Virtual Console Arcade Debuts

By: Andy Goergen, Staff Writer

On March 25th ,2009, at their Games Developer Conference Keynote, Nintendo announced several new features for the Wii. Among these new features was a new venue for the Virtual Console to shine: Virtual Console Arcade. The service would allow for perfect arcade ports to be downloaded and played on the Wii. The service launched that very day with four titles: Mappy, Star Force, and The Tower of Druaga for 500 Wii Points each, and Gaplus for 600 Wii Points.

It was a somewhat surprising set of titles, as none of these games were particularly high-profile releases. Since that day, Wii gamers eagerly awaited subsequent titles to be released on the service. They would be rewarded with five more games, all of which were arguably more notable titles.

In June, Space Harrier was added to the service for 800 Wii Points. The game, which features a pseudo-3D environment and was revolutionary in its day, was the first offering from Sega for Virtual Console Arcade. Sega would add two more titles to the service by the end of the Wii's third year: Altered Beast was released in September, and Golden Axe in October, for 1,000 and 900 Wii Points respectively.

Aside from Sega, the Virtual Console Arcade has only seen support from two other publishers in North America: Tecmo and Namco Bandai. All of Namco's releases came in the initial four-title barrage at the service's launch; however, Tecmo had more to offer as time went on.

Tecmo released Tecmo Bowl for 600 Wii Points in August. The game was notable for being the only title on the service for which both the Arcade game and the NES port were both available. Two months later, they would follow it up with Rygar for 600 Wii Points. Rygar was better known for its NES version, but the NES version has yet to find its way to the Virtual Console.

Although the service has only provided nine titles in North America, a look at the available games in Japan gives one hope that many more titles will soon make their way to North America. Japan currently has a whopping 53 games on the service, including classics such as Space Invaders, Galaga '88, and Dig Dug. Interestingly, aside from Space Invaders, all 53 games are published by Namco, Tecmo, or Sega. It seems as if only a handful of Arcade publishers are interested in supporting the service, regardless of region.

While there's lots of room to grow in the Virtual Console Arcade lineup, it is a welcome addition to the system. The Wii remains the best console on the market to relive childhood memories of years, and games, gone by.