The Virtual Console is a Joke

Oprainfall writes:

"Say what you will about the 3DS. Jonathan and I certainly have. But at least when you transfer your older downloadable titles from your DSi to your 3DS, you can access them on the main menu. You can’t access them from the SD card, but it’s still better than the way it’s handled on the Wii U. Not only that, but you can purchase older DSiWare titles directly from the eShop. Funny how all of this works."

[Snookies12]

I don't care for it until we see some dang GBA titles man... No buys from me until then. Zelda was tempting, but 5 dollars for a game that old?

[TheFirstClassic]

The prices for the VC are too high. Most psx games on the ps store are 6 dollars, why is a snes game 8? A ps2 game is 10 dollars on the ps store, why are games from the previous gen for n64 the same price on the VC? The pricing is outrageous.

[nintendoland]

graphics don't make the game kid

[ElectricKaibutsu]

But they're vintage! /s

[Baka-akaB]

It's not about graphics in my case

Some of those games were released in their gimped 50hz/pal era version back in the day . People were shafted back then , and now they are releasing the same games as is , without even converting it to 60hz , for those prices ?

It's one of those rare instance where you ought to say "viva emu"

[TheFirstClassic]

@nintendoland wow what kind of excuse is that? So every snes game is inherently better than every psx game? There is no other way to price these games except in accordance to when they came out, and how powerful the systems were. Nintendo fanboy? You look like one to me kid.

[kirbyu]

The prices are higher because the games are better.

[TheFirstClassic]

N64 is my favorite console of all time. And your argument is still nonsense.

[chadboban]

I agree Nintendo needs to fix this. The Wii U shouldn't have to go into a "Wii Mode" at all to do anything. Everything should be completely accessible from the Wii U's OS including virtual console games. Also support should be added for the Wii U Pro Controller for virtual console and wii games as well. I know the chances of this happening are slim but I think it's something Nintendo should look into. But hey, it's at least better than having no backwards compatibility at all.

[dedicatedtogamers]

Nintendo could be leading the way by making a virtual console that lets you buy yours games once, play them on any current Nintendo platform, and keep them to play on future Nintendo consoles. There is no reason why I should have to buy Super Mario Bros on the Wii console, re-buy it for 3DS, re-buy it on WiiU, and probably buy it again on future Nintendo game systems.

[MasterCornholio]

They should have done what Sony did with the Vita with the cross buy option. Its fantastic buying a game from PSN (PSN arcade title, PSX classic, PS3 Vita game) and be able to play it on both the Vita and the PS3 without having to buy the same title twice.

Nintendo should learn from Sony and adopt something similar for their virtual console program.

Edit: I dont know why anyone would disagree with me because if Nintendo did this their fans would benefit from it like how people who own both a PS3 and a Vita do.

[MikeMyers]

That's because Nintendo sees it as devaluing the content. If you buy a song on iTunes you can play it on any Apple device (up to 5 I believe). This is where the gaming industry continues to fall behind and Nintendo are a prime example of a company who still can't get out of the old days. They continue to have this attitude of that's how we do things in the past and it worked then so why wouldn't it work today? They will never offer their content on non-Nintendo devices either even though they could make millions just selling NES and NES games on smartphones and tablets. If they don't want to support non-Nintendo devices that's fine but at least have it so that when you buy an item on the Nintendo store it works on more than one Nintendo product. It's insane to have old titles that the hardware can handle and not be able to play it on that device.

[PopRocks359]

Certainly has flaws, but I'd rather have it than not have it at all.

[ElectricKaibutsu]

It does suck. Everyone imagined a legal version of downloading roms. But it just never happened. If only they explained why...

[Jag-T1000]

Yep. The prices are too high for old games. There are no options to make the screen fullscreen either. The way I play these old games is with an R4 card and an NES emulator on my NDS XL. That's the way to go.

[1upgamer99]

I don't really think $10 bucks for some of the best,biggest, highest rated games of all time is that bad. Its funny because I picked Zelda, Majoras Mask up and have been playing if for the first time in 11 years, and have really gotten into it. I have spent like 25 hours in the past month on a 12 year old game,and have enjoyed it more than I would have thought, as I downloaded it for the nostalgia of it. Even if I quit playing now I got my $10 bucks out of it. I had forgotten how big, and challenging that game is. Before a download check out the reviews, if the game is a freaking 9.0 or above, you have not played it, and you are interested in it, why not sink the little bit of cash into it. I have wasted more money on ringtones and apps.