What in the world is going on here? Why does this trilogy have to be yanked from the Wii Virtual Console? It makes no sense to me. I sure hope there's no troubles behind the scenes.
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What in the world is going on here? Why does this trilogy have to be yanked from the Wii Virtual Console? It makes no sense to me. I sure hope there's no troubles behind the scenes.
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This troubles me very much.
Yikes! This is all very interesting. And it's a shame they yanked them because after watching Game Grumps lately I've been compelled to buy DKC2 or 3 ;_; (I already had the first)
The date gives it away - for whatever reason, Nintendo is not allowed to have these games up for sale on Wii U. They were removed in Europe five days prior to launch and they'll be removed in Japan the day before. It's gotta be that, but the reason remains unknown.
I never believed for a second that Rare still owned a portion of the DKC series, but it seems to be the only explanation... Makes me wonder if Super Mario RPG is also in danger (since as of 2003, Square owned the rights to Geno and probably still does).
i'm gonna guess, but i think eventually they're looking to unplug the wii eshop alltogether. granted idk why they'd start with DKC but with the new mini wii no having any internet capabilities, they're already moving on. this is just me guessing btw i have no proof only silly conspiracy theories
Didn't they yank Kirby Superstar when they were releasing Superstar Ultra on DS?
I'm hoping they're yanking these for an HD collection or something, but that may be a little TOO hopeful
@Storm101 The difference with Rare and Square is that Rare is owned by Microsoft, who are in direct competition with Nintendo, wheras Square have plenty of their own games available on the eShop anyway.
Still this is weird, I hope we get an explanation sometime soon.
Bingo!
I'm sure they "upgrade" them for Wii U VC release.
why? well, the old ones look like super crap on HD TVs thanks to the prerendered graphics.
there's just noway RARE has anything to do with it as Nintendo owns strictly everything Donkey Kong related
@Frank: Fair enough on Sqaure.
And no, I don't believe Kirby Super Star was ever yanked. Matter of fact it was offered as a Club Nintendo reward at some point. OoT was not removed when OoT 3D came out.
No, Superstar came out on VC quite a while after Superstar Ultra came out
I guess this is a sign saying "buy the DKC games on the Wii's VC or else they'll be gone". I've had the DKC games on my Wii for the last few years and just transferred all my info to my Wii U. Looks like I'll have to redownload them fast.
Whatever this is, this freaking sucks.
meh
*goes back to enjoying DKCR*
@The Jack Of Hearts
I think they already yanked them off the Eu/NA shops. Redownloading is fine.
The only explanation...
Microsoft paid Nintendo millions to allow them to remake the games on Xboxlive exclusively
Hmmm... Rare was second-party when it made these, so it can't be a licensing thing, can it? My money's on either an HD trilogy rerelease for Wii U or a 3D rerelease for 3DS. Or both! The trilogy would be well-suited to either.
It's probably just the language of the contract with Rare/Microsoft and playing on the Wii U.
Give it until March after Rare/Microsoft and Nintendo draw up a new deal to sort out the words.
An "HD" version of these sprite-based games would be costly and time-consuming. I don't see that happening.
A stereoscopic 3D version for 3DS? Wouldn't take as much work but probably still unlikely.
Nintendo owns all rights to everything Donkey Kong related. So my guess is that they to totally yank the Wii Shop they have to transfer them and all other Wii VC and even Wii Ware titles to the Wii U's eShop to yank the Wii Shop from the Wii after everyone has a Wii U. But I hope that I am wrong tho. Because I want to be able to transfer all my Wii stuff to my Wii U deluxe after I get me one next year before my birthday.
Unless they still have access to the original Silicon Graphics renders. Then it would be relatively easy and very possibly full 1080p depending on the resolution of said renders. Which, if my memory of interviews with Rare staff at that time are correct, they probably are!
I know that was a puzzling decision.
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