I'd like to see the sales figures for the different VC regions. Adelman, who had a large part in implementing the drip strategy, is adamant that it's
"the only way" to do it. The cites the obvious fact that Virtual Console games are not as easy to put up as uploading a ROM, but then goes into details about how it helps with sales / marketing. It's a shame because VC is mostly fan service for long time fans.
What I truly don't understand is the Wii titles on the eShop. As you mentioned, and as Nintendo (I think it was Iwata-san ;___; or Miyamoto-san) said at a recent investor meeting, VC title emulation takes quite a bit of work and is not always worth sparing the resources for, to Nintendo, at the moment. Now, Wii titles as I understand are literally just ROM dumps. That's what's a bit perplexing. The ROM dumps do not require emulation as I understand it. So please, Nintendo, I want to sell off my copies of RTDL and DKC and SMG and other games to those who prefer physical games, and I want to have them digitally instead. Pretty please. Thank you.
And they'll do it all over again with the NX!
The bright side here is (a) based on recent Nintendo comments, NX might not be region-locked, which would be a good enough situation for me and that (b) based on comments Nintendo has made about absorbing the Wii U architecture going forward, all Wii U VC might be on NX by default.
I do really hope the Wii Shop doesn't shut down anytime soon. I will be spending a lot of money on vritual titles if so. Just to build the backlog of stuff I want to play that may or may not pop up digitally again in the future if the Wii Shop shuts down.