Virtual Console (Wii)
Encyclopedia
, sometimes abbreviated as VC, is a specialized section of the Wii Shop Channel
and Nintendo eShop
, online services that allow players to purchase and download games and other software for Nintendo
's Wii
home gaming console and the Nintendo 3DS
portable gaming console, respectively.
The Wii's Virtual Console lineup consists of titles originally released on past home consoles. These titles are run in their original forms through software emulation
, and can be purchased for between 500 and 1200 Wii Points depending on system, rarity, and/or demand. Virtual Console's library of past games currently consists of titles originating from the Nintendo Entertainment System
, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
, Game Boy
, Game Boy Color
and Nintendo 64
, as well as Sega
's Master System
and Mega Drive/Genesis, NEC
's TurboGrafx-16
and SNK
's Neo Geo
AES. The service also includes games for systems that were known only in select regions, such as the Commodore 64
(Europe and North America only) and MSX
(Europe and Japan only). Virtual Console Arcade allows players to download video arcade game
s. Virtual Console titles have been downloaded over ten million times as of December 2007, relatively early in the console life cycle. The distribution of past games through the Virtual Console is one of Nintendo's attempts at preventing software piracy.
Nintendo had stated that the Wii Shop Channel would not be used exclusively for retro games, and WiiWare
games have appeared in North America as of May 12, 2008. These original games are made available through the WiiWare part of the Wii Shop Channel, as opposed to through the Virtual Console.
Satoru Iwata
stated in a speech on March 23, 2006, that Nintendo, Sega
, and Hudson Soft
were working in collaboration to bring a "best of" series of games to the Wii. At the following E3, Hudson also declared it would bring upwards of 100 titles to the Wii's Virtual Console. Additionally, Hudson mentioned that its lawyers were working on acquiring the licenses to games from now defunct companies. Nintendo announced MSX
compatibility on September 19, 2006, announcing on February 23, 2007 that the MSX titles Eggy and Aleste
would be released in Japan. In February 2007, a heading for Neo Geo
games was added to the Japanese Virtual Console page, and in September of that same year, games for that system appeared on the list of future releases, priced at 900 points each. Also in September Hudson announced that games made for the TurboGrafx-CD format would also join the Virtual Console beginning in October 2007, with five titles to be released for the remainder of 2007 and ten titles for 2008. They will be priced at 800 points.
On June 1, 2007, Nintendo of America issued a press release to announce the upcoming release of its 100th Virtual Console title, which was Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
. Within this press release, Nintendo stated that more than 4.7 million Virtual Console games had been downloaded, at a rate of more than 1,000 titles an hour.
Neo Geo
support was added on September 18, 2007 for the Japanese Virtual Console, becoming the first addition to the list of consoles since the TurboGrafx-16 was added two days after the U.S. launch.
On October 9, 2007, Nintendo announced that 7.8 million Virtual Console titles had been downloaded, and as of December 2007, this number topped ten million.
Games from several new past consoles were added during 2008: Sega Master System
on February 26, 2008 for Japan's Virtual Console, with other regions and Game Gear
support under the Master System label to follow at currently unknown times; Commodore 64
support was added on March 28, 2008 for Europe's Virtual Console. and MSX
support was added on May 27, 2008 for Japan's Virtual Console.
On February 23, 2009, the first 3 Commodore 64 titles (International Karate
, The Last Ninja
and Pitstop II
) were added to the North America Virtual Console for the first time.
On March 25, 2009, simultaneously with Nintendo's Keynote Speech at Game Developers Conference, Nintendo launched 'Virtual Console Arcade', launching with four titles, Mappy
, The Tower of Druaga, Star Force
and Gaplus
.
On February 4, 2011, Sega
announced that a Virtual Console release of Puyo Puyo
, released in Japan in Spring 2011, is the first Virtual Console to feature WiFi support for online multiplayer.
The Wii Shop Channel has functionality to allow games to be updated. This has been used four times so far to update Military Madness, Star Fox 64/Lylat Wars
, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
(in North America and Europe), and Mario Kart 64
(in Europe and Australia). Several NES and SNES games released before March 30, 2007 have also been given updates in Europe and Australia to fix previous problems with the Wii component cables. These updates are free of charge to those who have downloaded a previous version of the game.
on the Nintendo eShop
. Games released for the service include titles for the Game Boy
and Game Boy Color
, with announced plans for games from Sega Game Gear
and TurboGrafx-16
. There are also special features available while playing Virtual Console games, such as viewing classic Game Boy titles with the traditional green screen or viewing them in an emulated border. A separate but related set of games are '3D Classics', which are remakes of classic titles that make use of the 3DS' 3D capabilities.
When asked if Virtual Boy
games were going to be available for download on the Virtual Console for the Nintendo 3DS
, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime told Kotaku that he couldn't answer, as he was unfamiliar with the platform.
The author of the piece, Kotaku
's Stephen Totilo, called upon readers to "argue for a Virtual Boy store on the Nintendo 3DS, if you can."
In response to an August 2011 price drop on the Nintendo 3DS hardware, Nintendo announced plans to give early adopters
of the system a number of Virtual Console releases as appreciation of their support. Owners of the system who logged into the Nintendo eShop by a specified time in their home markets became "Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors". In September 2011, ten NES titles were made available through Virtual Console to the Ambassadors at no cost before their general release; the games included marquee titles such as Super Mario Bros.
and The Legend of Zelda
. They will be released to the general public for purchase at a later date, with additional features such as simultaneous multiplayer across multiple systems; Ambassadors will receive the new features as free software updates. Before the end of 2011, Ambassadors will also have access to ten Game Boy Advance
titles, also at no charge, that are not scheduled to be released to those who are not Ambassadors.
employees have reportedly speculated that licensing issues will be a predominant factor in determining whether a game is available for Virtual Console, giving the examples of GoldenEye 007 and Tetris
as games that might be too expensive to license for the Virtual Console. Tecmo has announced its plans to "aggressively" support Virtual Console by re-releasing classic games. Though Tecmo did not specify which titles it intended to release, the company is responsible for many retro classics, such as Ninja Gaiden, Rygar
, and Tecmo Bowl
. Tecmo was the first third-party game developer to release a game on the Virtual Console (Solomon's Key
for the NES). Since then, Capcom
and Konami
, among others, have also released titles.
Matt Casamassina
of IGN
reported that Rare titles absent of Nintendo-owned characters, such as Banjo-Kazooie
and Perfect Dark
, would be unavailable for purchase due to Microsoft
's acquisition of Rare; some of these titles have since been released for Xbox Live Arcade
. SNK Playmore
has announced intentions to release the Samurai Shodown series and a few other games to the Virtual Console which has brought the Neo Geo to the list of consoles available. Midway
also planned to bring the classic Mortal Kombat games to the Virtual Console. However, Midway filed for bankruptcy in 2009, and sold the Mortal Kombat franchise to Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is unknown on whether WBIE will release the Mortal Kombat games to the Virtual Console.
.
Wii system software
versions 2.0 and later allow Virtual Console and WiiWare games to be moved from the console's internal memory to a removable SD card
and then back to the same console.
Wii Menu 4.0 added a new menu to run channels from an SD card provided there is enough free space to hold a copy of the channel in internal memory. If the console runs out of memory, the SD menu will offer to move other channels to the SD card.
Virtual Console games are locked to the Wii on which they were purchased—they cannot be transferred to another Wii via an SD card, although it is possible to purchase games in the Wii Shop Channel and send them as gifts to people on their Wii Friends list. This procedure does not work across regions and it has been reported that bought titles cannot be sent to users from other countries either, even if they are on the same region. In the event that a Wii is damaged and the Virtual Console games can no longer be played, Nintendo will provide support (if the serial number or console email name can be provided).
Most first-party N64 games used internal cartridge memory for game save data and thus will save properly on the Virtual Console. A select few first-party and nearly all other N64 game cartridges utilized the extra memory capability of the N64 Controller Pak. Saving of data to the Controller Pak is not supported by the Virtual Console, so for those games which used this feature, the save feature will not work properly in the Virtual Console.
An extreme example is that of Mario Kart 64
which uses internal cartridge memory for progress and save game data. Consequently all progress is saved properly (since it was saved to the cartridge itself) but one of the features in Mario Kart 64 (saving ghosts for racing at a later date) will not work since that particular feature utilized the Controller Pak, and the option to copy data to the Controller Pak won't function in those games.
The suspend feature will not be available if the user resets the Wii with the reset button on the front of the console during gameplay. Further, if the Wii loses power during gameplay, there will be no further suspend state, nor will there be a way to restart from the previous suspend state. There are some exceptions, however. Arcade games released by Namco Bandai feature an updated menu and when reset during gameplay the save state will be saved before the console is reset.
The Nintendo 3DS' save feature for Game Boy and Game Boy Color games is similar to the Wii's however unlike the Wii's, the games can save a single "restore point" that can be used as much as the player wants to but is replaced and overwritten if the player makes another one.
itself (turned on its side) can be used for NES
, Sega Master System
, TurboGrafx-16
, and some Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Neo Geo
games. The original and the pro versions of Classic Controller
(sold separately from the console) can be used for all Virtual Console games. The controllers from the Nintendo GameCube
can also be used for all games on the Virtual Console, except for some TurboGrafx-16 games. As a result of this, the wireless GameCube controller (the WaveBird
) has seen increased popularity.
All Virtual Console games have their buttons mapped to the respective buttons on the controllers, however, in certain circumstances users can use X and Y instead of A and B, if the original controller does not have X and Y buttons (for example the NES). In certain titles, such as Nintendo 64 games, there may be specific controls tailored to the Classic Controller or GameCube Controller. Nintendo 64 titles that originally provided force feedback via the N64 controller's Rumble Pak peripheral however, are not supported by the built-in "Rumble" feature of the GameCube controller despite its capability of doing so.
The button mapping has become the cause of problem and concern, however. The button mapping is rigid and is not customizable. Because of this, many games are difficult to play. All NEO GEO fighting games have very awkward control schemes and glitches when changed to Gamecube controllers. Nintendo has acknowledged this issue but has not put any efforts towards fixing it.
With the release of Bomberman '93
, it was revealed that TurboGrafx-16 games can support full 5 player games. Since a single Wii can only have four Wii Remotes and four GameCube Controllers connected at the same time, a combination of the two is needed for 5 player games.
MSX
games also support USB keyboards, as the original system featured their input. However, Commodore 64 titles use a pop-up "virtual" keyboard, which can be toggled on and off by pressing the "1" button on the Wii Remote, and only then to set up the game (i.e. not for input during gameplay).
and there are currently 637 titles on Wii and 41 (51 for Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors) titles on Nintendo 3DS available.
/9:00 AM PST currently on Thursdays . North America saw its first release of Commodore 64 games on the service on February 23, 2009, and its first Virtual Console Arcade games on March 25, 2009. As of December 1, 2011, there are 392 Virtual Console titles for Wii and 31 (41 for Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors) Virtual Console titles for Nintendo 3DS available.
Though the Virtual Console lineup initially only covered games that had been released in North America, first George Harrison
indicated in an interview that there was a possibility that Nintendo or other Virtual Console providers would localize Japanese games that have never been released in English. This later came to reality, and former Japan-only games have appeared on the North American Virtual Console. The first game to be added with such localization was Sin and Punishment from the Nintendo 64. While other previous Japan-only titles had been released through Virtual Console prior to this, the first being Battle Lode Runner
from the TurboGrafx-16
, added on April 23, 2007, this and all others were originally written in English and required no localization. Despite the fact others fit the category, there are 25 titles listed under the "Import" genre: Sin and Punishment, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
(previously available in North America as part of Super Mario All-Stars
), Ninja JaJaMaru-kun
, Alien Soldier
(although the game was previously available in North America through the Sega Channel
), DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure
, Puyo Puyo 2
, Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa
, Dig Dug
, Gley Lancer
, Super Fantasy Zone
, Break In
, Star Parodier
, Cho Aniki
, Final Soldier
, Digital Champ Battle Boxing
, Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou
, Bomberman '94
, Detana!! TwinBee, Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair, Pulseman
, Secret Command
, Street Fighter II': Champion Edition, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
, Ironclad
and Ufouria: The Saga. Furthermore, at least two import titles (DoReMi Fantasy and Puyo Puyo 2) were released without any English translation, and thus only Japanese text is available in these games.
Though the Virtual Console titles primarily cover only the games that have been released in Europe, Nintendo UK has recently commented that there is a possibility that in the future, Nintendo will localize Japanese and North American games that have never been released in Europe such as Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
which was released on the European Virtual Console on August 22, 2008 after being unreleased in that region for 12 years. In March 2007, Hudson released three TurboGrafx games which were not originally released in Europe: Double Dungeons
, Dragon's Curse
, and Battle Lode Runner
. Five Hanabi Festivals have been held since, releasing former Japanese and/or North American exclusive titles. There are currently 43 titles listed under the "Import" genre, in which most of them were released during the campaigns.
is the only game that uses both languages. Companies currently supporting by publishing games are Namco Bandai Games
, Hudson Soft
, Irem, Konami
, Nintendo
, Taito
and Windysoft.
s Chris Kohler protested the disparity between the American and Japanese libraries, both in quantity and quality. The difference between the two libraries became minimal at one point, leading him to change his stance, only to change it back once more as North American releases began to slow. In addition, Kohler has also criticized the overall release strategy, with a handful of games at the beginning and two or three every week. Kohler also took issue with the Virtual Console's aspect ratio
which stretches the 4:3 games when the Wii's system settings are set for a 16:9 television. The pricing has also been criticized as too high, especially for the NES games, given the prices of many of the games available as used and the near-zero costs of manufacture and distribution. It has become apparent, however, that the effort involved in emulating these games can be significant, as evidenced by several serious bug fix updates (see "Library history", above) and by significant differences in the emulated versions' game features, including added capabilities (See "Differences from original games", below). Further adding to the cost is getting older games rated by the ESRB
. All games released on the Virtual Console must be ESRB-rated.
For example, some Nintendo 64 games offered optional features that required peripheral hardware, such as the Rumble Pak
for force feedback and the Controller Pak
for additional data storage. Because these peripherals are not emulated or simulated in Virtual Console, the games play in Virtual Console as they would on the N64 without the peripherals attached. In particular, Mario Kart 64
cannot save "Ghost Data" since no Controller Pak is available, and Cruis'n USA
and Wave Race 64
have had their save options disabled. Similarly, the Game Boy Color
games Mario Golf and Mario Tennis
cannot use a Transfer Pak to copy data to or from a real Game Boy Color running the same game.
Some reviewers have reported that games play differently due to the different controllers. For example, Super Mario World
is often cited as being more difficult to play due to the GameCube controller's button mapping. The Classic Controller has a button layout more like that of the Super Nintendo's controller, and an adapter has been released that enables a player to plug an actual SNES controller into one of the Wii's GameCube controller ports. Similarly, most N64 Virtual Console games have mapped the C-buttons to the right analog stick and the Z button to the L, ZL and ZR buttons on the Classic Controller, which some reviewers have described as awkward.
Three Famicom games – Excitebike
, Mach Rider
and Wrecking Crew
– included the ability to save player-designed levels via the Famicom Data Recorder
. Since this peripheral was never released outside of Japan, the NES versions of these games did not support this save feature. However, all three games have had the feature implemented in their Virtual Console incarnations, allowing players to save course data to the Wii's memory. Additionally, the N64 game Pokémon Snap
allowed players to take their Game Paks to special in-store kiosks to print stickers of their in-game photos; the Virtual Console version emulates this by letting players send a photo to the Wii Message Board once per day. By contrast, the Virtual Console version of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (Game Boy Color) on the Nintendo 3DS cannot print photos taken in the game, since this required the Game Boy Printer
peripheral to be attached throughout the game.
While virtually all Virtual Console games play identically to their original versions, some games have been altered cosmetically to address licensing and copyright issues. For example, Tecmo Bowl
(NES) originally included the names of real football players licensed from the NFL Players Association, but since the game's release, Electronic Arts
obtained exclusive rights to the license. Consequently, the names were removed from the Virtual Console version, with only the players' numbers being shown. A similar case occurred with Wave Race 64
, in which Nintendo's license with Kawasaki
had expired and all of the ad banners in the game were replaced with Wii and Nintendo DS
banners. The Mega Drive/Genesis game The Revenge of Shinobi
originally featured Spider-Man
as a boss character, but the game had been banned from later compilations and download services because the license to that character had expired. To address this issue, the 2009 release for Virtual Console removes the Marvel
copyright notice and changes the character to pink, but retains all of Spider-Man's behaviors and patterns. And the Virtual Console release of StarTropics
(NES) changes the name of one weapon from "Island Yo-Yo
" to "Island Star", since Yo-Yo is a trademarked term in Canada.
Other games have experienced minor graphical differences from their original versions as well: F-Zero (SNES) eliminates the screen flashing when the player runs over the edges of the track, and Nintendo 64 games render polygons at a higher resolution than in their original hardware (though sprites and text appear blocky and pixelated by comparison). The Virtual Console release of The Legend of Zelda (NES) uses the updated version featured in 2003's The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition compilation for the GameCube. While the gameplay is identical to the 1986 original, this release includes the save screen from the Famicom Disk System
version, as well as an updated translation of the introduction screen.
One significant difference in gameplay occurred in Kid Icarus
(NES), which had its password system altered to disable certain special passwords that gave the main character special powers or large amounts of money, while also enabling new passwords to be found. Many players did not like this change, and the later release of Metroid, which used a similar password system, retained its original behavior. Similarly, Mario Golf originally had a code to enable password input for special tournaments, but had this feature removed for Virtual Console.
Certain games that were originally released only in Japan have been translated and released in other regions on Virtual Console. For example, in Sin & Punishment (N64), all menu commands and certain in-game text (all originally written in Japanese) have been translated into English. The game retains its Japanese title screen, and dialogue subtitles remain in Japanese since the game featured English voice acting.
The NES version of StarTropics shipped with a piece of paper, resembling parchment, which was an integral part of advancing the game's storyline. At one point in the game, the player is instructed to dip the paper into water, revealing a code required to continue. Virtual Console releases of this game work around the absence of this physical item by simulating it in-game or allowing the player to simply click a button to reveal the code.
Re-releases of Game Boy and Game Boy Color games on the Nintendo 3DS
give the player the option to play the games as they appeared on their original hardware. By holding a button combination while launching the game, the 3DS presents the game in its original resolution and aspect ratio rather than stretching it to fill the screen, making it appear smaller but less pixelated. Monochrome Game Boy games can be displayed in both "black and white" and "black and dark green" color palettes, switchable during gameplay.
television system, it has become apparent that in most cases the games supplied for the Virtual Console run in 50 Hz mode and in their original unoptimized state. Unoptimized PAL games run roughly 17% slower than their original speed in 60 Hz and have borders covering the top and the bottom of the screen. Setting the Wii console to 60 Hz mode does not force the 50 Hz game into 60 Hz mode (as is possible on emulators and modified PAL consoles).
All currently released Nintendo 64 games are partially PAL optimized, resulting in full screen games (although still running in 50 Hz and locked to the original slower gameplay speed). This optimization was not the case for the original cartridge versions of Super Mario 64
, Wave Race 64
or Mario Kart 64
, making the Virtual Console versions superior in that regard.
Additionally, some Super Nintendo games are also partially PAL optimized with reduced borders but still retaining the slower run speed of the original PAL release (Super Mario World
, Super Probotector
and Street Fighter II
).
A select few games were already optimized in the original release to begin with, and are thus just as fast as their 60 Hz counterparts this time around (the most obvious examples being Donkey Kong Country
and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
).
TurboGrafx-16
games are the only Virtual Console games to actually run in 60 Hz on PAL Wii systems; this is because the game data was never changed for release in PAL territories, the original hardware itself performed the conversion to a 50 Hz signal.
One example of a poor PAL conversion is seen in the Virtual Console release of Sonic the Hedgehog, which retains the slower framerate, music and borders of the original PAL Mega Drive version, despite the fact that the GameCube
release Sonic Mega Collection
allows PAL users to choose which version of the game they want to play.
Recently, during Nintendo's 'Hanabi Festival' campaign, certain titles that were never released in Europe are being added to the Virtual console. Some of these games, namely the Japan-only titles such as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
, are run in 60 Hz only, thus keeping the original speed and gameplay. A small reminder is shown when previewing the game's channel.
Interestingly, these games can actually be played in both PAL60 (480i) and 480p modes. This makes these releases look significantly better on Progressive displays such as LCD TV's. The fast moving sprites in NES and SNES games generally create a significant amount of interlace artifacts on such displays that the 480p option resolves. However Hanabi Mega Drive titles run in 50 Hz with the usual PAL conversion problems, despite not been released in PAL.
Initially, some PAL Virtual Console games would not display correctly on high-definition televisions when connected via the component lead. However, starting with the April 13, 2007 update of the PAL Virtual Console, certain newly added games, such as Punch-Out!!, support the "Wii Component Cable Interlace mode." This is a temporary fix to problems with various Virtual Console games being played over component cable on HDTVs. The mode can be enabled by accessing the operations guide of the game, and (with the Nunchuk attached) pressing the buttons Z + A + 2 simultaneously. A sound is played if the mode is enabled correctly. Several older games also have updates available to enable the feature, such as Super Castlevania IV
. The mode can be disabled by using the same method, but with the button combination Z + A + 1 instead. A full list of games supporting this mode is available at vc-forums.com.
The PAL versions of 3D Classics: Excitebike and Urban Champion on the Nintendo 3DS runs much smoother at 60 Hz unlike the Wii's Virtual Console versions which only run at 50 Hz mainly due to the fact the 3DS versions are semi-modified ports of their original NES versions. The 10 NES games from the Ambassador program, however, retain their original PAL formats.
Wii Shop Channel
The Wii Shop Channel is an online shop for the Wii video game console that allows users to download Virtual Console and WiiWare games, and new channels. Downloading may require redeeming Wii Points. The channel launched with Wii on November 19, 2006...
and Nintendo eShop
Nintendo eShop
The Nintendo eShop is an online service for the Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming system. Launched on June 6, 2011 in North America and June 7, 2011 in Europe and Japan, the eShop was enabled by the release of a system update that added the functionality to the 3DS' Home Menu...
, online services that allow players to purchase and download games and other software for Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
's Wii
Wii
The Wii is a home video game console released by Nintendo on November 19, 2006. As a seventh-generation console, the Wii primarily competes with Microsoft's Xbox 360 and Sony's PlayStation 3. Nintendo states that its console targets a broader demographic than that of the two others...
home gaming console and the Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo 3DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses or any additional accessories. The Nintendo 3DS features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software...
portable gaming console, respectively.
The Wii's Virtual Console lineup consists of titles originally released on past home consoles. These titles are run in their original forms through software emulation
Emulator
In computing, an emulator is hardware or software or both that duplicates the functions of a first computer system in a different second computer system, so that the behavior of the second system closely resembles the behavior of the first system...
, and can be purchased for between 500 and 1200 Wii Points depending on system, rarity, and/or demand. Virtual Console's library of past games currently consists of titles originating from the Nintendo Entertainment System
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, Super Nintendo Entertainment System
Super Nintendo Entertainment System
The Super Nintendo Entertainment System is a 16-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America, Europe, Australasia , and South America between 1990 and 1993. In Japan and Southeast Asia, the system is called the , or SFC for short...
, Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
, Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
and Nintendo 64
Nintendo 64
The , often referred to as N64, was Nintendo′s third home video game console for the international market. Named for its 64-bit CPU, it was released in June 1996 in Japan, September 1996 in North America, March 1997 in Europe and Australia, September 1997 in France and December 1997 in Brazil...
, as well as Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
's Master System
Sega Master System
The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
and Mega Drive/Genesis, NEC
NEC
, a Japanese multinational IT company, has its headquarters in Minato, Tokyo, Japan. NEC, part of the Sumitomo Group, provides information technology and network solutions to business enterprises, communications services providers and government....
's TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16, fully titled as TurboGrafx-16 Entertainment SuperSystem and known in Japan as the , is a video game console developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan on October 30, 1987, and in North America on August 29, 1989....
and SNK
SNK Playmore
SNK Playmore Corporation is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. SNK is an acronym of , which was SNK's original name. The company's legal and trading name became SNK in 1986....
's Neo Geo
Neo Geo (console)
The is a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released on July 1, 1991 by Japanese game company SNK. Being in the Fourth generation of Gaming, it was the first console in the former Neo Geo family, which only lived through the 1990s...
AES. The service also includes games for systems that were known only in select regions, such as the Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
(Europe and North America only) and MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
(Europe and Japan only). Virtual Console Arcade allows players to download video arcade game
Arcade game
An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers...
s. Virtual Console titles have been downloaded over ten million times as of December 2007, relatively early in the console life cycle. The distribution of past games through the Virtual Console is one of Nintendo's attempts at preventing software piracy.
Wii
While the gameplay remains unchanged for all of the classic titles offered for the Virtual Console, Nintendo has stated that some games may be improved with sharper graphics or better frame rates. Certainly, many PAL SNES games run with significantly reduced borders compared to the original cartridge releases. As with disc-based games, the Virtual Console service is region-locked — that is, different versions of games are provided to different regions, and game availability may vary from region to region.Nintendo had stated that the Wii Shop Channel would not be used exclusively for retro games, and WiiWare
WiiWare
WiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
games have appeared in North America as of May 12, 2008. These original games are made available through the WiiWare part of the Wii Shop Channel, as opposed to through the Virtual Console.
Satoru Iwata
Satoru Iwata
is the fourth president of Nintendo, succeeding the long-standing previous president of the company, Hiroshi Yamauchi in 2002. He was responsible in great part for defining Nintendo's strategy both before and during the release of its Nintendo GameCube video game console in 2001, a vision which...
stated in a speech on March 23, 2006, that Nintendo, Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
, and Hudson Soft
Hudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...
were working in collaboration to bring a "best of" series of games to the Wii. At the following E3, Hudson also declared it would bring upwards of 100 titles to the Wii's Virtual Console. Additionally, Hudson mentioned that its lawyers were working on acquiring the licenses to games from now defunct companies. Nintendo announced MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
compatibility on September 19, 2006, announcing on February 23, 2007 that the MSX titles Eggy and Aleste
Aleste
is the first game in the Aleste series of shoot 'em up video games. Developed by the Japanese developer Compile and released in 1988, it has been seen on the MSX and Sega Master System....
would be released in Japan. In February 2007, a heading for Neo Geo
Neo Geo (console)
The is a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released on July 1, 1991 by Japanese game company SNK. Being in the Fourth generation of Gaming, it was the first console in the former Neo Geo family, which only lived through the 1990s...
games was added to the Japanese Virtual Console page, and in September of that same year, games for that system appeared on the list of future releases, priced at 900 points each. Also in September Hudson announced that games made for the TurboGrafx-CD format would also join the Virtual Console beginning in October 2007, with five titles to be released for the remainder of 2007 and ten titles for 2008. They will be priced at 800 points.
On June 1, 2007, Nintendo of America issued a press release to announce the upcoming release of its 100th Virtual Console title, which was Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link
Zelda II: The Adventure of Link, released as in Japan and often mistakenly called The Adventures of Link, is an action role-playing video game with platforming elements. The second installment in The Legend of Zelda series, it was developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo Entertainment...
. Within this press release, Nintendo stated that more than 4.7 million Virtual Console games had been downloaded, at a rate of more than 1,000 titles an hour.
Neo Geo
Neo Geo (console)
The is a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released on July 1, 1991 by Japanese game company SNK. Being in the Fourth generation of Gaming, it was the first console in the former Neo Geo family, which only lived through the 1990s...
support was added on September 18, 2007 for the Japanese Virtual Console, becoming the first addition to the list of consoles since the TurboGrafx-16 was added two days after the U.S. launch.
On October 9, 2007, Nintendo announced that 7.8 million Virtual Console titles had been downloaded, and as of December 2007, this number topped ten million.
Games from several new past consoles were added during 2008: Sega Master System
Sega Master System
The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
on February 26, 2008 for Japan's Virtual Console, with other regions and Game Gear
Sega Game Gear
The was Sega's first handheld game console. It was the third commercially available color handheld console, after the Atari Lynx and the TurboExpress....
support under the Master System label to follow at currently unknown times; Commodore 64
Commodore 64
The Commodore 64 is an 8-bit home computer introduced by Commodore International in January 1982.Volume production started in the spring of 1982, with machines being released on to the market in August at a price of US$595...
support was added on March 28, 2008 for Europe's Virtual Console. and MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
support was added on May 27, 2008 for Japan's Virtual Console.
On February 23, 2009, the first 3 Commodore 64 titles (International Karate
International Karate
International Karate is a karate fighting game created and published by System 3 for various home computers. Of these versions the 1986 releases for Commodore 64 and Atari 8-bit computers, created by Archer MacLean with music by Rob Hubbard, stand out for their good playability and overall high...
, The Last Ninja
The Last Ninja
The Last Ninja is an action-adventure game developed and published by System 3 in 1987 for the Commodore 64. As the first in the Last Ninja series, it set the standard for the unique look and feel for its sequels: Last Ninja 2 , Last Ninja Remix and Last Ninja 3...
and Pitstop II
Pitstop II
-Summary:This video game allows players to race head-to-head on a split screen. It is a sequel to the 1983 Pitstop and was available on many popular platforms of the era....
) were added to the North America Virtual Console for the first time.
On March 25, 2009, simultaneously with Nintendo's Keynote Speech at Game Developers Conference, Nintendo launched 'Virtual Console Arcade', launching with four titles, Mappy
Mappy
is a 1983 arcade game by Namco. In the United States, it was manufactured and distributed by Bally/Midway. Mappy is a side-scrolling platformer that features cartoon-like characters, primarily cats and mice. The game's main character itself is a mouse. Mappy runs on Namco Super Pac-Man hardware,...
, The Tower of Druaga, Star Force
Star Force
is a vertical shoot 'em up arcade video game made in 1984 by Tehkan . In Japan, it is considered to be a monumental work among shooting games...
and Gaplus
Gaplus
, far more commonly known as Galaga 3 , is a fixed shooter arcade game that was released by Namco in 1984. It runs on Namco Phozon hardware and was only known as Gaplus in Japan...
.
On February 4, 2011, Sega
Sega
, usually styled as SEGA, is a multinational video game software developer and an arcade software and hardware development company headquartered in Ōta, Tokyo, Japan, with various offices around the world...
announced that a Virtual Console release of Puyo Puyo
Puyo Puyo
is the inaugural game in the Puyo Puyo series originally released in 1991 by Compile for the MSX2. Since its creation, it uses characters from . It was created by Masamitsu "Moo" Niitani, the founder of Compile, who was inspired by certain elements from the Tetris and Dr...
, released in Japan in Spring 2011, is the first Virtual Console to feature WiFi support for online multiplayer.
The Wii Shop Channel has functionality to allow games to be updated. This has been used four times so far to update Military Madness, Star Fox 64/Lylat Wars
Star Fox 64
, known in Australia and Europe as Lylat Wars, is a scrolling shooter video game for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is a reboot of the original Star Fox, and the only game in the Star Fox series to be released on the Nintendo 64....
, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, known as in Japan, is a platform game developed by HAL Laboratory and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64...
(in North America and Europe), and Mario Kart 64
Mario Kart 64
is a racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the second installment in the Mario Kart series. It was released in 1996 in Japan and in 1997 in North America and Europe. In January 2007, Mario Kart 64 was released on Nintendo's Virtual Console service for the Wii...
(in Europe and Australia). Several NES and SNES games released before March 30, 2007 have also been given updates in Europe and Australia to fix previous problems with the Wii component cables. These updates are free of charge to those who have downloaded a previous version of the game.
Nintendo 3DS
On June 6, 2011, Nintendo launched the Virtual Console service for the Nintendo 3DSNintendo 3DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses or any additional accessories. The Nintendo 3DS features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software...
on the Nintendo eShop
Nintendo eShop
The Nintendo eShop is an online service for the Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming system. Launched on June 6, 2011 in North America and June 7, 2011 in Europe and Japan, the eShop was enabled by the release of a system update that added the functionality to the 3DS' Home Menu...
. Games released for the service include titles for the Game Boy
Game Boy
The , is an 8-bit handheld video game device developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was released in Japan on , in North America in , and in Europe on...
and Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
, with announced plans for games from Sega Game Gear
Sega Game Gear
The was Sega's first handheld game console. It was the third commercially available color handheld console, after the Atari Lynx and the TurboExpress....
and TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16, fully titled as TurboGrafx-16 Entertainment SuperSystem and known in Japan as the , is a video game console developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan on October 30, 1987, and in North America on August 29, 1989....
. There are also special features available while playing Virtual Console games, such as viewing classic Game Boy titles with the traditional green screen or viewing them in an emulated border. A separate but related set of games are '3D Classics', which are remakes of classic titles that make use of the 3DS' 3D capabilities.
When asked if Virtual Boy
Virtual Boy
The was a video game console developed and manufactured by Nintendo. It was the first video game console that was supposed to be capable of displaying "true 3D graphics" out of the box. Whereas most video games use monocular cues to achieve the illusion of three dimensions on a two-dimensional...
games were going to be available for download on the Virtual Console for the Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo 3DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses or any additional accessories. The Nintendo 3DS features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software...
, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime told Kotaku that he couldn't answer, as he was unfamiliar with the platform.
The author of the piece, Kotaku
Kotaku
Kotaku is a video games-focused blog. It is part of Gawker Media's "Gawker" network of sites, which also includes Gizmodo, Deadspin, Lifehacker, io9 and Jezebel. Named to CNET News' Blog 100, Kotaku is consistently listed in the top 40 of Technorati's Top 100...
's Stephen Totilo, called upon readers to "argue for a Virtual Boy store on the Nintendo 3DS, if you can."
In response to an August 2011 price drop on the Nintendo 3DS hardware, Nintendo announced plans to give early adopters
Diffusion (business)
Diffusion is the process by which a new idea or new product is accepted by the market. The rate of diffusion is the speed that the new idea spreads from one consumer to the next. Adoption is similar to diffusion except that it deals with the psychological processes an individual goes through,...
of the system a number of Virtual Console releases as appreciation of their support. Owners of the system who logged into the Nintendo eShop by a specified time in their home markets became "Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors". In September 2011, ten NES titles were made available through Virtual Console to the Ambassadors at no cost before their general release; the games included marquee titles such as Super Mario Bros.
Super Mario Bros.
is a 1985 platform video game developed by Nintendo, published for the Nintendo Entertainment System as a sequel to the 1983 game Mario Bros. In Super Mario Bros., the player controls Mario as he travels through the Mushroom Kingdom in order to rescue Princess Toadstool from the antagonist...
and The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda
The Legend of Zelda, originally released as in Japan, is a video game developed and published by Nintendo, and designed by Shigeru Miyamoto and Takashi Tezuka. Set in the fantasy land of Hyrule, the plot centers on a boy named Link, the playable protagonist, who aims to collect the eight fragments...
. They will be released to the general public for purchase at a later date, with additional features such as simultaneous multiplayer across multiple systems; Ambassadors will receive the new features as free software updates. Before the end of 2011, Ambassadors will also have access to ten Game Boy Advance
Game Boy Advance
The is a 32-bit handheld video game console developed, manufactured, and marketed by Nintendo. It is the successor to the Game Boy Color. It was released in Japan on March 21, 2001; in North America on June 11, 2001; in Australia and Europe on June 22, 2001; and in the People's Republic of China...
titles, also at no charge, that are not scheduled to be released to those who are not Ambassadors.
Wii U
In a July 2011 interview, Nintendo's Amber McCollum stated that select Nintendo GameCube titles would be made available for download on the upcoming Wii U console.Third-party support
Unnamed NintendoNintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
employees have reportedly speculated that licensing issues will be a predominant factor in determining whether a game is available for Virtual Console, giving the examples of GoldenEye 007 and Tetris
Tetris
Tetris is a puzzle video game originally designed and programmed by Alexey Pajitnov in the Soviet Union. It was released on June 6, 1984, while he was working for the Dorodnicyn Computing Centre of the Academy of Science of the USSR in Moscow, Russian Soviet Federative Socialist Republic...
as games that might be too expensive to license for the Virtual Console. Tecmo has announced its plans to "aggressively" support Virtual Console by re-releasing classic games. Though Tecmo did not specify which titles it intended to release, the company is responsible for many retro classics, such as Ninja Gaiden, Rygar
Rygar (NES game)
is a fantasy-themed action-adventure platform game with action RPG elements developed by Tecmo for the Nintendo Entertainment System. It was released on April 14, 1987, in Japan for the Family Computer as Argos no Senshi and later that year in the United States for the NES...
, and Tecmo Bowl
Tecmo Bowl
is an arcade game developed and released in 1987 by Tecmo. While moderately successful in the arcades, the game became and remained widely popular and remembered when it was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989. The NES version was considered by many to be the first NES American...
. Tecmo was the first third-party game developer to release a game on the Virtual Console (Solomon's Key
Solomon's Key
right|thumb|Arcade version of Solomon's Key is a puzzle game developed by Tecmo in 1986 for arcade release on custom hardware based on the Z80 chipset...
for the NES). Since then, Capcom
Capcom
is a Japanese developer and publisher of video games, known for creating multi-million-selling franchises such as Devil May Cry, Chaos Legion, Street Fighter, Mega Man and Resident Evil. Capcom developed and published Bionic Commando, Lost Planet and Dark Void too, but they are less known. Its...
and Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
, among others, have also released titles.
Matt Casamassina
Matt Casamassina
Matt Casamassina is a video game journalist who worked for IGN until April 23, 2010. In his time at the site, he was the author of many reviews and previews of Nintendo games. He resides in Los Angeles, California, is married and has two daughters, Zoe and Fiona Jade, and a son named Rocco Archer...
of IGN
IGN
IGN is an entertainment website that focuses on video games, films, music and other media. IGN's main website comprises several specialty sites or "channels", each occupying a subdomain and covering a specific area of entertainment...
reported that Rare titles absent of Nintendo-owned characters, such as Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie
Banjo-Kazooie is a platform and action-adventure video game developed by Rare and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It was originally released for the Nintendo 64 in 1998...
and Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark
Perfect Dark is a first-person shooter video game developed by Rare for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is considered the spiritual successor to Rare's earlier first-person shooter GoldenEye 007, with which it shares many gameplay features...
, would be unavailable for purchase due to Microsoft
Microsoft
Microsoft Corporation is an American public multinational corporation headquartered in Redmond, Washington, USA that develops, manufactures, licenses, and supports a wide range of products and services predominantly related to computing through its various product divisions...
's acquisition of Rare; some of these titles have since been released for Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade
Xbox Live Arcade is a type of video game download distribution available primarily in a section of the Xbox Live Marketplace, Microsoft's digital distribution network for the Xbox 360, that focuses on smaller downloadable games from both major publishers and independent game developers...
. SNK Playmore
SNK Playmore
SNK Playmore Corporation is a Japanese video game hardware and software company. SNK is an acronym of , which was SNK's original name. The company's legal and trading name became SNK in 1986....
has announced intentions to release the Samurai Shodown series and a few other games to the Virtual Console which has brought the Neo Geo to the list of consoles available. Midway
Midway Games
Midway Games, Inc. is an American company that was formerly a major video game publisher. Following a bankruptcy filing in 2009, it is no longer active and is in the process of liquidating all of its assets. Midway's titles included Mortal Kombat, Ms.Pac-Man, Spy Hunter, Tron, Rampage, the...
also planned to bring the classic Mortal Kombat games to the Virtual Console. However, Midway filed for bankruptcy in 2009, and sold the Mortal Kombat franchise to Warner Bros. Interactive Entertainment. It is unknown on whether WBIE will release the Mortal Kombat games to the Virtual Console.
Storage
Games downloaded from the Virtual Console library can be stored in the Wii's built-in 512 MB flash memoryFlash memory
Flash memory is a non-volatile computer storage chip that can be electrically erased and reprogrammed. It was developed from EEPROM and must be erased in fairly large blocks before these can be rewritten with new data...
.
Wii system software
Wii System Software
Wii system software is a set of updatable firmware versions, and a software frontend on the Wii video game console. Updates, which are downloaded via the system's Internet connection , allow Nintendo to add additional features and software...
versions 2.0 and later allow Virtual Console and WiiWare games to be moved from the console's internal memory to a removable SD card
Secure Digital
Secure Digital is a non-volatile memory card format developed by the SD Card Association for use in portable devices. The SD technology is used by more than 400 brands across dozens of product categories and more than 8,000 models, and is considered the de-facto industry standard.Secure Digital...
and then back to the same console.
Wii Menu 4.0 added a new menu to run channels from an SD card provided there is enough free space to hold a copy of the channel in internal memory. If the console runs out of memory, the SD menu will offer to move other channels to the SD card.
Virtual Console games are locked to the Wii on which they were purchased—they cannot be transferred to another Wii via an SD card, although it is possible to purchase games in the Wii Shop Channel and send them as gifts to people on their Wii Friends list. This procedure does not work across regions and it has been reported that bought titles cannot be sent to users from other countries either, even if they are on the same region. In the event that a Wii is damaged and the Virtual Console games can no longer be played, Nintendo will provide support (if the serial number or console email name can be provided).
Game saves and save data
Game saving is functional and intact on the Virtual Console for all games which originally had a save feature on their cartridge. Saved games are saved to the Wii Internal Memory and function exactly as the original cartridge did. A game which in its original cartridge form did not have any form of save feature will not have any save game feature on the Virtual Console (though depending on its original system it may have the suspend feature as described below).Most first-party N64 games used internal cartridge memory for game save data and thus will save properly on the Virtual Console. A select few first-party and nearly all other N64 game cartridges utilized the extra memory capability of the N64 Controller Pak. Saving of data to the Controller Pak is not supported by the Virtual Console, so for those games which used this feature, the save feature will not work properly in the Virtual Console.
An extreme example is that of Mario Kart 64
Mario Kart 64
is a racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the second installment in the Mario Kart series. It was released in 1996 in Japan and in 1997 in North America and Europe. In January 2007, Mario Kart 64 was released on Nintendo's Virtual Console service for the Wii...
which uses internal cartridge memory for progress and save game data. Consequently all progress is saved properly (since it was saved to the cartridge itself) but one of the features in Mario Kart 64 (saving ghosts for racing at a later date) will not work since that particular feature utilized the Controller Pak, and the option to copy data to the Controller Pak won't function in those games.
Suspending play
Like other emulation software, the Wii Virtual Console enables the user to suspend play of a game at any time. To do this, users simply return to the Wii main menu from the game. Two exceptions to this are the N64 and Neo Geo, titles which do not support this feature. The N64 will allow play to be halted by returning to the Wii Menu but will require the person to start from the title screen to continue playing. Note that suspending play enables the player to pause the game indefinitely but does not function as a "save state" in that, once the game is resumed, the user will be able to pause play again (overwriting the suspend point) but will not be able to return to the previously suspended state.The suspend feature will not be available if the user resets the Wii with the reset button on the front of the console during gameplay. Further, if the Wii loses power during gameplay, there will be no further suspend state, nor will there be a way to restart from the previous suspend state. There are some exceptions, however. Arcade games released by Namco Bandai feature an updated menu and when reset during gameplay the save state will be saved before the console is reset.
The Nintendo 3DS' save feature for Game Boy and Game Boy Color games is similar to the Wii's however unlike the Wii's, the games can save a single "restore point" that can be used as much as the player wants to but is replaced and overwritten if the player makes another one.
Control
Virtual Console games can be played using the different controllers. The Wii RemoteWii Remote
The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and...
itself (turned on its side) can be used for NES
Nintendo Entertainment System
The Nintendo Entertainment System is an 8-bit video game console that was released by Nintendo in North America during 1985, in Europe during 1986 and Australia in 1987...
, Sega Master System
Sega Master System
The is a third-generation video game console that was manufactured and released by Sega in 1985 in Japan , 1986 in North America and 1987 in Europe....
, TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16, fully titled as TurboGrafx-16 Entertainment SuperSystem and known in Japan as the , is a video game console developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan on October 30, 1987, and in North America on August 29, 1989....
, and some Sega Mega Drive/Genesis and Neo Geo
Neo Geo (console)
The is a cartridge-based arcade and home video game system released on July 1, 1991 by Japanese game company SNK. Being in the Fourth generation of Gaming, it was the first console in the former Neo Geo family, which only lived through the 1990s...
games. The original and the pro versions of Classic Controller
Classic Controller
The is a video game controller produced by Nintendo. It is used to play games on the Nintendo Wii video game console.-Classic Controller:The Classic Controller is plugged into the Wii Remote in order to be used. It features two analog sticks, a D-pad, face buttons labeled "a", "b", "x" and "y",...
(sold separately from the console) can be used for all Virtual Console games. The controllers from the Nintendo GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
can also be used for all games on the Virtual Console, except for some TurboGrafx-16 games. As a result of this, the wireless GameCube controller (the WaveBird
WaveBird
The WaveBird Wireless Controller is a radio frequency based wireless controller manufactured for the Nintendo GameCube video game console. Its name is a reference to Dolphin, the GameCube's codename during development...
) has seen increased popularity.
All Virtual Console games have their buttons mapped to the respective buttons on the controllers, however, in certain circumstances users can use X and Y instead of A and B, if the original controller does not have X and Y buttons (for example the NES). In certain titles, such as Nintendo 64 games, there may be specific controls tailored to the Classic Controller or GameCube Controller. Nintendo 64 titles that originally provided force feedback via the N64 controller's Rumble Pak peripheral however, are not supported by the built-in "Rumble" feature of the GameCube controller despite its capability of doing so.
The button mapping has become the cause of problem and concern, however. The button mapping is rigid and is not customizable. Because of this, many games are difficult to play. All NEO GEO fighting games have very awkward control schemes and glitches when changed to Gamecube controllers. Nintendo has acknowledged this issue but has not put any efforts towards fixing it.
With the release of Bomberman '93
Bomberman '93
Bomberman '93 is a video game in the Bomberman series. It was released on the TurboGrafx-16 in 1992 in Japan, with western releases following in 1993. The game has been re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console, with full multiplayer capability intact, in Europe, North America and Australia...
, it was revealed that TurboGrafx-16 games can support full 5 player games. Since a single Wii can only have four Wii Remotes and four GameCube Controllers connected at the same time, a combination of the two is needed for 5 player games.
| Wii Remote Wii Remote The , also known as the Wiimote, is the primary controller for Nintendo's Wii console. A main feature of the Wii Remote is its motion sensing capability, which allows the user to interact with and manipulate items on screen via gesture recognition and pointing through the use of accelerometer and... |
Classic Controller Classic Controller The is a video game controller produced by Nintendo. It is used to play games on the Nintendo Wii video game console.-Classic Controller:The Classic Controller is plugged into the Wii Remote in order to be used. It features two analog sticks, a D-pad, face buttons labeled "a", "b", "x" and "y",... (Original and Pro) |
GameCube Controller Nintendo GameCube controller The Nintendo GameCube controller is the standard controller for the Nintendo GameCube video game console.-Overview:Released alongside the Nintendo GameCube console, the standard GameCube controller has a wing grip design. This controller was bundled with all new GameCube systems throughout the... |
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| Virtual Console Arcade Arcade game An arcade game is a coin-operated entertainment machine, usually installed in public businesses such as restaurants, bars, and amusement arcades. Most arcade games are video games, pinball machines, electro-mechanical games, redemption games, and merchandisers... |
MSX
MSX
MSX was the name of a standardized home computer architecture in the 1980s conceived by Kazuhiko Nishi, then Vice-president at Microsoft Japan and Director at ASCII Corporation...
games also support USB keyboards, as the original system featured their input. However, Commodore 64 titles use a pop-up "virtual" keyboard, which can be toggled on and off by pressing the "1" button on the Wii Remote, and only then to set up the game (i.e. not for input during gameplay).
Wii
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Japan
There were 38 titles of Famicom, Super Famicom, N64, Mega Drive, and PC Engine games available at launch on the Wii Virtual Console for the Japanese region. The Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console launched with 9 titles of Game Boy, Game Boy Color and 3D Classics. New Virtual Console software is added on Tuesdays (Wii) and Wednesdays (Nintendo 3DS) at 2:00PM JSTJapan Standard Time
Japan Standard Time or JST is the standard timezone of Japan, and is 9 hours ahead of UTC. For example, when it is midnight in UTC, it is 09:00 in Japan Standard Time. There is no daylight saving time, though its introduction has been debated several times. Japan Standard Time is the same as...
and there are currently 637 titles on Wii and 41 (51 for Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors) titles on Nintendo 3DS available.
North America
There were 12 titles total of NES, SNES, N64, and Genesis games available at launch on the Wii Virtual Console for the North American region. Two TurboGrafx-16 titles were added two days later on November 21, 2006. The Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console launched with 5 titles of Game Boy, Game Boy Color and 3D Classics. New releases are added to the Wii Shop Channel and/or Nintendo eShop for Nintendo 3DS at around 12:00 PM ESTEastern Standard Time
Eastern Standard Time may refer to:*North American Eastern Time Zone, UTC-5*Australian Eastern Standard Time, UTC+10*An album by Hip Hop group Kooley High...
/9:00 AM PST currently on Thursdays . North America saw its first release of Commodore 64 games on the service on February 23, 2009, and its first Virtual Console Arcade games on March 25, 2009. As of December 1, 2011, there are 392 Virtual Console titles for Wii and 31 (41 for Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors) Virtual Console titles for Nintendo 3DS available.
Though the Virtual Console lineup initially only covered games that had been released in North America, first George Harrison
George Harrison (executive)
George Harrison was the Senior Vice President of Marketing and Corporate Communication at Nintendo of America when he left at the end of December 2007.-Education:...
indicated in an interview that there was a possibility that Nintendo or other Virtual Console providers would localize Japanese games that have never been released in English. This later came to reality, and former Japan-only games have appeared on the North American Virtual Console. The first game to be added with such localization was Sin and Punishment from the Nintendo 64. While other previous Japan-only titles had been released through Virtual Console prior to this, the first being Battle Lode Runner
Battle Lode Runner
Battle Lode Runner is a video game based on the Lode Runner series of games, originally released for the NEC PC Engine by Hudson Soft in 1993. It was released in Japan on May 29, 2007 and also released in the North American and European regions for the first time in April 2007 for the Wii Virtual...
from the TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16, fully titled as TurboGrafx-16 Entertainment SuperSystem and known in Japan as the , is a video game console developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan on October 30, 1987, and in North America on August 29, 1989....
, added on April 23, 2007, this and all others were originally written in English and required no localization. Despite the fact others fit the category, there are 25 titles listed under the "Import" genre: Sin and Punishment, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
, also known as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, is a platforming video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer Disk System...
(previously available in North America as part of Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario All-Stars
Super Mario All-Stars, known as in Japan, is a collection of platforming video games that was developed and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1993. It contains enhanced remakes of Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels , Super Mario Bros...
), Ninja JaJaMaru-kun
Ninja JaJaMaru-kun
is an action game released in Japan on November 15, 1985 by Jaleco for the Famicom and in 1986 for the MSX.It was released for Nintendo's Japanese Virtual Console on December 26, 2006 and in PAL regions on September 21, 2007 as part of Ninja Week for the Hanabi Festival promotion...
, Alien Soldier
Alien Soldier
is a side-scrolling run and gun video game developed by Treasure for the Sega Mega Drive. The game was released in Japan and Europe, but not in the US , but it can be rather expensive due to its rarity in either region...
(although the game was previously available in North America through the Sega Channel
Sega Channel
Sega Channel was a project developed by Sega for the 16-bit Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console. Starting in December 1994, Sega Channel service was provided to the public by Time Warner Cable and TCI, which later was acquired by AT&T during its cable acquisition spree that formed AT&T...
), DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure
DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure
is a 1996 game released only in Japan for the Super Famicom by Hudson Soft. The game is a sequel of the 1988 NES game Milon's Secret Castle.It was re-released for the Wii's Virtual Console at a cost of 900 Wii Points, available in North America on March 10, 2008 under the "Import" category, and in...
, Puyo Puyo 2
Puyo Puyo Tsu
is the second instalment of the Puyo Puyo games; the sequel to Puyo Puyo, made in 1994 by Compile. Compile put more thought into this game after its predecessor became successful, but never knew how much of a turnaround the game would bring. Due to its highly acclaimed success, it became the most...
, Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa
Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa
is a Konami video game that was first released for a Japan-exclusive market in 1988 for the Family Computer Disk System. It was later released as a cartridge in 1993 for the Family Computer....
, Dig Dug
Dig Dug
is an arcade game developed and published by Namco in Japan in 1982 for Namco Galaga hardware. It was later published outside of Japan by Atari. A popular game based on a simple concept, it was also released as a video game on many consoles.-Objective:...
, Gley Lancer
Gley Lancer
is a scrolling shooter game developed by Masaya. It was released in 1992 for the Sega Mega Drive game console.Originally, the game was published only in Japan and South Korea, and because of this was somewhat unknown worldwide...
, Super Fantasy Zone
Super Fantasy Zone
Super Fantasy Zone was the last addition to the Fantasy Zone series of video games and was released for the Sega Mega Drive. It was originally released in Europe and Japan but, for unknown reasons, not in the United States...
, Break In
Break In
Break In is a sports simulation video game developed by Naxat Soft in 1989 for the TurboGrafx-16 and released only in Japan. The pool simulator was re-released on Nintendo's Virtual Console in all nations on 2008.-Gameplay:...
, Star Parodier
Star Parodier
Star Parodier is a shoot 'em up developed by Hudson Soft for the PC Engine CD-ROM. It is a parody of the Star Soldier series, similar to Konami's Parodius series, and was originally only released in Japan, though it was also intended to be released in North America under the name Fantasy Star...
, Cho Aniki
Cho Aniki (video game)
Cho Aniki is the first game in the Cho Aniki series. It was originally released in 1992 on the PC Engine only in Japan. Years later, the game was released on the Wii's Virtual Console in Japan, North America, and Europe...
, Final Soldier
Final Soldier
Final Soldier is a scrolling shooter video game released for the Japanese PC Engine system on July 5 of 1991 and the third game in the main Star Soldier series...
, Digital Champ Battle Boxing
Digital Champ Battle Boxing
Digital Champ: Battle Boxing is a single-player video game released in 1989 for TurboGrafx-16 by Naxat Soft. The game was released to the Virtual Console in Japan on April 15, 2008, Europe on May 16, 2008, and in North America on October 20, 2008....
, Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou
Gradius II
is a horizontally-scrolling shooter originally released for the arcades in Japan in . It is the sequel to original Gradius and was succeeded by Gradius III. Ports of Gradius II were released for the Family Computer, PC-Engine Super CD-ROM², and X68000 in Japan...
, Bomberman '94
Mega Bomberman
Mega Bomberman is a video game from the Bomberman series. It was originally released in 1993 as Bomberman '94 for the PC-Engine and was ported to the Mega Drive/Genesis in 1994...
, Detana!! TwinBee, Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair, Pulseman
Pulseman
Pulseman is an action platform game developed by Game Freak and published by Sega for the Mega Drive in 1994. The game was released in cartridge format only in Japan, with the North American version being released via the Sega Channel as an "exclusive"...
, Secret Command
Rambo: First Blood Part II (Master System game)
Rambo: First Blood Part II is an overhead action shoot-'em-up video game loosely based on the film Rambo: First Blood Part II that was released in North America by Sega for the Master System in . It was originally released in Japan as , where it was released without the Rambo license...
, Street Fighter II': Champion Edition, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood
Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, known in Japan as is a platform video game developed by Konami for the PC Engine. The tenth installment of the Castlevania video game series and a 2D side-scroller, it acts as a middleground between the earlier, typically linear Castlevania games and the later...
, Ironclad
Ironclad (video game)
Ironclad is a shoot 'em up video game developed by Saurus for the Neo Geo CD video game console....
and Ufouria: The Saga. Furthermore, at least two import titles (DoReMi Fantasy and Puyo Puyo 2) were released without any English translation, and thus only Japanese text is available in these games.
PAL region
A total of 17 NES, SNES, N64, Mega Drive and TurboGrafx titles were available at launch on the Virtual Console in Europe and 11 titles for the Oceanic region (TurboGrafx games were first added there from July 6, 2007). The store updates every Friday at 12:00AM CET, in Australia at 9:00AM and in New Zealand at 11:00AM AEST. The number of games per update has varied, but is usually 1 or 2. As of September 30, 2011, there are 377 Virtual Console titles available in Europe and 358 titles in Australia and New Zealand.Though the Virtual Console titles primarily cover only the games that have been released in Europe, Nintendo UK has recently commented that there is a possibility that in the future, Nintendo will localize Japanese and North American games that have never been released in Europe such as Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars
Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars, often shortened and officially known in Japan as , is an action role-playing game developed by Square and published by Nintendo for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System . It was originally released on March 9, 1996 in Japan and on May 13,...
which was released on the European Virtual Console on August 22, 2008 after being unreleased in that region for 12 years. In March 2007, Hudson released three TurboGrafx games which were not originally released in Europe: Double Dungeons
Double Dungeons
Double Dungeons is a two-player role playing game developed by Masaya and published by NCS for the TurboGrafx-16 in 1989 in Japan, and in 1990 in North America...
, Dragon's Curse
Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap
Wonder Boy III: The Dragon's Trap is a platforming and action-adventure video game developed by Westone. It was published by Sega and released for the Sega Master System in 1989 and for the Game Gear in 1992 under the title Monster World II: Dragon no Wana...
, and Battle Lode Runner
Battle Lode Runner
Battle Lode Runner is a video game based on the Lode Runner series of games, originally released for the NEC PC Engine by Hudson Soft in 1993. It was released in Japan on May 29, 2007 and also released in the North American and European regions for the first time in April 2007 for the Wii Virtual...
. Five Hanabi Festivals have been held since, releasing former Japanese and/or North American exclusive titles. There are currently 43 titles listed under the "Import" genre, in which most of them were released during the campaigns.
South Korea
There were 10 titles total of Famicom, Super Famicom and N64 games available at launch on the Virtual Console for South Korea. The store updates irregularly on Tuesdays. There are currently 40 titles available. Depending on the game, they are playable in either Japanese or English. Super Mario WorldSuper Mario World
, subtitled Super Mario Bros. 4 for its original Japanese release, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo as a pack-in launch title for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System , and is the fourth game in the Super Mario series...
is the only game that uses both languages. Companies currently supporting by publishing games are Namco Bandai Games
Namco Bandai Games
is an arcade, mobile and home video game developer and publisher based in Japan which is the product of a merger between the video game development divisions of Bandai and Namco. Namco Bandai Games is a wholly owned subsidiary of Namco Bandai Holdings and specializes in production and sales of...
, Hudson Soft
Hudson Soft
, formally known as , is a majority-owned subsidiary of Konami Corporation is a Japanese electronic entertainment publisher headquartered in the Midtown Tower in Tokyo Midtown, Akasaka, Minato, Tokyo, Japan, with an additional office in the Hudson Building in Sapporo. It was founded on May 18, 1973...
, Irem, Konami
Konami
is a Japanese leading developer and publisher of numerous popular and strong-selling toys, trading cards, anime, tokusatsu, slot machines, arcade cabinets and video games...
, Nintendo
Nintendo
is a multinational corporation located in Kyoto, Japan. Founded on September 23, 1889 by Fusajiro Yamauchi, it produced handmade hanafuda cards. By 1963, the company had tried several small niche businesses, such as a cab company and a love hotel....
, Taito
Taito Corporation
The is a Japanese publisher of video game software and arcade hardware wholly owned by publisher Square Enix. Taito has their headquarters in the Shinjuku Bunka Quint Building in Yoyogi, Shibuya, Tokyo, sharing the facility with its parent company....
and Windysoft.
Criticism
WiredWired (magazine)
Wired is a full-color monthly American magazine and on-line periodical, published since January 1993, that reports on how new and developing technology affects culture, the economy, and politics...
s Chris Kohler protested the disparity between the American and Japanese libraries, both in quantity and quality. The difference between the two libraries became minimal at one point, leading him to change his stance, only to change it back once more as North American releases began to slow. In addition, Kohler has also criticized the overall release strategy, with a handful of games at the beginning and two or three every week. Kohler also took issue with the Virtual Console's aspect ratio
Aspect ratio
The aspect ratio of a shape is the ratio of its longer dimension to its shorter dimension. It may be applied to two characteristic dimensions of a three-dimensional shape, such as the ratio of the longest and shortest axis, or for symmetrical objects that are described by just two measurements,...
which stretches the 4:3 games when the Wii's system settings are set for a 16:9 television. The pricing has also been criticized as too high, especially for the NES games, given the prices of many of the games available as used and the near-zero costs of manufacture and distribution. It has become apparent, however, that the effort involved in emulating these games can be significant, as evidenced by several serious bug fix updates (see "Library history", above) and by significant differences in the emulated versions' game features, including added capabilities (See "Differences from original games", below). Further adding to the cost is getting older games rated by the ESRB
Entertainment Software Rating Board
The Entertainment Software Rating Board is a self-regulatory organization that assigns age and content ratings, enforces industry-adopted advertising guidelines, and ensures responsible online privacy principles for computer and video games as well as entertainment software in Canada, Mexico and...
. All games released on the Virtual Console must be ESRB-rated.
Differences from original games
Nintendo has stated that the Virtual Console releases will be faithful to the original games, eliminating the possibility of graphical enhancements, customizable controls, or added online multiplayer features. However, for various reasons, the gameplay experience is not always identical to the original.For example, some Nintendo 64 games offered optional features that required peripheral hardware, such as the Rumble Pak
Rumble Pak
The is a removable device from Nintendo which provides force feedback while playing video games. Games that support the Rumble Pak cause it to vibrate in select situations, such as when firing a weapon or receiving damage, to immerse the player in the game. Versions of the Rumble Pak are available...
for force feedback and the Controller Pak
Nintendo 64 accessories
-Nintendo 64 controller:The Nintendo 64 controller is an 'm'-shaped controller with 10 buttons , one analog stick in the center, a digital directional pad on the left hand side, and an extension port on the back for many of the system's accessories...
for additional data storage. Because these peripherals are not emulated or simulated in Virtual Console, the games play in Virtual Console as they would on the N64 without the peripherals attached. In particular, Mario Kart 64
Mario Kart 64
is a racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the second installment in the Mario Kart series. It was released in 1996 in Japan and in 1997 in North America and Europe. In January 2007, Mario Kart 64 was released on Nintendo's Virtual Console service for the Wii...
cannot save "Ghost Data" since no Controller Pak is available, and Cruis'n USA
Cruis'n USA
Cruis'n USA is an arcade racing game originally released in 1994. It was developed by Midway Games and published and distributed by Nintendo...
and Wave Race 64
Wave Race 64
is a racing game for the Nintendo 64 that was released on September 27, 1996 in Japan and on November 5, 1996 in North America. In Wave Race 64 the player races on jet skis in many different weather conditions, on a variety of different courses. The game was sponsored by the Kawasaki Heavy...
have had their save options disabled. Similarly, the Game Boy Color
Game Boy Color
The is Nintendo's successor to the 8-bit Game Boy handheld game console, and was released on October 21, 1998 in Japan, November 19, 1998 in North America, November 23, 1998 in Europe and November 27, 1998 in the United Kingdom. It features a color screen and is slightly thicker and taller than...
games Mario Golf and Mario Tennis
Mario Tennis
Mario Tennis, known in Japan as , is a sports video game developed by Camelot and Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 video game console. The game was released in North America and Japan in the summer of 2000, and released in Europe later in November. It is the first tennis-based game starring Mario since...
cannot use a Transfer Pak to copy data to or from a real Game Boy Color running the same game.
Some reviewers have reported that games play differently due to the different controllers. For example, Super Mario World
Super Mario World
, subtitled Super Mario Bros. 4 for its original Japanese release, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo as a pack-in launch title for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System , and is the fourth game in the Super Mario series...
is often cited as being more difficult to play due to the GameCube controller's button mapping. The Classic Controller has a button layout more like that of the Super Nintendo's controller, and an adapter has been released that enables a player to plug an actual SNES controller into one of the Wii's GameCube controller ports. Similarly, most N64 Virtual Console games have mapped the C-buttons to the right analog stick and the Z button to the L, ZL and ZR buttons on the Classic Controller, which some reviewers have described as awkward.
Three Famicom games – Excitebike
Excitebike
is a motocross racing video game franchise made by Nintendo. It first debuted as a game for the Famicom in Japan in 1984 and as a launch title for the NES in 1985. It is the first game of the Excite series, succeeded by its direct sequel Excitebike 64, its spiritual successors Excite Truck and...
, Mach Rider
Mach Rider
is a futuristic driving video game created by Nintendo. It was first released on October 18, 1985 for the Nintendo Entertainment System, as one of the 18 initial launch games. A month later, on November 21, the title was released in Japan. On March 15, 1987 it was released in Europe and Australia...
and Wrecking Crew
Wrecking Crew (video game)
is a action game developed and published by Nintendo. It was designed by Yoshio Sakamoto and released as a launch title for the Nintendo Entertainment System.-Gameplay:...
– included the ability to save player-designed levels via the Famicom Data Recorder
Famicom Data Recorder
Famicom Data Recorder HVC-008 is a compact cassette data interface for the Family Computer.-History:Manufactured by Matsushita/Panasonic for Nintendo, the Drive was released in 1984 only in Japan as an addition to the Family BASIC Keyboard to save data from BASIC programs created by users...
. Since this peripheral was never released outside of Japan, the NES versions of these games did not support this save feature. However, all three games have had the feature implemented in their Virtual Console incarnations, allowing players to save course data to the Wii's memory. Additionally, the N64 game Pokémon Snap
Pokémon Snap
is a first-person rail shooter and simulation video game developed by HAL Laboratory with Pax Softnica and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64 video game console. It is part of the Pokémon series, and one of the first console games based on the Pokémon series...
allowed players to take their Game Paks to special in-store kiosks to print stickers of their in-game photos; the Virtual Console version emulates this by letting players send a photo to the Wii Message Board once per day. By contrast, the Virtual Console version of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX (Game Boy Color) on the Nintendo 3DS cannot print photos taken in the game, since this required the Game Boy Printer
Game Boy Printer
The Game Boy Printer, known in Japan as the , is a thermal printer accessory released by Nintendo in 1998. Nintendo ceased manufacture in 2003. The Game Boy Printer is compatible with the Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket, Game Boy Color and Game Boy Advance systems and is designed to be used in...
peripheral to be attached throughout the game.
While virtually all Virtual Console games play identically to their original versions, some games have been altered cosmetically to address licensing and copyright issues. For example, Tecmo Bowl
Tecmo Bowl
is an arcade game developed and released in 1987 by Tecmo. While moderately successful in the arcades, the game became and remained widely popular and remembered when it was ported to the Nintendo Entertainment System in 1989. The NES version was considered by many to be the first NES American...
(NES) originally included the names of real football players licensed from the NFL Players Association, but since the game's release, Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts
Electronic Arts, Inc. is a major American developer, marketer, publisher and distributor of video games. Founded and incorporated on May 28, 1982 by Trip Hawkins, the company was a pioneer of the early home computer games industry and was notable for promoting the designers and programmers...
obtained exclusive rights to the license. Consequently, the names were removed from the Virtual Console version, with only the players' numbers being shown. A similar case occurred with Wave Race 64
Wave Race 64
is a racing game for the Nintendo 64 that was released on September 27, 1996 in Japan and on November 5, 1996 in North America. In Wave Race 64 the player races on jet skis in many different weather conditions, on a variety of different courses. The game was sponsored by the Kawasaki Heavy...
, in which Nintendo's license with Kawasaki
Kawasaki Heavy Industries
is an international corporation based in Japan. It has headquarters in both Chūō-ku, Kobe and Minato, Tokyo.The company is named after its founder Shōzō Kawasaki and has no connection with the city of Kawasaki, Kanagawa....
had expired and all of the ad banners in the game were replaced with Wii and Nintendo DS
Nintendo DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo, first released on November 21, 2004. A distinctive feature of the system is the presence of two separate LCD screens, the lower of which is a touchscreen, encompassed within a clamshell design, similar to the Game Boy Advance SP...
banners. The Mega Drive/Genesis game The Revenge of Shinobi
The Revenge of Shinobi
The Revenge of Shinobi, published in Japan as is a video game developed and published by Sega in 1989. It was the first Shinobi game developed for the Sega Mega Drive, and was later released on the coin-operated version of that console, the Mega-Tech....
originally featured Spider-Man
Spider-Man
Spider-Man is a fictional Marvel Comics superhero. The character was created by writer-editor Stan Lee and writer-artist Steve Ditko. He first appeared in Amazing Fantasy #15...
as a boss character, but the game had been banned from later compilations and download services because the license to that character had expired. To address this issue, the 2009 release for Virtual Console removes the Marvel
Marvel Comics
Marvel Worldwide, Inc., commonly referred to as Marvel Comics and formerly Marvel Publishing, Inc. and Marvel Comics Group, is an American company that publishes comic books and related media...
copyright notice and changes the character to pink, but retains all of Spider-Man's behaviors and patterns. And the Virtual Console release of StarTropics
StarTropics
StarTropics is an action-adventure video game released by Nintendo in 1990 for the Nintendo Entertainment System. Unlike most of Nintendo's games, it was never released or intended to be released in Japan. It was released only in North America and Europe, although designed by Japanese designers...
(NES) changes the name of one weapon from "Island Yo-Yo
Yo-yo
The yo-yo in its simplest form is an object consisting of an axle connected to two disks, and a length of twine looped around the axle, similar to a slender spool...
" to "Island Star", since Yo-Yo is a trademarked term in Canada.
Other games have experienced minor graphical differences from their original versions as well: F-Zero (SNES) eliminates the screen flashing when the player runs over the edges of the track, and Nintendo 64 games render polygons at a higher resolution than in their original hardware (though sprites and text appear blocky and pixelated by comparison). The Virtual Console release of The Legend of Zelda (NES) uses the updated version featured in 2003's The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition compilation for the GameCube. While the gameplay is identical to the 1986 original, this release includes the save screen from the Famicom Disk System
Famicom Disk System
The was released on February 21, 1986 by Nintendo as a peripheral for the Family Computer console in Japan. It was a unit that used proprietary floppy disks for data storage. It was announced, but never released, for the North American Nintendo Entertainment System...
version, as well as an updated translation of the introduction screen.
One significant difference in gameplay occurred in Kid Icarus
Kid Icarus
Kid Icarus, known as in Japan, is an action platform video game for the Famicom Disk System in Japan and the Nintendo Entertainment System in Europe and North America. The first entry in Nintendo's Kid Icarus series, it was published in Japan in December 1986, and in Europe and North America in...
(NES), which had its password system altered to disable certain special passwords that gave the main character special powers or large amounts of money, while also enabling new passwords to be found. Many players did not like this change, and the later release of Metroid, which used a similar password system, retained its original behavior. Similarly, Mario Golf originally had a code to enable password input for special tournaments, but had this feature removed for Virtual Console.
Certain games that were originally released only in Japan have been translated and released in other regions on Virtual Console. For example, in Sin & Punishment (N64), all menu commands and certain in-game text (all originally written in Japanese) have been translated into English. The game retains its Japanese title screen, and dialogue subtitles remain in Japanese since the game featured English voice acting.
The NES version of StarTropics shipped with a piece of paper, resembling parchment, which was an integral part of advancing the game's storyline. At one point in the game, the player is instructed to dip the paper into water, revealing a code required to continue. Virtual Console releases of this game work around the absence of this physical item by simulating it in-game or allowing the player to simply click a button to reveal the code.
Re-releases of Game Boy and Game Boy Color games on the Nintendo 3DS
Nintendo 3DS
The is a portable game console produced by Nintendo. The autostereoscopic device is able to project stereoscopic 3D effects without the use of 3D glasses or any additional accessories. The Nintendo 3DS features backward compatibility with Nintendo DS series software, including Nintendo DSi software...
give the player the option to play the games as they appeared on their original hardware. By holding a button combination while launching the game, the 3DS presents the game in its original resolution and aspect ratio rather than stretching it to fill the screen, making it appear smaller but less pixelated. Monochrome Game Boy games can be displayed in both "black and white" and "black and dark green" color palettes, switchable during gameplay.
PAL issues
With the launch of the Wii in territories using the PALPAL
PAL, short for Phase Alternating Line, is an analogue television colour encoding system used in broadcast television systems in many countries. Other common analogue television systems are NTSC and SECAM. This page primarily discusses the PAL colour encoding system...
television system, it has become apparent that in most cases the games supplied for the Virtual Console run in 50 Hz mode and in their original unoptimized state. Unoptimized PAL games run roughly 17% slower than their original speed in 60 Hz and have borders covering the top and the bottom of the screen. Setting the Wii console to 60 Hz mode does not force the 50 Hz game into 60 Hz mode (as is possible on emulators and modified PAL consoles).
All currently released Nintendo 64 games are partially PAL optimized, resulting in full screen games (although still running in 50 Hz and locked to the original slower gameplay speed). This optimization was not the case for the original cartridge versions of Super Mario 64
Super Mario 64
is a platform game, published by Nintendo and developed by its EAD division, for the Nintendo 64. Along with Pilotwings 64, it was one of the launch titles for the console. It was released in Japan on June 23, 1996, and later in North America, Europe, and Australia. Super Mario 64 has sold over...
, Wave Race 64
Wave Race 64
is a racing game for the Nintendo 64 that was released on September 27, 1996 in Japan and on November 5, 1996 in North America. In Wave Race 64 the player races on jet skis in many different weather conditions, on a variety of different courses. The game was sponsored by the Kawasaki Heavy...
or Mario Kart 64
Mario Kart 64
is a racing game developed and published by Nintendo for the Nintendo 64. It is the second installment in the Mario Kart series. It was released in 1996 in Japan and in 1997 in North America and Europe. In January 2007, Mario Kart 64 was released on Nintendo's Virtual Console service for the Wii...
, making the Virtual Console versions superior in that regard.
Additionally, some Super Nintendo games are also partially PAL optimized with reduced borders but still retaining the slower run speed of the original PAL release (Super Mario World
Super Mario World
, subtitled Super Mario Bros. 4 for its original Japanese release, is a platform video game developed and published by Nintendo as a pack-in launch title for the Super Famicom/Super Nintendo Entertainment System , and is the fourth game in the Super Mario series...
, Super Probotector
Contra III: The Alien Wars
Contra III: The Alien Wars, released in Japan as and in the PAL region as Super Probotector: Alien Rebels, is a run and gun game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System produced by Konami...
and Street Fighter II
Street Fighter II
is a competitive fighting game originally released for the arcades in . It is the arcade sequel to the original Street Fighter released in and was Capcom's fourteenth title that ran on the CP System arcade hardware...
).
A select few games were already optimized in the original release to begin with, and are thus just as fast as their 60 Hz counterparts this time around (the most obvious examples being Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country
Donkey Kong Country is a side-scrolling platformer video game developed by Rare, featuring the character Donkey Kong. It was released for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System in 1994. Following an intense marketing campaign, the original SNES version sold over 8 million copies worldwide, making...
and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest is an adventure platform game developed for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System produced by Rareware and published by Nintendo. It stars Diddy Kong and his girlfriend Dixie Kong...
).
TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16
TurboGrafx-16, fully titled as TurboGrafx-16 Entertainment SuperSystem and known in Japan as the , is a video game console developed by Hudson Soft and NEC, released in Japan on October 30, 1987, and in North America on August 29, 1989....
games are the only Virtual Console games to actually run in 60 Hz on PAL Wii systems; this is because the game data was never changed for release in PAL territories, the original hardware itself performed the conversion to a 50 Hz signal.
One example of a poor PAL conversion is seen in the Virtual Console release of Sonic the Hedgehog, which retains the slower framerate, music and borders of the original PAL Mega Drive version, despite the fact that the GameCube
Nintendo GameCube
The , officially abbreviated to NGC in Japan and GCN in other regions, is a sixth generation video game console released by Nintendo on September 15, 2001 in Japan, November 18, 2001 in North America, May 3, 2002 in Europe, and May 17, 2002 in Australia...
release Sonic Mega Collection
Sonic Mega Collection
is a video game compilation for the Nintendo GameCube.The compilation contains twelve to fourteen games depending on the region, all originally released on the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis console...
allows PAL users to choose which version of the game they want to play.
Recently, during Nintendo's 'Hanabi Festival' campaign, certain titles that were never released in Europe are being added to the Virtual console. Some of these games, namely the Japan-only titles such as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels
, also known as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, is a platforming video game developed and published by Nintendo for the Family Computer Disk System...
, are run in 60 Hz only, thus keeping the original speed and gameplay. A small reminder is shown when previewing the game's channel.
Interestingly, these games can actually be played in both PAL60 (480i) and 480p modes. This makes these releases look significantly better on Progressive displays such as LCD TV's. The fast moving sprites in NES and SNES games generally create a significant amount of interlace artifacts on such displays that the 480p option resolves. However Hanabi Mega Drive titles run in 50 Hz with the usual PAL conversion problems, despite not been released in PAL.
Initially, some PAL Virtual Console games would not display correctly on high-definition televisions when connected via the component lead. However, starting with the April 13, 2007 update of the PAL Virtual Console, certain newly added games, such as Punch-Out!!, support the "Wii Component Cable Interlace mode." This is a temporary fix to problems with various Virtual Console games being played over component cable on HDTVs. The mode can be enabled by accessing the operations guide of the game, and (with the Nunchuk attached) pressing the buttons Z + A + 2 simultaneously. A sound is played if the mode is enabled correctly. Several older games also have updates available to enable the feature, such as Super Castlevania IV
Super Castlevania IV
Super Castlevania IV, known as in Japan, is a platform game developed and published by Konami and the first Castlevania game for the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. The game was originally released in 1991 and later re-released on the Nintendo Wii's Virtual Console in 2006...
. The mode can be disabled by using the same method, but with the button combination Z + A + 1 instead. A full list of games supporting this mode is available at vc-forums.com.
The PAL versions of 3D Classics: Excitebike and Urban Champion on the Nintendo 3DS runs much smoother at 60 Hz unlike the Wii's Virtual Console versions which only run at 50 Hz mainly due to the fact the 3DS versions are semi-modified ports of their original NES versions. The 10 NES games from the Ambassador program, however, retain their original PAL formats.
See also
- List of Virtual Console games
- WiiWareWiiWareWiiWare is a service that allows Wii users to download games and applications specifically designed and developed for the Wii video game console made by Nintendo. These games and applications can only be purchased and downloaded from the Wii Shop Channel under the WiiWare section...
- Wii Shop ChannelWii Shop ChannelThe Wii Shop Channel is an online shop for the Wii video game console that allows users to download Virtual Console and WiiWare games, and new channels. Downloading may require redeeming Wii Points. The channel launched with Wii on November 19, 2006...
- Nintendo eShopNintendo eShopThe Nintendo eShop is an online service for the Nintendo 3DS handheld gaming system. Launched on June 6, 2011 in North America and June 7, 2011 in Europe and Japan, the eShop was enabled by the release of a system update that added the functionality to the 3DS' Home Menu...
External links
- Nintendo - Official Nintendo of America Website
- Virtual Console - Official Virtual Console site
- TurboGrafx-16 Virtual Console - Hudson Official Virtual Console site