Virtual Console sometimes abbreviated as VC, is a video game download service that is currently offered by Nintendo for its Wii gaming console. The Virtual Console forms part of the Wii Shopping Channel. The service allows Wii owners to play past games originally released for the NES, SNES and N64 as well as formerly competing systems, Mega Drive/Genesis,TurboGrafx-16, MSX and the Neo Geo. Similar to Microsoft’s Xbox360 Live Arcade, Nintendo’s VC uses a point system. Wii Points are priced at one cent per point (with the ability to buy in denominations of $10, $20, $30 and $50), with game prices of $5, $8, and $10.

Parents may remember many of these games from their own childhood. We can safely assume that most Wii owners download VC games for nostalgic reasons (…to bad you sold your NES on Ebay, ey). Kids will likely not be impressed by these old fashioned games, unless presented by their parents as history lesson – “Look that’s the game mom and dad played as kids…”.

Unfortunately, Nintendo’s Virtual Console does not come without flaws. Our biggest complaint is the inability to demo games first before making a purchasing decision. Nintendo tried to address this issue by offering short gameplay videos on the official Wii website, but these come nowhere close to actually playing a game demo for a level or two. Our second complaint is that many VC games cannot be played using the standard Wii-mote that comes with your Wii. VC games require additional hardware such as Nintendo’s Classic Game Controller or alternatively an old Gamecube Controller (…to bad you sold this one on Ebay too…).

Flaws and complaints aside; If you want to show your kids some “old-school” games, there is no better one-stop-shop then Nintendo’s Virtual Console.

Subscribe to our RSS Feed for tomorrow’s review of our Top 5 Virtual Console Games for your Kids and Family.

Share This