It has been almost a month-and-a-half since Nintendo has seen fit to bring one of their first-party games to the Virtual Console. That unfortunate streak has finally come to an end with this week’s releases. Today, Nintendo made Yoshi’s Cookie, originally a NES game, available for download.
Now, I was this close to going on a rant about how we Nintendo faithful put up with a six-week drought, only to be rewarded with a mediocre puzzle game, but then I realized that most of the important Nintendo games have already been placed on the console’s virtual shelves. Nintendo still has some work to do on their Nintendo 64 collection, but their selection of NES and SNES games is rather satisfactory. So I guess the addition of Yoshi’s Cookie is not quite the disappointment some may think it to be.
If friendly dinosaurs and falling puzzle pieces aren't your thing, perhaps you could celebrate the start of the new baseball season with Bases Loaded, the other game made available in today’s update.
Showing posts with label Virtual Console. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Virtual Console. Show all posts
Monday, April 7, 2008
Thursday, February 28, 2008
Random Thoughts on the Virtual Console
It should come as no surprise to regular readers that I am generally very positive about Nintendo games and services. Those who know me can attest to the fact that I am often a very outspoken advocate for the company and its products. However, Nintendo occasionally makes decisions that don’t immediately make me happy. The Virtual Console is one of those decisions.
Before I mislead anybody, this post is not meant to insult the service. Rather, I am writing this article to do just the opposite. It has taken me some time, but I recently have concluded that the Virtual Console is something that actually excites me about the Wii.
Now, I know most Nintendo fans took to the Virtual Console immediately, but I feel that I was in a slightly different position than most when the service was first announced. At the time, I was an avid video game collector. This aspect of the gaming hobby consumed most of my free time, not to mention my income. After years of dedication - and money spending - I had amassed quite the impressive collection. I had a good amount of the games I wanted to play, which is why the games on the Virtual Console not only were of disinterest to me, but were also somewhat of a threat.
It felt like my years of dedication were for naught. It used to mean a lot to me that my game library contained almost any game that a Nintendo fan would want to play. It bothered me that any Wii owner with an internet connection could simply download Kid Icarus, despite the fact that I had to spend years of searching - not to mention much more money - to find a copy of the classic in good condition.
This is why I did not get nearly as much satisfaction from the Virtual Console as most early adopters of the Wii did. While most of the gaming population sang Nintendo’s praises for re-releasing Super Mario Bros., I wondered why I should care when I already had three different ways of playing the game in my collection.
When other Nintendo fans excitedly rediscovered The Legend of Zelda, I decided not to spend my Wii Points on a game I already owned.
However, as my borderline obsessive need to expand my game collection faded, so too did my distaste for the Virtual Console. Now I truly appreciate the service for its many benefits.
The first of my positive experiences came when I decided to download Super Metroid. I had owned the game for years, but unfortunately the game’s internal battery had prematurely conked out. I had wanted to replay the game for some time, but I was not too fond of the idea of having to play through the game in one sitting to avoid issues with saving.
Thanks to the Virtual Console, I played through the game and was able to re-experience a classic. I began to realize that as my gaming library continues to age, many of the games with internal batteries would become little more than museum pieces. If it weren’t for services like the Virtual Console, some of gaming’s greatest hits may become very difficult for game players to properly experience.
This affirmation of the Virtual Console’s worthwhile nature opened my eyes to its other benefits. Even though most of the games offered in the service already have a place in my collection, it does not mean that they are readily available. There simply is not enough space around my entertainment center to house all of my consoles, let alone their tangle-prone wires, so most of the systems spend the majority of their time packed away.
And what happens if I have ten minutes to kill before heading out and want to play a quick game of Balloon Fight? Well, I could take out my NES, hook it up to the television, insert Balloon Fight, unsuccessfully attempt to start the game, and then remove and blow in the cartridge until it finally works, but by the time I finish all that, I’m already late. The obvious time and clutter saver is the Wii and its Virtual Console. As an added bonus, if I’m on a roll and my game lasts longer than scheduled, the Wii will remember my exact position if I’m forced to leave and come back later.
I know I am telling you readers things you already know, but consider this article an attempt to persuade those of you who may be as stubborn about this situation as I used to be. I have finally found the purpose in the Virtual Console - other than the very, very rare import title - and I know that I will be downloading games for years to come. Now if only the Wii had the memory to hold them all…
Before I mislead anybody, this post is not meant to insult the service. Rather, I am writing this article to do just the opposite. It has taken me some time, but I recently have concluded that the Virtual Console is something that actually excites me about the Wii.
Now, I know most Nintendo fans took to the Virtual Console immediately, but I feel that I was in a slightly different position than most when the service was first announced. At the time, I was an avid video game collector. This aspect of the gaming hobby consumed most of my free time, not to mention my income. After years of dedication - and money spending - I had amassed quite the impressive collection. I had a good amount of the games I wanted to play, which is why the games on the Virtual Console not only were of disinterest to me, but were also somewhat of a threat.
It felt like my years of dedication were for naught. It used to mean a lot to me that my game library contained almost any game that a Nintendo fan would want to play. It bothered me that any Wii owner with an internet connection could simply download Kid Icarus, despite the fact that I had to spend years of searching - not to mention much more money - to find a copy of the classic in good condition.
This is why I did not get nearly as much satisfaction from the Virtual Console as most early adopters of the Wii did. While most of the gaming population sang Nintendo’s praises for re-releasing Super Mario Bros., I wondered why I should care when I already had three different ways of playing the game in my collection.
When other Nintendo fans excitedly rediscovered The Legend of Zelda, I decided not to spend my Wii Points on a game I already owned.
However, as my borderline obsessive need to expand my game collection faded, so too did my distaste for the Virtual Console. Now I truly appreciate the service for its many benefits.
The first of my positive experiences came when I decided to download Super Metroid. I had owned the game for years, but unfortunately the game’s internal battery had prematurely conked out. I had wanted to replay the game for some time, but I was not too fond of the idea of having to play through the game in one sitting to avoid issues with saving.
Thanks to the Virtual Console, I played through the game and was able to re-experience a classic. I began to realize that as my gaming library continues to age, many of the games with internal batteries would become little more than museum pieces. If it weren’t for services like the Virtual Console, some of gaming’s greatest hits may become very difficult for game players to properly experience.
This affirmation of the Virtual Console’s worthwhile nature opened my eyes to its other benefits. Even though most of the games offered in the service already have a place in my collection, it does not mean that they are readily available. There simply is not enough space around my entertainment center to house all of my consoles, let alone their tangle-prone wires, so most of the systems spend the majority of their time packed away.
And what happens if I have ten minutes to kill before heading out and want to play a quick game of Balloon Fight? Well, I could take out my NES, hook it up to the television, insert Balloon Fight, unsuccessfully attempt to start the game, and then remove and blow in the cartridge until it finally works, but by the time I finish all that, I’m already late. The obvious time and clutter saver is the Wii and its Virtual Console. As an added bonus, if I’m on a roll and my game lasts longer than scheduled, the Wii will remember my exact position if I’m forced to leave and come back later.
I know I am telling you readers things you already know, but consider this article an attempt to persuade those of you who may be as stubborn about this situation as I used to be. I have finally found the purpose in the Virtual Console - other than the very, very rare import title - and I know that I will be downloading games for years to come. Now if only the Wii had the memory to hold them all…
Monday, February 25, 2008
Nintendo's Weekly Virtual Console Update
It’s Monday, and every fan of classic Nintendo games knows what that means. That’s right; Nintendo once again updated their collection of downloadable Virtual Console games.
In recent updates, Nintendo has been stingy with their games, opting instead to focus on other developers’ material, such as Phantasy Star II and Harvest Moon. This week, however, Nintendo brings us one of their classics from the Nintendo 64.
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, originally released at the tail end of the N64’s lifecycle, is one of Nintendo’s few side-scrolling platformers for home consoles since the advent of 3-dimensional gaming. Enthusiasts of early Kirby games are sure to appreciate Crystal Shards for its traditional platforming action. With the current Kirby project for the Wii seemingly in limbo, this downloadable iteration should help to comfort fans of the series.
Also re-released this week is Psychosis, a 2-D shooter from the TurboGrafx 16. Don’t worry; I haven’t heard of it either.
In recent updates, Nintendo has been stingy with their games, opting instead to focus on other developers’ material, such as Phantasy Star II and Harvest Moon. This week, however, Nintendo brings us one of their classics from the Nintendo 64.
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards, originally released at the tail end of the N64’s lifecycle, is one of Nintendo’s few side-scrolling platformers for home consoles since the advent of 3-dimensional gaming. Enthusiasts of early Kirby games are sure to appreciate Crystal Shards for its traditional platforming action. With the current Kirby project for the Wii seemingly in limbo, this downloadable iteration should help to comfort fans of the series.
Also re-released this week is Psychosis, a 2-D shooter from the TurboGrafx 16. Don’t worry; I haven’t heard of it either.
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