Nintendo Is Bringing Wii Games To Nvidia Shield In China

Nintendo is a company that loves to bring back their classic franchises for fans to enjoy all over again, and one system that has its fair share of said classics is the Nintendo Wii. Yeah, like you haven’t spent hours on end enjoying Punch-Out!!, Super Mario Galaxy and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess.

But now an interesting partnership may have emerged that will allow certain Nintendo Wii games to wind up on a particular platform that no one expected – the Nvidia Shield.

The device, usually known for its mobile and PC game compatibility, will apparently get Wii support when the device makes its premiere in China. It appears that Nvidia, iQiyi and Nintendo are partnering on the deal, and the three aforementioned games above could very well be the first games for the service.

A Twitter user by the name of Daniel Ahmad has noted the possible deal, with the Nvidia Shield set to make its debut in mainland China, for the price of RMB 1499. Games will run about RMB 68 apiece. He notes, “The Shield will focus on games in China. It will run popular PC games as well as Nintendo Wii games such as Mario Galaxy, Twilight Princess and Punch out.” (You can see the tweet and first screen images below.)

Ahmad noted that he actually talked about the possibility of such a partnership earlier in the year, with Nintendo potentially spreading its Wii library to a new platform, in an effort to find additional revenue from its classics. And considering that the Wii games haven’t been announced for Nintendo Switch (yet), this could be an interesting alternative.

So How Would the Games Work Control-Wise, And What Could Come Next?

The Nvidia Shield actually comes with a special gamepad that would make these games play with ease, but for those that prefer motion-based controls, like the Wii originally offered, there appears to be a Wii-style remote included with the Shield that can capture motion-style play. We’re not seeing a Nunchuk-style controller just yet, though, so we have to wonder if Nvidia could be introducing that in the future.

It sounds like the opening titles that Nintendo has planned for the system, including the previously mentioned games as well as the popular multiplayer game New Super Mario Bros. Wii, could be huge draws for the system when it releases. And Nintendo may introduce new titles depending on its success, since it has a pretty impressive library of Wii games to choose from, like Sin and Punishment: Star Successor, Kirby’s Epic Yarn and Metroid Prime Trilogy. Not to mention Xenoblade Chronicles, which is a huge draw for role-playing fans.

If you want a demonstration of how games will work on the device, check out Ahmad’s video of Twilight Princess below. Impressive, albeit a little fuzzy.

What About Other Markets, Like The U.S.?

With the introduction of the Nvidia Shield in China – and the Wii games that apparently seem to be coming with it – could we possibly see Nintendo’s classic library introduced in other markets?

That’s very questionable, but not entirely improbable. For instance, this could just be an exclusive deal with China, especially considering the involvement of iQiyi. But then again, Nintendo isn’t re-releasing Wii games for its current platforms – again, not yet, anyway – so this could open up a new audience with classic games.

The company hasn’t said anything officially – and likely won’t anytime soon, as its next Nintendo Direct isn’t even scheduled until next month sometime – but there’s always the chance something could be confirmed at CES, considering that Nvidia has big presence at the event.

Here’s another gameplay video, with New Super Mario Bros. Wii in action.

What Does This Partnership Mean For the Future?

Nintendo and Nvidia seem to be pretty cozy in terms of their partnership, especially considering that the latter’s technology powers the Nintendo Switch. So them lending their Wii library to the Nvidia Shield kind of makes sense, and may lead to more collaborations in the future.

That’s not to say we’re getting new hardware or anything, but Nvidia could very well figure out a way to get Wii games to run on the Switch – or maybe even introduce more classic Nintendo games to the Shield.

Maybe we’re overshooting here, as, again, the deal appears to be exclusive just to China, and Nintendo hasn’t even said a word yet. But this could potentially be big money for Nintendo, not to mention Nvidia, if they can make it happen.

We’ll see what happens in the months ahead, but, yeah, we’d totally be down with playing Punch-Out!! Wii again. Be sure to check it out if you haven’t already.