virtualconsolemonday
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The VC gets 3 more NES titles
A handful of new NES titles are destined to hit the VC today at their usual time of 9am PST. With all three being solid titles from the Nintendo Entertainment System's line-up of games, we suspect we'll be forced to give each and every one a download. The details for each game are: Kid Icarus - NES - 1 player - 500 Wii Points Ice Climbers - NES - 1-2 players - 500 Wii Points Kirby - 1 player - 500 Wii Points Will you be joining us in giving these a download today?
Kirby, Ice Climber, and Kid Icarus reunite on Wii Virtual Console
The last time these three games -- Kirby's Adventure, Ice Climber, and Kid Icarus -- were all gathered on your Nintendo system, Kirby's producer wasn't yet head of Nintendo, Kid Icarus' creator had gone on to create the Game Boy, and the adorable Ice Climbers had no idea they would be duking it out in Super Smash Bros. Melee in the future. And so, another Virtual Console Monday comes and goes, again just barely missing that promise of four new titles.But that's okay, we're still working on last week's Super Mario World ... though we would like to get our hands back on Kid Icarus. He may not have ever made it to DS or The Console Formerly Known as Revolution as rumored but he did make it to Wii intact. All three NES titles will be available at 9am PT for the standard NES fare of 500 Wii Points.
Super Mario World leads VC Monday charge [update 1]
It's that wonderful time again when we all turn on our Wiis (at 9am PST, natch) and discover the latest Virtual Console releases. This week, there may not be many, but many argue that Super Mario World is the best of the Mario bunch. The other two titles are a bit less well-known: Super Mario World - SNES - 800 Wii Points - 1-2 players Vigilante - TG-16 - 600 Wii Points - 1player Gain Ground - Genesis - 800 Wii Points - 1-2 players Anyone giving these a download?[Update 1: World, not Land. Our bad.]
Virtual Console vigilantes gain ground in Super Mario World
If you're the sort of person who leaps out of bed on a Monday morning, filled with the burning desire to rescue something from a perilous situation, you'll likely find today's Virtual Console offerings most satisfying. As of 9AM Pacific Time, you should be able to make your way into the Wii shop and start proving that chivalry is far from dead (but possibly overpriced in some cases).Princess Toadstool will be requiring your services in Super Mario Land State Continent World (SNES, $8), having been kidnapped during her trip to Dinosaur Land -- it sounded so inviting! If you haven't played it before, it's well worth witnessing Mario's career shift to Dino-Rider and his expertise in straddling a vicious green beast that devours enemies whole. If that doesn't hold appeal, a different career of sorts lies in Vigilante (Turbo-Grafx 16, $6), which sees players beating up thugs in New York City in an effort to rescue "the beloved Madonna." Finally, there's Gain Ground (Genesis, $8), a dramatic tale of supercomputers gone rampant and civilians being unjustly imprisoned within war simulations (obviously). It's just as well that you have an AK-toting guy called "Professor" on your side. Presumably, it's expected of us to find and rescue the fourth and still missing Virtual Console game for this week.
Mario Kart 64 and Contra III join tardy Genesis games on VC Monday
Last Monday, Nintendo's excellent Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past sat around, waiting for its friends from Sega to make their way onto Nintendo's fledgling Virtual Console service. We don't need to tell you that they never showed up. Until now that is.This week another seminal Nintendo title, Mario Kart 64, is being joined by Bonanza Bros. and Comix Zone -- two of the three promised Genesis titles (despite what Sega's website says) -- with the forgettable Gain Ground being pleasantly replaced with the similarly 16-bit SNES title, Super Probotector: Alien Rebels ... errr, rather Contra III: The Alien Wars. Normal VC prices apply to this batch: N64 titles fetch 1000 Wii Points while SNES and Genesis titles go for 800 Wii Points.
Zelda: A Link to the Past teams up with Sega on Wii VC
We're thrilled to see the seminal Super Nintendo classic, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, hitting the Wii's Virtual Console service this Monday, alongside Sega classics like Bonanza Bros and Comix Zone. Oh yeah, there's also Gain Ground. Unfortunately, as of this post, Zelda: LTTP stands alone at the top of the Wii Shop's latest VC additions, accompanied only by its 800 Wii Points price tag and the knowledge that three of its one-time foes were supposed to be there at 9am PT, but aren't. When (and if) they arrive, we expect them to be Genesis-priced at 800 Wii Points, unless they go the R-Type route and insist they're better than everyone else. Better than A Link to the Past? We think not.
Sub-par Virtual Console games on U.S. holiday
On a day most Americans have off, we get another lame assortment of VC games for the Wii. Xevious (NES, 500 points), R-Type III: The Third Lightning (Super NES, 800 points) and Moto Roader (TurboGrafx16, 600 points) are the titles Wii owners are expected to blow their cash Wii points on.Bring on the Metroid, even Super Metroid, Kid Icarus, or titles we've heard of. We know that some good games need to be saved for the rumored incoming Wii drought, but with an amazing library of games at Nintendo's disposal, we're getting some unimpressive and genre clumped offerings. The VC is not living up to its potential.
Dungeon Explorer leads trio of VC Monday releases
Apparently the "funky things" holding up the Wii virtual console release of TurboGrafx-16 classic Dungeon Explorer have been fixed. The game will be available for download today at 9 a.m. Pacific, along with the space shooters Gradius (NES -- 500 points) and Soldier Blade (TG-16 -- 600 points). In other virtual console news, the ESRB web site shows a listing for a Wii version of the SNES' Contra: The Alien Wars (E10+), adding to a sizable list of other ESRB-rated but yet-to-be-released throwbacks. While we're happy to consider these NES and TurboGrafx games, we can't help but wonder why there haven't been more Nintendo 64 releases on the virtual console thus far. True, there aren't many real classics for the 64-bit system, but let's face it, Urban Champion isn't anything to write home about either. Mario Tennis anyone?
VC Christmas: Super Mario, four more, no hand outs [update 1]
[Update: The original post erroneously listed the price for R-Type at 600 points. More here.]Nintendo has confirmed five titles for the Christmas Day Virtual Console update, and it's quite an impressive release. Just as we thought, Nintendo is not giving away any titles. Instead, they are uploading five major titles to increase their profit margin. The titles are: Super Mario Bros. (NES, 500 points): Nintendo's flagship title is sure to sell like hotcakes despite already racking up 40 million in sales since its 1985 release. How many times can we repurchase the game? Street Fighter II: The World Warrior (SNES, 800 points): Compared to the Xbox Live version, it's your choice whether you want online play or would rather pocket $2.00 in exchange rate difference (800 Nintendo points vs. 800 MS points). Super Castlevania IV (SNES, 800 points): One of the best in the series. Easily the best Castlevania title on the SNES, though it only had one other iteration (Castlevania Dracula X) to compete against. Toe Jam & Earl (Genesis, 800 points): Strong two-player action title, worth the price based on style alone. R-Type (TurboGrafx16, 800 points): One of the classic space shooters. We're excited by the list, even if our wallets aren't. Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime has talked about strategically releasing VC titles when there's a drought of first-party Wii titles. With all these delays recently announced, might we be seeing more great VC Mondays forthcoming? And when are we going to see Square Enix games or any Nintendo 64 goodies?Keep up on: Virtual Console Mondays
VC Monday: Tennis (NES), Space Harrier II (Gen), Military Madness (TG16)
In just a few short hours -- at precisely 12pm ET -- Tennis (NES), Space Harrier II (Genesis), and Military Madness (TurboGrafx-16) will clamber out of their Craftmatic adjustable beds and drag their weary bones onto the Wii's Shop Channel, part of a weekly ritual we've come to know as Virtual Console Mondays.They may be old, but that doesn't mean they don't have any self respect! Nope, if you want to reignite that old fling, you're gonna need to pay ... just not as much as you used to. Though this troika of platform-specific releases have temporarily joined forces on the Wii, a distinct class system is still evident. NES titles, like Tennis, fetch a cool 500 Wii Points, while Genesis titles, like Space Harrier II, are going for 800 Wii Points. That's 100% more bits for only 60% more Points! Clearly, you can see the injustice being perpetrated here! All the while TurboGrafx-16 is still rambling on about that 16-bit graphics chip of his, so they figured an extra 100 Wii Points for those games oughta shut him up.
Gunstar, Mean Bean, and 2 more invade VC Mondays
Nintendo has announced the four new titles coming to the Virtual Console today. As predicted, TurboGrafx-16's Alien Crush makes the list, although the also-mentioned Dungeon Explorer is currently MIA. The other three titles are Gunstar Heroes, Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine (both Genesis) and Ice Hockey (NES), which were all featured on the launch list for the US Virtual Console.Also on the launch list, but still absent, are Baseball, Tennis, Urban Champion (all NES), Space Harrier II and Toe Jam & Earl (both Genesis). As noted by Joystiq tipster Eric B., Sega lists Space Harrier II landing next Monday (December 18) and Toe Jam & Earl arriving Christmas Day. Assuming Dungeon Explorer makes the list by 2006 -- it, too, was on the list -- that's at least six more titles we can expect before the New Year. With any luck, we'll also see a few better titles purported by Nintendo -- that is, unless it interferes with Reggie's strategies.The four new VC titles today will be added at 12:00pm EST. Ice Hockey is 500 points, Alien Crush 600, and both Genesis titles are 800 points apiece.Keep up on: Virtual Console Mondays[Thanks, ElChibo and Shadow Hog]
Nintendo promises four VC games every Monday
After a bit of an inconsistent start, Nintendo has finally decided to standardize the release of classic game downloads on the Wii's Shop Channel. Starting this week, the company will make available four virtual console downloads every Monday at 9 a.m. Pacific time. The following titles will be available on Dec. 4: Donkey Kong Jr. (500 Wii points - NES*) Victory Run (600 points - TG-16) Columns (800 points - Genesis) Ristar (800 points - Genesis) While we're happy to see Nintendo add some regularity to the release of new content, we can't help but wonder why there have been so few SNES and N64 games announced for the virtual console thus far. Is Nintendo trying to hook new users with lower-priced, older games, or are they just reluctant to put out downloads that require a Gamecube pad or a somewhat-hard-to-find classic controller? Or neither. Or both. Or something else! Hooray for rhetorical questions!* - Mistakenly listed in the press release as SNES[Via Gaming Bits]
Ecco, Golden Axe hit Virtual Console
Seems we were a little premature in declaring Nintendo's latest Virtual Console release as a "slow-play" of their classic library. Two new Genesis games -- Ecco the Dolphin and Golden Axe -- are now available for download at 800 Wii points each.We can't be sure that these games didn't go up some time after Super Star Soldier late last night, but it seems that they actually hit sometime earlier today. Combined with last week's late launch of TurboGrafx-16 games on the Virtual Console, this makes two times that Nintendo has released new VC content on a day other than Monday.Is this a sign that we should now expect Virtual Console launches to come at any time throughout the week, or is Nintendo just running into some early technical glitches in its "Virtual Console Mondays" plan? You'll know the answer as soon as we do.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in.][Update: Second paragraph edited to clarify the Monday vs. rest of week point.]
Super Star Soldier limps onto Wii Virtual Console
It's time for fun with Virtual Console math. OK, so a few weeks ago Nintendo promised 30 games would be available for the classic gaming download service by the end of the year. Fourteen of those games premiered on the service at launch (or just after), leaving 16 more to be released in the remainder of 2006. With Nintendo set to premiere new VC content on Mondays and only five more Mondays in 2006 (including today) we could reasonably expect three or four virtual console games each week, right?Apparently not. With less than two hours remaining in Monday on the East coast, the Wii Shop Channel is only showing one new game today: TurboGrafx-16 vertical shooter Super Star Soldier.We suppose its Nintendo's prerogative to slow-play its 2006 Virtual Console hand like this, but we're a little frustrated that we still have to wait for promised classics like ToeJam and Earl and Ecco the Dolphin. It shouldn't take much work on Nintendo's part to upload these decades-old ROMs to their servers -- perhaps the slow release is a way to offer a respite to Nintendo download servers that reportedly slowed to a crawl shortly after launch.Anyway, the game is up and available for 600 points, so go and buy if you're into the whole classic shmup thin.[Update: Fixed some math errors in paragraph 1]
