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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.
Slow news day is slow?
There's been a persistent rumour about Nintendo making one or more VC games free as an xmas "gift". Any truth to this?
Endless arguments over trivial contradictions in books written by ignorant savages to explain thunder in the dark.
Baseball I can maybe agree with, although the Wii now finally has a baseball game that lasts more than 3 innings.
But Urban Champion? Name any other fighting game where a key tactic is evading flower pots being thrown at your head. This is the game that may have invented the fatality: The loser gets punched into the sewers. I've yet to see any game improve on that.
Small potatoes make the steak look bigger.
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.
I can tell you how to get to it, but first I'll need you to take a picture of a pigeon or a squirrel.
Slashdot - where whining about luck is the new way to make the world you want.
Wikipedia is your friend (basically, it's a service where you can buy downloads of older games and play them on the Wii)
Omnes stulti sunt.
For some people, legality does matter.
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.
Key reasons:
-quality Nintendo controller
-genuine game experience not interrupted by Windows error alert boxes, MSN signon/signoff/msg alerts, blue screens and what have you
-convenience (turn on the machine and grab the controller, select a game and play)
-easy configuration/setup (none) compared to any emulation setup
-vendor support
-games from numerous platforms over the span of many years, available all in one spot, playable on one system, with all of the benefits listed above
For a lot of people, there is.
For one, I like playing on my TV, with a controller meant to play whatever game it is I'm playing. Sure, I've played games on emulators on my PC, but using a keyboard or some random crappy gamepad never felt right.
And two, I don't want to have to jump through hoops to get a game to work. I just want it to work. My wife would NEVER figure out how to load up a ROM and play it. With this, she can simply turn on the Wii, point at the game, and start playing.
And three... like someone else said, this is actually legal.
You forgot the ability to save anywhere, anytime. ;)
I plan on buying Super Castlevania and SF2, but where are the N64 games? Last I checked, the only one available so far is SM64, which I can still buy in stores for the DS.
It's like sex, except I'm having it!
Even better: play two different games simultaneously on the DS each on their own screen!
They've already profited from it. Many people have already paid for the game once, on an older console, and would like to play it again without pulling the console out of a closet (or it may not even work anymore) and are entirely justified in their refusal to pay for it again.
Your troll-fu is weak.
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I thought VC had gotten that functionality, but I could be mixing it with the suspend feature.
1 - Cool, sure, but can you use that same controller for 5 or 6 different platforms, all with native support in every game, without the need to set up your drivers, bind controller keys to in-game buttons, etc.?
... Genuine? If that's what you meant, I would honestly love to see any N64 emulator you've found that can perfectly reproduce the game, entirely indistinguishable from playing on a true N64.
2 - What word?
3 - With Virtual Console on the Wii, it's all running on the same system. You don't have to "switch platforms" because everything is running on the single Wii system. What did you think I was talking about? Playing games on the actual original systems they were made for?
4 - If you like to search around on the net to find an emulator for each platform, download and install it, and you understand all of the configuration options, then go ahead. The majority of people are not interested in spending that kind of time to play an old game. However, when the games are presented to them in a super-convenient situation, they have no problem shelling out the $5 to nearly instantly have the game, ready to play, on the system they are already using and sitting in front of.
5 - Vendor support means if it doesn't work, you can call up Nintendo support and they will fix it (unless you broke the console or whatever). If you're going to try and criticize my points about what makes Virtual Console such an ideal candidate for playing old favorite games, at least take the time to understand what I'm saying.
6 - The majority of video game players have no interest in alternate-language, beta, developer or hacked versions of their games. For emulation enthusiasts, sure, but take a look at the people buying Wii systems - they span a far far greater demographic (in fact, probably the broadest range of people of any console yet).
The only hard part would be explaining to people why you can only do that with Nintendo games, and maybe Genesis games. (At least based on what I've read about the current emulators people have written, Super Nintendo is pretty questionable, at least in the general case.)
And it's a way to integrate the DS and Wii that isn't the slightest bit contrived, like most/all of the Game Boy integration was.
That hasn't stopped most people from buying the re-releases of the same games for GBA or other systems, and considering how most people probably don't have their old systems anymore or never had some of them to begin with (How many people here actually owned a TG-16?) the virtual console prices are reasonable. The VC makes emulation as simple as can be. Even with emulators for older systems you sometimes have to keep 2 or 3 different emulators around and mess with different settings in each because some games will only run in certain emulators. Some games just never run well in emulators (like one of my favorite fighting games - WeaponLords)
Also, being able to pump the sound through the large system instead of an emulation of the sound through laptop speakers is nice too.
I will admit there are a few things I'd like to see for it though:
1) The abilty to upload to a DS cart, as mentioned before, would be awesome. Really, all they would need to do is create a special cart for the DS which contains the emulation software and can accept an SD card, so I can just take the copies from my Wii and put them on the cart. The tricky part here is that for protection reasons, you probably have to bind your emulator cart to your Wii so you can't upload some games you paid for and some games your friend paid for on his Wii.
2) While I don't think free-region is necessary (besides, with the whole NTSC vs PAL thing, it would be a pain to pull off), I would like to see some companies take this as an oppurtunity to take some titles and translate them for release in other regions. The problem here is that that sales aren't as guaranteed as they may have been on the original system, and localization is not a trivial expense, unless they can maybe by the rights to existing fan-subs and make corrections/fixes where needed.
One comment though - Why the basic SF 2 and not SF2-Turbo. Sure they'll probably release that one a year from now for more money, but I'd rather wait and assume they'll release Turbo later than buy SF2 now.
I think I've seen SNES and TurboGrafx-16 emulators for the GBA, so my guess is that it should be possible to run such emulators at full-speed (with audio) on the DS, even if you have to use both CPUs to do the job (GBA+DS).
You can get a pretty decent game pad for abut $15, and with the help of S-video or other cables, you can play games on your TV. I buy VC games for one thing: multiplayer. It's hard to play 5-player Bomberman off of one computer.
"When the atomic bomb goes off there's devastation...but when the atomic bong goes off there's celebraaaaation!"
Wait, wasn't SMB one of the launch titles? I've seen it on the Wii Shop area every day since its launch! This isn't new.
And please... good times is when they finally release Link to the Past, Super Metroid, Final Fantasy, Secret of Mana, Mario 2 & 3, Mario World, Megaman. And some more obscure goodies like Gardian Legend, Kid Icarus, Karnov, and such. 90% of the games I've seen so far are either generic NES sports titles, or the same kinds of shit I could get for my iPod for a dollar.
And why are there 4x as many Genesis and TG16 games as SNES games? The SNES is OWNED by Nintendo, and it had more games, period. Something fishy is going on here. Seriously, I was more concerned, back when they talked about "fan favorites", that all they would have would be the big titles that everyone's already played, so I'm glad to see them jump on board with more obscure titles, but they haven't released very many large, and more lengthy titles yet. Give me my SNES epics... PLEASE! Stop giving me generic sports games, block puzzles, and arcade bullshit.
Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.
Home theater PCs have TV output.
with a controller meant to play whatever game it is I'm playing.PlayStation to USB adapters are available for home theater PCs. Or are PS1 gamepads "random" and "crappy"?
My wife would NEVER figure out how to load up a ROM and play it.Associate .smc with the emulator, and there's no problem.
And three... like someone else said, this is actually legal.But is it legal everywhere to mod a console to run games developed by amateurs or smaller companies? No royalty to Dell or Microsoft is required to develop a game for a home theater PC or any other Windows machine.
The point is that it turns out to be fun having them on something with TV out and a convenient controller that I already have hooked up to my TV.
My blog: http://www.seebs.net/log/ --- My iPhone/iPad app: http://www.seebs.net/seebsfrac/
The majority of PAL televisions in Europe, and all PAL televisions in Brazil, can display a PAL signal at 60 Hz.
The problem here is that [...] localization is not a trivial expenseI see your point about games that have been released only in Japanese language, but what's the big expense to localize the United Kingdom and France versions of a game to the United States and Canada or vice versa, or the Spain version of a game to Mexico or vice versa? Or do EU regulations require all video games sold in the UK to be made available in other countries in their native languages?
I don't know how long Toejam and Earl has been on the official website, but it's been too long to just leave it there and not availible for me to consumerize. I want to be spoon fed my nostalgia at a much faster rate! Otherwise, I may actually be able to retire...
Thunderclone: ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE! ONE MAN ENTERS! TWO MEN LEAVE!
I though long and hard about this. I Sure, I can (and to be honest, did) have all of the NES and SNES games I want for free and with somewhat upped graphics instead of buying them. But I still ended up in the end buying the original Zelda, Sonic, and Mario 64.
Why "waste" the money? For several reasons. I'd like to support Nintendo, since they really haven't disappointed me yet, and I thus support their products. I'd like also to convince them to release some older games, so I can actually OWN them, and not just steal them. Here's hoping they release the original 8-bit Final Fantasies (sure, I could get the revamped copies, but they lose something in the pimped graphics, and I do own FF1 on the NES, but am getting sick of blowing on the cart/having it plugged in), Mario RPG, Chronotrigger (have it on PS1, but it isn't the same...), Earthbound (Mother PLEASE!!!), the Shining Force games (beats Fire Emblem / FF Tactics any day), Phantasy Star, Alisa Dragoon, and such. On this vein, it is nice to play old games on the TV, with a real controller, without the fuss of adapters, wires, and ghetto PC controllers, or having to view things in a TEENY window to play on your PC in the original 8-16bit glory.
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.
A patriot must always be ready to defend his country against his government. -edward abbey
I'm sure you have been noticing a pattern, but it looks like you don't understand the "why". The batch of VC games have been VERY heavy in the direction on using the Wiimote only. The NES, Turbo16, and Genesis games can be played with the Wiimote sideways perfectly fine (or even better, as I don't hit the "nuke all opponenets" in Golden Axe accidentially anymore). What they did was offer a selection of Small (quick to download) titles that don't require any additional purchases in hardware. They put 2 SNES games out, and 1 N64 game (the obvious choice), so they can show it all works. I also think Nintendo held back some of their catalog to not over-shadow their business partners (Sega, and NEC) from the get go. They want a steady stream of titles for the next several years.
Make sure your TV supports Progressive scan (not all with component cables do). Otherwise I don't know. The official Nintendo ones work great.
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.
I know just what you mean dude. It's like when my wife tries to buy me a 12-pack of beer at the store, and I'm forced to scoff at her naivete. Why would anyone buy beer in a convenient pre-packaged form when you can just as effectively brew your own? All you need is a huge pale, a siphon, a hydrometer, malt, hops, yeast, sugar, and water. It couldn't be simpler, really. I know that some pansies use fancy 'Microbrewery Kits', but that runs counter to the true spirit of the home-brew community if you ask me. The best part of course is that it's legal to give away your home brewed beer without paying royalties to Heineken or Guinness.
:-)
Don't you have someone you'd die for?
Yea but we play it legally. Asshole.
militant gun owning 'liberal'
good point. I didn't think about it like that... but unfortunately, neither is most of the game playing population. Wouldn't it be better for their hardware sales to release a few MUST HAVES on SNES and N64 in attempts to get people to buy the VCC early on?
Multiplayer Gaming (defined): Sitting around, discussing single-player games with my friends, at the bar.
"We" are paying 5-10 bucks for 15-20 year old games, and *he's* the asshole?
Having recently setup FCEU, ZSNES, and ePSXe on my KnoppMyth box, I can certainly agree!
I noticed in other forums that the sharp Aquos line of devices seem to have a problem with YUV and 576p which all pal versioned VC games switch into. I am not sure if this can be fixed on the side of Sharp, but I will give them notice of this problem.