Update

It is not entirely clear whether those games are part of Nvidia’s Geforce Now streaming service or native apps. The official Nvidia PR speaks of download titles whereas the games are listed under Geforce Now on Nvidia’s chinese website.

Edit: Nvidia confirmed they are ports and that the listing under Geforce Now is a mistake.


Original post

Earlier this year Industry Specialist Daniel Ahmad forsaw a content sharing agreement between Nintendo and Nvidia that would allow them to publish old Wii and Gamecube games on the Nvidia Shield TV in China.

He was right as games like Twilight Princess and New Super Mario Bros Wii are now available for purchase (~$10 each) on the chinese Shield store. They are rendered in 1080p. Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime are scheduled for release at some point in the future. A short demo of Twilight Princess running on the Shield TV can be watched here. For New Super Mario Bros, go here.

Daniel Ahmad says that localization plans for the west are unlikely because the agreement was always supposed to be for China only.

Below is Nvidia’s official PR on the matter:

Extending the business relationship that brought NVIDIA technology to Nintendo Switch, some of Nintendo's most beloved Wii and Nintendo GameCube titles are officially headed to China for the first time. New Super Mario Bros. Wii, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and PUNCH-OUT!! are remastered in 1080p and available on the China version of NVIDIA SHIELD, released today.

SHIELD owners in China will be able to download and play select Wii and Nintendo GameCube titles, with others coming soon – among them,Super Mario Galaxy. These amazing games have been provided to NVIDIA under license.

Customized for the China market, SHIELD is a completely localized device, with local content, store, search and more. SHIELD will bring Chinese customers a brand-new experience in gaming, AI and home entertainment with Baidu's DuerOS conversational AI system and abundant entertainment options from iQIYI.

Source (Engadget)
Source (Twitter)

 

[Kioku]

Under my definitions that would not be emulation, but a type of semi-automated porting.

Didn't they call the 360 BC a "wrapper" or something. The technical details were so oddly written.

 

[sarkwalvein]

Didn't they call the 360 BC a "wrapper" or something. The technical details were so oddly written.

I didn't see that written anywhere, but that is exactly what I think it is, some kind of "wrapper" (detail in edited post above)

PS: And that is probably the same thing Nvidia is doing, and if so, Nintendo could profit a lot from this framework in later "VC" titles for the Switch, perhaps that is the reason for the deal after all, NVidia creates the framework and profits from the game sells in China, Nintendo uses the framework and profits in the world.

 

[Kioku]

I didn't see that written anywhere, but that is exactly what I think it is, some kind of "wrapper" (detail in edited post above)

I don't remember where I read it and I don't think it was an "official statement".. But I was reading some techy info about how the 360 BC works and why it isn't considered emulation. Which is why we see fairly decent performance increases in some games which wouldn't be possible if the system was emulating anything. Meh. Hazy.

 

[Futurdreamz]

I don't remember where I read it and I don't think it was an "official statement".. But I was reading some techy info about how the 360 BC works and why it isn't considered emulation. Which is why we see fairly decent performance increases in some games which wouldn't be possible if the system was emulating anything. Meh. Hazy.

They might be doing the same thing as they are doing with their x86-on ARM laptops. Those things recompile x86-native code on the fly and have store a cached copy. It stands to reason Microsoft has the means of recompiling the relevant code for x86 then releasing that as a patch that still uses the original media files.

 

[TotalInsanity4]

I didn't see that written anywhere, but that is exactly what I think it is, some kind of "wrapper" (detail in edited post above)

PS: And that is probably the same thing Nvidia is doing, and if so, Nintendo could profit a lot from this framework in later "VC" titles for the Switch, perhaps that is the reason for the deal after all, NVidia creates the framework and profits from the game sells in China, Nintendo uses the framework and profits in the world.

I'd call what Microsoft did along the same lines as what Nintendont was for the Wii U

 

[jt_1258]

I'd call what Microsoft did along the same lines as what Nintendont was for the Wii U

and wii, game boy series, and ds series
edited, I had accidentally said game cube instead of wii

 

[Kioku]

and gamecube, game boy series, and ds series

On what grounds?

 

[jt_1258]

On what grounds?

doesn't the gba have gb support, the ds having gba support, the 3ds having ds support and the wii having gc support?, I had ment to say wii, not gc in that post

 

[Kioku]

doesn't the gba have gb support, the ds having gba support, the 3ds having ds support and the wii having gc support?, I had ment to say wii, not gc in that post

I believe that's all native.

 

[jt_1258]

I believe that's all native.

oh, was wii u doing wii not native? I wasn't sure if it was diffrent

 

[TotalInsanity4]

doesn't the gba have gb support, the ds having gba support, the 3ds having ds support and the wii having gc support?, I had ment to say wii, not gc in that post

Nintendont adds code back that wasn't natively there so that the games can be played (essentially patching the games on the fly to work with Wii/Wii U hardware), whereas those consoles actually had hardware backwards compatibility

 

[sarkwalvein]

I believe that's all native.

GBA->DS->3DS is sure native (the old hardware for each other console is in there)
GC->WII->WII U also is native (same reasons)
Nintendon't is AFAIK, some wrappers here and there for the libraries and controllers, but outside that, also native (the old hardware is there).

X360->XBX1 is not native at all, it is something else (semiport? recompiled + wrappers?)

EDIT: Nintendon't would be in any case, something like wine. And you all know, Wine Is Not an Emulator.

 

[Kioku]

GBA->DS->3DS is sure native (the old hardware for each other console is in there)
GC->WII->WII U also is native (same reasons)
Nintendon't is AFAIK, some wrappers here and there for the libraries and controllers, but outside that, also native (the old hardware is there).

X360->XBX1 is not native at all, it is something else (semiport? recompiled + wrappers?)

EDIT: Nintendon't would be in any case, something like wine. And you all know, Wine Is Not an Emulator.

Yeah, what he said. Oddly enough the GC to Wii U are all just upgrades.

 

[sarkwalvein]

Yeah, what he said. Oddly enough the GC to Wii U are all just upgrades.

What makes me think that this "There would be no more console generations. We will have progressive upgrades now." from Microsoft is not new at all, and not originally from Microsoft.

 

[chartube12]

They might be doing the same thing as they are doing with their x86-on ARM laptops. Those things recompile x86-native code on the fly and have store a cached copy. It stands to reason Microsoft has the means of recompiling the relevant code for x86 then releasing that as a patch that still uses the original media files.

nah. The 360 games on the one are not orginals but partial ports. either the cpu is emulated on the one's virtual 360 or the gpu is (i forget witch). the games' are ported to either the cpu or gpu. the one not being emulated. It is why when you are required to be connected to the internet to download the 360 titles even when you own the disc

 

[xs4all]

For those wondering if these Wii Classics are nVidia's game streaming service or not, I have read an interesting article over at Gizmodo, click here for the article.

It states that when the Shield TV is released in China on the 5th of this month, which is already released, those 3 Wii titles will be PRE INSTALLED, until it's confirmed, to me, that statement says it's not streaming but a full port.

Taking the article with a grain of salt until confirmed, but fingers crossed it's a port not stream, then just a matter it will be hacked and for all to enjoy

 

[Kioku]

For those wondering if these Wii Classics are nVidia's game streaming service or not, I have read an interesting article over at Gizmodo, click here for the article.

It states that when the Shield TV is released in China on the 5th of this month, which is already released, those 3 Wii titles will be PRE INSTALLED, until it's confirmed, to me, that statement says it's not streaming but a full port.

Taking the article with a grain of salt until confirmed, but fingers crossed it's a port not stream, then just a matter it will be hacked and for all to enjoy

Apparently it's already been confirmed by an employee on reddit to be running ON the system.

 

[xs4all]

Nice!

 

[Bladexdsl]

welp kiss gamecube vc on the switch goodbye

 

[jt_1258]

welp kiss gamecube vc on the switch goodbye

waddya mean?