I've heard a lot of people talking about how they plan on getting rid of their Wiis before or after the Wii U launches. While I wouldn't do that because of my status as a console collector, I understand that some gamers don't need their older systems when they're upgrading to newer hardware. I've also noticed that one of the main selling points of the Wii is its 100 percent backwards compatibility with GameCube games.
If you don't have access to a GameCube (or have a broken one like me) but love playing GameCube games and plan on on selling your Wii when you get Nintendo's new platform, you may want to reconsider. As we learned a couple days ago, the Wii U will not feature backwards compatibility with GameCube titles. This hardware spec has been completely stripped away for the Wii U, making playing GameCube games and using GameCube controllers on the new machine an impossibility.
It's really a shame that such a beloved console won't be represented on the Wii U. And while some gamers may argue that the GameCube was one of Nintendo's weakest platforms, it offered one hell of a software library. Some of the best exclusives included The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door, and Luigi's Mansion.
While I don't mind plugging and unplugging consoles ad nauseam whenever I want to play something a little older, I understand that this can become a nuisance for some gamers. Also, I just like the convenience of playing games from multiple generations on a single platform. The GameCube controller is easily my favorite controller, and being able to use it for a handful of Wii games is cool. I'm going to miss that controller.
