Nintendo Revolutions "Virtual Console"

[Xylob the Destroyer]

For quite some time now, all bigtime video game geeks have known that Revolution will allow you to download and play selected NES, SNES, and N64 titles -- but wait, there's more!
Revolutions Virtual Console feature will also allow you to download and play Sega Genesis and NEC TubroGrafx16 games.
I read this in an interview with a Nintendo exec (Iwata?), they want their download service to be the video game equivelant to Apples iTunes.
I can't freakin' wait for the Revolution!!

[RottenFoxBreath]

old man,this is really old news
and the console it called "wii" not revolution now.
in fact they touted this months ago,roughly when sega announced new games,and a new monkey ball for the wii.

[yoda313]

Yep I want to know what the pricing will be. If we can do a $10 or $20 monthly plan to play ALL the games and maybe a $1 a piece for permanent downloads then I'd LOVE it. I want FULL SCREEN, FULL ORIGINAL SOUND QUALITY, and real controllers. The Computer emulators are DECENT for the old 16 and 8bit emulators but the sound isn't always perfect. And its hard to get ones that would play in full screen properly. Plus the idea of putting all the systems on ONE console would be great - less clutter!

[Faustus]

I wouldn't expect that pricing yoda. Likely it will be around 5 or 6 dollars a game. Which actually is fine by me.

Also don't expect to many 3rd party games at first, unless Nintendo published it the publishers will have to agree to be on board.

As for the controller, the Wii also is backwards compatible with the game cube and unless its changed sinced I heard can use a gamecube controller also.

As for a controller for the classic games.


There it is.

Its a good idea, Microsoft has something sorta like it but its less old games and more just little games. I did get Smash TV from Xbox live this weekend though.

[yoda313]

Actually they announced the other week that Sega is going ahead with a similar emulator service for the Xbox 360.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

why is the cord coming out of wrong end of the controller???

[yoda313]

I think its looped UNDERNEATH the controller. Why I don't know.

[Faustus]

Because the controller itself is not wireless so it can be sold cheap. So it plugs into the normal WiiMote controller and works wirelessly through it. Thus its designed to be looped backwards since the WiiMote will likely be sitting beside you.

[Super Warrior]

Big deal. With a Pc i can download and play ALL those games and MORE free, and the emulators make them nearly 100% like the console versions were.

Also Nintendop has to re-aquire the rights&crap for and any ALL third-party games its wants available for download. So while Nintendo seems to be making an effort to bring over more games, there will still be many, MANY third-party titles not available for use on it.

Example: Want to play SNES X-Men Mutant Apocalypse and SNES Marvel superHeroes? might have to wait a LOOOOONG time for Nintendo to bother to re-do the rights again with Marvel to get those games, that is assuming Nintendo ever does.

This "WII-emu" stuff is fluff compared to the perfect Pc emulation, and its definitly NOT a selling point for the console. Except to those ignorant gamers out there who are unaware of Pc emulation and all its many advantages...

[Faustus]

Yeah but the point is the Wii can do it in a way thats both a) easy for everyone and b) legal

[richdvd]

Super[/url] Warrior]Big deal. With a Pc i can download and play ALL those games and MORE free, and the emulators make them nearly 100% like the console versions were.

Also Nintendop has to re-aquire the rights&crap for and any ALL third-party games its wants available for download. So while Nintendo seems to be making an effort to bring over more games, there will still be many, MANY third-party titles not available for use on it.

Example: Want to play SNES X-Men Mutant Apocalypse and SNES Marvel superHeroes? might have to wait a LOOOOONG time for Nintendo to bother to re-do the rights again with Marvel to get those games, that is assuming Nintendo ever does.

This "WII-emu" stuff is fluff compared to the perfect Pc emulation, and its definitly NOT a selling point for the console. Except to those ignorant gamers out there who are unaware of Pc emulation and all its many advantages...

Agreed..
This is all Nintendo's got to market their box? Pretty lame...

[Supreme2k]

Not to mention that the X-Box, which gets emulator ports quickly because of its near PC-ness, already has that going for it (PS2, also).

[smearbrick1]

I think I want to re-release 8 track tapes. If all of these companies think they can make a killing by stepping back in time and selling the same crap they sold years ago... maybe I can make a buck by re-introducing 8 track tapes. I call it a revolution.

I'm sorry, but the only people who think this is "revolutionary" are people who haven't used a PC or haven't tried emulation for the past 10 years.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

I have emu's for all of Nintendo's consoles, as well as the Sega consoles and the TG16.
for the most part, they're shit.
especially the sound emulation.
ZSNES is the best emulator I've found, all the rest are buggy as hell
the PlayStation emulators are spotty at best, and there is still no decent Dreamcast emu.
sorry, but you guys are full of shit -- especially when you start by saying that "the emulators make them nearly 100% like the console versions were" then end by saying "This "WII-emu" stuff is fluff compared to the perfect Pc emulation". Which is it? 'nearly 100%' (bullshit) or 'perfect' (more bullshit)?
Do you think your homebrew grey-market emulators will work anywhere near as well as Nintendos? Honestly?

[lordsmurf]

I don't know where you get those ideas.

The emulators are better than the older consoles because games no longer have to freeze up on you or go in slow-motion due to resource limits. I hated playing something like TMNT on the NES, only to have the game go in slow-mo because 4 bad guys walked onto the screen at one time. With emulation, no such problem anymore, at least not on the good emulators (they know where to give more, and when to not).

And quite a few of these emulators have been around for 10+ years. I was using them on a 486 in 1995, and they were pretty decent back then, though not perfect. Come forward a decade, and the emulation of ancient hardware is easy, and equal to or better than the original games themselves.

If anything, I'd bet money homebrew emulation works BETTER than "official" emulation because I doubt Nintendo will put as much effort into it as the hobby programmers did over the course of many years, in a shared Linux-like style.

The final releases of several NES and SNES emulators (even Gameboy and some others) can flawlessly emulate 99% of games. And that's just Nintendo. Sega, Atari, others... lots of those do too.

I still have my NES. But I'd emulate my games on the XBOX ports of good computer emulators any day before I'd fight the stubborn NES hardware and then have it play the games with typical slowness and other glitches.

Emulation is also nice because some of them let you input as many Game Genie, Action Reply, Gameshark or even raw HEX codes (find them yourself even!) as you want. No more 3-5 lines only stuff, feel free to enter 25 codes if you want, use them all at once.

Have to love SAVE STATE! If I'm in the middle of a fight and the doorbell rings, nature calls, time to go, etc ... I can save state, turn it off, and load state later, and resume. EVERY SINGLE GAME becomes a game that can be paused and saved, wherever you want.

If Nintendo wants to impress, then create a 100% perfect N64 emulation system and do those games for $5 each. That'd get some attention and some respect from those long familiar with emulation. Or emulate the DS, and sell software versions or allow DS games to fit the Wii.

I will agree PS1/PS2 emulators are pretty crappy. I don't know what's going on there. Dreamcast and XBOX are really the only places aside from computers that emulation is worth mentioning.

All Wii emulation of NES/SNES will do is bring into the mainstream something that has long existed. I have serious doubts that what they rush together in a year or so will work as well as current freewares. If they are smart, they would work with current emulators out there, rather than start completely from scratch. They absolutely must include things like save state, ability to add cheat codes, etc., if they want their emulation to be more than a joke.

[Supreme2k]

I have emu's for all of Nintendo's consoles, as well as the Sega consoles and the TG16.
for the most part, they're shit.
especially the sound emulation.

Have you tried Kega or Hu-Go? They're both pretty awesome.

[smearbrick1]

The Xbox ports of the more popular emulators are excellent. They all have in game menus, save abilities, fully customizable controls, and tons of other features Nintendo probably won't even both to include. Aside from N64, PS2, and DC emulation, you would be hard pressed to find a modern emulator that didn't work flawlessly on nearly 99% of games on several different platforms (Xbox, DC, PS2, PC).

[Xylob the Destroyer]

ok ok....
i give in
i've heard a great deal about the emu capabilities of the X-BOX, and to be perfectly honest, it's the only reason that I've given it any consideration about purchasing one. X-BOX really never had any exclusive killer-apps other than HALO and i can't justify buying a system for 1 game. but now it's "illegal" to mod the X-BOX for such purposes (or any purpose) and none of my friends know where to get the modded systems anymore....

it just seems to me that Nintendo would be able to make a better emulator than the home-brew stuff simply because they actually know exactly what they're doing FROM THE GET GO. no guess work for them, as it's all theirs anyway.
but the multi-bazillion cheat codes, save states, menues, fully customizable controls probably won't make it into theirs....

frankly, i feel that every single game should have fully customizable controls.

[yoda313]

none of my friends know where to get the modded systems anymore....

You don't have to. You can do "softmods" from the internet.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

I don't think a download will increase hard drive space.

[Super Warrior]

I have emu's for all of Nintendo's consoles, as well as the Sega consoles and the TG16.
for the most part, they're shit.
especially the sound emulation.
ZSNES is the best emulator I've found, all the rest are buggy as hell
the PlayStation emulators are spotty at best, and there is still no decent Dreamcast emu.
sorry, but you guys are full of shit

No, YOU are full of shit. Just how long has it been since you bothered to try the Emus? 1998? Ha!

There are several emulators out there that can emulate SNES and genesis nearly perfect. As for PS1 emulators, yeah they SUCK but we're talking about the SNES here.

[smearbrick1]

I don't think a download will increase hard drive space.

The softmod that Yoda mentioned will allow you to install a new dashboard like EVOX. The more recent versions allow for the hard disks to be swapped with very little complication. Even without upgrading the size of the hard disk, you still can make emulator discs to play just like regular games. Most people go with the hard drive upgrade though. The loading times for regular games that are copied to the hard disk are 10 times faster.

[lordsmurf]

Calm down Super Warrior.

[Supreme2k]

ls, what does Playing, Encoding or Rendering have to do with that guy's post?

Maybe Xlob and SW could have a crap-off. The one that fills the toilet first is truly, full of...
poop.

[Xylob the Destroyer]

erm.... nothing, that's why it's in "Off topic".

anyway, there's no question about it -- I would WIN. I am absolutely full of shit almost all the time (sometimes even literally)