Damn EA nickel and diming us for games we already own.

Oh wait.

Damn Microsoft flooding the Live Arcade with retro games. Where's the original games!?!?

Oh wait.

Ristar was awesome. Got stuck on it though, never completed it.

But the only games I'll be buying from the virtual console are N64 games, when they get some more.

What is Nintendo waiting for to put some more of their heavy hitters on VC? I don't think I understand their strategy...

Vicotry Run was pretty cool.

Oh wait.

Columns! Where's my online play Nintendo!

COLUMNS!

Until I can figureout how to do italics..

" Mirai Matt says:

What is Nintendo waiting for to put some more of their heavy hitters on VC? I don't think I understand their strategy..."

They're waiting for the droughts between major 1st party titles. Remember the Gamecube releases early on? It was...hell, several months between first-party titles.

Now they save the heavy hitters on the VC for those specific droughts, to keep people on the Wii.

That's my idea, anyway.

I played Ristar on Sonic Mega Collection. It really isn't something I'd pay 7 bucks for.

Wii = appeal to global audience.

And you prioritize TurboGrafx 16 games?

I'm afraid I don't get it.

When will they start releasing Genesis games that aren't included on the Sega Genesis Collection???

I'll wait until Gunstar Heroes and Toejam and Earl are put on there.

Please consider the fact that they aren't forcing you to 'rebuy' anything. I'm purchasing games I never got the chance to play but always wanted to. Like Echo the Dolphin and the much acclaimed (At least by Next Generation magazine at the time) Bomberman for Turbographix. If you already own the game for an oldschool system then you can play it on that system. Nintendo's not putting a gun to your head, it's your wallet.

Does anyone realize the Wii will be around for 5 years or so? Why would they release the AAA games right now and not later in the life or during slow release periods. You won't the best games now and honestly, it doesn't make sense to do that with games like Zelda, Wii Sports, and Rayman available and new that deserve most of the focus.

Damn Nintendo overcharging for these old ass game$, oh wait!

Retro Game$

Nice pricing ... not!

Christ, what's gonna be on the release roster next week? Donkey Kong Jr. Math?

Thanks for digitally farting in our faces jut in time for Christmas, Nintendo.

Columns will be my first VC purchase, can't wait!

So when the hell are we going to get Super Metroid or even some Final Fantasy stuff?

"Does anyone realize the Wii will be around for 5 years or so? Why would they release the AAA games right now and not later in the life or during slow release periods."

Maybe to allow their consumers the choice of when they play these games? It's not like they're using this extra time to enhance the games in any possible way. They're just sitting on them waiting for a better time to release them in order to maximize sales.

But hey, it's Nintendo. Those guys can't possibly do anything wrong. Forget I said anything.

So far, my VC purchases have all been from the Genesis and TurboGrafx16 libraries (Sonic & Bonk), since neither I nor my friends had those growing up. I always wanted a TG16, though, so I forsee 'Victory Run' making its way onto my console. The lack of Nintendo titles is, therefore, not really bothersome for me.

Is anyone else concerned, though, with the Wii's ability to manage a lot of VC titles? Could the Wii Channels menu get so long (after buying many VC games) that it'll take minutes to get to the game you want to play?

Oh! Here it is! Overpriced goodness every monday and NO online gaming at all!!

Thank you Nintendo for your innovation, EA style!

I can understand Nintendo wanting to spread out some of their heavy hitters to give Virtual Console more longevity, but they're not exactly in short supply... and Japan's VC launch linup includes games like Link to the Past, Donkey Kong Country and Super Mario World for the SNES alone. It would be nice if we got at least *one* of those games over here...

The Wii may have a life of 5 years or so, but I don't think Nintendo would be fool enough to create the next console without VC... do you?

Most people are going to expect to retain their VC games (since they're account-based, not system based) on into the next console. I'd hope Nintendo has thought that far ahead. So these VC purchases now have the potential for much longer life then that of the console... and really, that's to Nintendo's advantage. People who can continue to build a library build loyalty along with it... and will take Nintendo on into their homes five or ten or fifteen years from now.

Nintendo endures. With the reaction to the Wii so far, I'm pretty certain there will be a next console. They're probably already working on it. Wonder if they'll name it Wii 2?

I've been picking up turbographix titles since I never had one of those. Picked up Solomon's Quest for the NES, too, since it was the only title I hadn't played before. They've all kept me busy for a few hours, and I'll usually pick up a quick retro game after some sports or Zelda.

Back when I was a kid, I had a GameBoy (which is still operational I might add :) ) and I played a whole bunch of games on it. But during the years I lost some of the games and I've never got my hands on a NES system (or SNES for that matter).
Why will I be buying stuff for VC? To replay the originals of the copies I had as a kid on my GB. Because there are games I REALLY liked. And to play some of the stuff I heard so much about but never got a chance to.
I understand that there has to be a price. I am a game developer and I understand that they had to put some sort of an effort into those games so they could be played on VC.
And well, it would be a surprise to see a gaming company giving away games :)

Like KriKit said. It's a no-brainer. Nobody is putting a gun to anyone's head. Buy it 'cause you like it or leave it if you don't. :)

And the hits just keep on drizzilin'!!

Maybe you could make your voice heard by, oh I dunno, NOT buying any of these? If you have a problem with these games you could simply not buy it.
I think a lot of your are somehow under the impression that the only way to enjoy your Wii is to buy old games which you may already own. Why would you? When I feel like it I whip out the NES or SNES to play games. I really don't feel like Nintendo is forcing my hand.
I think a lot of you have internet syndrome, you know? You have to pick a fight about everything and anything you can to get some sort of empty recognition from people you'll never meet in real life. If you don't like it, that's fine. But tell me, what's the point in bashing it? Personally I'm waiting for some games that I couldn't aquire for my NES but I'm not going bonkers over it.

Just give me my Military Madness on TG16 on the Wii and nobody gets hurt!

Damnit! I want Xevious NOW!

I've always wanted to visit the country of Paris. Playing a TG-16 that takes place there will have to do.

YCS

Donkey Kong Jr, without a doubt. I bought Donkey Kong and LOVE it.

I'll also pick up Bonk at some point. I never played it, and feel I should give it a shot.

Huh - I might get Donkeys since I spent so many quarters on it as a kid. But I do wish they'd bring some of the games like "Super Mario World" they have on the VC in Japan, as well as good old "Super Metroid", since I've never played that one.

Erec says:

"It's not like they're using this extra time to enhance the games in any possible way. They're just sitting on them waiting for a better time to release them in order to maximize sales."

Wow, a company trying to maximize sales, how dare they?!?

Nintendo trying to prioritize releases based on how much money they make is not evil.

i

Another week without SNES and N64 games. Nice failure Ninty. :(

when is the internet channel coming out. WHEN THE HELL IS THE INTERNET CHANNEL COMING OUT? "soon" is not a gawd damn date.

hmmm, i wonder if they have concerns about flash and flash games. will sites like pogo run well?

Scrolling down through the comments, all I can read is, "The console's been out for only two weeks, but every game I want on Virtual Console isn't out...and they're charging me money for intellectual property! I'm a saaaaaaaaad panda..."

In other news, I'm just happy to see that Bonk isn't dead. Beyond that, just lemme know when I can download Xexyz and Toejam & Earl.

Would anyone's life really get that better with online-enabled Columns? Personally, I like what Nintendo's doing, trying to give you the authentic experience as best as they can. Some of those XBLA ports with their upgraded graphics look like bad shareware releases with buggy gameplay. There would be a lot less whining if 90% of the online glamer community wasn't filled with pirates who have had emulated games on their computer for years.

holy crap victory run SUCKED

I could never finish the second race without burning the whole gearbox

but the soundtrack was excellent

I say this: Nuts to the Virtual Console. Nuts to OLD games being dumped on it by Nintendo at a high price without adding anything to those old games.

It's only been two weeks, but I still as though the VC was kicked off with a whimper, not a bang.

It's about as interesting to me as the non-existent internet channel.

"Wow, a company trying to maximize sales, how dare they?!?"

Yeah, and if other companies went out of their way to try and maximize sales at the expense of the consumer, they'd be brought to task for it. But not Nintendo.

Nintendo could release the majority of the content the people want right now, and then let us decide when we play it. But they're not doing that. They could hold off on releasing certain content, but in the meantime make upgrades to it so that when it does come out, we have something to show for the wait. But they're not doing that either.

They're sitting on the content that people want so that they can release it when there's no new games for the system to play in order to try and get more sales for their retro stuff. And people are defending them for it. It's absurd.

You say "old," I say "vintage." Classic games in their original resolution with wireless gameplay (with an awesome controller) and automatic save states = great. Do people really want some ugly-ass Super2x filter on their NES games? Online play for Anticipation? $6 for 4 player Bomberman is the best deal in video games right now, if you have friends.

Erec, what's actually absurd is your ranting on the topic. How are they *harming* consumers by pacing out their releases like this? They aren't, at all, PERIOD. What they're doing is actually quite smart--release a few titles a week, so that every week like clockwork, whether there are new games out for the Wii directly or not, people are thinking about and talking about the system. Even if it's only a Virtual Console release and discussion, it's still a Wii focused set of thoughts and news.

That's not bad, that's SMART. You need to learn to be a little more patient, it's only been 2 weeks for chrissakes.

I didn't realize seven sentences constituted a rant.

We're being forced to wait to play a lot of our favorite past games on the Wii. Why? Because it's smart business for Nintendo to make us wait. They realize more people will buy more gamers if they're not given a choice of what to buy from their overall catalog right away. And people, gamers no less, are defending Nintendo putting its business ahead of its fans, even if it means we won't get to play our favorite games of yesteryear on the Wii for a few more years.

Nintendo just doesn't receive the criticism other companies receive. Can you imagine if Microsoft or Sony tried to sell us on a system comprised entirely of retro games costing $5-10? Hell, Microsoft's Arcade gets criticized for its somewhat-updated $5 retro games and that's only a part of what the system offers.

But I better stop now. I'd hate for this to be labeled another rant, and not simply my thoughts on why the Virtual Console isn't all peaches and bananas.

You're making it out like the whole point of the Wii is the Virtual Console and that it doesn't do anything else. The Virtual Console is as big a part of the Wii as XBLA is. I have no interest in it because I own all those old games. I'm not about to rebuy them just to be able to play them on the Wii, especially not at the prices they're charging.

Where I agree with you, and where Nintendo missed the boat is that they should be upgrading these games. They have an SNES quality Super Mario Bros. from Super Mario All Stars, why don't they make that available with the original graphics as an option? Same goes for The Legend of Zelda.

They've got to make these games appealing to people who own the original and in a lot of cases own GBA remakes as well.

At least where Microsoft is charging $5 for these old ass games they're adding in online play and achievements. Stuff that makes it worth going back to.

Hell, have someone spend a couple weeks and slap together a Third Quest for Zelda. Change the locations of the dungeons and the layouts, add a couple new monsters or bosses, add in a new item. Just a simple thing like that would make Zelda fans freak out.

If they don't start doing stuff like that I doubt I'll ever download a single game from the WiiShop.

This blows. VC isn't supposed to be just for old school games, Nintendo was adamant that there will be original content for the VC too. If that's the case, then these games for the American VC suck hard. Don't give me that "good business sense" garbage either. If that's the case then the Japanese wouldn't be getting a stellar VC launch line-up. Not only are they getting StreetFighter 2 which is awesome on its own, but they're getting Castlevania 4, Contra 3: The Alien Wars and TWO R-Type games, R-Type 3 on SNES and the original R-Type on TG-16.

Spin, justify it, put your head in the sand all you want. Nintendo blew it with the US VC. I can deal with no enhancements, but no online play? Nintendo...what the hell is your problem? Maximizing profits without using any common sense what-so-ever.

Hey Microsoft...you seeing this? Nintendo can't get it together either. Go for the jugluar and do something hot and I'll consider selling my Wii and getting a 360 instead...

The Xbox Live players are laughing at us. Victory Run? No one gives a crap. We want Duck Hunt. Don't give us Wii Play, We want old school.

Just take a deep breath. If this continues like this into '07, then the complaint will be more legitimate. But for now, it's foolish of Nintendo to release AAA titles during the Christmas season when they need to be concentrating on sales of the rest of their lineup. The reason Japan is sitting on a gigantic lineup and we're not is because the Wii is being launched here in the Christmas season.

In terms of just throwing EVERYTHING out there, that's simply flooding the marketplace and a horrible business strategy. Every system manufacturer controls the stream of releases for their system. Microsoft has pared it down to one game a week for XBLA.

On the "sitting on all the old games" thing, think about this: if they released all the good games at one time, what do you think would happen to their servers?
KABOOM!

Erec, please don't ever run a company.

Let's put things into perspective here:

The wii launched in the US on Nov. 19th, 2006. Today is Dec. 2nd 2006. The system has on;y been available for..14 days.

On monday (16 days since launch) 22 will have been released for the VC. They haven't blown anything in terms of strategy on this thing, they haven't had a chance too. Of course there's no original content yet: let them have chance to release the games they plan to for launch! Have some patience for christ's sake. Your attention spans are so ridiculously short that i'd be amazed if you even made it to this sentence before blaming me for not winning a pulitzer.

you're right jasongw, i just now saw your comment.

haha people, it's only been two weeks.

if they released everything now, i'm sure people would whine later that there wasn't enough new (good) stuff coming out on the VC. but hey, we're consumers and internet users, whining is what we do.

Ah, when are we going to get SMB1?

"In other news, I'm just happy to see that Bonk isn't dead. Beyond that, just lemme know when I can download Xexyz"

XEXYZ! YOU EFFING WIN!

In other news, you people are SERIOUSLY effing impatient. Two weeks into the console's entire lifespan and you're freaking out that they don't have every game ever made available...yes, I do find it kinda ridiculous that the Japanese pretty much have it in our butts without the pleasure of a reach-around right now as far as the VC is concerned, but I have four games downloaded so far (F-Zero and the three TG-16 games) and plan on downloading four more within a week or two here (DK, Mario 64, Wario's Woods, Victory Run). Well worth the money I spend on them, and they occupy my time until other things come out.

Also consider that those of you that HAVE a Wii right now are really lucky and are definitely among the minority when compared to those that WANT a Wii. You'll get your favorite oldies-but-goldies here soon enough. In the meantime, play Zelda for a while and download F-Zero and Mario 64. Those should keep you occupied for a while.

keep in mind the japanese had to pay for wii sports, too. i got a free game. i can wait for better VC games.

Wii Sports and Raving Rabbids are easily occupying my Wii time. Though I'll definitely have to make a 1600 point investment when Super Mario World and Link to the Past come out.

Yeah, geez.
Do you people have jobs or what? You make it sound like you just bought a wii for the VC. Remember wii sports and Zelda? It's only been 2 weeks! I'm so excited about VC because I haven't even had time to touch it yet and theres already some old games that I wouldn't have gone thrifting for and tried to make work on a buster old nes. I don't care for PC Emulators, there's nothing like playing on my tv in pajamas.

the whining about prices is damn ridiculous, and this is coming from an enterprising rom-pirate, mateys. 6 bucks, five-player bomberman (with bots, no less), what God did I please. As far as enhanced games, I think that might be down the line based on the sales of VC games. It wouldn't take more than a patch to make ad-hoc online multiplayer happen, and again I think if sales warrant such, they'll go for it. Roots of Deathmatch! The lack of a volume of titles seems to be a compromise with retailers for the holidays as they're trying to move software. I expect these VC releases will expand in volume and title-quality come the new year.

Incidentally, the Japanese paid less than $200 for their Wii's whereas the US paid $250. We paid for our WiiSports more than they did.

Keep in mind that consoles and games always cost less in the US then they do in Japan so it's not the exchange rate that caused the huge discrepancy in price.

This goes back to what Erec said about Nintendo not being criticized which is very true in this case. The US was forced to buy WiiSports for $50 but everyone hails them for giving us a "free" game. That extra $50 is the main reason why the system is so profitable for them.

I'm not trying to knock Nintendo either, it was a smart business move as even at $250 they are cheaper than any of their competitors and the pack in game is a huge boon in the eyes of consumers as they don't stop to think either that the game isn't really free.

They've sold 600K Wii's already which means an extra $30 Million in revenue just due to WiiSports being included. They never would've made that much selling it separately as very few people would've bought it at any more than $30-$40 and it certainly wouldn't have sold anywhere near a 1:1 ratio with the system.

Don't ever let anyone tell you Nintendo is stupid, they're a better run business than either Sony or Microsoft's game divisions.

"Don't ever let anyone tell you Nintendo is stupid, they're a better run business than either Sony or Microsoft's game divisions."

That's why they've been in last place since '94.

Nintendo is nothing if not known for making stupid overhyped junk. They break out the GBA and all that's on it is Super Nintendo ports, The Wii has ports from 20 years ago, all I'm hearing from this is Nintendo knows they can't do anything right so they have to put out 10-15-20 year old games because that's the last time they did anything DECENT and even then they screw it up.

Heck, at this rate even Sony's botched PS3 launch is looking like a better competitor in the long run.

Troll much? First of all, you're factually incorrect. Sega was in last place for most of their Saturn/Dreamcast tenure. Second, is the name of the game market share, or profit? Last I heard, Nintendo was sitting on a mountain of cash, and still making money.

I KNOW you didn't just insult the GBA's library. Those SNES classics Golden Sun and Advance Wars, right? GBA had one of the best libraries of any system, ever. If you can't find 20 games that you'd enjoy the hell out of on GBA, you don't like games. Sorry.

"The lack of a volume of titles seems to be a compromise with retailers for the holidays as they're trying to move software. I expect these VC releases will expand in volume and title-quality come the new year."

Sanest thing in this thread.

... KOSS ... They're following a straegy that people have begged for them to adopt for 20me 15-16 years. They've always ignored BC features until now. I could care less that it's a downlaod service, but I love that we have it now, personally.

Last I checked the GBA had some damn fine original games for it.

These "ports" are what people wanted for years, and frankly I'm glad to have it.

As for ports, I'm glad to have them this way as well. when the online portion of the console is ready, I'm sure we'll start to see re-worked online capable versions showing up. Can you imagine the bloody hell that would've erupted out of everyone if Mario Kart had gone on the VC with no online? There's a reason why it's not coming soon... Bomberman online would've been swell, but it's Hudson's call, and here we are. Maybe next time.

As for updating them, while I appreciated people's comments about making these old games look nicer, lord help the poor man that releases a classic NES game with reworked graphics abandoning the original. If you gotta problem with it, You and a Mr. George Lucas would get along just fine. As for me, I will take my originals, warts and all.

Kami,

Advance Wars wasn't a new IP at all. It's been around fr years and it's been on others hands, until the GBA. It is a great game but we aren't looking at a new game property.

Good GBA games, referencing KOSS again:
Wario Ware
Pokemon
Metroid Fusion
FF Tactics

Lots of titles. If you don't like the GBA, whatever... The GBA, GBASP, DS and such have kept Nintendo tops in portable gaming in atimes when ANYTHING else could have come along and toppled them and nothing could at all. You don't like Mario & co, disney's been exploiting mickey for years and people generally never tired of him, so you're obviously in the minority.

for those who want to bitch about current VC prices....
I'll tell you what is PRICELESS...

the fact I get to play Legend of Zelda(NES) and not have it reset/freeze on me during important temple quests..and much more that I don't need 2-3 legacy systems cluttering up my entertainment system..which is occupied by 360/wii/dvd player..

for games like Castlevania:Simon'S Quest with long ass passwords that never worked the wii enables an awesome feature where u can goto wii-home and it will automatically reload u on the same screen u exited out on..

dvddesign: FAMICOM Wars. Since that muchly-wanted franchise never came over here, the closest there was was Super Famicom Wars, and it was never released for the SNES over here. I'm not claiming new IP, just saying that it wasn't a SNES port.