[Lick Meth]

This topic will probably go nowhere, and I'm going to sound like a big whinging git here who isn't saying anything new or whatso, but I'm firmly in the mindset that the whole Virtual Console thing on the Wii should be completely burnt to the ground and started again.

We all heard about in the time of ages ago. We all got hyped and frothed at the idea of finally being able to play all sorts games from other regions, in a perfect(ish) format, and without the guilt of piracy hanging over our heads ("English Sin & Punishment at a reasonable price!" was a cry I'd heard at the initial announcement). But, as time went by, we started to get bits of news that sounded worse and worse until the time the thing was released.

It started as, "old games! Perfectly done re-released! With improvments to follow! And maybe new games released under old machines at low development prices!". The finished product is "old games! Small libraries limited to whatever was only released in the region at the time! At high prices!"

And then the paragraph dedicated to Europe (me me me). It was bad enough at the time, having SF2 with borders taking up more space on screen than the actual game, and 20% slower, but the excuse at the time was slightly excusable (as in, not very). And then NOE go and play their trump card and release the Megadrive (Genesis), SNES, NES and N64 games in their original (awful) PAL formats, making any other complaints seem kind of... well, redundant. Oh, and there's no option to change it, and you can't run many VC games through the component cable. All at £7 per 1000 points.

What happened, Nintendo? I understand the whole "always running at a profit" ethos, but fucking COME ON. These things cost you NOTHING to make, BECAUSE THE INTERNET ALREADY DID IT ALL FOR YOU. And then there's the wealth of Japanese titles already available, along with improved versions and all that shit.

Do a half-arsed job, and I might be tempted to plunder money into the 360's shop thing, even though I don't have one. Or Sony's, which uses real money, and a bureau de change for differing the prices in different markets (translation: the products cost the same in all markets). Ok, so I understand that the games have to get cleared the regional age markings (PEGI, ESRB, CERO), but when you're only doing 4 games a week, that's no excuse.

So, I suggest doing all of this, Nintendo:

- pull everything and start again. Refund points to anybody who has bought anything, even if it means getting rid of the 10,000pt limit.
- put the same game on each machine in every market (Jap, US, Eur). Synchronise it to fuck, or, if there are any differences in game numbers or price, they should be absolutely tiny. AT WORST.
- allow some kind of free rental service (download game, deletes itself after 1 hour). However, if the prices came down, then there might not be as much reason to do this.
- allow each and every game to run in 50hz, 60hz and 480p. I should be able to play any game on any set-up you have allowed me to choose, you blundering numbskulls.
- sell coding software to those interested, including tips on optimisation and lowly powered machines.

Fuck.

[guest253]

[Deets]

You can use other countries' VC services if you import a wii, yes.

[Baines]

[les meat]

pal stuff you need all the languages in Europe, so you have to use the old pal versions.

Same old story, jokes on us for not using NTSC.




Oh you know why the iTunes store was a big success?
No its not because it provides ultra high quality, or even the worlds biggest variety.

Its because of convenience, nail that and nothing else matters in the eyes of the regular consumer, you know the ones who actually make something a profit. So like they're gonna even notice SF2 is 20% slower, they wont even have ever touched an emulator.
_________________

[Gironika]

[Lick Meth]

[Shapermc]

[JamesE]

I posted about this on Insert Credit's frontpage. I'm not angry, just sad.

Who can I send emails to to express my displeasure? I mean, someone actually at Nintendo. I'm gonna keep my eye on the release list and email them how much money they've lost from me so far each week.

Emulators can (I believe) force 50/60mhz regardless of region lock-out. It should be an advanced option. Games like Sonic don't use text. They should be selling the (demonstrably) superior Japanese revison as an option in every market.

I wonder if I should email Stu Campbell about this.

[showka]

Lick Meth, I've felt exactly like you do for a long time now. In fact, here are my spot-on assessments of Virtual Console a full two months before the Wii even came out!

Thank you IC Forum Archive!

[hebereke]

[Baines]

[Broco]

Legal issues guys, legal issues. Nintendo doesn't own third-party games and it needs to relicense them more or less one by one. It's impossible for them to offer thousands of games and there's no point in ragging on them for it.

Outside of the slim hope that copyright term limits are reformed, the best preserver of gaming history is and will continue to be free emulators and illegal romsets. That's the reality under our draconian copyright laws.

[Adilegian]

[aerisdead]

[Deets]

I'm giving it a year. Judgement can get passed then. Europe is clearly fucked, though, which is extremely unfortunate.

[Toto]

Yeah I did notice games running a bit slower.
But could you fix these things with software patches? Wouldn't it need a hardware upgrade?

[Gironika]

it's the reason why NOE and SCEE are that against anyone importing games ... they wouldn't pay premium for games they could have had some months before and a better version then ...

and that's exactly the reason why importing will never cease, because they don't even try to do things right.

For example, Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney wasn't released in Germany, though you could get it in Austria or Switzerland ... for no apparent reason.
Now, VC? Once again, no apparent reason ...
_________________

[showka]

[SplashBeats]

This is a whiny thread.

[showka]

Give me a fucking break.

[SplashBeats]

I think it's kind of silly to yell about tearing down something that is a month old. Give it time. Nintendo's no doubt more worried about getting the news and internet channels finished and out the door right now.

[showka]

Ok, thats a good point. I voted to tear it down but it was mostly because it was the only vote against the current way VC is.

[Toups]

[SplashBeats]

Well, Toups, if the games weren't tied to the console, they would open the VC to rampant piracy. It's not a nice thing, but I understand the decision.

[Schmeetz]

[JamesE]

[Gironika]

[another god]

[JamesE]

[rye]

[another god]

[Cryo]

[Toups]

[[ + -- oo ]]

I agree with Toups. The only problem with VC "as is" is how the games are tied to the console. I enjoy checking the store on Mondays and there's a nice balance of hits and more obscure stuff. The emulation is awesome in all the games I've tried (heard about some issues in certain TG16 games, though) and I love running all these games from different consoles and generations on my Wii.

I also think having a huge library would be better. I'd be interested to hear Nintendo's reasoning (although I probably never will). Obviously they considered a range of options. Are they really making more money releasing a few games a week at $5 or so instead of having a huge library of $2 games? Man, I'd be grabbing those by the handful. It would have been consistent with their low-cost populist strategy.

[vf10a]

[taidan]

Someone mentioned Gametap before. While the service definitely started off with a big list of games, now it updates just like the VC: once a week, about 5-6 titles (sometimes more), only two of which are usually worth playing. Maybe the VC could have opened it with a bigger initial library, but right now its doing the same as the other services.

Also, it may be possible to one day backup/transfer your VC games. Knowing Nintendo it probably won't, but there is precedent for something similar with Valve and its Steam games (which can be backed up on a DVD). So who knows.

[[ + -- oo ]]

[robert]

what pal vc games are meant to be fucked? i have:

gunstar heroes
toejam and earl
super mario 64
ice hockey
castlevania iv

and i don't really have any real problems with any of them

gunstar has borders but they don't really bother me, they're not really that big

which is weird because stuff like that would usually bother me

[kael]

[Judge Ito]