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Virtual Console Christmas is Retrotastic

Posted by Zonk on from the screw-mario-it's-all-about-belmont dept.

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.

21 of 79 comments (clear)

  1. Any "gifts"? by freeweed · · Score: 4, Interesting

    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.
    1. Re:Any "gifts"? by Nemetroid · · Score: 5, Interesting

      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.

    2. Re:Any "gifts"? by Xymor · · Score: 5, Funny

      Web browsing with no keyboard and weather forecast. Nintendo knows what gamers really want...

    3. Re:Any "gifts"? by Lehk228 · · Score: 2, Interesting

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

      --
      Snowden and Manning are heroes.
    4. Re:Any "gifts"? by bunions · · Score: 4, Funny

      > Web browsing with no keyboard

      Honestly? I don't see a problem. More people should consider the internet read-only.

      --
      there is no need to sign your posts. this isn't usenet. your username is right there above your post. stop it.
    5. Re:Any "gifts"? by AuMatar · · Score: 2, Interesting

      And this is better than a random number how?

      --
      I still have more fans than freaks. WTF is wrong with you people?
    6. Re:Any "gifts"? by barjam · · Score: 2, Informative

      It is not a rumor, Madden already does this. Switch your weather type to Sys:(something or other).

  2. Urban Champion? Dubious? by The-Bus · · Score: 2, Funny

    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.

  3. dear nintendo... by Dance_Dance_Karnov · · Score: 5, Interesting

    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.

    1. Re:dear nintendo... by MysticOne · · Score: 2, Informative

      1) Who cares? It's locked to your individual Wii anyway. So it's not like you can buy a VC game and then go play it elsewhere. It does suck that the games are different depending on the region, but it seems the game companies always do that.

      2) I agree it would be cool, but they'd probably have to implement it in such a way so the whole VC realm of games uses friend codes. They probably just didn't feel it was important enough to include, and would rather people just play it with those sitting next to them.

      3) Dunno why they didn't implement that. There's probably a reason, but I can't see that it'd be a good one.

      4) I don't think they wanted to particularly modify the games. The N64 stuff probably doesn't remove the rumble functionality from the games, but the system just doesn't honor it. That's different. I've not played with any N64 games in the VC, though, so I may be mistaken.

      5) I do think the pricing is a bit much. But, I don't think it's outrageous. Outrageous would be if all the retro games cost the same amount as the Wii games. But, my opinion is that it's reasonable, but a touch on the high priced side.

    2. Re:dear nintendo... by Dance_Dance_Karnov · · Score: 2, Interesting

      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.

    3. Re:dear nintendo... by Akaihiryuu · · Score: 2, Interesting

      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.

    4. Re:dear nintendo... by Wandering+Idiot · · Score: 2, Funny

      For instance, the greatest NES platformer ever (DuckTales)

      Notice: You will be (rightfully) killed by hordes of Mario 3 fans in 3... 2... 1...

  4. Re:So I'm dim... by heinousjay · · Score: 4, Funny

    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.
  5. Re:So I'm dim... by sinclair44 · · Score: 2, Informative

    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.
  6. Re:Really, what is the point? by Duds · · Score: 2, Insightful

    For some people, legality does matter.

  7. Re:Really, what is the point? by Yvan256 · · Score: 4, Interesting
    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.
  8. Re:Really, what is the point? by dividedsky319 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    There is nothing exciting about Nintendo's virtual console.


    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.
  9. Super Mario Bros. by 7Prime · · Score: 3, Informative

    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.
  10. Re:Really, what is the point? by seebs · · Score: 2, Insightful

    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.

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  11. You hit it on the head.... by trdrstv · · Score: 2, Interesting
    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.