Virtual Console

Virtual Console (バーチャルコンソール Bācharu Konsōru), sometimes abbreviated as VC, is a feature of the Wii that emulates older video game consoles and allows you to play games originally released for those consoles. This feature is supported by the Wii Shop Channel. The Virtual Console currently emulates the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System and Nintendo 64, as well as the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis, NEC's TurboGrafx-16/PC Engine, the MSX computer and the Neo Geo home system.

Library history
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. While the company has stated that the Wii Shop will not be used exclusively for retro games, no original games have yet been made available through the service. 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.

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata stated in a speech on March 23, 2006, that Nintendo, Sega, and Hudson Soft are working in collaboration to bring a "best of" series of games to the Wii. At E3, Hudson also declared it would bring upwards of 100 titles to the Wii's Virtual Console. Additionally, Hudson mentioned that its lawyers are working on acquiring the licenses to games from now defunct companies. Nintendo announced MSX compatibility on September 19, 2006, announcing on February 23, 2007 that the MSX titles Eggy and Aleste will be released in Japan. Added to the Japanese Virtual Console page was a heading for Neo Geo games. They will appear in late 2007 to all regions.

On June 1 2007, Nintendo of America issued a press release to announce the upcoming release of its 100th Virtual Console title. 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.

Third party support
Unnamed Nintendo employees have reportedly speculated that licensing issues will be a predominant factor in determining whether a game is available for Virtual Console, giving the examples of GoldenEye 007 and Tetris as games that might be too expensive to license for the Virtual Console. Tecmo has announced it plans to "aggressively" support Virtual Console by re-releasing classic games such as Ninja Gaiden, Rygar, and Tecmo Bowl. Tecmo was the first third-party game developer to release a game on the Virtual Console: Solomon's Key from the NES. Since then, Capcom and Konami, among others, have also released titles.

Matt Casamassina of IGN reported that Rare titles absent of Nintendo-owned characters would be unavailable for purchase due to Microsoft's acquisition of Rare, but none of the three companies has announced this. SNK Playmore has recently announced intentions to help support the Virtual Console by releasing the Samurai Shodown series and a few other games to the Virtual Console. Midway also plans to bring classic Mortal Kombat games to the Virtual Console.

Confirmed third-party companies supporting Virtual Console include: Atlus, Namco Bandai, Banpresto, Capcom, Chunsoft, D4 Enterprise, Enterbrain, G-mode, Irem, Jaleco, KEMCO, Koei, Midway Games, Natsume, NCS Masaya, Netfarm, Paon, Rocket Company, Konami, Spike, Square Enix, Sunsoft, SNK Playmore, Taito, Tecmo, Takara, and TOMY.

Updates
The Wii Shop Channel has functionality to allow games to be updated. This has been used three times so far to update Military Madness and Star Fox 64 in North America and Europe and Mario Kart 64 in Europe and Australia. The Legend of Zelda, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Mario Bros., Donkey Kong Country and Super Castlevania IV 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.

Pricing
On September 14, 2006, Nintendo revealed that Virtual Console games in Japan would be priced starting at JP¥500 for NES titles, JP¥800 for Super NES titles, and JP¥1000 for Nintendo 64 titles, with points purchasable via credit card or a "Wii Points" card. In the United States, Wii Points are priced at one cent per point, with the ability to buy in denominations of $10, $20, $30 and $50, with game prices of US$5, US$8, and US$10, respectively.

Satoru Iwata has indicated that new small-scale titles could be developed and sold through the Wii Shop Channel at a price of between JP¥500 and ¥1000 (approximately US$4-$9, GB£2-£5), and that free downloads may be offered as a bonus with the purchase of specific Wii titles, similar to Nintendo Europe's VIP 24:7 incentives.

Storage
Games downloaded from the Virtual Console library are stored in the Wii's built-in 512 MB flash memory, though only less than 400 MB is actually available to the user. Games can be transferred to a removable SD card but they cannot be played from this external memory. If the internal memory is filled, Virtual Console games can be deleted to create more room, and the games can be downloaded again at a later date at no additional cost. Virtual Console games are locked to the Wii on which they were purchased — they cannot be transferred to another Wii via an SD card. In the event that a Wii is damaged and the Virtual Console games can no longer be played, Nintendo provides support.

Control
Games on the Virtual Console can be played using three different controllers. The Wii Remote itself, turned on its side, can be used for NES, TurboGrafx-16, and some Sega Mega Drive/Genesis games, and the Classic Controller can be used for all games. The controllers from the Nintendo GameCube can also be used, causing the wireless controller, the WaveBird, to have an increased popularity. The Nintendo Gamecube controller can be used for all Nintendo systems' games, however Nintendo's site claims that it cannot be used with some TurboGrafx-16 and Genesis/Mega Drive titles.

All Virtual Console games have their buttons mapped to the respective buttons on the controllers, however, in certain circumstances you can use X and Y instead of A and B, if the original controller does not have X and Y buttons, like the NES.

With the release of Bomberman'93, it was revealed that TurboGrafx-16 games can support full 5 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 is needed for 5 player games. At least one player has to use a Remote or Classic controller, and at least one player has to use a GameCube Controller. The other three can use either one.

'Super Smash Bros. titles
Super Smash Bros. has yet to have been released on the Virtual Console.

Criticism
Chris Kohler of the magazine Wired has criticized the overall release strategy of games on the Virtual Console as a handful of games were relased at the launch of the Wii, though now only two or three games are released each week. Kohler also took issue with the Virtual Console's aspect ratio which stretches the 4:3 games when the Wii's system settings are set for a 16:9 television. The prices for the games have been criticized as too high, especially for the NES games, given the prices of many of the games on eBay and the near-zero costs of manufacture and distribution.