*RIP* Nintendo Virtual Console 2006-2023 *RIP* - Share your favourite memories!!!

[OptOut | 8,889]

March 27th 2023 saw the official shutdown and discontinuation of the Virtual Console on Wii U and 3DS, joining the Wii version which closed down a few years ago. With no plans for the Virtual Console to reappear on the Switch, we have witnessed the end of a truly epic era of Nintendo gaming history, perhaps one of the most significant ventures Nintendo ever undertook in solidifying their position as the most important company in the history of videogames.

I figured now would be as good a time as any to share our memories of using this service, and how it may have shaped our own journeys as gamers and collectors over the 16+ years of the Virtual Console! 

For me, personally, I have had an AWESOME time playing a ton of NES, Game Boy, Game Gear and SNES games on my 3DS virtual console. I never got into it on the Wii, because I still had all those old games and could still purchase them cheap, but on the 3DS the service made SO much more sense to me being able to take classics on the go. I focussed mainly on my all time favourites, ranging from the Mario games on NES GB and SNES, Donkey Kong Lands and Countries, a whole bunch of Kirby games and Sonic Game Gear games etc. BUT I also used it to try out games I had never given a chance, and just random games that took my fancy, like Lock and Chase, Avenging Spirit and Adventures of Lolo. I think over the years of playing VC on 3DS I must have a good 60+ downloads, easy.

Fortunately, those games you already have downloaded remain linked to your account, and for the time being you will be able to redownload them if necessary. However, who knows how long that will be for, so my advice is make sure you have everything you want downloaded ASAP!

 

So, farewell Virtual Console, for now at least! Perhaps Nintendo will see sense one day and give people outside of their Online subscription a chance to download old games again who knows?!

[Brickman | 3,994]

My favourite memory is when Nintendo screwed us all over and didn’t bring it to the Switch so they could create a bullshit online service that is a ripoff and absolute garbage.

[mbd39 | 2,025]

Never used it. Never owned the consoles and I wouldn't use it anyway because I can just download emulators and roms or play on real hardware.

 

[RH | 4,918]

5 hours ago, Brickman said:

My favourite memory is when Nintendo screwed us all over and didn’t bring it to the Switch so they could create a bullshit online service that is a ripoff and absolute garbage.

I used the VS a good bit on the Wii and I had downloaded the ambassador games on my 3DS.  Now, I'm not fond of DLC for much, unless you get a full-value game and for a reasonable price it adds content (or the content is free.)  Mario Kart 8 is a good example of DLC done well.  I never bought the DLC for Breath of the Wild, but I'd probably like that.  I also didn't really get into Xenoblade Saga 2 but getting the Torna Saga for free was amazing, just because it was a free, full-featured game.  You can't beat that.

But DLC content you can't keep just isn't for me.  I get that in most cases you can back it up to an SD card, which is great, but those can die with time.  At least most of the 3DS content is small enough for me to back up to my Google Drive account and it not eat up too much space.

That's said, I bough Wii Virtual Console DLC because companies started to use those download metrics to determine which games and franchises are worth re-investing into.  I know Square-Enix has mentioned this.  I'm not saying if you want a new Chrono Trigger game you should buy every DLC version that comes out but, yeah, well you do kind of need to do that.

For me, I don't buy a game over and over again though to send that message, but I am willing to download a game, if it's cheap, if the playing it on a given device adds an extra layer of convenience.  I did that for a few of the Final Fantasy games on mobile, and I don't regret it.  Playing FF VII on my iPhone actually wasn't that bad, and neither was Dragon Quest 8.

Anyway, sorry to ramble but this isn't a great loss for me.  I do like the Switch VC because it's free with purchase of what I feel is a useful service.  I do wish I could carry-over my Wii purchases, but that was so many years ago, I don't really mind.  Same with the 3DS.

[ThePhleo | 2,185]

I thought it was extremely underwhelming. Then again, I'm spoiled by emulation.

I wanted a Netflix of gaming with a few pages.

• Dashboard - A brief combination of all the other pages. Maybe even a "continue playing last game" button
• Discover - Shows me everything I might like according to my gaming habits
• Favorites - Shows only the stuff I enjoy and personally curate.
• New Additions - All the new stuff added.

I wanted not just regular old ROMs and emulators...NO I wanted rebuilt stuff including

• Online co-op
• Translations and localizations for previously unreleased games
• 16:9 aspect ratio
• Improved graphics and sound
• Achievements
• Additional content
• Developer commentary

When you bring over a movie from older time periods you don't just take a VHS tape and upload it to netflix, you scan the original film and try to give the best possible experience. When you bring over music from an older time you don't just put a microphone to the record player, you look for the reel-to-reels....AND WHEN YOU RE-RELEASE A GAME YOU SHOULDN'T JUST GIVE US WHAT THE CONSUMERS HAD IN 1985 either....Emulation rules, fills that niche, and only going above and beyond that would make me get off my high horse.

RIP to a uninspired, lazy, and inferior platform. You were already outdated before you even launched.

Edited March 28, 2023 by ThePhleo

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

1 hour ago, ThePhleo said:

RIP to a uninspired, lazy, and inferior platform. You were already outdated before you even launched.

Pretty much.  It was a decent service when it served people who weren't familiar with the offered content before.

However, I've always been left scratching my head at the people who already did have that content and still ponied up their money to buy it all over again.  Up until more recent times, the Wii (the machine that started it all) was hooking up to the same TVs that our classic consoles were, so what was the big deal with plugging up the old hardware and giving it a go?  I get paying money for a legitimate copy of something you didn't already own, especially if it was some obscure, ultra expensive title that you'd never otherwise be able to afford.  But paying up for stuff like Super Mario Bros. and Donkey Kong on NES again?  What's even more puzzling to me are the folks who literally bought those same titles once again when the Wii U came out, before Nintendo got bullied and threatened into allowing Wii owners at least one single content transfer.

The way that Nintendo operated this stuff has always rubbed me the wrong way.  Should your specific console die on you, sorry, you're out of luck, gotta buy it all over again, as the serial # to authorize the download doesn't match any longer.  Imagine if games that you buy today on Steam, XBox Live, PSN, etc. were locked to a single, individual machine, and were only valid for the life of that single machine.  Your 360 red ring on you?  Sorry, pay up!  Upgrade to a newer PC?  Sorry, pay up!  Trade in your PS4 for your PS5?  Sorry, pay up!

This type of crap is exactly why I have zero problems with people enjoying ROMs, and why I'm such a staunch supporter of physical media.  If you've already bought a copy of the game, go ahead and enjoy it in whatever way you want.  There's even governmental precedent in the US specifically allowing this.

When it's all digital, all the power and control is in the hands of the corporations, and time and again, Nintendo has proven exactly how anti-consumer they are, all the while putting a happy Mario face on everything to lull folks into believing everything's ok.  Folks forget that this is the same company that tried to stifle all independent publishing on their platforms by telling stores they'd be banned from buying official product if they stocked unlicensed games, accessories, etc., and who tried bringing a lawsuit to make it illegal for people to rent video games.  Or when they settled with the US government when they were brought up on charges of price fixing and unfair business practices.

Nintendo has produced some fantastic products throughout the course of its history.  However, it's never been any sort of underdog, worthy of everyone's pity and support.  They're an 300lb brute wearing a pink bunny suit, holding a spiked bat behind their back.

[Tanooki | 4,937]

I know I'm maybe in the web forum minority on this, but glad it's gone that virtual console.  I got wrapped up interested in it back when it popped up on the Wii, slightly on the 3DS when it directly started with some super cheap buy again deals for on the go, but I dropped that fast.  When it first appeared I enjoyed some of those NES games, but it wasn't worth it, and didn't do anything to add to my enjoying the Wii.  The NON-VC stuff like the Alien Crush remake, some of the other unique titles stuck on wii, that's where I had my enjoyment with those experiences, not something I already had or could get free with far more added to it than the Wii gave with the games which was barebones.

Sorry do but don't want to dump on the VC in this thread as it gets more credit than deserved.

 

Personally I never liked how they ran it out on the Wii as it was, less and less over time, and with larger gaps.  The prices weren't terrible but not quite great either for a cheap and quick upload stuck on the system made even more clear not carrying forward so I didn't bother at all on WiiU for the time I had it.

It was nice that it existed for a game here or there for lazy ease of use, but given what most those titles cost at that rate it wasn't some big deal (vs now) where you'd be better off with a real one as long as you had the hardware/adapter(fc) needed.  I mostly got fed up with all the droning entitlement and fanboy gooing over it like it was some huge gateway of love to the fans.  That it was most definitely not, it was a lazy cash cow that if you added up the cost of each got fairly exploitative really.  They didn't do crap to the games to have a benefit unlike how say ACA Hamster does their releases or even the freebies on the Switch services with special modes, added versions, challenges etc.

That's the thing, it's so cheap and easy, free in all fairness, it's a junk model I'm glad they dropped hard years ago in favor of what is there now.  There's essentially little to no cost involved, you get handed something at semi-regular periods and they give you more with those gimmes.  If you don't want to pop another $30-40 for the bigger bundle, just $20 get you NES SNES and GB.  Given those were $5-6 games largely on VC, even if you enjoy 4 a year you're even.  And with it being clear they don't maintain networks when they move on, buying it you're buying a rental.  Renting it with the service is still a rental but with far better perks on Switch.  You're better off doing anything else.

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

40 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

I know I'm maybe in the web forum minority on this, but glad it's gone that virtual console.

Although it might seem surprising, I'm kind of of the opposite mind on it.  I wish that it had continued, and been offered side-by-side with their current "pay us for a subscription and we'll let you play some classic games, and oh yeah, access multiplayer" model.  The one caveat, apparent from my comment above (and those in the past) is that I wish they'd embraced the model used by every one of their competitors where your purchases were device-agnostic.  While I can see the appeal to a subscription-based, all-you-can eat model, folks utilizing that on the switch are at the mercy of what Nintendo sees fit to release, and for however long they choose to release it, while those buying things on the VC actually "had" all of their games for as long as their console and access to the service lasted.  Even though it's all digital vaporware, people who purchased VC stuff still technically had something (especially if they had it all downloaded onto their console) while folks using the Switch service will be left with nothing when Nintendo chooses to turn it off.

44 minutes ago, Tanooki said:

They didn't do crap to the games to have a benefit

Oh, that's not even the half of it. At the time (and always, really), Nintendo was screaming about piracy, but apparently the vast majority of titles released on VC were actually from Nintendo pirating the pirates, as folks pulled those titles off of their Wiis and discovered tons of games with headers, header comments, etc., created by various dumpers and other participants in the decidedly not-Nintendo ROM scene.  I find it hard to take Nintendo completely seriously on that front when they're willing to built part of their empire right on the back of the work that they so demonized.

[fox | 1,668]

@OptOuttime to rename this the piss on the VC’s grave thread

[darkchylde28 | 1,546]

5 minutes ago, fox said:

@OptOuttime to rename this the piss on the VC’s grave thread

I personally wish it had continued, but had been adjusted to be more consumer friendly.  The idea of it was already kind of like "Steam for Nintendo consoles," but really needed to go console-agnostic.  My personal objections had far more to do with how Nintendo did business than the idea of the platform itself.

[phart010 | 1,707]

19 hours ago, OptOut said:

Fortunately, those games you already have downloaded remain linked to your account, and for the time being you will be able to redownload them if necessary. However, who knows how long that will be for, so my advice is make sure you have everything you want downloaded ASAP!

Also, 32GB sd cards are today only like $10-15 even for top brand names. Might be a good idea to just copy a backup of your sd card just in case something goes wrong

[OptOut | 8,889]

You know I'm actually quite surprised at just how much people seem to dislike the VC! I suppose it shouldn't be THAT surprising, given the community here is built around collecting actual retro games and most here are highly proficient at emulating etc.

For me, I just found the Virtual Console to be really convenient on 3DS, and the prices really were right in that impulse range for me, I had no trouble dropping a couple of bucks every now and then for Super Mario Bros on the go or whatever!

I will argue that the impact of the Virtual Console probably resonates WAY stronger outside of our particular niche in the wider gaming space. I would imagine there are a TON of people far younger that us for whom the Virtual Console was an essential gateway into the world of Nintendo classics.

It is possible that without the Virtual Console retro gaming, and in fact the entire gaming space may have looked very different from how it does today!

[Brickman | 3,994]

6 minutes ago, OptOut said:

You know I'm actually quite surprised at just how much people seem to dislike the VC! I suppose it shouldn't be THAT surprising, given the community here is built around collecting actual retro games and most here are highly proficient at emulating etc.

For me, I just found the Virtual Console to be really convenient on 3DS, and the prices really were right in that impulse range for me, I had no trouble dropping a couple of bucks every now and then for Super Mario Bros on the go or whatever!

I will argue that the impact of the Virtual Console probably resonates WAY stronger outside of our particular niche in the wider gaming space. I would imagine there are a TON of people far younger that us for whom the Virtual Console was an essential gateway into the world of Nintendo classics.

It is possible that without the Virtual Console retro gaming, and in fact the entire gaming space may have looked very different from how it does today!

I actually really liked the VC too. What I didn’t like was that they didn’t integrate it with their current setup.

I want a Steam like system not a system where I have to rebuy games every new console. I’m still bitter about them screwing us over because I had a lot on VC and I’m not going to bring out the Wii U or 3DS just to play them.

That to me is the most disappointing thing about the VC, otherwise I thought it was decent, especially for the 3DS.

[Tanooki | 4,937]

That was the kiss of death to my interest, no rollover.  They at first acted like it would, if you recall, when new hardware came out they started having these 29cent upgrade sales buying the game a 2nd time on the new platform, but it stopped fast.  I did a few of those for 3DS, it was convenient, but when it went back up to like $6-10 on the stuff I ignored it.

Fine PC spoiled me, but I expect a download service (GoG, Setam, etc) to roll over.  I appreciated it more on a handheld because you didn't have as advanced of hardware on the go unless you lugged around some android device and a separate wireless gamepad up until android portables like Anbernic stuff got popular.

[AirVillain | 490]

Can someone please help me understand this? 

For background on my ignorance. I had a Wii and used the Virtual Console. I DL'd a few games (Bonk, etc.) and thought it was neat, but certainly not for games that I want to play on real hardware. I don't have a Switch and haven't used one enough to be familiar with what they offer.

But.... in doing research for purchasing the Switch, I noticed that the Virtual Console was online.... but not really the same. You just get the games for subscribing to the online service. 

Is THAT what this thread is about? Nintendo totally Cancelled the VC where you could INDIVIDUALLY download games and play them whenever you want, and replaced it with the subscription required online games????

That is pretty annoying....
 

On 3/28/2023 at 4:48 AM, Brickman said:

My favourite memory is when Nintendo screwed us all over and didn’t bring it to the Switch so they could create a bullshit online service that is a ripoff and absolute garbage.

Am I understanding this correctly...? 

Aside.... does anyone LIKE the new online service? There's not a ton of games, but there's NES, SNES, AND N64???

I'll likely be getting this once I do get a Switch... just because.... you kind of HAVE to to play online....so.... yeah.... It's annoying that Nintendo FORCES you to subscribe to the online service, but at least you get the games with it?  

And it's far less expensive than the PS or Xbox online options (last time I checked?)......???
 

[twiztor | 851]

yes @AirVillain you're understanding correctly.

the Virtual Console was for the Wii/Wii-U/DS/3DS systems. You could pay to download whichever individual titles you wanted to play.

On the Switch, they introduced "Nintendo Online" which is a tiered, subscription-based system. You get access to a few dozen (not sure exactly how many, i don't subscribe) games and can play them anytime as long as you are connected. And yes, Nintendo Online is required for any online gaming.

[wongojack | 217]

I bought a few titles from VC (and WiiWare) on the Wii and then never bought anything from a Nintendo store again.  The Wii store came around at a time when these online app-store type things were still pretty new, so I was just trying it out to understand how it worked.  I honestly had more fun with some of the WiiWare titles than the VC stuff, but again - you'd lose those if you lost your machine.  At first, it wasn't THAT big a deal because the entire concept was still pretty new, but once you figured out how Microsoft, Sony, and Steam were handling things, it was obvious that throwing money at Nintendo's model didn't make sense.  It also didn't help that I could get everything they were offering through emulation, and in some cases, the VC version of the game was just a hacked version that I already had (or a "worse" version).

I honestly had more fun with the "Gameroom" on XBox 360.  At least there I was fairly confident that I could get to my purchases again if something went wrong with the machine, and they offered some updated features and high score challenge options. However, it also highlighted the same problem VC had with price.  I was so used to "collecting" these games that there was no way I would consider paying even a fair price for more than a few individually.  The idea of ever buying these classic games one at a time became foolish.

 

Edited April 20, 2023 by wongojack

[AirVillain | 490]

1 hour ago, twiztor said:

yes @AirVillain you're understanding correctly.

the Virtual Console was for the Wii/Wii-U/DS/3DS systems. You could pay to download whichever individual titles you wanted to play.

On the Switch, they introduced "Nintendo Online" which is a tiered, subscription-based system. You get access to a few dozen (not sure exactly how many, i don't subscribe) games and can play them anytime as long as you are connected. And yes, Nintendo Online is required for any online gaming.

 

Thanks for confirming. 

Interesting. I will reserve full judgement until I actually get the Switch and try this out. I can't see NOT connecting to Online play at least at first to check it out so I'll have access to this stuff at least for a bit. 

[Tanooki | 4,937]

Ehh you never really owned them on Wii either.

What you have on the Switch is like a netflix sub, but you pay yearly $20 vs monthly.

The down side you don't get the choose what you pay $5-10 each for to long term rent on your Wii, which now you can't do anymore either or recover.  You instead get a big pile of games to choose from as part of the fee for their cloud services and the rest.

Honestly weighing the two options, it's the far lesser of two evils, and less costly.  In the end Wii VC takedown or Switch system retired years down the line, both will get wiped out either way as you own neither, just a limited use temporary license.

 

Also if it wasn't posted here already (which I doubt) you don't need to be perpetually online to use these games as they're all installed to your system.  You just need to every 14 days log into the internet turning on your Switch and it does an instant check in to verify you have an active account and you're good.  You can play single or multiplayer locally all you like, but obviously need the net for online multiplayer.

 

Currently my kid has been playing Kirby's Dream Land 3 on the SNES app on Switch, offline, in the car, on the way home to school or to/from after school activities just fine.  When she uses her handheld at home it keeps the clock from ticking down those 14 days so it has never been an issue, even on vacation.

Edited April 20, 2023 by Tanooki

[AirVillain | 490]

1 hour ago, Tanooki said:

Ehh you never really owned them on Wii either.

What you have on the Switch is like a netflix sub, but you pay yearly $20 vs monthly.

The down side you don't get the choose what you pay $5-10 each for to long term rent on your Wii, which now you can't do anymore either or recover.  You instead get a big pile of games to choose from as part of the fee for their cloud services and the rest.

Honestly weighing the two options, it's the far lesser of two evils, and less costly.  In the end Wii VC takedown or Switch system retired years down the line, both will get wiped out either way as you own neither, just a limited use temporary license.

 

Also if it wasn't posted here already (which I doubt) you don't need to be perpetually online to use these games as they're all installed to your system.  You just need to every 14 days log into the internet turning on your Switch and it does an instant check in to verify you have an active account and you're good.  You can play single or multiplayer locally all you like, but obviously need the net for online multiplayer.

 

Currently my kid has been playing Kirby's Dream Land 3 on the SNES app on Switch, offline, in the car, on the way home to school or to/from after school activities just fine.  When she uses her handheld at home it keeps the clock from ticking down those 14 days so it has never been an issue, even on vacation.

Interesting about the 14 day deal.... Makes sense, but I never thought about there being a number of days attached to it. Figured it would be instant, but the fact you can play the games offline is a plus. 

Thought... In that case, in terms of saving the progress when offline, would it save the game (KD3) to the device and then upload progress once it gets back to the internet? 

Edited April 20, 2023 by AirVillain

[Tanooki | 4,937]

8 minutes ago, AirVillain said:

Interesting about the 14 day deal.... Makes sense, but I never thought about there being a number of days attached to it. Figured it would be instant, but the fact you can play the games offline is a plus. 

Thought... In that case, in terms of saving the progress when offline, would it save the game (KD3) to the device and then upload progress once it gets back to the internet? 

Yes, any cloud enabled game, including these apps will update their data to the network the next time you're on the thing and check in I guess, or if you open the specific title up again.  But yes, her work on Kirby stays on there like a legit SNES cart would or a VC release back in that era.

[AirVillain | 490]

19 hours ago, Tanooki said:

Yes, any cloud enabled game, including these apps will update their data to the network the next time you're on the thing and check in I guess, or if you open the specific title up again.  But yes, her work on Kirby stays on there like a legit SNES cart would or a VC release back in that era.

Neat. Thanks for the insight! 

[fox | 1,668]

I didn’t spend a lot on the VC.  I got Ninja Gaiden for the arcade and the unreleased game Uforia.  So I was really only if it for the deep cuts, and it was cool that they went the extra mile to include stuff off the beaten path like that.

I was much more interested in WiiWare.  That had a lot of really cool indie titles and retro throwbacks.  That felt like a game changing moment as far as a digital storefront, but everyone seemed more interested in buying SMB for the 5th time.

[Jynx | 140]

Virtual Console made me play the Genesis for the first time when I was 19, and now think it's better than Super Nintendo. I grew up with Super Nintendo and loved it, but the Genesis has the type of games I like better. One hour long games that are very difficult with game overs and no saving.

Without virtual console I wouldn't have played many games I love on Genesis.

GeN-Nes forever! XD

[koifish | 556]

I got to play sin and punishment for the first time on wii thanks to their releasing it on VC. I also liked being able to play various games cheaper than the cart versions, though comically I often didn't buy NES VC games because, where I lived in 2006, NES carts were often as cheap or cheaper than the VC games! Man, back when I got MegaMan, contra, tecmo bowl, and dracula's curse all in one day for 26 dollars, that was a good day. VC was more competitive for SNES as I recall.

I did get the first castlevania on VC though. I liked that it essentially gave me save files through suspend play. Looking back on it now, it means I played it closer to the JP version, rather than being forced to run the whole game in one go (I freely admit that I would not have been able to beat death had I been forced to go through frankenstein every time first).