Wednesday, November 29, 2006
Lunch with Tom - Virtual needs
I really feel like playing Super Castlevania right now. I know the next Nintendo DS, Metroid-style Castlevania game is coming out sometime in December, but that doesn't interest me nearly as much. I crave some straightforward, whip-toting action right now. But I can't play it. Sure, I could check out eBay or my friendly neighborhood pawn shop. I could take my chances on a battered copy with a battery that ran out of juice seven years ago. I'm sure I could find a cart with a healthy yellow stain on the cover if I really wanted to. I admit that I'm lazy. I don't really want to search for a copy of the original, I don't want to pirate a copy, and I'm not even sure where all the parts to my SNES currently reside. You know what would be really cool? If Nintendo released a console that could play all these old hits. Think about the possibilities! Super Mario World and Sonic the Hedgehog on one system; being able to flick between The Lost Vikings and Bubble Bobble with the push of one button; using the same controller the whole time. It sounds like a magical, candy-filled world where unicorns do my laundry and the lunch lady tastes like Peeps. Alas, this world could exist now if Nintendo wasn't a dirty bastard.
Fancy controller aside, the most compelling aspect of the Wii is the Virtual Console. I love old school gaming. I have never played Actraiser or Devil's Crush. I want to buy these games, I want to give my hard-earned money for the right to play twenty-year-old games, but Nintendo is holding back the goods. The Wii launched 10 days ago with just a piddly amount of classic titles available for download. Crap like the original Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong were going for $5 a pop. They were selling Altered Beast, a game Sega struggled to give away free of charge 17 years ago, for $8. They had the nerve to offer Pinball for $5 as well. And Soccer! What the hell are these games? They did not give us a real Mario platformer. Japan got Super Castlevania, Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country. The only two worthwhile games we got were The Legend of Zelda and Solomon's Key. These games are great, but come on!
Nintendo has a library of thousands of games. They have the complete catalog of the NES, SNES and N64 at their disposal. Sega is giving us Genesis games and Hudson is throwing in TG-16 classics as well. I'm sure we'll even see something from Sega CD, 32X (Kolibri!) and Saturn. I know I'm not the only person who would download NiGHTS in a heartbeat. Heck, I would spend $12 to see why people are willing to spend $100 on Panzer Dragoon Saga. Instead of capitalizing on this free money, Nintendo is just sitting and waiting while I pull my hair out. Since launch, we've seen four new games released - Ecco the Dolphin, Golden Axe, Bonk's Adventure and Super Star Soldier. Decent games, but why release so few at a time? At this rate, the Wii won't be a legitimate Virtual Console until 2015. Nintendo has 80 of the 100 best games of all time at their disposal, not to mention several hundred fun games to complement those ultra classics, but is perfectly content dangling these gems above our hungry mouths. I can understand holding back super Mario Kart. You need to implement leaderboards and online play. But there is no excuse releasing the original Mario Bros. as the closest thing to a Mario platformer. That doesn't even count as a platformer! It doesn't even scroll!
Even with just Solomon's Key and The Legend of Zelda, the Wii Virtual Console is already far beyond the XBLA's collect of retro hits. I am just extremely frustrated with how Nintendo is treating us eager gamers. They have a HUGE advantage over Sony and Microsoft. They have more classic games in their back catalog than MS has total games spread across two platforms. And when that well finally dries up, Nintendo will have made a billion dollars they can invest in future development. They can work on a new 2D Mario and a new 2D Kid Icarus to be released straight to the VC. Nintendo can print money with the VC but they are not capitalizing. It is so frustrating having money to spend and a need that can be easily filled while you watch a fat company sit on their butt.
Fancy controller aside, the most compelling aspect of the Wii is the Virtual Console. I love old school gaming. I have never played Actraiser or Devil's Crush. I want to buy these games, I want to give my hard-earned money for the right to play twenty-year-old games, but Nintendo is holding back the goods. The Wii launched 10 days ago with just a piddly amount of classic titles available for download. Crap like the original Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong were going for $5 a pop. They were selling Altered Beast, a game Sega struggled to give away free of charge 17 years ago, for $8. They had the nerve to offer Pinball for $5 as well. And Soccer! What the hell are these games? They did not give us a real Mario platformer. Japan got Super Castlevania, Super Mario World and Donkey Kong Country. The only two worthwhile games we got were The Legend of Zelda and Solomon's Key. These games are great, but come on!
Nintendo has a library of thousands of games. They have the complete catalog of the NES, SNES and N64 at their disposal. Sega is giving us Genesis games and Hudson is throwing in TG-16 classics as well. I'm sure we'll even see something from Sega CD, 32X (Kolibri!) and Saturn. I know I'm not the only person who would download NiGHTS in a heartbeat. Heck, I would spend $12 to see why people are willing to spend $100 on Panzer Dragoon Saga. Instead of capitalizing on this free money, Nintendo is just sitting and waiting while I pull my hair out. Since launch, we've seen four new games released - Ecco the Dolphin, Golden Axe, Bonk's Adventure and Super Star Soldier. Decent games, but why release so few at a time? At this rate, the Wii won't be a legitimate Virtual Console until 2015. Nintendo has 80 of the 100 best games of all time at their disposal, not to mention several hundred fun games to complement those ultra classics, but is perfectly content dangling these gems above our hungry mouths. I can understand holding back super Mario Kart. You need to implement leaderboards and online play. But there is no excuse releasing the original Mario Bros. as the closest thing to a Mario platformer. That doesn't even count as a platformer! It doesn't even scroll!
Even with just Solomon's Key and The Legend of Zelda, the Wii Virtual Console is already far beyond the XBLA's collect of retro hits. I am just extremely frustrated with how Nintendo is treating us eager gamers. They have a HUGE advantage over Sony and Microsoft. They have more classic games in their back catalog than MS has total games spread across two platforms. And when that well finally dries up, Nintendo will have made a billion dollars they can invest in future development. They can work on a new 2D Mario and a new 2D Kid Icarus to be released straight to the VC. Nintendo can print money with the VC but they are not capitalizing. It is so frustrating having money to spend and a need that can be easily filled while you watch a fat company sit on their butt.
// posted by Tom @ 11:54 AM 
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