You can't play Wii games on the Wii U GamePad

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Nintendo loves innovating with its gaming controllers – and the Wii U is no exception, with its whopping GamePad. You can even play your console games on the GamePad controller, letting others watch the TV – which should prevent a few family rows this Christmas. But sadly, when it comes to original Wii games that won’t be possible.

The Wii U is backwards compatible with Wii games, but only when played on the big screen. And it gets worse – you won’t even be able to play that TV-based Wii game with the GamePad as a controller, you’ll need the original Wii Nunchuck and WiiMote.

This cloud does have a silver lining, though. Nintendo says it will release a Wii U Virtual Console emulator for older Nintendo games – but don’t expect to see it at launch. So, is the Wii U still top of your Christmas list?

[via Gizmag]

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Dan is Editor-in-chief of Stuff, working across the magazine and the Stuff.tv website. Our Editor-in-Chief is a regular at tech shows such as CES in Las Vegas, IFA in Berlin and Mobile World Congress in Barcelona as well as at other launches and events. He has been a CES Innovation Awards judge. Dan is completely platform agnostic and very at home using and writing about Windows, macOS, Android and iOS/iPadOS plus lots and lots of gadgets including audio and smart home gear, laptops and smartphones. He's also been interviewed and quoted in a wide variety of places including The Sun, BBC World Service, BBC News Online, BBC Radio 5Live, BBC Radio 4, Sky News Radio and BBC Local Radio.