Topic: whats the big deal about virtual console?

[segagamer12]

It was a BIG deal to me and everyone I have shown it to agrees that getting the old games is a MAJOR draw to the Wii. I even have friends, beleive it or not, who have tried Wii and still dont like it (the count is currently 3 who hate it even after trying it) BUT those same people will still consider getting a Wii down the road BECAUSe they like the virtual console. it may not be a big deal to you but guess what, IT IS  a big deal if everyone keeps discussing it and buying the games. Hell I have already spent $80 on VC games alone and thats nothing for me. I will gladly ontinue to spend $20.00 a week on the thing as long as it continues to have games I want. So far even spending liek that I cant keep up with the releases. So yeah it makes sense nto to have them all at once.

Dude, pitboi, I am not attacking you seriously so please dont get offended, the point I am trying to make is that the virual console, as you can see form all the replies, has been a big deal to so many people alread. You do not HAVE to like it, but please for the sake of those who do quit complaining about it because your not going to change anyones minds. If you dont want to get teh games then dont, but dont act liek it was a dumb idea for Nintendo to release the games the way they are when so many people think contrary to that.

[Artimus]

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Originally posted by: Pittbboi

Then we have a fundamental disagreement. I think the virtual console in its current form appeals almost exclusively to people who know these games, be they current or ex gamers. I don't think young kids who weren't around/too young to remember when Mario MEANT good gaming fired up their Wii (if they had one) on Christmas opened the virtual console and went, "Holy F'in Sh*T Batman! It's Super Mario!" These are good games to you are I, because we remember the time when these games were new, gorgeous, innovative and the talk of the town (Well, I'm 20, so I wasn't that old then, but I still had an NES ). To most people who don't know these games, from what I've seen, they think these games are old, blocky, and too hard to play.

Most console owners are not hardcore fans of video games like we are. They buy old games for new experiences. They also don't know crap about graphics. They're the same people who buy millions upon millions of GBAs even after the DS has been out two years. They're the same people who bought hundreds of thousands of copies of Super Mario Bros. classic collection. Yes hardcore gamers will buy a ton of VC games, but people who have never played them will as well. You're totally ignoring the casual gamer, and they are by far the biggest portion of console owners.

[Pittbboi]

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Hell I have already spent $80 on VC games alone and thats nothing for me. I will gladly ontinue to spend $20.00 a week on the thing as long as it continues to have games I want.

No offense, but that statement alone is enough for me to not consider what you say to be an example of the popular opinion.

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If you dont want to get teh games then dont, but dont act liek it was a dumb idea for Nintendo to release the games the way they are when so many people think contrary to that.

Really? Because I see a lot of people who don't like various things about the virtual console. It's not as if I'm the only complainer amongst seas of praise for the VC. On the contrary, you'll find people who like it mixed in with a few that don't, but you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who has absolutely nothing bad to say about it. I've read too many articles, listened to too many podcasts, and read to many message boards to not know that the popular opinion right now is that the VC is falling short of its incredible potential.

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Most console owners are not hardcore fans of video games like we are. They buy old games for new experiences. They also don't know crap about graphics. They're the same people who buy millions upon millions of GBAs even after the DS has been out two years. They're the same people who bought hundreds of thousands of copies of Super Mario Bros. classic collection. Yes hardcore gamers will buy a ton of VC games, but people who have never played them will as well. You're totally ignoring the casual gamer, and they are by far the biggest portion of console owners.

Well, we'd need to see figures to be precise, but I still stand by my point. I won't deny that there are probably some casual/non-gamers out there taking a chance on a few VC titles out of curiosity, but I'm almost certain that the majority of VC patronage is coming from the hardcore. Heck, at this point in the game it's still pretty safe to say that the majority of people who own a Wii right now are hardcore gamers, as you still have to go through absolute hell to find one.

The GBA isn't a good example of casual gamers not knowing about or caring about graphics for several reasons: 1) it's a handheld, and it's only been recently that people have been expecting handhelds to perform with high quality graphics. That sway won't exist on a console. 2) The GBA is still somewhat fresh, new games are still being released for it, and old ones are getting face lifts.  3) You buy a GBA for these games. The expectation is there. Not the same for the Wii, where the VC is supposed to be a lovely addition. As someone said earlier, most of the casual gamers want the Wii for the controller. Most don't really care about virtual console outside of knowing it exists so you can download "old games."

[The Omen]

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   If you dont want to get teh games then dont, but dont act liek it was a dumb idea for Nintendo to release the games the way they are when so many people think contrary to that.


Really? Because I see a lot of people who don't like various things about the virtual console. It's not as if I'm the only complainer amongst seas of praise for the VC. On the contrary, you'll find people who like it mixed in with a few that don't, but you'll be hard pressed to find anyone who has absolutely nothing bad to say about it. I've read too many articles, listened to too many podcasts, and read to many message boards to not know that the popular opinion right now is that the VC is falling short of its incredible potential.

After 6 weeks, I fail to see how the VC is falling short of its potential.  I chalk this talk up to the rather tedious "I want it all now" attitude more than a lack of quality games.  

[Kairon]

I sense a faulty assumption here...

Nintendo doesn't need to beat Sony or MS. They need to be able to advance their visions of what videogames mean and are. You need to be profitable to do that, not imperial. Let's not forget that Nintendo isn't competing, and that the Wii is a second console. Nintendo's only real goal is to stick around to try to make great games on great game hardware. Marketshare is nice (and it's often an indicator of just how great their games are in the end), but it's a completely peripheral concern.

We shouldn't forget the big picture after all... when Microsoft's in the industry, it's only a matter of time before you're either defunct, marginalized, or bought up. The only thing you can play for with an eventuality like that is the survival of your entity, and the survival of your ideas. If Nintendo expands the market but loses the marketshare war, they'll have won. If Nintendo wins the marketshare war, but videogames don't change, then the Wii was entirely pointless.

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

[segagamer12]

>>No offense, but that statement alone is enough for me to not consider what you say to be an example of the popular opinion.<

So effing what! who the hell cares about popular opinion dumb ass. Dude I was trying to give you the benefit of the doubt and be civil, but I read yor praises of the VC ion the Nintendo Online plan thread and you sir are an idiot. You praise it in one thread and bash it in another.  

[greenblob]

One reason people would get VC games is for the novelty and because they're huge fans. I'm probably going to only get Earthbound and SSB for the VC. Earthbound because like every other Earthbound fan out there, I have a cult-like affinity towards that game (and also because EB carts cost around $70-80 on ebay), and SSB because having every SSB title in one system would be pretty damn close to perfection. Other stuff I can just play on the old systems themselves.
Anyway, anyone ever heard of Kaillera? Using certain emulators, you can play games from NES, SNES, N64, arcade, Genesis, PS1, and a bunch of other systems online. I normally wouldn't use ROMs, but the prospect of being able to play these games online was irresistable. And guess what one of the most popular games is. That's right, Super Smash Bros for the N64. If Nintendo were to release modified versions of some of these games on the VC including online support, fixing some bugs these games had, or adding multiplayer to games that seem like multiplayer would be a no-brainer but don't have it for some reason or another (like F-Zero), it could mean a jump in VC downloads and happy customers.
Also, online gamers = hardcore isn't true. Take a look at WoW, MapleStory, Counter-Strike, Starcraft, etc. Most of the people who play these games online aren't hardcore gamers. Nintendo really needs to get online going.  

[IceCold]

Strell was bang on. It's all about encouraging third party sales, spreading out their releases to maximise profit from each one of them and, most importantly, not letting the Virtual Console cut into the Wii tie-in ratio. I like it this way too; I don't want too many good games clumped together, because then I'm sure I'd miss many of them.

[Pittbboi]

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I like it this way too; I don't want too many good games clumped together, because then I'm sure I'd miss many of them.

How the heck would you miss them, they wouldn't be going away. I think a lot of the virtual console defense is made up of people thinking that you HAVE to buy all the games you like the second they come out, and sure, if that was the case the way Nintendo is currently would make sense. But that's not the case. If Nintendo released all their games at once, the option for what game you want to purchase at which time would always be there.Having all your games out at once appeals to more people, you can't even argue that. You get the gamers who want obscure titles as well as gamers who KNOW what they want. With Nintendo's current setup they're limiting themselves to the gamers who want what they're currently offering.


Seriously, basic economics shows that sometimes choosing the option that immediately max's out profits isn't always been benefitial in the long run. A lesson Nintendo's learned the past two generations.

[Kairon]

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Originally posted by: greenblob
Take a look at WoW, MapleStory, Counter-Strike, Starcraft, etc. Most of the people who play these games online aren't hardcore gamers.

Two of those games are made by Blizzard, whom even casual gamers know make must-buy-no-matter-what games, another one of those games is a flash based MMO which has NO INSTALLATION at all and probably has a user base in the range of 50,000 (i.e. horrible numbers for console, sustainable for cheap PC games), and *ahem* Counter-Strike is nothing if not hardcore.

Also... all of those games are on PCs. PC online is vastly easier, more accessible, more casual friendly and rarely an added purchase (since people have the internet for e-mail anyways), PCs are unparalleled in their ability to offer online experiences.

Besides, real casual PC players play Online Card Games.

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

[Kairon]

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Originally posted by: Pittbboi
Seriously, basic economics shows that sometimes choosing the option that immediately max's out profits isn't always been benefitial in the long run.

I guess we're arguing over whether this is the "sometimes."

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

[segagamer12]

its nto weather or not they will be there in the future its seeing  a game you have been hunting down for a long time available right before your eyes and not wanting to wait to play it. its also easy to find games right now because there are so few, once they have over a hundred on there it will be harder.

Even if I am in the minority, which I may very well be, it doesnt change the fact that tehre ARE gamers out there willing to buy TONS of VC games.

Ok to keep it civil I will say this cuz I maybe am getting too defensive, I DO agree that it is slow coming, I dont want to sound like I am ok with a two ro three games a week update cuz i am not I would like them to releae more games sooner, but I understand why they dont so i deal with it. I dont complain now because SEGA, who despite what others may say, is my favorite game maker and I LOVE most of thier games. As long as they continue to support the VC I will continue to support VC, of course once the NES and SNES games I want become available I will be getting thier games.


I just wish that Nintendo would advertise the VC a little more so that non gamers or lapsed gamers can hear about it in addition to the wii remote so they can make a better descision. My paretns were sold on Wii sports alone, but once they found out it could play Sim City they immediately asked when is tetris coming. They will surely buyone for those two games.

The virtucal console has the POTENTIAL to be a HUGE selling point for Wii, and I think down the road it WILL be once the remote novelty starts to die down and they need to remind people of the systems other features. There are otehrs, like I know three so far, who are turned off by the remote, its fine I understand thier view point cuz I was turned off for the longest time too, but the VC has them considering the Wii where as the funny remote wasnt enough to convince them. Anywyas thats all stuff I said before so maybe Ill let this topic die down or at elast not keep it going.

I didnt meant o soudn offensive either pitboi so I want to apologise if I came off like it cuz I do see your points event hough you dont see mine.  

[Smash_Brother]

I'll buy VC games once they start releasing indie dev games which use the Wiimote but aren't suitable for mass release.

In other words, games I can't get already or play in flash.