This will be my final article about the Virtual Console in this blog, because quite frankly I can’t take it anymore.
I am allergic to stupidity and my sinuses are clogging my nose so badly I have to sound like a serial killer to get some air in my lungs. Nintendo announced that they will be releasing DS games on the WiiU Virtual Console as a way to entice gamers to purchase the system to play games on what is currently the biggest success story in the history of Nintendo gaming—and arguably all of gaming.
Before we get to why the announcement was dumb in every single conceivable level, let’s point out why Nintendo probably went with the route of the DS going to the WiiU:
1) The Nintendo DS is the second most successful gaming machine of any kind in history
2) The Nintendo DS lifetime sales totals past 150 million, with only the PS2 in a very, very weak sixth generation selling higher
3) The software totals pass 811 million, which is the best out of any handheld in history
4) Six of the 30 best-selling games in the history of gaming are on the DS, with New Super Mario Bros.’ 30 million being the prime example
5) There are 10 video games for the DS that sold over 10 million copies
It makes sense. Deliver all these acclaimed and popular games for download to theWiiU, a system that can work as a duel-screen handheld on steroids. It makes sense. But there is only one problem:
You forgot about the NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, Nintendo Wii, Game Boy, Game Boy Advance, Game Boy Color, Virtual Boy, and the Nintendo arcade games. You forgot about the Sega Master System, Sega Genesis, Sega Saturn, Sega Dreamcast, and Sega CD. You forgot about the Atari, the Jaguar, the Neo-Geo, and practically every single system between the years of 1980 and 2005.
You forgot about the fact that not only does the WiiU not offer widescreen play for your older games (which is absolutely stupid considering that the Wii did this), but the Virtual Console output for the WiiU remains sitting at less than 100 games, when between the years of 1985 and 2005 there are over 3,000 games to choose from---and I am not even including the handheld games that precede the Nintendo DS.
As an analyst, I am baffled. As a former fan that recently broke off all connections with Nintendo, I am furious. Nintendo there are literally hundreds of good games you are skipping out and have yet to release in the download market. You have totally forgotten the existence of the Nintendo Gamecube which comes with a slight irony because everyone else did too back in the day. And there are tons of excellent games within the Gamecube library that could bring a breath of actual fresh air to the WiiU.
How you ask? Well, the Gamecube barely sold north of 21 million copies, which is a laughable fraction compared to what all three systems of this previous generation sold. It’s a small install base. Now look at the sales of the Gamecube “classics”:
Eternal Darkness: 440,000
Star Wars Rogue Leader: 973,000
Super Mario Sunshine: 5.9 million
Viewtiful Joe: 275,000
Metroid Prime: 2 million
Metroid Prime 2: 800,000
Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door: 1.64 million
Mario Golf: Toadstool Tour: 1.2 million
F-Zero GX: 650,000
These are all well-known games that honestly weren’t bought or played all that much. Just throwing half of these games into the Virtual Console limelight along with the should-have-already-come-out classics of the SNES and N64 would have been a perfect holdover for when Nintendo software-wise catches up with the rest of the gaming industry. After all, can you name 5 big games coming out for the WiiU in 2014?
Nintendo is once again dropping the ball on the Virtual Console business. They have been doing this to us for many, many, many years and it is amazing how many mistakes they have made along the way. They should have made one of their major branches within the company focus solely on bringing these games to the WiiU. And let’s not also forget the 3DS, which is STILL lacking Game Boy Advance games as well as SNES and N64 games. It would be a great apology to the hardcore fanbase that grew up with these classics and would be a nice homage to the few folks that did purchase and enjoy (allegedly) the Gamecube.
The Nintendo DS being added to the Virtual Console WiiU is not going to do any favors to the company. But expanding their efforts with the dozen systems that precede the Nintendo DS would. Once again, this is the last time I discuss the Virtual Console, because by now you are all aware that I firmly believe it’s an excellent idea being executed excruciatingly poorly.
Stop letting us down on this Nintendo, it is beyond embarrassing and is a major potential source of income being wasted.
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