Dcubed

Exactly. It's not being used for Wii games because they're not actually emulated - they're just digital releases of Wii games (which are still currently being sold at retail) as they are, running through a modified Wii Mode, not emulated/enhanced versions of classics that are no longer sold at retail. It's no different really from a digital release of a Wii U game in that respect, hence why the Virtual Console branding is not used for Wii games. If you look at the icons and shop banners for NES/SNES/GBA games though, you'll notice that they all still use the Virtual Console brand (and the brand is referenced throughout each game's manual and on the Virtual Console Menu). It would be confusing though if Wii games weren't considered "Gaming Classics from Past Systems" though, so they just lump them all together for simplicity's sake - even if the Wii games are technically seperate from the Virtual Console games.

What if they updated the games with online features to connect to Nintendo Network instead of WFC... After all, Nintendo have no way of updating disc based games on Wii, but these digital re-releases? Now that's a different story

Oh hey! Looks like the digital versions of Wii games do actually sport improved loading times after all! You couldn't really notice it with SMG2, but look at this footage of DKCR (JPN version) on Wii U... (skip to near the end of the video, around 10:50, and look at how fast the map screen loads!) So there IS a performance bonus outside of just digital convinience Metroid Prime Trilogy should benefit greatly from this!

Feels like it has been an eternity since the U.S. release! Well, we're almost here. Dunno about you guys but I know that I'm Ret 2 Go for this one!

You could say that it makes you... 'appy... I'm not one to use memes normally, but it was simply too appropriate to let slip past me :p

You're right, it won't be as unique... It'll be better In an age where Nintendo is looking to do more merchandising than before, where they're looking to branch more outside of games, where they actively partner with outside companies and manufacturers like Goodsmile and First 4 Figures, where modern technology enables them to do many more things and much more efficiently and where they actively sell merchandise directly from the source, I think it's safe to say that they'll be doing even better physical items than before

The only times where we haven't been screwed over are with the releases of Kirby Mass Attack, Kirby's Adventure Wii (outside of the horrible name change at least!) and Kirby: Triple Deluxe. Every single other Kirby game has always seen huge delays in Europe for no good reason or, in the case of Kirby's Dreamland 3 and Kirby: Dream Collection, not released in Europe originally at all. NOE generally really seem to hate him!

Meanwhile, Japan and the U.S. get Kirby & The Rainbow Curse/Paintbrush...

No, because all of your purchases are tracked via your NNID. This new system will be making use of the data stored on your NNID account, just like the Digital Deluxe Promotion site, which worked perfectly fine and had nothing to do with Club Nintendo. Possibly, but I'm holding onto mine as long as possible, just in case anyway

Because the current system works really badly and has been in desperate need of a complete do-over for over a decade now! I mean, for Christ's sake! The current global Club Nintendo system is built on top of the very original UK only Nintendo VIP 24/7 (anyone else remember that one?) system that began in May 2002! The backend that powers Club Nintendo is almost 13 years old!! The associated websites are disjointed (log-ins on top of log-ins... ugh...), perform badly and tend to be very glitchy, are inconsistent across regions and are generally very much cobbled together by string and Pritt Stick glue (have you ever tried to do a batch of surveys at once? You're talking at least an hour for just a dozen or so, and that's if you get lucky where it doesn't just crash and you lose all of your progress - where the website glitches out and assumes you've already filled out the survey, but doesn't give you any stars!) Look at what the Digital Deluxe Promotion was like! Consistent across all regions, no glitches, automatically detected all Wii U purchases (regardless of the purchase method used), great performance across all devices, always perfectly reliable and based on a single NNID log-in (it even showed your Mii correctly!). Imagine what it would be like if Club Nintendo worked half as well as the DDP site did!

Ooh! I just had an idea... What if this new NNID based system also gave you discounts from the Official Nintendo Store!? That would be awesome!! I would hope that they will still be giving out physical goods, as well as digital discounts, so using their own online store seems like a perfect solution to me! (Likewise, the U.S. already has Nintendo World and Japan have the Pokemon Centres, so it's just a matter of making better use of what they already have!) Some stuff could still be made exclusive to those who meet certain criteria as well, but that sounds like a much better solution than the current system! Don't know why you're upset... The current Club Nintendo system is getting replaced with something else, not just removed. You're still gonna get rewards and offers, just through a much more streamlined process!

US info... So it looks like we're getting Flipnote 3D next month! I've got a ton of un-registered games but I'm gonna save my stars though. I bet that they're saving something special for the very last reward... Whatever the new system is, it can't be much worse than the current one. The survey process is a total nightmare!! (hence why I have so many games unregistered, it's just a complete PITA!) Please integrate it properly with the NNID service and implement it properly on the consoles themselves instead of the hacky solutions you've been using for over a decade now!! Oh and BTW, this is going to be something major. It's something that Nintendo have been planning for some time now... ... So yeah. This has been in the making for some time and is a major point of contact for Nintendo's future... So I expect great things from this!

So THAT's why they've been holding back Flipnote 3D for so long!? Bastards... :p

It's also wrong. The GCN controller is supported by all Wii VC games and there's nothing wrong with the emulation on Wii outside of a few minor glitches with the emulation on some N64 games (it uses HLE and is based on the one used on the GCN for the OoT/MQ and Zelda Collector's Edition discs - it's very feature light, lacking things like Suspend Saves, support for the Rumble Pak/Memory Pak etc and has a few minor visual and sound glitches in a few games - it's also probably being completely re-written from scratch for Wii U, which would explain why it's taking so long to surface here) and a horrible & unfortunate blur filter used on most TG16 games - thankfully Castlevania Rondo of Blood is the one major exception that had the filter removed! It even supports true 240p output via RGB Scart/Composite in addition to 480p via Component! (except N64, since obviously all games are re-rendered in 480p) - Mind you though, the NeoGeo VC doesn't support 480p output, only 480i or 240p, but that's a minor nitpick really (as well as the unfortunate lack of support for Suspend Saves, just like with N64); it's still by far the best way to play NeoGeo games to date though! Otherwise, yup, it's a pretty good chart

Highly doubt it. SEGA have by and large pulled out of retail releases in the west almost completely (outside of Sonic, Aliens, Total War and Football Manager - Miku has been a really unlikely exception though!)

Brilliant stuff! Anything involving the KO Punch or the Falcon Punch always seems to end up being awesome/hilarious Brilliant intro/ending too! : peace: Need to find more time to play more often with you guys!

Same. Always wanted to give it a try. Pretty novel concept that looks fun (even if I'm not a fan of the art style or the general presentation)

Heh, you joke, but I would actually be really happy to see that happen! I love that game! And it so desperately needs suspend saves!! How on earth they made a pinball game with no in-game way to suspend play is simply beyond me - It's a fantastic game, but it so very badly needs a way to save a game in progress! I would totally buy it on the VC just for that feature!

DK King of Swing and DKjr Math this week! Hmm... Metroid Prime Trilogy comes out next week as a Wii Download. I wonder what game in the Metroid series has yet to be released on the VC...

I miss arcades in general. The feel of just walking around and being bombarded with attract videos (it was often fun to just look around and watch all the machines in action!), people enjoying themselves and lots of noise. Not to mention that in the 80s-mid 90s, the arcades were like looking into the future as they were so far ahead of their time! (and also offered crazy interfaces that you just couldn't get at home - ahh, Panic Park... How I want a cabinet so badly... Even if you got a home release, it wouldn't feel quite the same...) That being said, ultimately it's the games themselves that are the most important thing to be preserved (and it is nice to be able to play them at home and appreciate them in ways you couldn't at an arcade, I mean, you can actually hear the games properly at home for starters ), but it's a shame that the social side can't really be re-captured outside of a few select places that remain open (and even then, it's only really the hardcore fans who will go there, so it's only a certain type of people who you will see there).

Supposedly the next batch of DLC is as follows... So... Yeah! Awesomeness all round!

Space Harrier 3D is probably a good one to start off with. Good fun, simple gameplay and a great showcase for the 3D effect! (It was also the first of the SEGA 3D Classics to be released, so why not start from the beginning?)

Never played Thunder Blade, but Galaxy Force 2 is legitimately a good game and a mindblowing "ride" for its time! If nothing else, you'll definitely appreciate the technical and design artistry that went into it! (not to mention the amazing S3D effect that this 3DS version offers!) I say go for it, they're all cheap anyway (and this is also the first time that Thunder Blade has ever been given a home release anywhere to boot!) Yup, real tragedy that it never saw a home release. Was hoping that the advent of the Virtual Console Arcade would finally allow SEGA to give them the home release they so badly need, but alas

Yeah, these games were (and still are!) a real marvel of engineering and design and likewise, so too is the effort put into the 3D treatment on M2's part. I played Galaxy Force 2 for the first time when it came out on 3DS and I was blown away! I can't believe how convincing an experience it offers with nothing more than sprite scaling! (and that's not even getting into the actual 3D effect, which is just as amazingly crafted!) And to think it was released in 1988! Incredible! (It's also a really fun game in its own right too! A real thrill ride experience! ). It was so ludicrously ahead of its time that not even the mighty "2D powerhouse", the SEGA Saturn, was able to do it justice! (It ran at half the framerate of the original Arcade version) A console released roughly 6 years after the original arcade game! Just a shame that I have no money for Afterburner 2 right now (so that stays on the backburner till next month unfortunately)

This! I want to see Retro work on something completely different!! Those guys have been stuck making sequels within established series for far too long! Either get them working on something original or something that has plenty of room for re-imagining and experimentation (like Wario! Or Startropics, or Kid Icarus, at least before Sakurai beat them to the punch anyway :p )