If you're a Wii or 3DS owner, you'll likely have some experience with the Virtual Console. A special section of the eShop, the Virtual Console is a retro paradise, where dozens of games from the consoles of yesteryear are available to download for a reasonable price. And while many were disappointed the service didn't launch alongside the Wii U, Nintendo have recently revealed their plans for bringing the Virtual Console to the Wii U, with the store hitting the consoles thanks to an update this Spring.
Initially set to launch with a mere handful of games, Nintendo have decided to take the slow approach with the Wii U Virtual Console, adding games on a weekly or monthly basis, despite those same games already being available to download on the Wii. While it may seem like a strange decision to make, the reasoning behind it is that the Wii U versions will be enhanced with additional features - much like on the 3DS, you'll be able to save your game at any time by creating a restore point, and play your game on the Wii U's GamePad. Available at the same price as the Virtual Console games on the Wii, unfortunately, the extra features won't be automatically unlocked if you've transferred your old games across from your Wii. Instead, you'll have to pay a premium of 99p for NES games, or £1.49 for SNES games if you want to "upgrade" to have access to the Wii U Virtual Console features. Which seems a bit rubbish. Quite why it's more expensive to upgrade a SNES game than it is a NES game is one big question - especially as you can't imagine there's any custom programming involved. Why it costs the same in dollars as it does in pounds is another.
Meanwhile, it seems the Wii U Virtual Console will initially lag behind the Wii's in terms of the platforms it offers, too. While many were hoping for extra platforms (the Amiga, more Commodore 64 games, or even SEGA Saturn titles would have been nice additions), so far, Nintendo have only confirmed that NES, SNES and, for the first time, Game Boy Advance games will be making their way to the console. Nintendo's predecessor to the Nintendo DS, the addition of the GBA Virtual Console opens the doors to classics like Mario and Luigi: Superstar Saga or The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap - although whether you'll be able to buy once, and play across the 3DS and Wii U remains to be seen.
However, in order to kick things off with a bang, and to celebrate the Famicom's 30th anniversary (the Japanese name for the NES), Nintendo are set to release a series of NES and SNES games over the next few months, each for the bargain price of 30p! Continuing up until July, the month the Famicom launched in Japan, each game will only be available at the special discount price for a month - so if anything takes your fancy, it's worth getting in soon. The first game, currently on sale at £0.30p in the Nintendo eShop for Wii U as we speak, is Balloon Fight - which most recently featured in updated form as a minigame in Nintendo Land. If you've got even a small amount of pennies on your eShop account, this could be the perfect time to take advantage of the sale and nab yourself one of Nintendo's memorable classics. The full list of games on offer can be seen below:
After seeing its HD makeover in Nintendo Land, Balloon Fight doesn't look quite as pretty as we remember.
- January - Balloon Fight (NES)
- February - F-Zero (SNES)
- March - Punch Out!! (NES)
- April - Kirby's Adventure (NES)
- May - Super Metroid (SNES)
- June - Yoshi (NES)
- July - Donkey Kong (NES)
While there's certainly a number of bona fide classics in that list (Kirby's Adventure and Super Metroid being two of the stand outs), some more hardcore players have been expressing their dissatisfaction that the UK and European Virtual Consoles will feature the 50Hz PAL versions of the games, rather than the 60Hz NTSC equivalents. Conforming to PAL TV standards, the 50Hz games ran slightly slower than their US cousins, with both the gameplay and music affected. Although the difference was never really noticeable until you saw the PAL and NTSC versions running side by side, the decision has seen some voice their disapproval that Nintendo are effectively charging us more (thanks to the dollar:pound conversion) for an inferior version of the same game - especially now that all TVs accept 60Hz signals, meaning there's no reason we couldn't have got the superior NTSC version.
Still, despite a somewhat ropey start, it's early days yet for the Virtual Console - but the somewhat stumbling start, combined with the pricing and lacklustre line-up on the Wii U eShop, suggest that Nintendo still haven't really got the hang of downloadable stores...
