[[image:jd_0801002_pikmin01.jpg::right:0]]I’m pretty sure the general populace is over Wii puns by now, but, eh…
Perhaps lost amongst the new DS and Club Nintendo and Punch-Out!! news is the announcement that GameCube games would be re-released on the Wii. Pikmin was announced as the vanguard release for the lineup. Paranoia that this is what they meant when they said they were working on Pikmin at E3 aside, this development is somewhat interesting*.
This isn’t the first time games have been re-released on the Wii; Okami and Resident Evil 4 both made an encore appearance on the system. But those were fairly recent releases on the tail end of the last system generation, and when looking for a current gen system to port to, the Wii’s the obvious choice. The hardware’s analogous, and both had mechanics that suited the Wii’s controls.
Pikmin, though. This was a launch title for the GameCube. Even if they integrated Wii controls (which I doubt) this seems like an odd choice. The best I can figure, Nintendo figures it’s worked hard enough to attract a hardware base large enough it can call a mulligan on the GameCube. It may not have treated Nintendo too well during its lifetime, but that just means there’s a lot of Wii owners that never got to play its best games. Sure it already has backwards compatibility, but throw in some widescreen support and progressive scan and why the hell not?
It’s almost as if Nintendo expects the Wii’s Midas Touch to let it do-over the last generation. It’ll either end up as a bit of hubris, or proof that the Wii is simply unstoppable in Japan. Or it’s just one of those long tail sort of things.
Edit: IGN claims that Wii controls will be added, and the fact that Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat will be the first release seems to support the idea. So now it’s only mostly weird, as opposed to completely.
* The other bloggers already took the actually interesting announcements.
A blurb I read about this whole deal sounds about right: A lot of new Wii consumers aren’t aware of the Gamecube at all, so this will help them play old titles. It isn’t like this thing is going to take a lot of effort. They are re-releasing old games. The MGS Essentials pack saw a Playstation game re-printed, and that worked out fine because Metal Gear Solid is a good game.
The first game in the series is going to be Donkey Kong: Jungle Beat. With no drums.
Most of the reports I’ve seen have said that they will be adding Wiimote control into these re-releases.
For what it’s worth, IGN did a short Q&A with Cammie Dunaway, and she confirmed that the Wii “update” of Pikmin is not the same as Pikmin 3, which is also being worked on.
Pwetty much they should wewewease Metwoid Pwime on Wii.
This just makes a lot of good sense.
Constantly people fantasize that X, Y and Z properties would be ‘great for Wii’ – obviously these people mean sequels, but this announcement is playing directly to that sect. While the content isn’t as fresh as it is comfort food, at the very least it will be in more regular supply.
When you think about it, this is a natural extension of the Twilight Princess method of release. And in choosing titles like Pikmin and Prime to continue that idea (now with proper branding), I believe it shows that the company is listening to their audience – which also seemed to be the overarching theme of the day yesterday.
I own all the original GC games… so this isn’t really for me. But I can see possibly double-dipping so to speak on a few titles depending on how the Wii-Mote adds to the experience… i.e. I own the GC RE4 too, and that game was a Day one double-dip for me… Plus… people will actually get to play my FAVORITE Cube game… Chibi-Robo! ;)