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 | This article may be confusing or unclear to readers. (August 2015) |
 | |
| Developer | Nintendo |
|---|---|
| Type | Classic video game re-release distribution |
| Launch date |
|
| Discontinued | Wii January 30, 2019 Wii U and 3DS March 27, 2023 |
| Platform(s) | |
| Status |
|
| Website | Wii Official US website[dead link] Official UK website Official Japanese website Nintendo 3DS Official US website[dead link] Official UK website Official Japanese website Wii U Official US website[dead link] Official UK website Official Japanese website |
The Virtual Console[a] is a defunct line of downloadable video games for Nintendo's Wii and Wii U home video game consoles and the Nintendo 3DS family of systems.
The Virtual Console lineup consisted of titles originally released on past home and handheld consoles. These titles were run in their original forms through software emulation (excluding GBA titles on the 3DS and Wii on Wii U), therefore remaining mostly unaltered, and could be purchased from the Wii Shop Channel or Nintendo eShop for between 500 and 1200 Wii Points. They could also be purchased using real currency for $2.99 and $9.99 (3DS) and $4.99 and $9.99 (Wii U), depending on the system, rarity, and/or demand.[1][2] Virtual Console's library of past games consisted of titles originating from the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and Nintendo DS, as well as Sega's Master System, Genesis/Mega Drive and Game Gear, NEC's TurboGrafx-16, and SNK's Neo Geo AES. The service for the Wii also included games for platforms that were known only in select regions, such as the Commodore 64 (Europe and North America) and Microsoft's and ASCII's MSX (Japan),[3] as well as Virtual Console Arcade, which allowed players to download video arcade games. Virtual Console titles have been downloaded over ten million times.[4] The distribution of past games through the Virtual Console is one of Nintendo's reasons for opposing software piracy of old console games.[5]
On January 30, 2019, the Virtual Console service was discontinued on the Wii, following the shutdown of the Wii Shop Channel.[6]
On March 27, 2023, the Virtual Console service was discontinued on the Wii U and Nintendo 3DS.[7] Purchased titles remain playable.
List of Virtual Console games
| Platform | Wii Shop Channel (discontinued) |
Nintendo eShop (discontinued) | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Wii | Wii U | Nintendo 3DS family | |
| Arcade | |||
| Virtual Console Arcade | Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
Was available in Wii Mode only, now discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
No |
| Home systems | |||
| Nintendo Entertainment System (NES)/ Family Computer (FC) |
Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
| Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES)/ Super Famicom (SFC) |
Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
Was available on the New Nintendo 3DS and New Nintendo 2DS XL models only, now discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded)[8] |
| Nintendo 64 | Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
No |
| PC Engine/ TurboGrafx-16 (HuCard and CD-ROM games) |
Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
Was available on Japanese 3DS Systems only (HuCard only), now discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
| Sega Master System | Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
Was available in Wii Mode only, now discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
No |
| Sega Genesis/ Sega Mega Drive |
Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
Was available in Wii Mode only, now discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
No |
| Neo Geo AES | Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
Was available in Wii Mode only, now discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
No |
| Commodore 64 (North America and PAL regions only) |
Removed from Wii Shop Channel in August 2013[9] (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
Originally available in Wii Mode only (removed from Wii Shop Channel in August 2013, but games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
No |
| MSX/MSX2 (Japan only) |
Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
No |
| Handheld systems | |||
| Game Boy | No | No | Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
| Game Boy Color | No | No | Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
| Game Boy Advance | No | Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
Was available through the Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program only, now discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
| Nintendo DS | No | Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
No |
| Game Gear | No | No | Discontinued (games already purchased can be redownloaded) |
Japan
There were 38 Famicom, Super Famicom, Nintendo 64, Sega Mega Drive, and PC Engine games available at launch on the Wii Virtual Console for the Japanese region. The Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console launched with 7 Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles. New Virtual Console software is added on Tuesdays (Wii) and Wednesdays (Nintendo 3DS, Wii U) at 2:00 pm JST and there were a total of 659 titles for the Wii, 244 titles for the 3DS (256 for Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors) and 466 titles for the Wii U available.
North America
There were 12 total NES, SNES, N64, and Sega Genesis games available at launch on the Wii Virtual Console for the North American region. Two TurboGrafx-16 titles were added two days later on November 21, 2006. The Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console launched with 4 Game Boy and Game Boy Color titles.[10][11] North America saw its first release of Commodore 64 games on the service on February 23, 2009, and its first Virtual Console Arcade games on March 25, 2009. There were 398 titles for the Wii, 172 title for the 3DS (184 including those available for Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors and Donkey Kong: Original Edition) and 267 titles for the Wii U available.
Though the Virtual Console lineup initially only covered games that had been released in North America, George Harrison indicated in an interview that there was a possibility that Nintendo or other Virtual Console providers would localize Japanese games that have never been released in English.[12] This later came to reality, and former Japan-only games have appeared on the North American Virtual Console. The first game to be added with such localization was Sin and Punishment for the Nintendo 64. While other previous Japan-only titles had been released through the Virtual Console prior to this, the first being Battle Lode Runner from the TurboGrafx-16, added on April 23, 2007, this and all others were originally written in English and required no localization. Despite the fact others fit the category, there are currently 25 titles listed under the "Import" genre with 1 removed: Sin and Punishment, Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels (previously available in North America as part of Super Mario All-Stars), Ninja JaJaMaru-kun, Alien Soldier (although the game was previously available in North America through the Sega Channel), DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure, Puyo Puyo 2, Bio Miracle Bokutte Upa, Dig Dug, Gley Lancer, Super Fantasy Zone, Break In, Star Parodier (Removed), Cho Aniki, Final Soldier, Digital Champ: Battle Boxing, Gradius II: Gofer no Yabou, Bomberman '94, Detana!! TwinBee, Wonder Boy III: Monster Lair, Pulseman, Secret Command, Street Fighter II: Champion Edition, Castlevania: Rondo of Blood, Ironclad, Ufouria: The Saga and Monster World IV. Furthermore, at least two import titles (DoReMi Fantasy[13] and Puyo Puyo 2[14]) were released without any English translation, and thus only Japanese text is available in these games while Monster World IV was fully translated to English.
PAL region
A total of 17 NES, SNES, N64, Sega Mega Drive and TurboGrafx titles were available at launch on the Virtual Console in Europe and 11 titles for the Oceanic region (TurboGrafx games were first added there from July 6, 2007[15][16]). There were 385 titles in Europe and 384 titles in Australia and New Zealand for the Wii, 168 titles for Nintendo 3DS (178 for Nintendo 3DS Ambassadors) and 258 titles for Wii U available.
Though the Virtual Console titles primarily cover only the games that have been released in Europe, Nintendo UK has commented that there is a possibility that in the future, Nintendo will localize Japanese and North American games that have never been released in Europe such as Super Mario RPG, which was released on the European Virtual Console on August 22, 2008, after being unreleased in that region for 12 years.[17] In March 2007, Hudson released three TurboGrafx games which were not originally released in Europe: Double Dungeons, Dragon's Curse,[18] and Battle Lode Runner. Five Hanabi Festivals have been held since, releasing former Japanese and/or North American exclusive titles.
Wii
Library history
The first few Virtual Console games were released to the Wii Shop Channel on November 19, 2006, alongside the launch of the Wii.[19]
While the gameplay remains unchanged for all of the classic titles offered for the Virtual Console, Nintendo has stated that some games may be improved with sharper graphics or better frame rates.[20] In reality, however, many games suffer from drops in frame rate or have graphical glitches not present in the original, and many PAL SNES games run with significantly reduced borders compared to the original cartridge releases. As with disc-based games, the Virtual Console service is region-locked—that is, different versions of games are provided to different regions, and game availability may vary from region to region.[21]
Nintendo stated that the Wii Shop Channel would not be used exclusively for retro games, and WiiWare games have appeared in North America as of May 12, 2008.[22] These original games are made available through the WiiWare part of the Wii Shop Channel, as opposed to through the Virtual Console.
Satoru Iwata stated in a speech on March 23, 2006, that Nintendo, Sega, and Hudson Soft were working in collaboration to bring a "best of" series of games to the Wii.[23] At E3 2006, Hudson also declared it would bring upwards of 100 titles to the Wii's Virtual Console. Additionally, Hudson mentioned that its lawyers were working on acquiring the licenses to games from now defunct companies.[24] Nintendo announced MSX compatibility on September 19, 2006,[25] announcing on February 23, 2007, that the MSX titles Eggy and Aleste would be released in Japan.[26] In February 2007, a heading for Neo Geo AES games was added to the Japanese Virtual Console page,[27][28] and in September of that same year, games for that system appeared on the list of future releases, priced at 900 points each.[29][30] Also in September Hudson announced that games made for the TurboGrafx-CD format would also join the Virtual Console beginning in October 2007, with five titles to be released for the remainder of 2007 and ten titles for 2008, each priced at 800 points.[31]
On June 1, 2007, Nintendo of America issued a press release to announce the upcoming release of its 100th Virtual Console title, which was Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. Within this press release, Nintendo stated that more than 4.7 million Virtual Console games had been downloaded, at a rate of more than 1,000 titles an hour.[32]
Neo Geo AES support was added on September 18, 2007, for the Japanese Virtual Console, becoming the first addition to the list of consoles since the TurboGrafx-16 was added two days after the U.S. launch.[33][34]
On October 9, 2007, Nintendo announced that 7.8 million Virtual Console titles had been downloaded,[35] and as of December 2007, this number topped ten million.[4]
Games from several new past consoles were added during 2008: Master System on February 26, 2008, for Japan's Virtual Console;[36] Commodore 64 support was added on March 28, 2008, for Europe's Virtual Console.[37] and MSX support was added on May 27, 2008, for Japan's Virtual Console.
On February 23, 2009, the first three Commodore 64 titles (International Karate, The Last Ninja and Pitstop II) were added to the North America Virtual Console for the first time.
On March 25, 2009, simultaneously with Nintendo's Keynote Speech at Game Developers Conference, Nintendo launched 'Virtual Console Arcade', launching with four titles, Mappy, The Tower of Druaga, Star Force and Gaplus.
On February 4, 2011, Sega announced that a Virtual Console release of Puyo Puyo, released in Japan in Spring 2011, is the first Virtual Console to feature Wi-Fi support for online multiplayer.[38]
The Wii Shop Channel has functionality to allow games to be updated. This has been used four times so far to update Military Madness, Star Fox 64/Lylat Wars, Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards (in North America and Europe),[39] and Mario Kart 64 (in Europe and Australia). Several NES and SNES games released before March 30, 2007, have also been given updates in Europe and Australia to fix previous problems with the Wii component cables. These updates are free of charge to those who have downloaded a previous version of the game.
In later years, some games have been removed from the service due to their licenses expiring, namely R-Type and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, among others. The three Donkey Kong Country SNES games produced by Rare were unknowingly withdrawn. Since Nintendo retains the rights to these games, the reason for their removal remained unknown, however, they have since been released on the Wii U eShop and were also added back to the Wii Shop Channel around the same time as well. Sonic the Hedgehog and its sequel Sonic the Hedgehog 2 were both removed in Japan in 2012. While the games returned to the Wii Shop Channel in 2013, they were removed yet again on October 30, 2015, on the Japanese Wii Shop Channel and Xbox Live Arcade in that region while the 3D Classics versions ported by M2 are still available on the Nintendo 3DS for download via the 3DS eShop. However, both North America and Europe still have both games available to download on the Wii Shop Channel and Xbox Live Arcade. While these and other removed titles can no longer be found or purchased from the Shop Channel, they remain available to those who have purchased them prior to their removal. Such users may still re-download them on their Wii consoles and even transfer them to a Wii U system using the "system transfer" tool. Any Wii Virtual Console titles can be transferred to the Wii U and played via its Wii Mode.
Control
Virtual Console games can be played using different controllers. The Wii Remote itself (turned on its side) can be used for NES, Master System, TurboGrafx-16, and some Mega Drive/Genesis and Neo Geo AES games. The original and the pro versions of Classic Controller (sold separately from the console) can be used for all Virtual Console games. The controllers from the GameCube can also be used for all games on the Virtual Console, except for some multiplayer TurboGrafx-16 games that use the GameCube controller for the fifth player. As a result of this, the wireless GameCube controller (the WaveBird) has seen increased popularity.[40]
All Virtual Console games have their buttons mapped to the respective buttons on the controllers, however, in certain circumstances, users can use X and Y instead of A and B, if the original controller does not have X and Y buttons (for example the NES).[41] In certain titles, such as Nintendo 64 games, there may be specific controls tailored to the Classic Controller or GameCube Controller. Nintendo 64 titles that originally provided force feedback via the Nintendo 64 controller's Rumble Pak peripheral, however, are not supported by the built-in "Rumble" feature of the Wii Remote (with a Classic Controller attached) and the GameCube controller, which also happened to make a certain optional item in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time useless.
With the release of Bomberman '93, it was revealed that TurboGrafx-16 games can support full five-player games. Since a single Wii can only have four Wii Remotes and four GameCube controllers connected at the same time, a combination of the two are needed for five-player games. The same issue is found in 5-8 player Commodore 64 games as well. Because the Wii U doesn't have GameCube controller ports, only up to four-player games can be played on the system.
- ^ Virtual Console (バーチャルコンソール, Bācharu Konsōru)
- ^ The NES Classic Controller, the SNES Classic Edition Controller, and Club Nintendo's SNES Classic Controller have at least partial functionality with all Wii Virtual Console releases but may require button remapping to accommodate for the lack of buttons.
MSX games also support USB keyboards, as the original system featured their input.[42] However, Commodore 64 titles use a pop-up "virtual" keyboard, which can be toggled on and off by pressing the "1" button on the Wii Remote, and are only used to set up the game and are not for input during gameplay.[43]