

I'd prefer it if all consoles where backwards compatible with all previous versions no matter how many slots and disc drives they have to have to play everything. Just think how great it would be if you could have one Nintendo consoles that played 25 years worth of games without having to rebuy the games you have sitting on a shelf.

That console would be big, ugly, and expensive.


Big, ugly, and useful, but not necessarily too expensive.



theRepublic on 11 June 2011
kain_kusanagi said:
theRepublic said:

kain_kusanagi said:

I'd prefer it if all consoles where backwards compatible with all previous versions no matter how many slots and disc drives they have to have to play everything. Just think how great it would be if you could have one Nintendo consoles that played 25 years worth of games without having to rebuy the games you have sitting on a shelf.

That console would be big, ugly, and expensive.


Big, ugly, and useful, but not necessarily too expensive.

Yes it would be expensive.  Putting all those controller, game, and memory card connections in costs money.  The older they are, the more rare and expensive it would be.



Switch Code: SW-7377-9189-3397 -- Nintendo Network ID: theRepublic -- Steam ID: theRepublic

Now Playing
Switch - Super Mario Maker 2 (2019)
Switch - The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (2019)
Switch - Bastion (2011/2018)
3DS - Star Fox 64 3D (2011)
3DS - Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (Trilogy) (2005/2014)
Wii U - Darksiders: Warmastered Edition (2010/2017)
Mobile - The Simpson's Tapped Out and Yugioh Duel Links
PC - Deep Rock Galactic (2020)

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NightDragon83 on 11 June 2011

And how exactly would you be supposed to play GC games on the Wii U if it was backwards compatible with them? Do you realize how ridiculous it would look with 4 GC controller ports and 2 memory card slots sticking out the side of it?



On 2/24/13, MB1025 said:
You know I was always wondering why no one ever used the dollar sign for $ony, but then I realized they have no money so it would be pointless.

NightDragon83 on 11 June 2011
iluvgaming said:
if the ps3 can play ps1 games why cant wii u play gc games :(

Because PS1 games are on standard CDs that the PS3 can read or are downloadable through PSN, and are compatible with PS3's controller.  Reading GC games required a custom drive for the Wii, and none of the Wii controller options work with GC games.

Thats why.



On 2/24/13, MB1025 said:
You know I was always wondering why no one ever used the dollar sign for $ony, but then I realized they have no money so it would be pointless.

Skeeuk on 11 June 2011

ive just almost got shut of all my nintendo games, im only keeping the 2 phantasy stars on gamecube i could never bear getting shut of them



...not much time to post anymore, used to be awesome on here really good fond memories from VGchartz...

PSN: Skeeuk - XBL: SkeeUK - PC: Skeeuk

really miss the VGCHARTZ of 2008 - 2013...

Untamoi on 12 June 2011
darkknightkryta said:
NJ5 said:
thetonestarr said:
In order to make it backwards compatible with GCN as well as Wii, they would have to incorporate GCN hardware into it as well as Wii. Multiple consoles' hardware is tedious and cramped.


They're probably not incorporating Wii hardware on the Wii U, because Wii hardware can operate in GC mode which is supposed to be how the Wii does backwards compatiblity. If they did incorporate Wii hardware, GC compatibility should be very easy.

I'm guessing they'll do some sort of emulation for the GPU and possibly the CPU (not sure if the Wii's CPU is binary compatible with POWER7 CPUs).

Unless ATI did something seriously crazy with the GPU and completely changed the assembly, there's no reason why Gamecube games don't work on Wii U.  None at all.  Unless Nintendo didn't go with IBM with their CPU and then Wii games won't work properly on the Wii U.   Ultimately this makes no sense at all.


It has more to do with special discs GC used. This requires special disc drive because disc size is different and adds cost. I don't see any reason why WiiU couldn't play GC games but there is a simple reason why they don't have support for GC discs.



dystopia on 12 June 2011

Eh, a Gamecube runs you about $10 used, not a big deal.