Nintendo Wii and GameCube games are coming to the Nvidia Shield, but only in China

Nintendo is bringing Super Mario Galaxy, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess, New Super Mario Bros. Wii and Punch-Out to the Nvidia Shield.

Before you get too excited though, it’s important to note that these titles are only headed to Nvidia’s set-top box in the Chinese market. All of the ports will be updated to run at 1080p, which means they’ll look significantly better than their standard definition Wii counterparts. It will be particularly interesting to see how Twilight Princess compares to the somewhat recently released Wii U HD remaster.

Here is the official trailer and store page for Nvidia Shield in Chinahttps://t.co/E5GHQgkazGhttps://t.co/Sn1gwScjsp pic.twitter.com/WAn9otELoD

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) December 5, 2017

Other ports have hit the Shield in the past, including Metal Gear Solid titles and Half-Life 2, but this marks the first time a Nintendo game has landed on the system. It’s likely that these ports won’t be available on the console outside of China, but it certainly would be interesting if Nintendo started making its older back catalogue of game’s available on the Shield.

Nintendo’s latest video game system, the home console-portable hybrid Nintendo Switch, is powered by a custom version of the Nvidia Shield’s Tegra X1 GPU, which could mean porting games to the set-top box is a relatively simple process for developers.

In a statement to Engadget, Nvidia revealed that Wii and GameCube games coming to the Shield is an extension of its business relationship with Nintendo regarding the Switch’s GPU.

Metroid Prime, which was originally released for the Gamecube back in 2002, is also reportedly coming to the Android set-top box in the near future as well.

Here is some gameplay of Twilight Princess running on Nvidia Shield.

It is said to be running in HD (Not sure what that means exactly in terms of the port).

Wii games on Shield will cost RMB 68. pic.twitter.com/M84WfV9eWE

— Daniel Ahmad (@ZhugeEX) December 5, 2017

It’s important to note that game publishers and developers have long used unique approaches in terms of releasing and monetizing their titles in the Chinese market.

Below is Nvidia’s full statement about the agreement:

Extending the business relationship that brought NVIDIA technology to Nintendo Switch, some of Nintendo’s most beloved Wii and Nintendo GameCube titles are officially headed to China for the first time. New Super Mario Bros. Wii, The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess and PUNCH-OUT!! are remastered in 1080p and available on the China version of NVIDIA SHIELD, released today.

SHIELD owners in China will be able to download and play select Wii and Nintendo GameCube titles, with others coming soon – among them,Super Mario Galaxy. These amazing games have been provided to NVIDIA under license.

Customized for the China market, SHIELD is a completely localized device, with local content, store, search and more. SHIELD will bring Chinese customers a brand-new experience in gaming, AI and home entertainment with Baidu’s DuerOS conversational AI system and abundant entertainment options from iQIYI.

Source: Nintendo Wire, Engadget