Virtual Console Archive

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Virtual Console officially launches on Wii U

By
Matt Keller
– April 27, 2013

VConWiiU
After a surprisingly long delay and a couple of months of teasing with a trickle of cheap releases, Nintendo has finally launched the Virtual Console service on the Wii U.

Arguably the best thing about the Virtual Console service on the Wii U is the off-screen play ability through the Wii U gamepad. Also, European and Australian versions will be the 60Hz versions except where a game was previously optimised for PAL release.

There are a few downsides, however. One, only eight games are currently available: Balloon Fight (NES), Donkey Kong Jr. (NES), Excitebike (NES), Ice Climber (NES), Kirby’s Adventure (NES), Punch-Out!! (NES), F-Zero (SNES) and Super Mario World (SNES) in the US, while Europe and Australia switch out Kirby for the Japanese version of Super Picross and lose Balloon Fight – far fewer titles than were available on the Wii Virtual Console launch. Two, you’ll have to pay for games you bought on the Wii – you will get a discounted price on the conversion to make up for it. Finally, it looks like Nintendo is still planning to drip feed releases – no plans have been revealed for the previously announced Game Boy Advance support, or the rumoured GameCube support.

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Earthbound announced for Wii U Virtual Console in the West

By
Charly
– April 18, 2013

Earthbound

After many years and many requests from western audiences, Nintendo has finally announced a re-release of the classic RPG Earthbound.

Earthbound, or Mother 2 in Japan, saw a release in North America in 1995 on the Super Nintendo and has since become one of the most sought after video game releases – with a cart only copy of the title currently fetching US$150+ on eBay. When Nintendo announced Mother 2‘s presence in Japan’s Wii U Virtual Console Trial Campaign line-up, fans cried out even louder for a re-release in the West. Lucky for us, Nintendo heard our pleas and have responded – with Mr Satoru Iwata happily announcing the games release during the latest Nintendo Direct.

Expect to see Earthbound available to download on your Wii U thorough the Virtual Console service sometime this year – in both North America and Europe. Hooray.

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The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages coming to Western 3DS Virtual Console services

By
Charly
– March 19, 2013

Aonuma announcement

Last month, both The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages were released on the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console in Japan. Many were hoping that North America and PAL regions would too see such a release on their respective 3DS eShops forthwith.

The producer of The Legend of Zelda series, Eiji Aonuma, didn’t keep us waiting long. However, rather than confirming the western release via the usual means, Aonuma instead opted to make the announcement on the official The Legend of Zelda series Miiverse community – posting “Our plan is to release these two games in other territories some time before summer!

That’s some happy-making news.

Source: Nintendo Life

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The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and Oracle of Ages headed to the Japanese 3DS Virtual Console

By
Charly
– February 22, 2013

Oracle of Ages and Oracle of Seasons

In their most recent Nintendo Direct event in Japan, Nintendo announced that both The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages are set for release on the 3DS Virtual Console in Japan.

The two Zelda Game Boy Color titles were original released on February 27, 2001 in Japan, and made their way to the west later that year. The 3DS Virtual console versions also release February 27 and are priced at 600 yen a pop. Up until March 20, players can purchase both games for the discounted price of 1,000 yen.

We suspect The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Seasons and The Legend of Zelda: Oracle of Ages will too be available in North America and PAL regions in the near future.

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Nintendo to release 60hz version of F-Zero on WiiU Virtual Console

By
Matt Keller
– February 21, 2013

FZero
One of the major complaints about the PAL version of the Virtual Console has been that we get PAL versions of games on it. Before the wondrous days of multiformat television, video games used to be converted from NTSC to PAL, often poorly. The end result was usually a game that ran approximately 16.7% slower, and had black bars on the top and bottom of the screen to fill up the extra lines of resolution that PAL has over NTSC.

Now that we’re on HDTV, the PAL and NTSC standards are history, but Nintendo insisted on releasing 50hz versions of games on the WiiU. It appears with the imminent release of F-Zero (due today for only 30 cents!), Nintendo has changed their tune, offering the full screen, full speed version of the classic futuristic racer.

Whether this is a once off remains to be seen.

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Nintendo announces plans for Wii U Virtual Console

By
Matt Keller
– January 27, 2013

WiiUVC
In January’s Nintendo Direct video conference earlier in the week, Nintendo detailed their plans for the Wii U version of the Virtual Console service.

The Virtual Console service will launch on Wii U after the Spring (our Autumn) update. Initially only games for the NES and SNES will be released, but plans were announced for the Game Boy Advance to join the line up in the future. Titles are being re-coded for the Wii U VC, with new features like save states being added.

However, the downside of that is that you’re going to have to buy the games again. Nintendo did announce a program whereby you’ll be able to get a discount on the Wii U version of a VC title if you’d bought it on the Wii – which is a better outcome than most expected. For the US, it ends up that you’ll be able to convert to the Wii U versions for $1 for NES games and $1.50 for SNES games. No word on local pricing.

In addition to being able to play on the Wii U GamePad, Wii U VC titles will support the Classic Controller and Pro Controller. Apparently VC titles will be among the first two support two Wii U GamePads.

To whet your appetite, Nintendo are releasing a game a month at a heavily discounted price. Balloon Fight is the first game up, and it’s just 30 cents. That’s cheaper than a McDonald’s cone! F-Zero will follow in February, Punch-Out!! in March, Kirby’s Adventure in April, Super Metroid in May, Mario & Yoshi in June and Donkey Kong in August.

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Donkey Kong Country series yanked from Virtual Console

By
Matt Keller
– November 18, 2012


We’ve seen some high profile withdrawls of games from the Wii’s Virtual Console about, but this one is perhaps the most surprising. Reports are coming in from the US that Nintendo has pulled Donkey Kong Country, Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest and Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie’s Double Trouble from the Virtual Console service. Nintendo has not provided a reason for the change. Word is that the games will be pulled from PAL region stores on the 25th of November – so if you want them, download them now.

Some folks are speculating that Nintendo might be upgrading the games to support the WiiU Game Pad, or be planning some kind of Donkey Kong collection disc, but these stories seem unlikely at this point – Donkey Kong‘s 30th anniversary was last year. There are no rights issues with Rare, as Nintendo always owned the rights to the games and characters Rare created for the franchise.

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Game Boy’s Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon headed to 3DS eShop

By
Charly
– August 12, 2012

Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon, an action adventure game (often likened to The Legend of Zelda series) released in 1998 for the Game Boy, is set for release on Nintendo’s European and Australian 3DS Virtual Console services.

Originally released as Ganbare Goemon: Kurofune Tō no Nazo (Go Goemon: Mystery of the Black Ship Gang) in Japan, the title’s gameplay is reminiscent of the Japanese only Ganbare Goemon 3: Shishijūrokubē no Karakuri Manji Gatame for the Super Famicom – including RPG elements, puzzle-solving and a top-down perspective of the action. Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon features three payable characters – Geomon, Sasuke and Ebisumaru, all tasked with rescuing fellow ninja Yae from the Black Ship Gang who kidnapped her.

Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon is available 16 August for £2.70 / €3.00 in Europe and most likely $4.50 for Australia.

Source: Nintendo of Europe

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Nintendo 3DS eShop’s 8-bit Summer

By
Charly
– June 28, 2012

Last week, Nintendo of America announced the upcoming releases for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console and reaffirmed their support for the service with a commitment to release two 3DS Virtual Console titles a week from July 5 to August 1.

Throughout July, which Nintendo have nicknamed the “8-bit Summer”, the following games are scheduled for release:
The Legend of Zelda (NES) – July 5th
Kirby’s Pinball Land (Game Boy) – July 12th
The Sword of Hope II (Game Boy) – July 12th
Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters (Game Boy) – July 19th
Tumblepop (Game Boy) – July 19th
Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3 (Game Boy) – July 19th
Sonic Blast (Game Gear) – TBA
Sonic Labyrinth (Game Gear) – TBA

Unfamiliar with some of these games? Not a problem. Just check out the trailer above for a showcase of what’s on offer. Apparently more titles will be available too, but these are yet to be confirmed.

Nintendo of America will also be offering a weekly sale on select eShop titles for a limited time, so if you live in North America or are the proud owner of an imported Nintendo 3DS you have a lot to look forward to this … winter.

Source: Siliconera

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Game Gear’s Sonic Blast double jumps onto 3DS Virtual Console

By
Charly
– June 14, 2012

Sonic Blast for the Sega Game Gear is set for re-release in Europe via the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console service.

Released in 1996, Sonic Blast was the last Sonic game to appear on the handheld. Players reprise the roles of Sonic and Knuckles and are tasked with collecting five Chaos Emeralds and defeating Eggman. Sonic Blast imbues Sonic with the ability to double jump to reach higher areas.

Sonic Blast releases on June 14 in Europe, so it should be available in Australia later today.

Source: Siliconera

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