Well, Nintendo's Virtual Console is pretty cool. You can download all kinds of classic games and play them on your Wii! The great things about virtual games are:

1)they take up no physical space
2)you can play them on the Wii, and don't need to reconnect old systems

However, there are things I definitely don't like about virtual games

a)You don't get a real manual, or map, or any of those cool inserts which in my opinion make a game more fun!
b)What if you want to take the game to your friend's house? Well, correct me if I'm wrong, but it looks like you're screwed!
c)What if your system gets fried in a lightning strike, or ruined some other way, or if you decide to sell it and pick up a Wii2? What then??

Overall, I much prefer to have a tangible game. Nevertheless, it is nice to be able to download classic (and some not-so-classic) games. Especially when some of those games are quite expensive to find! Your thoughts? Also, if you have purchased virtual games, did you purchase games you have played before or games you have not played before? I have only purchased games I've never played before (I see no reason to purchase a game I've already finished and own or have owned at some point in it's original format... but for some reason I think I might be in the minority on this one)! Yeah, it's pretty cool, but I still prefer to actually own a physical object than a virtual one

cheers,

-avatar!

edit: fixed typo

I'm a big fan of the Wii VC. I've already dropped about $50 on it so far, and I just picked up Mario Kart 64 this afternoon for something fun to do on a lazy Sunday with my girlfriend. It does suck to not have physical games and manuals, etc., but on the good side there's less stuff to organize and keep track of. You're really paying for the convenience of having everything wrapped up with one system/control, which is what I like. I can use the same console and control to play Contra III, NES Zelda, Mario 64... it's great.

So far, I've picked up games that I used to love and haven't played in a while (Donkey Kong Country, Mario 64), stuff I wanted to try or haven't played much of (Kirby NES, Contra III) or stuff I missed out on the first time 'round (Gunstar Heroes). One thing that the VC has helped me notice is that games nowadays (as a whole) suck big wang. It says a lot when an $8 downloadable SNES game is more entertaining and has better replay value than most $50-$60 games. It also reminds me that games used to be about figuring stuff out and having fun instead of having your hand held through the whole game (cough*Okami*cough). That's one thing I love about NES/SNES games; for the most part it's like, here, shoot shit and have fun.

And that's what I've been doing. Shooting shit and having fun. VC gets a thumbs up from me.

Your purchases are recorded in your Wii Shop account, which may be linked to a My Nintendo account.

In the event that something goes horribly wrong, or you feel like deleting a game to free space, you can redownload the game at no charge as long as your account is still active.

And if you want to play the game at a friends' house, just bring your console.

I thought DL's were a one time deal, that's nice to know you can re-DL it if you bought it once in case something goes arwy - that was one of my major concerns reguarting virtual games.

Edit:

I obviously can't spell "regarding"

At this point, I'd happily endure any downsides VC games may have, if I can just TRY them.  Yes, I must be one of the few left on this planet who's still using dial up connection.  Dial up = no WiiShop = no VC games.  -_-;

But at this point, the only VC titles that are of interest to me is Mario 64 and the upcoming Starfox 64; two games I've always wanted to play proper, but never could, due to lack of a N64.

My thoughts exactly on Metal Slug Anthology.  Fantastic collection, but those spats of load times -- brief as they may be -- are awfully irritating.

Maybe if they can make a suitably-incircumventable method, they could offer downloadable rentals?

Microsoft already does this with their XBox Live Marketplace.  I think there are some games that expire a few days after "purchase" but I know there are movies that you can download, that only stick around a few days before expiring.

It's an interesting model, and is sure easier than paying some monthly fee to Netflix, or running to the store to rent a movie.

I'm enthusiastic, but I'm not enthusiastic...It's a great way to keep classics in the spotlight and will add to Wii's diversity (not to mention Nintendo's bottom line, considering it's pure profit), but as far as I go, I have most of the classic games I already want for my actual systems and paying $5-$10 per ROM doesn't sound overly appealing right now (just as paying $30 a pop for the Mario games on GBA wasn't all that appealing). I'll probably spring for some N64 games (never owned one) and anything else I haven't indulged in, but I REALLY hope they take some risks and bring over games that were never released here.

Wow... the console versions of MSA have the have same crappy load times as the PSP version?! I just assumed it was some sort of PSP hardware limitation. It sucks but now I don't feel so bad for choosing to pick up the PSP version.

That sucks about MSA...

Amd for the VC, it's a great idea, but when the price for a virtual game is MORE than the price one can easily buy the cart for, that's a problem. Especially since for most of them there's no enhancement.

Now Sony, this is one thing they've been doing right, pricewise -- they charge 525 yen for PSX DLs. But it's only in Japan at the moment...

-Joshua

I would contend that the Wii upscaling the games so they don't look like rubbish on an HDTV would be considered quite an enhancement, by some.  Well, at least that's what a number of people who have HD say.  I wouldn't know yet!

I love the VC. Don't love the pricing so much but, that aside, yep I love it. A trial system would be a welcome addition though.

I thought you were talking about virtual reality at first. I've spent a lot of time thinking about VR worlds. For some reason, DOOM was the game that made me realize it would be fun to actually go to a video game world. The technology is probably 200 years off, since I'm not talking about a headset with goggles, but actually going there.

As for the VC on the Wii, I would buy a bunch of the games merely for the convenience. If games arrive digitally, I don't need to worry about the box, manual, etc. In fact, one of my rules was to play a game for as long as possible without looking at the manual/instructions.

I would rarely bring games over to a friend's house, since we all had the same games anyway. Today, this is even worse. Do you really think a friend will be excited if you bring over some old video game? Anyway, most people are into this 'online' thing. I have directly observed this phenomenon myself, since one of my friends has a 360 with Live. He just sits there and people from all over the world invite him to multiplayer games. Not only can he play with them, but the screen is not split and he can hear them and talk to them in real time. There is little incentive to physically go to another house. The days of the entire neighborhood coming over to play Street Fighter II Turbo have not ended, but evolved. It's only a matter of time before you start seeing these people, rather than just hearing them.

I was thinking that myself the other day. Like, have free demos that last for a period of time or for a few levels to try out the game. I'm sure that would actually sell more games because people would be willing to drop those 600 Wii points on Bonk's Adventure had they any idea how awesome it is.

i remember labor day '94... my friend max and i had gone mudding on our mountain bikes and he had wiped out, tearing a chunk of leather off his bike seat when he crashed.. later that afternoon we were playing SF2 and eating blue corn chips... when i wasnt paying attention he snuck the piece of bike seat into the bag of chips,, and i unknowingly reached in and shoved a handful of them into my mouth... something didn't taste right...

...to this day he often feels compelled to remind me how i almost ate a sweaty-ass-piece-of-bike-seat

I prefer emulation.

Boy, those days are gone now.

Talking of emulation, how does the Wii handle emulation of the various systems? Any unnecessary slowdown, or sound issues?

Now that is interesting.  I imagine it's because there is faster internet service in Japan overall.  Even if they could compress the ISOs, decompression would take a long time.  It takes my mediocre Pentium 4 5-10 minutes to unpack a highly decompressed RAR file (even for games much smaller than a full CD), and 2-3 times as long to compress it.  And my processor is over twice the speed of the Wii processor.

I'm interested in digital distribution for new titles like Geometry Wars and that ilk.  I'm especially pleased with how Microsoft requires all of its Live Arcade games to have free playable demos.  Right now, I'm not too interested in the Virtual Console simply because the prices are outrageous and I'm not paying $8 just to see if some Genesis game I never played is any good or not.  If and when Nintendo starts releasing stuff I haven't played that I really want to play (Mother 3, Sin & Punishment, Live a Live, etc.) or it severely slashes the price of VC titles, then I will definitely jump on board.  As it stands, my Wii Classic controller remains in its impenetrable bubble packaging.

Well I don't bother buying games I have or games I could have (that is, I have a Super NES, so I'm not going to bother with any Super NES titles unless its something that is being newly translated, or something like that.)  But since I don't have a Genesis, I look forward to using the VC for that at least, and Neo*Geo!?  Forget about it.

Thumbs up for getting games legit and making them very available.  The only thing that pisses me off is when elitist review sites complain that a game costs 2 dollars more then standard (PC Engine R-TYPE) when the actual media costs much more.