Please don't misrepresent or misunderstand me. I am in no way saying that Wii stands or falls on the Virtual Console's success. I am only saying that Virtual Console as a Wii selling point stands or falls on its own success, and right now it is successful to a small few. There are people who haven't downloaded a VC game yet - why? Because the games they want aren't heiffing available, but they will be downloaded in Japan in a week.
Some casual gamers (or even non-gamers) loved certain games for NES or SNES and they want only to download what they are familiar with. These games are not available because according to Nintendo, they will only release games that have viability in our marketplace. Idiotic! You MAKE these games desirable by putting them out there! For 3 or 4 bucks I'll try ANYTHING on the NES or SNES if someone tells me it's good (5-8 is a bit much, and I think this is part of Nintendo's problem: high prices and profit margin equals lower sales numbers).
I really can't comment on the technical limitations of making these games available but based on Nintendo's track record of releasing games in EXACTLY the same way, I must assume that their decision is based on marketing decisions and not server crap. They have 15 games sitting there that we COULD be downloading and playing. And so what if I don't download them all right away? I will slowly work through what I want to if there are 50 available at one time. More games will equal more sales. I will buy Gunstar Heroes, SMB, Chip N Dale, etc the moment they come out. If they ALL come out, then I'll get two or three at a time and get the others later - nothing is stopping the hardcore from buying them all (except the limited amount of space on the Wii Menu) and variety will only encourage the casual or non-gamer to try the one game they really love. By only releasing "the classics" or as the Wii Shop Channel says, "the masterpieces," they only encourage the hardcore gamers to sit and wait for the stuff they like.
You may say that this is the point - more suspense ergo more purchases. Sorry, no - waiting all weekend for Super Star Soldier, Golden Axe, and Ecco did not make me buy any of them, and if you read our forums or anyone else's forums you'll see tons of people saying "I'll skip it this week." These people were going to skip these games anyways, and Nintendo didn't do anything to make them more viable. They're just pissing us off, saying "We'll give you what we think you want and only when we think you need it." Nintendo could be SELLING us games by doing monthly updates of 50 games or more, or at the very least sticking to a ten game a week system. Less is not more - it also makes the VC look less desirable to those considering Wii. Sure you can play old games on this console, but most of them aren't available yet. I may not see Yoshi's Island until March, and then Donkey Kong 64 in July, Majora's Mask in November. We may NEVER see awesome yet unnoticed N64 games like Mischief Makers, Buck Bumble, Rocket: Robot on Wheels, Glover, Mission: Impossible, Castlevania, or the flippin' Goemon games. Is NES Tennis really selling the Wii to anybody?
Is Virtual Console supposed to be an arcade that has a limited number of games at any one time, or a museum that is filled with all history and we can slowly work our way through? Nintendo can make money by putting more games out there and lowering the price, because it will appeal to both the hardcore and the casual gamer. Instead of feeling like a kid in a candy store I feel like a kid whose only system is the N64 - gotta wait till next month for another good game.
Topic: Virtual Console 
