Virtual Console Christmas is Retrotastic

1up reports the good news that we're finally going to be seeing some of those great Virtual console games here in the U.S.. You know, the ones the Japanese have been enjoying since launch? Christmas day should see the release of Super Mario Bros, Toejam & Earl, R-Type (Turbografx 16), Street Figher II: The World Warrior, and Super Castlevania. The scintillating Baseball and Urban Champion will be making an appearance on New Year's Day. These last two dubious additions will put the Virtual Console lineup at 33 games.

Any "gifts"?

[freeweed]

There's been a persistent rumour about Nintendo making one or more VC games free as an xmas "gift". Any truth to this?

Re:Any "gifts"?

[Nemetroid]

While the pictures of several games with the price tag "Free" are real, it is not because they will be free to download, only because they haven't been given a price yet. [wordpress.com]

dear nintendo...

[Dance_Dance_Karnov]

I'm still not going to buy a single virtual console game. Reasons listed below.

1)Region locked VC. This is just plain stupid.
2)Online multiplayer, Every NES/SNES emulator I've used since 1997 has had this feature, I'm sure you can figure it out.
3)No rumble in 64 games
4)Not fixing technical issues due to "authenticity" (but no rumble in 64 titles is ok?)
5)cost. 5/8/10 USD as 'starting points' for price is right out.

Re:dear nintendo...

[Dance_Dance_Karnov]

1)My bad, i didn't make that clear. I meant not allowing people to buy games from any region. I want to to buy things like "sin & punishment" and "mother" among other titles.

2)the wii already has a code, they could just use that one. (pokemon uses a seperate code because of the connection with the DS, and most DS wifi games will allow you to play against random people regardless of if you have their code).

4)They don't have to modify the roms, I mean fixing things like slowdown due to too many sprites on screen at one time. They should be able to fix that via the emulator.

5)I have a problem with it being open ended. You just know that with "rare"(mario rpg, etc) games the prices are going to be inflated. It is a philosophical thing, I can't stand meatspace 'supply and demand' bullshit being used with digital information.

but #1 is the only one that really galls me, if they addressed that I would be happy. The others are really just minor complaints.

Re:dear nintendo...

[Akaihiryuu]

The N64 games don't implement rumble functionality? That sucks...they should, at least if you're using the GC controller. The N64-to-Gamecube Zelda ports used the rumble functionality. Then again, the only N64 games I'm interested in are OoT and MM and I already have both of those on the GC, so I doubt I'll ever download any N64 games anyway. The main use I'm going to see out of the VC is if they release games that are rare/hard to find the original cartridges for, as I've already got all the old systems except the N64 and TG-16. If they released Herzog Zwei for the Genesis I'd get that immediately, even if it was $10...that game is hellaciously hard to find and often goes for $100+ on Ebay. It was pretty much the first RTS game, several years before Warcraft or Dune 2. There was a limit of 50 units on each side, and instead of a cursor, you had a plane you flew around to pick up and drop units to move them around, but it was much fun.

Re:Really, what is the point?

[Yvan256]

Heck I can even play my NES library on my DS if I want.

... with unauthorized "hard-to-get" hardware (i.e. you can't buy that at Toys'R Us). But, that's not what I really want to comment about.

Here's the idea: it would give an incredible boost to VC sales if I could upload the emulators (along with the ROMs) to my Nintendo DS. Imagine that: buying the VC games on the Wii and then playing them on the Wii and the Nintendo DS.

Re:Any "gifts"?

[Lehk228]

weather integrates with games, so your sports game weather on the field can match your local weather, or the city you are playing in

Re:dear nintendo...

[Anonymous Coward]

I'm wondering how much #1 has to do with licensing issues in each country. Especially for third party games. Also, it appears that each game has to go through the ESRB to get a rating (since they didn't have ESRB ratings back then) before they'll release it in the US. Doesn't explain why first-party games aren't coming out faster, but it may have something to do with them wanting to space things out to show they aren't just about their own games. Seriously, if they released the S/NES Metroids, Zeldas, and SMB games to start with, how many people would actually buy any of the Genesis games anytime soon?

For instance, the greatest NES platformer ever (DuckTales) will likely never appear on the VC, because Nintendo has to rearrange distribution rights with Capcom and Disney (and I hear those two aren't on the best of terms anymore for some reason?)

I'm not happy about it, but there may be an actual reason for it, lame though it may be.

Re:Any "gifts"?

[AuMatar]

And this is better than a random number how?

You hit it on the head....

[trdrstv]

Also I support the VC for the same reason I support iTunes, they try for something legal instead of just suing. There really is no excuse for piracy when it is offered cheap, easy, and legally.

Warner Bros realized the same thing with their DVD's. They have the largest catalog of DVD's for $10 or less, and thus the lost levels of piracy. The trick to beating piracy is to make your products:

1) Inexpensive / Reasonally priced.

2) Readily available.

Now the VC isn't 'impulse buy cheap' as many people wanted, but I have no problem paying $10 for Mario64, $5 for a Zelda, or $8 for Gunstar Heroes. They are worth it.