The Masters of Gao Jin Yoo.

The Masters of Gao Jin Yoo.

My issues with the Wii are a matter of public record, so it should come as no surprise that I have slight misgivings about the games recently released under Nintendo's New Play Control! banner.  For those who don't know, and did not click on that link, New Play Control! ("NPC!") is a collection of GameCube games that have been ported to the Wii.  The games feature new waggle-based controls, widescreen support, and, in some cases, new levels, but they're essentially the same game.

Does this sound familiar?

Are you sure?

Of course, the porting of older games to newer consoles is nothing new.  How many versions of Street Fighter 2 do we need, anyway?  That question is not rhetorical, by the way; the answer is about twenty-five.  But NPC! thrusts the marketing technique known as "Buy It Yet Again To Complete Happiness" into the realm of art.

Of course, being GameCube games, these titles are already playable on the Wii, provided you bought a copy last generation or, barring that, can find a used copy now.  This is probably not all that difficult.  In fact, let's take speculation out of this:

1.)  Donkey Kong Jungle Beat - Available, though you might have some trouble finding the bongos.  Oh...wait.

2.)  Pikmin - Available

3.)  Mario Power Tennis - Available

Note:  these links were current as of May 28.

And this is just a quick search on Google Shopping.  I didn't even go to eBay or call around to any of my local used-game sellers.  The fact is that these games are out there, pretty readily available, and you don't have to pay thirty dollars to look slightly stupider playing them.  There is, of course, a gray zone around Jungle Beat; your options are to play the game by hitting stupid plastic bongos, or to play the game by pretending to hit stupid plastic bongos.  I think the NPC! version may be one of the few console-to-console ports less immersive than the original.  But the issue of greatest concern to me is the fact that these (old) games cost thirty dollars.  Check those links again and do some math.  I'll wait.

Done?  Moving on.

So far, Nintendo's handling of NPC! has been tentative, at best; they have not released any real must-have titles, so it's hard to tell if this line is working.  The real test will come in August with the release of the Metroid Prime Trilogy, which collects all three games (the third one, of course, was developed for the Wii) on a single disc for fifty bucks.  But that's probably how they should have been doing this all along; if they're going to be selling updated versions of last-gen games, they'd be a lot better off bundling them up, especially if they're all first-party titles and there are no licensing issues to work out.

Although the math doesn't quite agree with me, the prospect of buying both Pikmin games for fifty dollars feels better than buying them separately for thirty.  And why sell Mario Power Tennis separately when it could be bundled with Toadstool Tour and Strikers?  Remember that Limited Edition Zelda disc they threw in with GameCubes that had three really good games AND The Adventure of Link?  If I saw that on a shelf today, I'd buy it.

So right now, I'm not impressed.  But to be honest, New Play Control! is not a bad idea.  It is, however, the most recent example of Nintendo's uncanny ability to make pretty good ideas look like really bad ones.

-Evan