First wave of Virtual Console games for Wii reveal

[Diogo Ribeiro]

From Gamespot:

 

Nintendo had already announced the Virtual Console and some of its publishing partners, but today the company laid out the first wave of titles, 30 in all, to be available by the end of the year. The games (listed in full below) will come from Nintendo, Sega, and Hudson.

 

The company also reiterated the starting price points for the games, noting that NES games start at 500 Wii Points ($5), TurboGrafx-16 games at 600 Wii Points ($6), Super NES and Sega Genesis games at 800 Wii Points ($, and Nintendo 64 games at 1,000 Wii Points ($10). Wii Points will be available online or at retail in packs of 2,000 with a suggested price of $20.

 

NES

Mario Bros.

The Legend of Zelda

Donkey Kong

Donkey Kong Jr.

Ice Hockey

Pinball

Soccer

Tennis

Urban Champion

Wario's Woods

Baseball

Solomon's Key

 

SNES

F-Zero

SimCity

 

Nintendo 64

Super Mario 64

 

Sega Genesis

Sonic the Hedgehog

Altered Beast

Golden Axe

Columns

Ecco the Dolphin

Gunstar Heroes

Space Harrier II

Toe Jam & Earl

Ristar

Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine

 

TurboGrafx-16

Bonk's Adventure

Super Star Soldier

Victory Run

Bomberman '93

Dungeon Explorer

 

I suspect the initial titles are there to give a feel for what may come and as such can't really bring out the big guns yet, but there are some pretty mediocre games there. And others just don't merit being re-released considering there are already better versions out there even if you consider nostalgia.

[kumquatq3]

They need online capable Super Tecmo Bowl. Hopefully with updated rosters like the Roms you can download online. Mmmmm....Goodness.

 

there should have been mario kart 64 at launch too

[Darque]

That's not promising.

 

I hope they can expand the number of titles.

[Oerwinde]

I find it odd that so far for Nintendo's console, there are more Sega games I would play than Nintendo ones.

 

Sonic, Altered Beast, Golden Axe, Gunstar Heroes, Toe Jam & Earl... these are classics.

 

And for SNES we get Sim City?

[kumquatq3]

apparently there will be 30 more by the end of the year

[Oerwinde]

If it gets Mario RPG, I'm sold.

[Pidesco]

I find it odd that so far for Nintendo's console, there are more Sega games I would play than Nintendo ones.

 

Sonic, Altered Beast, Golden Axe, Gunstar Heroes, Toe Jam & Earl... these are classics.

 

And for SNES we get Sim City?

 

I liked it. And I thought the advisor looked a bit like Will Wright.

[Fenghuang]

Charging five bucks for NES games seems criminal.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Sim City was nice but I wouldn't choose it as a launch title. Super Mario World and F-Zero would have been a better pairing.

 

Problem is that these classics are basically overpriced ROM images. The main advantage between a barebones digital version and a retail version is that the later is official, runs no risk of having been internally modified, and is neatly packaged. I loves me my videogame boxes.

 

Considering that, at least in the US, there are still some places where you can get these retail versions for a similar or sometimes inferior price, Nintendo just seems greedy. I'm also willing to bet none of those old games, or a vast majority, will use the Wii's hardware in particular the Wiimote (sp?).

 

What I'd like to see are special or themed packs that contained goodies. Say, all Mario platformers with pictures of boxes, ads, sketches and similar stuff. Like digital collector's editions.

[Kaftan Barlast]

Arent these ROM's only downloadable? You get no box?

[kumquatq3]

Charging five bucks for NES games seems criminal.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

agreed

 

@ Kaf: right

[kirottu]

Weren

[kumquatq3]

Weren

[Darque]

Charging five bucks for NES games seems criminal.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

 

I doubt many "gamers" will get them, as there's been emulation of the NES for what... a decade?

 

But casual gamers will probably not worry about the cost.

[Joseph Bulock]

Even though I still have the cartridges for many of the titles, I will personally be buying a lot of these, for two reasons. 1) As a game developer, I cannot, in good conscience play pirate ROM's, and 2) these games are not emulated. The Wii has a NES and SNES chip built in (last I heard) so that these games will play exactly as they did originally, without all the weird lag and timing issues of ROMS. The prices are fine by me, as buying a working cart for most of those games would run me a great deal more.

[Pidesco]

Question: Do developers get any money back from budget re-releases? For example, who gets money from the budget Sold-Out releases of Thief 1 & 2?

[Joseph Bulock]

Question: Do developers get any money back from budget re-releases? For example, who gets money from the budget Sold-Out releases of Thief 1 & 2?

 

I don't know for sure, but I imagine it would depend on the contract they signed with the publisher when the game was made.

[Pidesco]

Does Obsidian (or people working at Obsidian) get any money from those more recent releases of old BIS games?

[Diogo Ribeiro]

@kirottu and kumquat: Wii points.

 

without all the weird lag and timing issues of ROMS.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

Unless the ROMs had been hacked or tampered with previously (ie, hacker groups inserting their own advertising intros and trainers into the games themselves, or translation groups releasing translated ROMs with warped headers), most of the time lag or timing issues came down to emulator compatibility. Eventually improvements to the emulators allowed many games to be run better - close to, or at their original speeds. Additionally other things such as full emulation of specific cartridge chipsets (such as those found in Megaman X2 and X3) or effects have been dealt with.

 

Problem is that while these games are basically overpriced digital copies of original carts which don't seem to take advantage of their new target platform. With ZSNES you not only get a perfect SRAM emulation, you also get things like save stating, movie options, fastforward and rewinding, screen resolutions, great video modes, image capture, and ocasional online play (depending on title).

[Big Bottom]

Those prices could be lower. $10 for a 10 year old game that doesn't come with anything physical and is probably only playable on one machine is pretty steep. Nintendo will make a fortune on this if the Wii sells.

[Joseph Bulock]

@kirottu and kumquat: Wii points.

 

Unless the ROMs had been hacked or tampered with previously (ie, hacker groups inserting their own advertising intros and trainers into the games themselves, or translation groups releasing translated ROMs with warped headers), most of the time lag or timing issues came down to emulator compatibility. Eventually improvements to the emulators allowed many games to be run better - close to, or at their original speeds. Additionally other things such as full emulation of specific cartridge chipsets (such as those found in Megaman X2 and X3) or effects have been dealt with.

 

Problem is that while these games are basically overpriced digital copies of original carts which don't seem to take advantage of their new target platform. With ZSNES you not only get a perfect SRAM emulation, you also get things like save stating, movie options, fastforward and rewinding, screen resolutions, great video modes, image capture, and ocasional online play (depending on title).

 

I've had issues with the timing of many games across emulators, and to boot I don't like most of the PC controllers. Also, I wouldn't doubt if these games had extra functionality here and there. Maybe they won't, but this is Nintendo we're talking about.

[Diogo Ribeiro]

Best two PC gamepads I've found are the original MS Sidewinder, and the Logitech Dual Action (which is the one I currently have). The Logitech pad is the one I'd recommend, since it's ergonomic enough and those who play on a PS2 will feel right at home since it's basically the same design minus the vibration.

 

As for the timing issue, I don't know what else to say. I recall having issues like those some time ago but it's been a while since I've experienced them again. It's been a pretty smooth ride for me.

 

And we'll have to see how that whole functionality bit goes. Many maybes at this point.

[kumquatq3]

* Duck Hunt (E for Everyone)

* Hogan's Alley (E for Everyone)

* Kid Icarus (E for Everyone)

* Kirby's Adventure (E for Everyone)

* Pilot Wings (E for Everyone)

* Pro Wrestling (E for Everyone)

* Punch-Out (E for Everyone)

* Wild Gunman (E for Everyone)

 

A couple more were announced

[Llyranor]

I want Secret of Mana and Final Fantasy 'III' with full coop support just like the good old days.