Wii U Virtual Console Launches, get Balloon Fight for 30 cents.

[Howard_Casto]

So for those that don't watch the Nintendo Direct Feeds the Wii U version of the virtual console will release this spring.  It'll be very similar to the 3ds virtual console and yes, you can play the games on the gamepad only. 

It's the 30th anniversay of the famicom though, so they wanted to do something special. They are releasing select titles early. Until July Nintendo will be offering one title a month at the price of 30 cents.  This month it's Ballon Fight, which is awesome because it's one of the few NES games I never really played as a kid.  Future 30 cent deals include punchout, f-zero, super metroid and donkey kong. 

I've already downloaded it because I was curious about the new service.  The emulation seems much better this go around and they've even added a touch of blur to the games so they don't look like a pixelated mess.  Also the games now play in the proper aspect ratio, unlike Wii VC games.  You can also remap the controls for each game and have different control schemes for each controller.  In addition, the games are linked to MiiVerse like regular games, so you can take snapshots and post comments.  There is also a mysterious non-working button on the right hand side of the menu... I'm guessing this is for functionality that will be added later.  Overall Nes emulation seems much better this go around. 

I had to pay 2 cents tax though, which is dumb.

[hypernova]

They just talked about the updates regarding load times.  One was the time to load games, and the other to return to the menu.  Apparently these updates won't be available until spring and summer, as separate updates.

Also read they'll be reworking some previous titles in HD format.  Zelda: Wind Waker was one to get an update.  I'm flabbergasted.  Really?  WW?  Slightly prettier graphics aren't going to make sailing for 5-10 minutes at a time any more fun.

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah they said they would do the update in stages.    First in the spring and again in the summer. 

My guess is the spring update will simply optimize the exisitng code, which should speed up things fairly well.  The summer update will probably be a major overhaul of the OS. 

[Well Fed Games]

This month it's Balloon Fight, which is awesome because it's one of the few NES games I never really played as a kid. 

Same here, really fun game (if I had known as a child that after playing Joust to death on my 7800, there was game with similar mechanics on the NES, my head might have exploded). Glad to see the big N is celebrating with some cool sales, I hope they keep it up.

[Howard_Casto]

Yeah I think Balloon Fight as the first title was Iwata's idea... it was one of the first games he worked on you know. 

[hypernova]

I guess I forgot to voice my displeasure, or at least would be displeasure if I owned one already at the fact that these updates won't be released until the aforementioned times.  Seems kind of too long off to fix what they've even acknowledged is a frustrating issue.

[Howard_Casto]

I guess I forgot to voice my displeasure, or at least would be displeasure if I owned one already at the fact that these updates won't be released until the aforementioned times.  Seems kind of too long off to fix what they've even acknowledged is a frustrating issue.

It's a stupid thing to complain about really.  The 360's dash sucked when it first came out, as did the ps3's.  You could argue that Nintendo should have had it right the first time, but the other two didn't either.  Also it's a super super minor issue.  The only load times that seem excessive are when you go into the system settings, and honestly how many times are you going to do that?

I'm not saying that it isn't noticable (it is) or that it shouldn't be quicker (it should).  But complaining about it is like complaining that your brand new sports car has a section of carpet with a spot on it and the dealer said they coudln't fix it for you (for free) until they got some new carpeting in. 

[Malenko]

The 360's dash sucked when it first came out, as did the ps3's. 

DISAGREE!
I loved the "Blade UI" of the 360, the redesign sucks. Also, you are spot on with the PS3 UI.

[Howard_Casto]

The 360's dash sucked when it first came out, as did the ps3's. 

DISAGREE!
I loved the "Blade UI" of the 360, the redesign sucks. Also, you are spot on with the PS3 UI.

While I'll certainly agree that the blade ui wasn't completely terrible, it was downright unreadable.  I mean that you couldn't read the text well ESPECIALLY considering at the time a lot of people were using it on a standard def set.  Mind you the new "we totally aren't ripping off the wii's light-hearted theme" dash isn't great either, but at least I can read the stuff on the screen. 

[Howard_Casto]

In other news I'm patiently awaiting the next 30 cent deal.  We are a week into Feb.  and it hasn't been put on the shop channel yet.  I'm hoping they don't wait until balloon fight has been out 30 days, because that would be around the 29th. 

[DarthMarino]

Balloon Fight (NES) Jan. 23-Feb. 21
F-Zero (SNES) Feb. 20-March 21
Punch-Out!! Featuring Mr. Dream (NES) March 20-April 18
Kirby's Adventure (NES) April 17-May 16
Super Metroid (SNES) May 15-June 13
Yoshi (NES) June 12-July 11
Donkey Kong (NES) July 15-Aug. 13

[Howard_Casto]

Thanks... yeha it looks like it'll be the end of each month, not the beginning. 

You know I look at that release and it makes me wonder why Nintendo refuses to adknowledge their arcade roots. 

If you are going to release Donkey Kong, why not release the arcade version?