Wii Must Change

November the 18th saw the UK introduction of the latest model of the Wii as part of a Mario & Sonic at the London 2012 Olympic Games bundle. An Aqua Blue Wii. Fancy, you might say.

No.

Nintendo have released a new hardware revision of the Wii. One without GameCube controller or Memory Card compatibility. That’s right, if you buy one of these or any future Wii don’t expect to be playing GameCube games on them.

Arguably, if someone doesn’t have a Wii by now, it’s unlikely that the lack of backwards compatibility is going to factor into their purchase anyway. Besides, unlike the ever-elusive original PS3 units that had PS2 backwards-compatibility, the number of original Wii units floating around will always vastly outnumber their newer models. If folks want to keep their ‘Cubes in the attic, all they need do is get the first white Wii they see.

More worryingly, though, this means that folks who buy this new Wii won’t be able to use your WaveBird or GameCube controllers to play games like Mario Kart, Sonic Colours, Smash Bros. Brawl or Tatsunoko vs. Capcom. Surely I’m not the only person who prefers a traditional solid lump of plastic welded to both my hands as a controller?

I worry that with this omission from the latest Wii revision even fewer games next generation on the Wii U will support traditional controls. Really, more games should have supported the GameCube controller. Yes, yes, I hear you in the corner, the Classic Controller is the Wii’s “traditional” controller. While the original one is unsightly, the Classic Controller Pro certainly feels better but it’s still plagued by the atrocious cord that has to be plugged into the Wiimote. Really, Nintendo should have brought out a first-party WiiMotion Plus hybrid Classic Controller with an infrared pointer and integrated accelerometer by now.

“Why are Nintendo doing this?” you might ask. Well, it’s cheaper to manufacture. At this point in the system’s lifestyle, it is overdue a remodelling. While this isn’t the kind of remodel you might have expected to come alongside the slimline Xbox 360 and PS3 units, it is very similar to later GameCube models removing the Digital AV port for progressive scan (read: 480p) support. Sony may have brought out their PSP-E1000 in mid-October with only a mono speaker and no Wi-Fi capabilities, but at least they lowered the RRP for it.

Nintendo say they support the hardcore, and yet they are removing these functions from the Wii. I love backwards compatibility. I love real controllers. The best we can hope for the future is Nintendo waking up and releasing a proper controller for the Wii U, but I highly doubt GameCube games or controllers will ever return.

While my Wii and Wiimote continue to gather dust, I’ll keep playing my copy of Xenoblade Chronicles on my PC with my 360 controller thanks to emulation, a cheapo Wii-compatible drive and a 360 Wireless Gaming Receiver. Ta.