Michael is Low on Hit Points
Nintendo's Virtual Console reminds a jaded gamer why he liked the medium to begin with
- Posted May 6th, 2009 at 9:28 PM ET
- Subjects Virtual Console
- Tags short editorial
- Image sources
1- Nintendo [unknown] - Video searches
none
I'm getting back into video games by going back in time. The irony is not lost on me that my first "next gen" console purchase is essentially an emulator of old school gaming. Because God knows I didn't purchase a Wii for crappy Wii games. I didn't buy a Wii; I bought a Virtual Console.
I feel like a kid in a candy shop with all that's up for download on the VC. Of course there's Mario and Sonic and friends, but let's not forget all those Treasure shooters I missed out on before. Classic gaming just has a certain magic that new school gaming seems to miss.
Maybe it's because before the days of HD graphics and "cinematic" gaming, developers had to focus on the actual gameplay. Heaven forbid! That's not to say there aren't any good games coming out this generation. But there is a certain something to old school games beyond simple nostalgia.
What the Virtual Console does so well is produce these classics for my enjoyment in the environment they were meant to be played. I've tried the emulator route before, but I'd spend so much time just trying to get everything set up perfect.
Perfect means full screen on my tv with a controller in my hand, and no fiddling with settings past the installation.
I could never get everything just right. By the end, I'd just lose the fire and would simply slump back down into a nice, comfortable anime. I even considered the eBay route, but that can get expensive on top of being a pain in the ass.
With the Virtual Console, there's no hacking around. Hook it up to my tv, get the system online, and bam... a full library of gaming goodness awaits me. All of it controlled with the sublime Classic Controller. Digital delivery is truly heaven sent. I can purchase and get delivered full games within minutes while never leaving the couch!? Now that's progress!
And while the Virtual Console doesn't have every single old school game I'm interested in -- how could it, really? -- it does have a good chunk of them. There's enough to keep me occupied for a long time. And by then, more games I want will surely be out. Sweetness.
Feel free to share your love of classic gaming below. Is Nintendo's Virtual Console a wide-open playing field for you too?
1 Seantaku
Hells yes!
I don't own a Wii but I totally agree with what you say about Old School gaming. While I still love the games that come out today, there is something about the old games that are just so rewarding. I own a PS3 and when they announced Mega Man 9 I nearly lost it. They were taking it back to the 8-bit days! They even removed the slide and charge introduced in Mega Man 3. Truly old school!!
I also remember as a kid faking sick to my mom so I could stay home from school. I ended up just playing Donkey Kong Country on SNES the whole day!
Classic...
2 glothelegend
I heard about Virtule Console a few months ago, and supposedly it's going to take over everything, because it's so versatile, and can give you any game ever (well, a lot anyway).
As for me, this system looks awesome. Too bad I recently wasted money on an xbox 360, for the sole purpose of playing Mirror's Edge (which was worth it).
How much did Virtual Console cost? God knows I love old school games like Super Mario Land (game boy) and all of those. (Idk if you get game boy games on Virtual Console....if you do then it rocks).
As for me, N64 is still my favorite system.
Re Michael is LoHP
@ Seantaku
I love love love love Mega Man 9. I was so giddy when they announced it. The game came out perfect. Hard as fuck too!
Virtual Console has Donkey Kong Country 1-3 up for download, FYI.
@ glothelegend
Yes, Virtual Console is filling out nicely. The more time passes by, the more games it assimilates. As for cost, here's a page with all the games and their prices. 100 Wii Points = $1. Unfortunately, there are no Game Boy games on it... yet.
3 Glo the Legend
@ Michael
Wow. That comes with pretty much every game I love....Bubble Bobble, Cruisin USA, 1080, F-Zero X.......even the ones I didn't think they'd have....they have.
The only disappointment was that they didn't have Destiny of an Emperor, one of my all time favorites. Still, very awesome list of games.
Original Yoshi......AWESOME.
4 Jean-Philippe Thibault
A good game probably none of you played is "DoReMi Fantasy: Milon's DokiDoki Adventure" It's in the import section of the VC if my memory can be trusted.
It's a classic platformer in the style of mario. It had some innovations and worth checking out.
Here's a review for your reading pleasure: http://vc.nintendolife.com/reviews/2008/03/doremi_fantasy_milons_dokidoki_adventure_virtual_console
Re Michael is LoHP
@ Glo the Legend
When I pulled a google search for "Destiny of an Emperor virtual console," I stumbled upon something pretty unique. I've never seen this before: an online NES emulator.
@ Jean-Philippe Thibault
Thanks for the recommendation; the game looks good. I'll have to give it a spin.
5 Glo the Legend
@ Michael
Yea I used to have an NES emulator on my computer, as well as an N64 emulator on my computer.....that's where I played all of these games before, as I never had NES (I mean I played it back in the day, but not that much).
Basically you can download an emulator, and then whatever games (ROMs) you want. It's good because it's free, and the graphics are perfect. But after a while I found that the N64 emulator started freezing a lot.
Re Michael is LoHP
@ Glo the Legend
I had a good experience with a SNES emulator on the PC replaying through Chrono Trigger. I've even gone as far as to put SNES and Genesis emulators on my PSP, which is still pretty nifty. But there's something about the no hassle and all-inclusive setup on the Virtual Console that appeals to me.
Though, if you like your emulator setup then there really isn't a lot of draw to the Virtual Console...