21st April 2010, 12:08 AM
http://www.nintendo.com/consumer/memorycard1019.jsp
Here's Nintendo's only page addressing this.
Another distressing thing is they did in fact stop selling Gamecube memory cards on their online store. They seem to sell most of the other Gamecube accessories, such as controllers, which I would expect considering the Wii is doubling as a Gamecube right now.
That's all the more reason for a new firmware update. I'm not sure of the exact nature of the "Gamecube mode", if it's like a hard switch or if it's possible to have some software running certain things in the background using the extra RAM the Wii has over the Gamecube (and extra cycles from the faster CPU). I would really expect that they could have some Wii OS activities running in the background. So long as that's the case, a new patch could easily add in a lot of little things to really round out the whole experience. At the very least we already know the Wii can access all the Gamecube ports.
I made a list:
1. Allow me to use my Gamecube controller to navigate the Wii main menu. I know it can use the Gamecube controller (as in Brawl and Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition), and I know they already have a way to control the cursor using an analog stick (the Wii "Classic Controller" can be used to navigate the menu). Simply letting the Gamecube controller navigate it saves me a minor, but annoying headache (as I've noticed this week playing OOT) of having to go get my Wii controller to select and start the game, then put that controller away and then pick up and play with my Gamecube controller. This would also be an issue for all the games in the online store that allow one to use Gamecube controllers.
2. Allow the use of virtual memory cards. It's just like I've been saying in this thread. The 360 does it via emulation. All games the emulation supports create their own saved data right along with all the normal saved data. The PS3 uses a different system since the earlier ones didn't use a hard disk (well the PS2 did but just barely, and not for saved games at any rate) and so the games "expect" a different file system, a different maximum size, and a relatively small upper limit in the number of files that can even exist on the card. It simply lets you create a virtual memory card. One can make it a PS1 card or a PS2 card, give it a name, give it an icon, and go to any virtual card and tell the system which virtual "slot" it should be assigned to. Modern emulators use a similar system, and it works fine (and the access is faster too). Further, it allows one to seamlessly switch cards while playing should you forget to switch the virtual cards around, which leads me to...
3. Allow access to the Wii "Menu button" while playing Gamecube games. The 360 only gives the user the option to quit the game from the controller. The PS3 one has many options, ranging from switching the memory cards while playing to switching the screen size from "widescreen" to "letterbox", so you can keep the aspect ratio without having to tell your TV to do it for you. This is another little thing. When I play Gamecube games, since most of them don't even have widescreen support and because circles looking like ovals (and other aspect ratio offness) bother me, I just switch the TV. However it'd be nice if the system just added in the letterboxing automatically like the PS3 and 360 does. In the case of the 360, you don't get the control yourself, but they went ahead and did it on a game-to-game basis, so if a game supported widescreen, it was shown in widescreen, and if a game didn't, it was shown letterboxed. I don't need that level of individual care, but the setting would be nice. All in all the basic idea is hitting the "home" button (which of course would require you to have the Wii controller nearby to hit it anyway) should pop up a menu with some options. Now since the games aren't coded for it, the Wii menu will be superimposed over a game that won't pause automatically, so the user can't use it AS a pause menu. Still, it'd be very useful, and an easy way to quit the game without resetting the system.
3. Virtually emulate the Broadband adapter using the Wifi or Wii Broadband adaptor. Assuming they can fake a virtual memory card to the Gamecube mode, this one should be pretty easy too. Whatever your online settings are, the system will just use that while telling the games whatever they need to hear to think there's a broadband adapter connected to the gamecube. This, like a lot of this, isn't a big deal. There's only a handful of games that even support the adapter. It's just for the sake of completeness. Mario Kart Double Dash on System Link is insane fun. I can still pull out my old Gamecube, but a lot of people sold it to get the Wii, and well, it's still annoying. It's just something to add in this patch for full on awesome.
4. Let one map a Classic Controller as a Gamecube Controller. The Classic controller, especially the new "Pro" is about the nicest controller Nintendo's ever made in the "old way". Comfortalbe, responsive, and the D-Pad is just plain awesome. The left joystick is a bit off on the original but the Pro version's is surprisingly easy to use. There are still a number of hardware improvements I'd love to make to the thing, but it's got everything it needs (aside from Rumble) to fully function as a Gamecube controller, if only the OS would let me. On top of it all, that Z button, as clumsy as it was on the Gamecube, is very easy to work with on the Classics, and could be used on both sides if mapped that way. I love the classic, and if Nintendo stopped selling the Gamecube controller completely, it would be a fine replacement, if only the proper support was added. Again, it could all be done via a menu where you assign it to the right Gamecube slot.
Since all these things would take place outside the Gamecube mode's usable memory, and all the "replacing" would only be regarding input/output and nothing to do with how the games process information, I don't think it could affect compatibility, so I say this is exactly the sort of thing they should do.
5. (Okay this is a REALLY small thing, and just about pointless, but just for completeness...) When a Gamecube game is inserted, play the whole Gamecube logo animation and then show the same "info screen" for the game that games show in a Gamecube. Really minor, yes, pedantic, yes, but a great small touch that Nintendo used to really focus on. Heck I remember in the Pokemon Stadium games when you could play the original Gameboy games emulated on the N64, and they even went through the trouble of displaying the Super Gameboy color pallettes and background borders for each game, even the GBC ones would use their GBC colors and STILL pull up the Super Gameboy background border. Little touches flush out the thing. Nothing important, but if I'm making a wish list, might as well add everything I can think of.
I've got a bigger list of changes to the Wii firmware, but these are the things that pertain to the Gamecube specifically.
Here's Nintendo's only page addressing this.
Another distressing thing is they did in fact stop selling Gamecube memory cards on their online store. They seem to sell most of the other Gamecube accessories, such as controllers, which I would expect considering the Wii is doubling as a Gamecube right now.
That's all the more reason for a new firmware update. I'm not sure of the exact nature of the "Gamecube mode", if it's like a hard switch or if it's possible to have some software running certain things in the background using the extra RAM the Wii has over the Gamecube (and extra cycles from the faster CPU). I would really expect that they could have some Wii OS activities running in the background. So long as that's the case, a new patch could easily add in a lot of little things to really round out the whole experience. At the very least we already know the Wii can access all the Gamecube ports.
I made a list:
1. Allow me to use my Gamecube controller to navigate the Wii main menu. I know it can use the Gamecube controller (as in Brawl and Resident Evil 4 Wii Edition), and I know they already have a way to control the cursor using an analog stick (the Wii "Classic Controller" can be used to navigate the menu). Simply letting the Gamecube controller navigate it saves me a minor, but annoying headache (as I've noticed this week playing OOT) of having to go get my Wii controller to select and start the game, then put that controller away and then pick up and play with my Gamecube controller. This would also be an issue for all the games in the online store that allow one to use Gamecube controllers.
2. Allow the use of virtual memory cards. It's just like I've been saying in this thread. The 360 does it via emulation. All games the emulation supports create their own saved data right along with all the normal saved data. The PS3 uses a different system since the earlier ones didn't use a hard disk (well the PS2 did but just barely, and not for saved games at any rate) and so the games "expect" a different file system, a different maximum size, and a relatively small upper limit in the number of files that can even exist on the card. It simply lets you create a virtual memory card. One can make it a PS1 card or a PS2 card, give it a name, give it an icon, and go to any virtual card and tell the system which virtual "slot" it should be assigned to. Modern emulators use a similar system, and it works fine (and the access is faster too). Further, it allows one to seamlessly switch cards while playing should you forget to switch the virtual cards around, which leads me to...
3. Allow access to the Wii "Menu button" while playing Gamecube games. The 360 only gives the user the option to quit the game from the controller. The PS3 one has many options, ranging from switching the memory cards while playing to switching the screen size from "widescreen" to "letterbox", so you can keep the aspect ratio without having to tell your TV to do it for you. This is another little thing. When I play Gamecube games, since most of them don't even have widescreen support and because circles looking like ovals (and other aspect ratio offness) bother me, I just switch the TV. However it'd be nice if the system just added in the letterboxing automatically like the PS3 and 360 does. In the case of the 360, you don't get the control yourself, but they went ahead and did it on a game-to-game basis, so if a game supported widescreen, it was shown in widescreen, and if a game didn't, it was shown letterboxed. I don't need that level of individual care, but the setting would be nice. All in all the basic idea is hitting the "home" button (which of course would require you to have the Wii controller nearby to hit it anyway) should pop up a menu with some options. Now since the games aren't coded for it, the Wii menu will be superimposed over a game that won't pause automatically, so the user can't use it AS a pause menu. Still, it'd be very useful, and an easy way to quit the game without resetting the system.
3. Virtually emulate the Broadband adapter using the Wifi or Wii Broadband adaptor. Assuming they can fake a virtual memory card to the Gamecube mode, this one should be pretty easy too. Whatever your online settings are, the system will just use that while telling the games whatever they need to hear to think there's a broadband adapter connected to the gamecube. This, like a lot of this, isn't a big deal. There's only a handful of games that even support the adapter. It's just for the sake of completeness. Mario Kart Double Dash on System Link is insane fun. I can still pull out my old Gamecube, but a lot of people sold it to get the Wii, and well, it's still annoying. It's just something to add in this patch for full on awesome.
4. Let one map a Classic Controller as a Gamecube Controller. The Classic controller, especially the new "Pro" is about the nicest controller Nintendo's ever made in the "old way". Comfortalbe, responsive, and the D-Pad is just plain awesome. The left joystick is a bit off on the original but the Pro version's is surprisingly easy to use. There are still a number of hardware improvements I'd love to make to the thing, but it's got everything it needs (aside from Rumble) to fully function as a Gamecube controller, if only the OS would let me. On top of it all, that Z button, as clumsy as it was on the Gamecube, is very easy to work with on the Classics, and could be used on both sides if mapped that way. I love the classic, and if Nintendo stopped selling the Gamecube controller completely, it would be a fine replacement, if only the proper support was added. Again, it could all be done via a menu where you assign it to the right Gamecube slot.
Since all these things would take place outside the Gamecube mode's usable memory, and all the "replacing" would only be regarding input/output and nothing to do with how the games process information, I don't think it could affect compatibility, so I say this is exactly the sort of thing they should do.
5. (Okay this is a REALLY small thing, and just about pointless, but just for completeness...) When a Gamecube game is inserted, play the whole Gamecube logo animation and then show the same "info screen" for the game that games show in a Gamecube. Really minor, yes, pedantic, yes, but a great small touch that Nintendo used to really focus on. Heck I remember in the Pokemon Stadium games when you could play the original Gameboy games emulated on the N64, and they even went through the trouble of displaying the Super Gameboy color pallettes and background borders for each game, even the GBC ones would use their GBC colors and STILL pull up the Super Gameboy background border. Little touches flush out the thing. Nothing important, but if I'm making a wish list, might as well add everything I can think of.
I've got a bigger list of changes to the Wii firmware, but these are the things that pertain to the Gamecube specifically.
"On two occasions, I have been asked [by members of Parliament], 'Pray, Mr. Babbage, if you put into the machine wrong figures, will the right answers come out?' I am not able to rightly apprehend the kind of confusion of ideas that could provoke such a question." ~ Charles Babbage (1791-1871)