The Rules of Wii's Virtual Console

[MegaDrive20XX]

1.Virtual Console games can be saved into the 512 MB internal memory, or onto a SD Card.
2. Wii maintains a list of all downloads, if you deleted the game by accident, you can download the same game again free of charge.
3. Virtual Console games copied onto SD Card are secured, and will not be playable on any other Wii console except the console which they were downloaded.
4. If your Wii console became defective, you can contact Nintendo customer service to retrieve the Virtual Console games
5. GameCube games are part of the Virtual Console, GameCube games can only be played with a GameCube controller, not the classic controller.
6. All Virtual Console games can be played with classic controller, GameCube controller or Wii remote.
7. Each Virtual Console game will come with digital copy of the game manual.
9. Virtual Console games are not region free, an American Wii cannot download foreign games from Europe and Japan.
10. Wii points can be purchased online in the Wii Shop, you can have a maximum of 10,000 popints in an Wii account.

http://www.the-magicbox.com/gaming.htm <-- source

[Kuros]

God damnit, this region crap has to go. Why not allow us to download Euro and Japan exclusive games?

[CosmicMonkey]

Yeah, this region locking is one of the things that's putting me off the Wii.

I want to be able to get Sin & Punishment, Mario RPG, Gleylancer etc. Absolutely no reason why I can't d/l these games. And then there's the whole matter I mentioned in another thread about PC Engine games: Europe never got the PCE. Where does that leave us? I want Lords & Gate of Thunder.

[playgeneration]

Theres no technical reason to stop any region game from playing, its an emulator after all , just like an emulator on your pc can play any rom. If people think the virtual console will furfill all their retro needs they are wrong. Its a good place to play a few favorites, but its no replacement for the real thing, or even pc emulation

[jajaja]

Good that u can use a GC controller for the VC tho. Why would anyone buy the VC controller then? Buy a used GC controller instead, much cheaper :)

[jajaja]

Btw, how would it be possible to download games from other regions, i.e Japan, when you live in Europe? You cant choose what Nintendo servers that you can connect to, can u?

[J2games]

this the volume of import titles we sell on our site, I think Nintendo is cutting themselves off by keeping region specific games seperated.

a little disclaimer on a RPG that says "All text is in Japanese" is all they need to protect themselves. And Nintendo has NEVER been know to NOT BE INTERESTED in taking a customers money.

I say open it up. The first time regional games would be available to other regions = easy profit! (granted, there would be some server overlay issues.)

now, if they could only get the new controllers to feel the way the old ones did for these classic games...

[TurboGenesis]

That sucks about getting import titles. -- But if I were to get a NTSC-J Wii console would I then be able to DL Japanese virtual console games?

Also will Wii virtual console games be able to be played online. I have not heard any details on this yet. I would really like to play Contra with my friend 1000 miles away.

[JPeeples]

I guess that "GameCube games are part of the Virtual Console" means that they'll be menu-accessible, not downloadable? Right?

[XYXZYZ]

Just wait for the modchips, maybe you'll be able to download t3h R0Mz and convert them to the VC format.

I wonder how hard it would be to rig up original NES/SNES controllers for Wii use...that NEX Advantage would be pretty cool here. But for the most part I'm with playgeneration, I don't see myself bothering with Virtual Console when I'll have my NES set up and ready to roll at the same time.

[MrRoboto19XX]

Im personally wondering if that Hori SNES style gamecube controller will work with the VC.

Could be nice.

[Rev. Link]

8. There is no rule 8.


Anyways, as far as online play with VC games, Nintendo said the first wave or so of VC games would be straight ports, no changes. I'm guessing password save games won't require passwords anymore, but everything else will be the same.

That means no online play just yet. Maybe down the line. We can only hope.

[TurboGenesis]

8. There is no rule 8.


Anyways, as far as online play with VC games, Nintendo said the first wave or so of VC games would be straight ports, no changes. I'm guessing password save games won't require passwords anymore, but everything else will be the same.

That means no online play just yet. Maybe down the line. We can only hope.

I really hope that Nintendo can work something together for future VC games to incorporate online play. Games like Contra, Battletoads, Jackel, Shadow of the Ninja etc. will make VC games more appealing. I really have no reason to pay for a dl of a game I already own a physically, online Contra however would give me all the reason in the world to pay for this game again.

[Rev. Link]

I feel exactly the same way. When I first heard about the VC I thought it was a cool idea, but as soon as I heard the price structure I gave up on it.

Online play is the only thing that'd get me to buy any game over again.

[swlovinist]

The region lock out is LAME. Nintendo, you are going to loose out on making money. I was hopeful of a Dracula X possibly coming stateside, I guess that is out now. Multiplayer and online support will me a must if the virtual console thing will survive, espically for the prices they are charging. To me, if there is no difference in the game and there is not any multiplayer, then I guess I it will determine whether or not I support it.

[FantasiaWHT]

I understand the "justification" for region lockout on actual hard games... but if everyone is going to be downloading games from Nintendo themselves, what possible reason is there for lockout?

"Importing" downloaded games is not going to lose Nintendo money, or any retailer in a specific region. Having region lock-out WILL lose Nintendo money... just because you don't buy an import game doesn't mean you'll buy another game to make up for it.

Does anybody have a clue what Nintendo's rationale is for this? Is there some NTSC/PAL issue?

[Slate]

So.. It ISN'T Free to download "virtual console" Games?

[MegaDrive20XX]

8. There is no rule 8.

Edit button, we hardly knew ye.

[hezeuschrist]

So.. It ISN'T Free to download "virtual console" Games?

Are you serious?

[GrayFox]

So.. It ISN'T Free to download "virtual console" Games?

Sup' June related news, how ya doing? Good. Awesome.

[Emuaust]

The region lock thing has more to do with classifications then
anything else, getting games passed by each countries board
requires time and money, spending money getting these games
classified for ratings is a task they arent worrying about too much
ATM.

Regarding News from June, just so you are in the loop, PS3
has been delayed till november!

[jajaja]

Why dont people get a xbox or something with emulator on it if they want to play the old games for free? :)

[jajaja]

Btw, have the price for VC games through PS3 been announced? Some of the VC games are fairly expencive over here in Europe on the Wii. Super Mario 64 is about $15 :( Nintendo games wont be avalibe through PS3, but what about the price on Genesis and TG16 games?

[Nesmaster]

No Sin & Punishment for us? Wii VC for the lose :(.

[Leo_A]

Who says imports won't be available? Can't connect with servers from other regions doesn't mean that titles won't be available like you all want from the North American server.

[shadowkn55]

Who says imports won't be available? Can't connect with servers from other regions doesn't mean that titles won't be available like you all want from the North American server.

Nintendo says so. Each regional office decides what games go on their server. Each server pool wont have the same exact titles. If they did, it would be pointless in region locking.

People seem to fail to understand why the VC is region locked. It is to make sure each regional office gets the money for a purchase in that particular region. The same with dvd movies. For example, you buy a Wii points card in the US but you decide to buy the Japan only release of Sin & Punishment from the Japanese server. NOA gets the money and NOJ gets nothing. Yes, they could do some extra book-keeping and transfer funds to different accounts but that is just extra work that is unecessary.

[Leo_A]

Nintendo never said titles that were import only like Sin & Punishment won't be made available in other regions. All they said was you can't purchase titles on servers for other regions, there is nothing stopping NOA from bringing titles that didn't see a US release to the US Virtual Console, hopefully translating them in the process.

[shadowkn55]

They also didn't say that would bring over import titles. It is safer to assume that games that didn't see an earlier domestic release won't be released than hope that they will. The best you can do is contact the regional office and express some sort of interest in the title in question. There is also alot stopping NOA from bring those releases such as licensing rights and man power to regionalize the game. You can't assume that the VC will open up with the entire world's library. There are reasons why we don't get certain titles.

[Leo_A]

Licensing rights? I'm sure if a first party Nintendo release that is released in Japan on their VC could come to the US without licensing fees, remember that we're seeing very few 3rd party titles so far, its largely first party stuff from Nintendo and a couple of their VC partners...what you say might apply down the road perhaps.

And there are several high profile titles that could be successful on the VC with very little translation costs either due to little text, or a lot of it already being in English.

"It is safer to assume that games that didn't see an earlier domestic release won't be released than hope that they will"

Its safer to not assume anything, instead of making statements like "Nintendo says so". Neither one of us knows what will happen, thats why I tried to kill some of the statements about the US not seeing titles that didn't originally get released here.

"Each server pool wont have the same exact titles. If they did, it would be pointless in region locking."

While I don't doubt they will be the same, I'm sure the region locking is in place just as much to protect dumb consumers from buying a title and discovering its in another language than what your saying.

[Leo_A]

They won't be the same I mean

[shadowkn55]

Licensing rights? I'm sure if a first party Nintendo release that is released in Japan on their VC could come to the US without licensing fees, remember that we're seeing very few 3rd party titles so far, its largely first party stuff from Nintendo and a couple of their VC partners...what you say might apply down the road perhaps.

You are making a huge assumption there. International subsidiaries still need to license material from a foreign parent company. NOJ did most of the work for a game and therefore should get most of the money for selling the game abroad through NOA. If you made a game and your foreign branch wanted to sell it, wouldn't you want some money from it? I'm certainly not going to give it away for free (without licensing fees).

The difficulty in localizng the game isn't the only factor in how a game gets a domestic release. Nintendo is a business and like other businesses, they want to make money. If they feel it won't make money in a market, it won't get a release no matter how high profile it is.


Its safer to not assume anything, instead of making statements like "Nintendo says so". Neither one of us knows what will happen, thats why I tried to kill some of the statements about the US not seeing titles that didn't originally get released here.

It is because Nintendo says so. They said these particular titles will be available at launch and thats it. Unfortunately, they did not give us a future plan so the best we can do is wait.


Can't connect with servers from other regions doesn't mean that titles won't be available like you all want from the North American server.

In this is statement, you are implying that all import titles will be available for purchase on your local server. That is simply not the case. If they feel an import is profitable, they will make an effort to do a domestic release.