I was thinking about this the other day, and I wonder if there's any chance that compilation carts will ever see the light of day on Virtual Console.  I'm thinking specifically of stuff like Super Mario All-Stars and the Super Mario World/Super Mario-All Stars carts.  I know Nintendo wouldn't dream of releasing them until all the games in the sets had already been released separately for the NES (just SMB3, SMB2, and Lost Levels to go), but I'm kinda curious if they will EVER reach VC several years from now.  I mean, for the SMW/SMA combo cart, it would cost 2800 points to get everything separately as opposed to just 800 points for the one SNES ROM.  I guess we'll just have to wait and see...

Mirrors facing mirrors facing mirrors. I would love an NES version of SMB2 / Lost Levels on the VC, compilation or not!

I was thinking that myself, especially when I saw Donkey Kong Jr. and DK released and not the much better, encapsuling Donkey Kong Classics (which contains both DK and Dk Jr. in one cart). Now DKClassics was released as a convenient measure for NES owners and likely one that came on the heels of two discontinued/printed games at the time.

And then there is another type of compiles...

Super Mario All-Stars; a compilation yes, but also one with enhanced features. I can see this happening because of the shift beyond the originals and it's recognition with fans (and the Million Seller accolade). Will they charge extra? I don't think so. But don't expect it coming around the bend within the next year or so.

That could be a defeating venture though. They would have to release Mario 2 and 3 first (which they will) on their respective consoles, then All-Stars (by em all for 800 for individually for 500) although I'm sure people would buy both anyway. Will the special one with All-Stars + World come out? No. Absolutely not... because World is out there already and that would shoot them in the foot from a cash-in perspective, obviously.

Compilations will happen, but how many are there really to consider? It will be rare or not until the later years of the Wii's life when people divert to next-gen or other consoles and Nintendo finds the need to keep the audiences. Nintendo will avoid it when necessary to fully capitalize on the core games themselves.

Overall, I'm very excited about the VC and the future. I'm a tad irksome about some console support (like N64, which has yet to show up third-party support like Sin & Punishment and the NES, which needs to start releasing more outliar titles). It's a concept that is controlled for now, yes, but will help the console in staggering times with which both N64 and GC lived through at the end of its lifespan. I believe it's still steeped in its infancy due to Nintendo hoping to produce more consoles and broaden their ownership audience. But this also means that it has a bright future filled with games to be!

It's possible that Nintendo will simply make the compilations available to anyone who has already paid for the component games if and when the compilation version goes up. (And maybe linking games registered through MyNintendo to the VC if they're ever added in the future)

I can't see them running the risk of upsetting their supporters over 800 Wii points.