Topic: Official Virtual Console Mondays Thread

[couchmonkey]

Four games per week isn't really a dry desert, though.  I'm interested in at least one game each week, and Nintendo is giving the third parties a chance to sell more games on their consoles which can only be a good thing.

Nintendo is planning for the future, here.  I think we're going to see quite a few big hits through the first quarter of 2007 as the Wii lineup gets thinner.  Nintendo may be holding back a little too much, but the counterpoint would be that the company is having no trouble selling Wiis right now.  Edit: if this continues when the actual Wii game lineup thins out, then I'll be inclined to agree.

[Ceric]

If it was all of Nintendo it be different.  It's just NoA.  Which makes it absurd.

[couchmonkey]

I'm aware that Japan has a better initial VC lineup, but I just found a European list and it looks almost exactly the same as North America.  The only difference is they get the same games in a shorter span of time, but that's because they had to wait an extra 3 weeks for the system.

I suspect what this all comes down to is Reggie trying to keep his promise of avoiding a drought after New Year's.  Japan probably had a certain number of games ready and he decided to save a few of them for that two-month gap between WarioWare / Wii Play and Mario Party 8.

[Ian Sane]

"Ian: By having per-game configurations, the controls will be much better in the end."

I'll agree with that though we should be able to customize controls as we see fit.  I think that should be a standard feature for all consoles.  I should be able to go to a menu and select whatever button I want to be 'A' even if the button I pick isn't labeled as 'A' on the controller.  That way there's never any problem with developers having crappy button assignments and not giving us the option to fix it.  A universal option like that renders Mega Man Anniversary Collection problems moot.

Without the option to customize, what Nintendo is doing does make the most sense.  I'm just saying that doing a unique mapping for every game is extra work.  It's all a bunch of "ifs".  IF Nintendo allowed us to map buttons as we see fit and IF Nintendo designed the classic controller to actually be compatible with N64 games THEN they could have saved themselves work in the longrun by not having to customize the controls for each and every VC game.

Regarding the trickle of games coming out I agree with those that point out that just NOA is doing it so it makes no sense.  Why would "letting third party games have a chance" and "spacing out releases" and all this other stuff apply to North America but not Japan?  I don't think either idea makes a lick of sense anyway but if they did wouldn't they make sense for both regions?  I think it's just NOA doing things is a weird manner just because that's what NOA does.  The company couldn't market Twinkies to fat people.

[SixthAngel]

Quote
Originally posted by: Ian Sane
"Ian: By having per-game configurations, the controls will be much better in the end."

I'll agree with that though we should be able to customize controls as we see fit.  I think that should be a standard feature for all consoles.  I should be able to go to a menu and select whatever button I want to be 'A' even if the button I pick isn't labeled as 'A' on the controller.  That way there's never any problem with developers having crappy button assignments and not giving us the option to fix it.  A universal option like that renders Mega Man Anniversary Collection problems moot.

Regarding the trickle of games coming out I agree with those that point out that just NOA is doing it so it makes no sense.  Why would "letting third party games have a chance" and "spacing out releases" and all this other stuff apply to North America but not Japan?  I don't think either idea makes a lick of sense anyway but if they did wouldn't they make sense for both regions?  I think it's just NOA doing things is a weird manner just because that's what NOA does.  The company couldn't market Twinkies to fat people.

I like the buttom mapping idea but I don't think it is ever going to happen for the same reason games in the store have very few control customization options.  They don't want to confuse people and console games are supposed to be pick up and play with a straight forward control scheme.

The big Nintendo vc games coming out isn't a marketing problem, instead marketing is the problem (or at least the problem of those complaining).  The big Nintendo games will sell on the vc regardless and will overshadow the games being released now, especially the TG-16 games.  They are giving 3rd parties a good chance to sell games on the vc instead of them being passed over for all the Marios and Zeldas.  It is a really smart move to help promote third parties to join and it will increase vc sales in the long run.

[Ian Sane]

"They don't want to confuse people and console games are supposed to be pick up and play with a straight forward control scheme."

I don't think good features should be abandoned because people are idiots.  The only way to get "confused" is to change the controls from the default settings and to do that would require hunting through system menus to find the thing and if you can do that odds are you're smart enough to not get confused.  If customizable controls confuse you then you're a moron and probably can't even hook up the console to your TV in the first place let alone go online which is a requirement for the VC.

Tons of consumer electronics can confuse people but they don't bork features because of it.  The basic function of a console wouldn't be compromised.  Put the game in, press power and you're playing.  When I was a kid we didn't have memory cards and you didn't have to set any system stuff like the clock when you turned your new system on for the first time.  Technically this could be viewed as confusing to someone used to the simpler old way.  But should we not have had memory cards because of stuff like that?  No.  The functionality was worth the risk of confusing someone who is dumb as f*ck to begin with.

[Kairon]

Quote
Originally posted by: couchmonkey
Four games per week isn't really a dry desert, though.  I'm interested in at least one game each week, and Nintendo is giving the third parties a chance to sell more games on their consoles which can only be a good thing.

It's almost as if NoA is being nicer to third parties than NoJ. In Japan they had huge virtual console launch, they had 4 Nintendo Puiblished Premiere titles at launch, and third parties on the Wii got raped. In America, they've delayed Wii Play and Wario Ware, launched with a "slow tease" strategy for the VC, and third party sales here have been much healthier.

~Carmined M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[segagamer12]

Spak I WASnt complaining!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i love the vc! I SPENT ALREADY 60 DOLALRS ON IT!!!!!!!! re_fugging read my post before getting all anal.


omen you too jerk.



All I was saying is that I hope that if it GETS these games it gets the ARCADE versions and nto the S1TTY Console versions. DID YOU EVEN READ MY POST? YES I AM PISSED I HAVEA R IGHT TO BE YOU PEOPEL ALWAYSD JUMP ON ME WITHOUT READING MY ENTIRE POST


RANT over.




Seriously I have no complaints with VC AS-IS. I just really do not want to get crappy MK SNES or not as crappy but still crappy Genesis MK.

I wasnt even talking about selection or variety or none of that I was stricktly refering to the qaulity of ports.


Serioulsy dude read the post. ignore any crap about not being satisfied cuz if you read ALL my psost in this thread you will find I have beebn fairly tolorant of the VC so far, even defeing certain asects other compaoing about, so before telling me I compalin to much stop complainging and learn how to read.


If I said Nintendo VC is the siznit and it is the coolest ever you STILL would have told me to shut up the prices are too high.


SOME a-holes on here argue for the sake of arguing. AllI ever do is try and offer a balanced perspective.

I never, NOT ONCE, complainged about the Wii launch, or its VC selection. I have a justifiable reason to fear getting SNES arcade ports which sucked. Even KI wasnt at all close to arcade. I am VERY picky person when it comes to Mortal Kombat as it is my ALL TIME favorite series and I have never got an arcade poerfect port and all I was saying is I hope that godawefull SNES port doesnt fidn its way onto VC. I was expressing my HOPE that Nintendo can somehow work it out to get some decent arcade games.

All it depends on is if the emulators are hardwired into the system and configured for their respective architectures. as MOST arcade games ran on identical hardware as the Genesis anyways they just had MORE RAM and better osund chips. THAT was thier only limitation. If they can alow roms to use mroe than Genesis hardwired ram they could easily port MOST ealy 90s arcades with the existing emulators. BUT I wasnt trying to make an argument I was just saying I HOPE Nintendo can do this, way to jump oin me AGAIN without even getting the meaning of my post.


So Spak- YOU stop bvitching at me cuzx I wasnt at all complaining about the existing service. an apology would be nice but that is more rare on here than Good Sonic games.  

[WuTangTurtle]

I don't know if this has been said or not but if u take ESRB's website search for Wii games/VC games there is now Street Fighter II: The World Warrior, Pilot Wings, Punch-Out, Kid Icarus, and R-Type.  Their website has leaked info on earlier VC game releases so be happy d@mmit, be happy!

[MorningStar]

According to G4 the first Toejam and Earl will be released for the VC on Christmas day.

[Ceric]

Quote
Originally posted by: Kairon

Quote
Originally posted by: couchmonkey
Four games per week isn't really a dry desert, though.  I'm interested in at least one game each week, and Nintendo is giving the third parties a chance to sell more games on their consoles which can only be a good thing.

It's almost as if NoA is being nicer to third parties than NoJ. In Japan they had huge virtual console launch, they had 4 Nintendo Puiblished Premiere titles at launch, and third parties on the Wii got raped. In America, they've delayed Wii Play and Wario Ware, launched with a "slow tease" strategy for the VC, and third party sales here have been much healthier.

~Carmined M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

I take a slow tease strategy.  But they aren't.  In all the other Regions, NoE and NoJ Sorry Australia I don't know enough about your region.  I have seen a launch schedule for the VC games.  An actual honest to god schedule.  It might only be for a month but thats a month more that NoA has.  At least throw us a bone.

[Flames_of_chaos]

I think its the philosophy that if Nintendo releases 3 - 5 games every week theres a higher chance of gamers buying roughly 2 - 3 of those games rather than Nintendo releasing like 10 - 15 games a week and like about 10 - 12 of those games would be largely ignored and passed on. I guess Nintendo is just saving the big guns for shortages and giving games that can be considered niche a new breath of air especially since a lot of people never knew what the turbografx is.

[Kairon]

Personally, I really like the slow tease strategy as opposed to the giant buffet style approach.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[segagamer12]

I havenet had   problem witht hhe relese schedule as there are already moregames than I have time to play. I been spending 20 a week on this feature and will liekly continue that trend.



Someone earlier in reply to my long rant posted SFII as listed is that for SNES or Genesis?

In the case of SF it really doesnt make abig difference as both systems had versiosn that played to thier strengths and the exclusives on each system were pretty good.

But I am not a big SF fan anyways, what I am more worried about is the arcade games that were crap on the consoles, IE Mortal Kombat, Killer Instinct, Lethal Enforcers, Batman Forever, NBA Jam, Virtua Fighter, Samurai Showdown, World Heroes, Afterburner, Virtua Racing, etc.

Those games all had far, FAR superior arcade counterparts and the console versions of some were just utter crap. Especiialy thre VR games from Sega. 2d virtua fighter is a joke.

The console specific games, IE games MADE for the console and not arcade ports, no worries there sof ar nothing to complain about. Columns is ok on Genesis so thast not a big deal, AB I played and beat on Genesis years before I even knoew there was an arcade game. Golden Axe isnt that much worse off than its arcade versions, but some latter games that came after the hardware was outdated look really bad on either console.


I do however wish they would get some more SNES and N64 games as I never had very many of those and would like to try some of the big name games from those systems.

[WuTangTurtle]

The ESRB doesn't list SFII for SNES or Genesis, it just says Wii like all the other games.  I would hope it is the SNES version, as I remember the Genesis u had to hit the start button to switch between strong and weak attacks.  Actually I'm not sure if that would matter, as long as i can use the classic controller or GCN controller.

As for Arcade games being crap on consoles, i don't remember having issues with any SNES ones.  However i did not like World Heroes, and maybe that was due to the fact i only played the SNES version.  Mortal Kombat (II & up) and Killer Instinct played well on the SNES to my knowledge.

[couchmonkey]

The SNES versions weren't perfect - often graphical details were left out - but they worked fine.  I hope Nintendo will look into releasing arcade versions of some games, but that would involve getting the rights to emulate those arcade boards on the system.  We're thinking of this like gamers, and Nintendo's thinking of it like a business.  A console emulator makes a lot of business sense because it's a cheap way to re-release hundreds of games.

As for the slow release list, bear in mind that those fiends at Nintendo are looking at this as a long-term way to sell games.  Say there are 2000 games on the five consoles available.  Liscencing and game quality issues probably rule out 50% of those for release on VC, so maybe there are only 1000.  At five games per week, that's 200 weeks of games, meaning Nintendo will be through with VC in just four years.  At 10 games per week, just two years.  Of course there will be brand new games and possibly more consoles in the future, but the point is that the classic game lineup isn't going to last forever, but the Virtual Console will.  (Okay, VC won't last forever, but it'll last for as long as Nintendo consoles and online game purchases last)

[Ian Sane]

I wonder what version of R-Type it will be?  T-16 I assume?  That is a game where the arcade version would be perfect.  A lot of the times a straight arcade port kind of sucks because with unlimited continues the game is too easy.  Having fixed continues is an advantage of home ports.  Ideally you want an arcade perfect port with console style features thrown in.  R-Type however works really well with unlimited continues because it's checkpoint based.  You don't just pop-up where you died.  You HAVE to successfully pass everything without dying to win.

Fighting games also work well with unlimited continues.  In fact I think they require them.  Having fixed continues in the SNES MK games made no sense at all.  No matter what I have to beat each opponent to continue so why shouldn't I have as many tries to do so as I wish?

In some cases I think a home port is fine if the home port is pretty much arcade perfect anyway.  The SNES version of Street Fighter II is a good example.  In some cases the home port is better.  Bionic Commando for the NES is a classic.  The arcade version is notable only for having the same name as the NES game.  The worst is situations like TMNT IV.  If you're only playing with one or two players the SNES version is better.  It has extra levels and bosses, a simplistic fighting game mode, and a new move where you throw guys at the screen.  But the arcade version allows four players and the SNES version doesn't.  Eh.  Which version is better?  Ideally you want a combination of both: SNES levels with four players and likely the improved arcade sound and graphics.

[WuTangTurtle]

oh man i really hope TMNT IV comes in soon.  It was one of those games that i played like 100 times during spring break and stuff (beer and boobies at that point were not the definition of spring break).

Edit:  Oh yay! the mods have granted my wish and have changed my name, once the killa now a WuTangTurtle! horay!

[Kairon]

Dude, I'd LOVE TMNT IV. That was a game that I loved just because I could sit down and play it mindlessly with my bro to relax.

But yeah, I don't expect to see ANY arcade ports at all. That's too much work for the publisher with almost no increase in sales, when they have a far easier alternative available already: home console ports.

~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[Strell]

Ok, I have thought up something hilarious.

Nintendo should release both the SNES and Genesis versions of Mortal Kombat.

Then we can watch the SNES fail all over again!

[NeoThunder]

even without blood, i'd still rather play SNES version

[Kairon]

*snip*

wrong thread!

~Carmine "aol" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[The Omen]

Quote
Originally posted by: NeoThunder
even without blood, i'd still rather play SNES version

True.  It actually played better.

I wonder when the SNES rpg vault will begin to open.  That's a huge amount of money I'll be spending.

[WuTangTurtle]

i hope the SNES rpg vault doesn't flood us.  Give em to us say 2-3 a month.

[D_MaN87]

Does anyone know what was released today?