The Nintendo Virtual Console service has been both a blessing and a curse with fans ever since it launched on the Wii many years ago. Branching out from the typical NES, SNES and N64 titles, Nintendo eventually opened their downloadable library to NEO GEO games and even TurboGrafx-16 titles. But fans have been crying for more.
Nintendo has just announced they are going to start offering Wonderswan, Neo Geo Pocket Color, and N64DD games as part of their Virtual Console service. While no price point has been declared, it can probably be assumed Nintendo will offer these titles Americans never really had the chance to play at a higher price like the rest of their Virtual Console library. Wonderswan and Wonderswan Color titles will probably be something like $12.99, NGPC will be about $17.69, and N64DD games should be around $35.79. You know, you are going to have to pay that import tax.
“The Neo Geo Pocket Color is actually my favorite handheld system of all time,” said Shigeru Miyamoto, legendary game developer at Nintendo. “Unfortunately, no one gave this system the time of day because everyone was too busy playing Pokemon Yellow when it was originally released. My bad.”
While this move is most welcomed, it is a little strange Nintendo is opening these doors instead of focusing on their current Virtual Console catalog or by adding extra features to these old school games like online mulitplayer. Fans have been begging for games like Secret of Mana 3 (SNES), the other Earthbound games, Radical Dreamers, the unreleased but finished Star Fox 2 (SNES), and the Broadcast Satellaview games that never saw the light of day outside of Japan like BS Zelda and Mario. Instead, gamers will now be able to play original version of Doshin The Giant, a game no one really asked for or cares about, at a price point that would cost the same if you bought it off an import eBay seller.
This news story was published on April 1, 2015.