The Gamecube-GBA link cable shows some of the great games that we may enjoy on the Wii U. Some GBA / GC titles just used it as a little gimmick, just so they could boast an extra feature on the box; these games didn't really put much effort into their implementations. But some games used it really well - a lot of great potential was wasted, because hardly anyone had the cable, or if they did then they rarely had more than one GBA + cable, as required by some of the more interesting games.

Pac-Man Vs. uses 1 x GBA + up to 3 players using regular Gamecube controllers. In the original Pac-Man game balance is achieved because the ghosts are computer controlled and have fairly dumb behaviour. It would seem unfair to have several intelligent human players hunting a single Pac-Man player, however this is resolved by giving the player acting as Pac-Man the handheld display of the GBA. He uses this to navigate a full view top-down of the maze (just like in the original game), and the ghosts have a restricted view of the maze shown on the main TV screen. Thus the ghosts have to hunt fairly blindly for Pac-Man.

Two multiplayer RPGs were released which used the Gamecube - GBA connection cable - Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles and The Legend of Zelda: Four Swords Adventures. They were both praised for encouraging co-operative gameplay, and the latter was described by GameSpot as "[probably] a truly compelling reason" to invest in the hardware. One of these RPGS, I'm not sure which, gave each player a map on their GBA (as they explored the main world on the big screen), but each player's map showed different features - one would show treasure, another enemies, another player would have the map showing towns, for instance. Thus the players were obliged to collaborate saying "hey, there are power ups over here", "how far is it? maybe this bad guy is too close".

Nintendo have for a while been showing a penchant for multiplayer gaming which involves all players being in the same room, squashing up together on the sofa. This is a very difference experience from online multiplayer - it makes co-operation, joshing and arguing more "intimate" and personal, and it allows you to hit pause so you can all take a break. It's a fundamentally different experience from online multiplayer and that's why the "$my_favourite_game would be great on Wii U" meme is flawed.

Just like when the Wii was first launched we saw some limp ports which used the wiimote as an FPS cross hair (DAE play CoD3 on the Wii?), there will be some titles that don't do much innovative with the new controllers. The great games of the Wii U will be remembered after its been and gone, and they'll be the ones developed with imagination.