Click HERE to see this thread with all of the graphics, features, and links.

With Japan soon getting a third more games on the VC and releases in North America slowed to as few as one game per week and no MSX support, does anyone even care about the VC if Japan won't even release games like Metal Gear, Vampire Killer, Majora's Mask, and Smash Bros. in America? Would you want to petition Nintendo to get it's ass in gear or (like the wii shortage) do they just not care about the US market because of the plummeting value of the dollar? Are they just more focused on Wiiware (95% of which is overpriced crap)?

Err.... basically... no, it is not even vaguely dead. It's still active, expanding and profitable. So that more or less answers that.

What is the Virtual Console?







Kind of proves your point right there.




HAHA not really, i'm not a video game freak.


But seriously, what is it?

I have no idea what the hell Virtual Console even is. Maybe because I don't live in North America... or maybe cause I'm living under the proverbial rock as far as consoles go.

well I don't think 1 obscure commodore game a week is really a living system.

as for what the VC is, if you have a Wii and an internet connection you can connect to the Wii shop channel and after a quick software update, buy, save, and play classic games for the NES/Famicom Disk System, SNES, N64, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Neo Geo, Turbo Grafx-16, Commodore 64, Arcarde, and MSX (only in Japan). That is the potential awesomeness that is the Virtual Console. Oh, and they've been releasing cool games that have never seen release in the US before. Unfortunately whereas they used to release something like 2-3 games a week, now they're down to 1 game every 2-3 weeks in North America with a discrepancy between NA and Japanese releases that's something like 498/230 right now. They're even holding back popular games like Smash Bros. and Rondo of Blood from North America for some stupid reason.

Originally posted by Darth Jello
well I don't think 1 obscure commodore game a week is really a living system.

as for what the VC is, if you have a Wii and an internet connection you can connect to the Wii shop channel and after a quick software update, buy, save, and play classic games for the NES/Famicom Disk System, SNES, N64, Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Neo Geo, Turbo Grafx-16, Commodore 64, Arcarde, and MSX (only in Japan). That is the potential awesomeness that is the Virtual Console. Oh, and they've been releasing cool games that have never seen release in the US before. Unfortunately whereas they used to release something like 2-3 games a week, now they're down to 1 game every 2-3 weeks in North America with a discrepancy between NA and Japanese releases that's something like 498/230 right now. They're even holding back popular games like Smash Bros. and Rondo of Blood from North America for some stupid reason.

The idea of releasing old school games on this generation consoles sounds pretty awesome to me.

EDIT: To answers your question: I believe that there are just not enough people(at least not in the Western world) who are interested in this.

The VC is very hit-and-miss, if you ask me. Very few titles are classic instant buys, and most, unfortunately, are dreck. I yearn for better downloadable titles.

Japan has been holding back a lot of the non-dreck games that HAVE been released there and have a lot of interest in North America. These include Majora's Mask, Rondo of Blood, and Smash Bros.

Plus there are so many games that would have huge sales in north america if they were released here such as the japanese disk system versions of the NES castlevania, metroid, and zelda games, castlevania bloodlines, castlevania IV uncensored, Dracula X, Metal Gear 1 and 2 for MSX, Vampire Killer, Earthbound Zero, Contra Hard Corps, the msx and arcade versions of the contra games, Haunted Castle, X-Men Arcade, the good TMNT console and arcade games, this list could go on forever. Basically a wasted way in which consumers could be happy and Nintendo could make literally millions of dollars with little work.

They are not holding them back to strangle the system or because of any nafarious plan; they just releas the localisations later than the Japan ones,. They WILL release them and they will continue to make LOTS of money.

Again- the VC is still active, expanding and profitable. Those three things together make it exceptionally living and these are facts that override an opinion saying it is defunct. Nintendo are also very interested in getting as much cash otu of it as possible so don't go thinking that they are deliberately not doing that. Do bear in mind that making these things run acceptably and error-free on the Wii is not a casual thing. Meanwhile, ALL the biggest titles have been released already with the only truly noticable exception being Goldeneye, which has copyright issues. Arcade emulation on the Wii is brand new, and whilst the arcade lineup so far is appalling, new things need a lot of time. You really have to stop demanding everything at once.

Incidentally you have only had a handful of C64 games in the US and none of them were obscure; the likes of Last Ninja were absolutely massive (though overrated in my opinion). 'Tower Toppler' is a dud (despite being a Hewson game) but you get bad releases in a week all the time on the VC. This does not change any of the facts I mention above. Meanwhile, Majora's Mask is already VC released in Europe so it cannot be far off from NA. As the Euro and Pound have the same difficulties as the dollar, that speaks against your economic argument.

You must be careful about confusing being personally unhappy with the VC with the VC actually being in decline. Have some patience and don't translate your personal frustration into an attempt to call this post-mortem. The VC is just fine.

Artificialglory- nope, you are wrong. People are interested, are buying, and are making Nintendo a mint.

Alot of my friends who have Wii's bought them for its Virtual Console.

I purchased several games and played them through. Cost about the same as it would to rent them when they were available..except I get to keep them, legally, for far longer.

The VC is absurdly awesome....and, no, it is far from being dead. There is so much hit and miss shit being released that it's absurd. Check out nintendo's site for releases. (I'm also including the wii-ware titles in that, too.)

meh, the only worthwhile wiiware they've put out are Dr. Mario, Mega Man 9, and the upcoming Adventure Island remake.

Wiiware does have a lot of shovelled crap on it, yes. But your statement there is an exaggeration. Strong Bad is awesome (in all senses of the phrase), My Life as a King is above average, there's that whole World of Goo thing... it's a worthwhile product.

DSiware is almost entirely crap so far though.

Well they finally released Majora's Mask today. What are you guys hoping for/looking forward to? Personally:

NES:
Mother/Earthbound Zero
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 2 and 3
Batman
Batman Returns
Ducktails 1 and 2
Darkwing Duck
Rescue Rangers 1 and 2
Return of Mario Bros.

MSX:
Metal Gear 1 and 2
Vampire Killer
Contra

Genesis:
Sonic 3 and Knuckles
Sonic CD
Rocket Knight adventures 1 and 2
Castlevania Bloodlines
Contra Hardcorps
X-Men 2 Clone Wars
Toki: Going Ape Spit

Turbo Grafix and older NEC:
Castlevania X: The Rondo of Blood
Super Mario Bros. Special
Punch Ball Mario Bros.

SNES:
Teenage mutant ninja turtles 4
F-Zero 2
Star Fox
Star Fox 2
X-Men Mutant Apocalypse
Castlevania Dracula X
Mega Man 7
Mega Man and Bass
Wrecking Crew

Arcade:
Contra
Super Contra
Haunted Castle
Mario Bros
Vs. Super Mario Bros
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 1 and 2
X-Men
The Simpsons
Captain America and The Avengers
Battletoads
Toki
Mario Kart GP 1 and 2
Elevator Action 2
Punch-Out
Super Punch-Out

Not to resurrect an old thread but jesus. It's trickled down to one game a week for months and it's usually something no one gives a shit about. Final Fantasy for the NES? What's the point?

Why no Smash Bros. or Super Mario Kart or Star Fox? Even the WiiWare games haven't made up for this. Sure we got Final Fantasy IV 2 and Contra Rebirth but other than that, who wants time wasters for 10 bucks they can play online for free or super word search or the other shit the put out? They're not even sure if they're going to release the castlevania adventure remake in the US. Total ass.

I think you're still misinterpreting things as your personal unhappiness with the system being the norm.

Wiiware has a lot of good stuff on it! Sorry, but it simply does! And there are over 300 VC games out; I doubt they can sustain a two-a-week schedule any more. The remaining names will all come. SMK came out four months ago in Japan so it will be elsewhere soon.

DSiware is still crap though. A real disappointment, that has been.

Majora's Mask is the only VC title out right now that is worth buying, in my opinion.

Originally posted by Smasandian
Alot of my friends who have Wii's bought them for its Virtual Console.


That is the only reason i ever considered buying a Wii but i decided to just buy a controller for my mac instead. Now i can play any game for any system




Wii blows.

Well, except that is a. not true and b. the part of it that is true is illegal.

I've never bought a game using the Wii's virtual console, but I'm sure it's great.

The Xbox 360 one I have much experience with, and it's very much alive. Has some amazing original games.

oh wow, some obscure sega titles, a couple of Commodore 64 games and tecmo bowl. And that's all we get for months while japan gets 5-6 games a week and even europe will outpace North America soon.

Hey, maybe to tide us over they'll start supporting the ZX Spectrum and Atari 2600 so that we can get one game a week with for things like the crappy version of Pac-Man, ET, and the A Team at $5 a pop.