No rumble in Nintendo Wii’s Classic Controller. Compatibility overview shows N64 games might use GameCube controllers for rumble

9 November 2006

26 Comments

Posted by:Ferry

Nintendo changed the way gaming felt on the N64 with the innovative Rumble Pak. It brought in-game crashes to life, bumps and explosions feel great because of the shaking of the controller.

But when N64 games arrive on the Virtual Console retro downloads system on Wii, they’ll lack force feedback support, Nintendo has VAGUELY told C&VG in a Q&A regarding the Virtual Console.

This might be due to the lack of a rumble feature in the Classic Controller, which will be the primary controller for playing Virtual Console games on Wii. But with the option to play Virtual Console games with a GameCube controller, which does feature a rumble motor, we had hoped that games would retain their pad-shaking features, and that may still be the case until we hear back from Nintendo. But meanwhile…

…take a look at this Wii Controller Compatibility Overview:

Interesting to note is Kotaku‘s discovery that the upcoming game Fire Emblem for the Wii will need the Classic Controller, as it won’t play with the Wii remote controller.

You won’t need the Classic Controller if you have GameCube pads, though, as they’ll work on everything, from NES Virtual Console games through to enabled Wii titles. But if you don’t have GameCube pads, you can’t play GameCube games, as the Classic Controller won’t work with them. I’m glad the overview is here or it’d be incredibly confusing.