Ok, I am confused how the Wii U VC works. Already have this on my Wii that we got off the VC back in the day. Thought the Wii U was backwards compatible, and VC games could already be downloaded and/or transferred somehow?
@DeadlyMustard: Huge install and many times day one patch to play the game. Games being released with massive bugs to patch later. Incomplete games being released with DLC and/or Microtransactions to finish the game (not every game with DLC, but enough to where it is a problem). Online required for the system to function (Xbox One dropped the Online DRM, but still needs an online update out of the box when first using).
@Mirimon78: No Thanks. Already not a fan of this current console gen, due to it performing too much like a PC; which is why I was disappointed with the Wii U, and why I am really hoping the Switch turns out really good.
"PlayStation has been supporting cross-platform play between PC on several software titles starting with Final Fantasy 11 on PS2 and PC back in 2002,” So did the Xbox 360 on the same game. Quite remarkable really, if you think about it. I am more concerned with cross platform play with PC games, due to dying MP being the main factor of me buying console versions over PC versions. This news does have me excited though.
Mario Kart used Mode 7 graphics, and not Super FX tech. I didn't say it used a Super FX chip. I was saying that there was an additional CPU in the Super Mario Kart cartridge. It was just something other than the Super FX chip (this one used the DPS-1 chip instead). This is why early SNES Emulators had a problem emulating Mario Kart properly (as well as Star Fox and Super Mario RPG) despite emulating other Mode7 games just fine like F-Zero 1 and 2.
"...the possibility of console hardware one day becoming upgradable...
Um, the first 3 Nintendo consoles supported this. N64 obviously with the expansion pack.
But the SNES could have a replacement CPU in the cartridge that was faster than what was shipped with the launch units. Super FX chip is the most well known example, but there are much more games that supported this. Mario Kart even used this feature.
Also, the first NES did not have a lot of system RAM. Many later games shipped with extra RAM in the cartridge to make up for the lack of RAM in the console.
Basically, 'RAM or Faster CPU is expensive now, so lets use the slower stuff. In 4 years, hopefully the stuff will be WAY cheaper and we can just include it in the cartidge'. That is why the SNES CPU ran at a lower clock frequency than the Genesis CPU, even though the SNES had better over all specs.
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