Miyamoto Wants to Explore Unused Game Boy Advance to GameCube Concepts

The dawn the Wii U's second screen approach will let developers return to GameCube to GBA concepts.

Prior to the Wii U Nintendo have been toying with the idea for an additional screen or game window to compliment the action on the main screen for decades. The Japanese developed first conjured up this idea with the Game and Watch back in the 80s, then experimented with the GameCube to Game Boy Advance link-up back in the earlier half of the noughties.

Of course the dual-screen approach to gaming went mainstream with the Nintendo DS and 3DS. But what about the dual screen concepts from controller to TV?

The Wii U naturally offers developers the chance to explore concepts that were thought of during the GameCube to GBA days, but not implemented in a retail release.

The reason developers struggled to push the idea of linking handheld to console was the need to have multiple GBA consoles and cables at one time for multiplayer experiences. It was pulled off in Pac-Man Versus, Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicles and fan favourite, The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures but ended up becoming a rare novelty due to the tech required.

With the Wii U bundling a GamePad with every console, Nintendo designer Shigeru Miyamoto's lightbulbs are blaring, expressing to GamesMaster that "I think it is very likely" that Nintendo would explore unused GameCube/GBA concepts.

(Now, with Wii U), it's not just creators outside the company are finding fascinating possibilities to be able to realize a game dream come true.