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[charlequin]

Given that the VC is quite literally free money just sitting there, waiting to be taken, I have to assume that some conflux of the following is at play here:

* Waiting for a storage solution to hit. (Nintendo can be retarded, but I can't believe they'd be soooooo retarded that this isn't in the works.)

* Problematic BS pushed on NoA by HQ (there are lots of totally nonsensical reasons I can imagine that could lead to this happening.)

* A dumbass is in charge of picking the titles and no one else is vetting his work because they don't want to spend money on VC.

 

[ethelred]

vc-pce's updated, and once again, there are NO TG games next month.

sigh

 

[Iam Canadian]

Oh please America, the other shoe has finally fallen and your getting shit VC releases every week too now. Don't pretend you didn't think it wasn't going to happen.

We've been dealing with this shit for months, since the launch even.

Yeah, but you guys got Mega Man.

 

[DXB-KNIGHT]

In two weeks the title will change to ZERO VC game a week and 1 WiiWare.

 

[Ranger X]

In two weeks the title will change to ZERO VC game a week and 1 WiiWare.

I'm sadly sure that you're right. Nintendo DOES sucks like that.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

So, guys

Double Dragon.

I couldn't even make it past the 4th mission.(with all those falling stalactites, and touchy jumps)

I'm really out of practice. =(

 

[EphemeralDream]

In two weeks the title will change to ZERO VC game a week and 1 WiiWare.

Oh quit the BS. We all know that VC has been lackluster lately but these exaggerations of them completely giving up on the service are baseless. Recall that 2 consoles were recently added (C64 and SMS) not to mention MSX coming up soon. And what about the recent support from Aksys? NOA's support is a big question mark but someone at Nintendo is obviously working on increased support for the platform. I'd say my worries are towards the end of the Wii's lifecycle. Will they include support for transferring games, will they shut down the service completely?

vc-pce's updated, and once again, there are NO TG games next month.

Just curious but if nothing's changed, how you can tell there's nothing coming up. Was the JP PCE updated?

 

[Capndrake]

Just curious but if nothing's changed, how you can tell there's nothing coming up. Was the JP PCE updated?

In all the previous months when the US/EU/AU did get games, they were added at the same time the Japanese games were added. Japanese games are added now, but nothing's upcoming for the other regions.

There's like 8 rated TG games (About 6 import) so I really have no idea what Hudson is doing.

 

[Holy Order Sol]

Oh please America, the other shoe has finally fallen and your getting shit VC releases every week too now. Don't pretend you didn't think it wasn't going to happen.

We've been dealing with this shit for months, since the launch even.

European owner of a US Wii here = not my problem

 

[Jiggy]

You know, while I'm thinking about it, another angle that I actually haven't gone after yet is why the drop in games was so sudden. Literally up until December 31st, 2007, it was three games a week with only two or three blips like A Link to the Past, which nobody complained about--not much of a reason to, since it wasn't part of a pattern and since it was so close to the Wii launch--and Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Apparently at some point Nintendo either made a conscious decision to slow down the schedule or foresaw that a slowdown would be necessary to maintain the weekly releases. But it's a mystery what triggered that.

vc-pce's updated, and once again, there are NO TG games next month.

Yeah, VC's doomed at this rate. When even Hudson isn't putting up things anymore--Hudson, who have said time and again in about six separate interviews I've seen (January 2007, April 2007, April 2007 again, October 2007, and I can't remember when the others were, but I'm digging up links in case anyone calls me on this) that they were really happy with VC as an idea, said they were really happy with their sales, said they'd be looking into bringing over every TG16 game they could, and had been consistently releasing 2-4 games every month until 2008--something's up.

Frankly I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo is so scared of not being able to release games on a weekly basis that they asked Hudson to hold off on releasing games now just so that they'd have stuff to put out later in the Wii's life. I'm not asserting that's what's actually going on, but it wouldn't surprise me. (Incidentally, I don't know why Nintendo would care so much about their weekly schedule since it hasn't seemed to benefit them much if at all.)

Alternatively, perhaps VC's going to be ignored this month in favor of WiiWare. For Hudson alone, that would be fine and all. I know Tetris isn't supposed to be coming this month, but they've got Bomberman, Alien Crush, and Star Soldier R potentially on the way. But if even Nintendo, enormous company that they are, passes over VC for WiiWare, they've got no excuse. I may be a huge fan who thinks that WiiWare has rendered Wii retail almost 100% moot with its superior pricing, superior creativity, and superior graphics, but Nintendo should be able to handle both services simultaneously. I don't want one to leech from the other.

Oh please America, the other shoe has finally fallen and your getting [sucky] VC releases every week too now. Don't pretend you didn't think it wasn't going to happen.

We have a chance to unite against Nintendo's mistreatment of VC now. I'd rather not get into unproductive in-fighting.

Bloodlines is on VC?

I said "three other pre-SOTN Castlevanias," not "the other."

Recall that 2 consoles were recently added (C64 and SMS) not to mention MSX coming up soon.

We're mostly talking about North America in here due to forum demographics. C64 was only added in Europe and MSX is only being added in Japan. As for SMS, it's kind of hard to recall that it was recently added when it's only gotten two games so far, one of which was already available with an NES version. :/






Note: All of the above was written before Milabrega's summary post of IGN's podcast, along with a followup post, in which it was revealed that--well:

Q: WTF VC Releases!! ?
A: Ign has spoken to developers who all say they have a ton of games in Nintendo's VC Que. So this delay is on Nintendo's end.

Even more fuel, they said they spoke to one company that had 12 titles in que.

Any diehards still up for defending Nintendo and their one-game weeks even at this point in time? It looks to me like the opposition has run out of excuses.

Edit: Unless anyone starts claiming that IGN is lying or being lied to, of course. But that would be a strange sort of defense, since Nintendo has made no gestures whatsoever to claim that they simply don't have enough games ready to put up more than one or two each week.

 

[VOOK]

We have a chance to unite against Nintendo's mistreatment of VC now. I'd rather not get into unproductive in-fighting.

I think we should just fight against Nintendo mistreatment, period.

 

[Jiggy]

Well, of course. But this is the VC thread, so VC is what I intend to cover. >_>

 

[A Black Falcon]

I said "three other pre-SOTN Castlevanias," not "the other."

Three only if you count Japan-only releases... only two, here.

Frankly I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo is so scared of not being able to release games on a weekly basis that they asked Hudson to hold off on releasing games now just so that they'd have stuff to put out later in the Wii's life. I'm not asserting that's what's actually going on, but it wouldn't surprise me. (Incidentally, I don't know why Nintendo would care so much about their weekly schedule since it hasn't seemed to benefit them much if at all.)

Hudson may have only so many more US Turbografx titles to bring over, but how about their NES and SNES games? We have seen a couple of their NES games but far from all of them, and don't have any of their SNES titles... or their one Genesis game or three Sega CD games either (though given that one is a port of a Turbo CD game already on VC, that one shouldn't count)... and that's just one company.

I know working out rights for a lot of old games must be a major pain, but still, if Nintendo cared about the VC, they'd work it out. That they haven't bothered says a lot, at least as much as the one or two titles a week thing says.

 

[BuddhaRockstar]

Given that the VC is quite literally free money just sitting there, waiting to be taken, I have to assume that some conflux of the following is at play here:

I keep seeing this phrase thrown around, but does anyone have any proof to back this up? Aren't there ESRB costs and possibly other costs that can factor into putting a game on the VC?

 

[Jiggy]

Three only if you count Japan-only releases... only two, here.

I know Super Castlevania IV is available since I have it. I thought Castlevania and Castlevania II were also both up.

Hudson may have only so many more US Turbografx titles to bring over, but how about their NES and SNES games? We have seen a couple of their NES games but far from all of them, and don't have any of their SNES titles... or their one Genesis game or three Sega CD games either (though given that one is a port of a Turbo CD game already on VC, that one shouldn't count)... and that's just one company.

I know working out rights for a lot of old games must be a major pain, but still, if Nintendo cared about the VC, they'd work it out. That they haven't bothered says a lot, at least as much as the one or two titles a week thing says.

I keep seeing this phrase thrown around, but does anyone have any proof to back this up? Aren't there ESRB costs and possibly other costs that can factor into putting a game on the VC?

I want to respond to these posts pretty badly, considering the kind of information I'm digging up in these Hudson interviews I've been searching for, but before I do, is there any kind of NeoGAF rule about how large an excerpt I can post?

 

[A Black Falcon]

I know Super Castlevania IV is available since I have it. I thought Castlevania and Castlevania II were also both up.

Yeah, you're right. Japan has four, the US three. There are two more not released in either region.

... though if I don't know if games like Castlevania II are really still worth playing (Milon's Secret Castle, too)... but that's a different question. If you play with an FAQ and map it'd be okay, but if you actually try to play it like someone at the time would have... ack.

 

[QuickKick89]

I think we should just fight against Nintendo mistreatment, period.

Do so, and you also fight against the most heinous hordes of fanboys in the history of existence. It's a battle that is unwinnable, my friend. Oh yes, there will be blood.

And everyone thought I was crazy in the "Nintendo at E3 08" thread that Nintendo wasn't getting bad press lately. Fact is, they are, and this is proof. And it's hurting them badly...VERY badly.

 

[Somnid]

I've stated this before but I'm pretty sure Nintendo was always responsible for the NES, SNES and N64 queues in their entirety. So yeah, I'm not surprised they are behind, they probably always will be since I'd imagine they don't have a large teams working on this. It's probably a couple of guys okaying 1-2 titles per week (bug testing, manuals, screenshots and other miscellaneous work). Hudson handles the TG16 part, Sega handles the Genesis and Master System part, D4 handles the MSX and NeoGeo part and Commodore Gaming does the C64 part. I imagine each has a claim on their own emulator so Nintendo doesn't handle all that directly and that by splitting up the duty they wouldn't need a large Nintendo-only team to ensure a stream of games.

If Nintendo puts up 1-2 a week then to get back to the normal 3 the others need to output the rest. Last year Hudson was doing about a title a week which often served as the "3rd" game, now that that's gone 1-2 games weeks are going to be a lot more common unless Sega and D4 pick up the slack or Nintendo throws more man-power at it's current systems.

The reason behind Hudson's cut-back is a mystery. They could be doing a lot of new localization work which has been indicated by OFLC ratings. But I would believe the argument that their back catalog is running dry (Given my thoughts above Hudson's titles on other systems are at Nintendo's mercy). Is anyone interested in cross-cheking Hudson's backlog to see what's left?

 

[Jiggy]

I was going to direct quote, but that actually grew rather lengthy and unwieldy, so let me just summarize highlights of various Hudson interviews. Everyone here can click the links and see if anything else I didn't point out strikes them as interesting.



Game Informer, January 2007

-They love Virtual Console and believe that it's a launching point for reviving brands from what they've seen. [Sidenote: To me this seems to run entirely contrary to the notion that obscure games don't sell enough to justify the cost.]
-They were "pleasantly surprised" with how their games had done so far.
-To choose what to release on the VC, they pick out big-name titles first, then look for "obscure gems."
-John Lee would love to have seen Chew Man Fu on VC. [Sidenote: I really have to point something out here. This was January 2007, and he was speaking as though he wasn't sure whether Chew Man Fu would be made available. Chew Man Fu went up toward the end of February 2007--I'm certain of this because I bought it (and liked it, thank you very much). If John Lee wasn't just sort of providing a wink wink sort of hint there, that would mean there was relatively little trouble back then to move a game from a potential to actual release.]
-Many TG16 games' rights are hard to track down due to the publisher not existing, joint deals, and "odd partnerships." Their lawyers are kept busy, but nonetheless they're "going after just about every opportunity you can think of, and seeing which ones work themselves out." [Sidenote: Consider this. Hudson is a smaller company than Nintendo and a company getting a smaller cut of each VC sale than Nintendo, but nonetheless they were pursuing every opportunity--even as early as January 2007. Why can't Nintendo do the same?]
-They were evaluating releasing previously Japan-only games; called it "a bit far off from a reality" at the time.


Gamasutra, April 2007

-They think they'll bring over previously Japan-only games if people tell them they're wanted, "absolutely."
-Looking to eventually make "every game, virtually" available, though it might take a couple years. [Sidenote: He specifies "Turbo Grafx" rather than "PC Engine," but still a bold statement. Exactly the sort that makes me believe IGN is right and the developers they've been talking to are right, and that Nintendo is the one gumming up the Virtual Console pipeline and purposely slowing down releases.]


Nintendo Players, later in April 2007:

-"Happy like a clam" with TG16 sales on VC.
-VC games are tested, tweaked, and optimized; Hudson of Japan and Nintendo of Japan test the games, and other territories may retest. [Sidenote: Guess that shuts down the people who think that every game should be made available immediately.]


NintendoWorldReport, October 2007:

-Plans to focus on TG16 and TGCD games, though getting through that catalog could take another year, so there were "currently no immediate plans for SNES Hudson games." [Sidenote: And yet DoReMi Fantasy was released in March while no TG16 games were released in March or April, nor are there any set to show for May. Doesn't sound like that was because of Hudson's plan.]

 

[cartman414]

... though if I don't know if games like Castlevania II are really still worth playing (Milon's Secret Castle, too)... but that's a different question. If you play with an FAQ and map it'd be okay, but if you actually try to play it like someone at the time would have... ack.

Getting past the obfuscation, it's a ridiculously easy game. But worth it to anyone who hasn't played it yet in order to experience the full saga of Simon.

 

[FFantasyFX]

Yeah, you're right. Japan has four, the US three.

Are you quite sure that Japan has four Castlevania games? Positive? Apparently, I need to start posting my Western Exclusive list again. Castlevania 2 is one of thirty-four games that have been released in North America and/or Europe but have not yet hit Japan.

Apparently at some point Nintendo either made a conscious decision to slow down the schedule or foresaw that a slowdown would be necessary to maintain the weekly releases. But it's a mystery what triggered that.

When the Virtual Console first debuted, NOA promised that they would release at least ten games a month each month throughout 2007. I was worried about what would happen when we hit 2008, and apparently I had good reason to be anxious. I sometimes wonder whether they wouldn't have cutt back on releases even earlier had they not made that pledge. The big question though is why and I'm baffled. Are they not making the return they expected? Just an obstinate unwillingness to allocate resources? Lack of vision? It isn't a lack of games, as illustrated by the quotes pulled from the IGN podcast.

 

[A Black Falcon]

Are you quite sure that Japan has four Castlevania games? Positive? Apparently, I need to start posting my Western Exclusive list again. Castlevania 2 is one of thirty-four games that have been released in North America and/or Europe but have not yet hit Japan.

Didn't think of checking that... yeah, you're right.

The reason behind Hudson's cut-back is a mystery. They could be doing a lot of new localization work which has been indicated by OFLC ratings. But I would believe the argument that their back catalog is running dry (Given my thoughts above Hudson's titles on other systems are at Nintendo's mercy). Is anyone interested in cross-cheking Hudson's backlog to see what's left?

Hudson has plenty of games left. Their Japan-only library is a lot larger of course, but even with just their US library, it's significant...

The one issue I found is that I'm not exactly sure which titles Hudson actually published for the Turbografx on the VC, and which games exactly they have rights to...

For instance, NEC originally published R-Type for the TG16 in the US, while Irem developed it and Hudson published in Japan. According to VC-Reviews and GameFAQs, Hudson published R-Type on VC, while Irem published some of its other own games.

It seems that Hudson has all rights to the TG-16 and TG-CD games published by Hudson, NEC, TTI, and TZD (Turbo Zone Direct, who published one or two last TTI games that were nearly ready but weren't released yet when TTI went backrupt in mid '93).

But wait... GameFAQs says that Splatterhouse on Wii was published by Bandai-Namco in Japan, but by NEC in the US and Europe. Meanwhile VC-Reviews.com lists Namco-Bandai as the US/EU publisher. Hmm.

There are more inconsistencies like that one. It makes things simpler if I assume that some things on GameFAQs are errors (NEC as the US publisher of Victory Run on the Wii (Hudson in EU/JP; Hudson original developer and publisher), NCS as the US publisher of Double Dungeons on the Wii (with NEC the European publisher and Hudson only in Japan; NCS original developer, and Japanese publisher, NEC original US publisher), and NEC as the US VC publisher of Splatterhouse (Bandai-Namco as the JP/EU publisher; originally published on the TG16 by NEC in the US and Namco in Japan). Victory Run and Double Dungeons were probably published on the VC by Hudson in all regions, and Splatterhouse by Bandai-Namco in all regions.

But still. If Irem publishes games on VC (they have), why is Hudson publishing R-Type for TG16 while Irem publishes the other R-Type games on VC (for SNES)? Does Hudson have full rights to all of NEC's TG16 and TGCD games for VC release? But no, some games originally published by NEC had other publishers on the VC. Silent Debuggers (GameFAQs data): original developer, Data East. Original publisher: NEC. Wii VC publisher, JP/EU: G-Mode. VC publisher, US: Nintendo. Silent Debuggers also isn't in NoA's Wii VC list, and VC-Reviews lists its publisher as G-Mode. Actually G-Mode here too, my guess would be... but it, and some other examples, just mess up more the picture of who has the rights to the TG16 and TGCD games NEC published.

So... for Turbografx games, I'm not sure exactly which of these titles Hudson has access to...

http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/company/10642.html (Hudson)
http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/company/74385.html (Hudson, more/overlap)
http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/company/76160.html (NEC)
http://www.gamefaqs.com/features/company/72307.html (NEC Interchannel)


http://www.vc-reviews.com/games?sort=publisher (complete, but some publisher listings may be wrong)
http://www.nintendo.com/wii/virtualconsole/games (incomplete, missing many titles -- Splatterhouse, R-Type, R-Type III, Victory Run, etc)

Failing to know these things, it's impossible to make a list that I can be sure of for those platforms for Hudson.

I can't even be sure of this list of titles they have released for the Turbografx/Turbo CD...

I can post the NES/SNES/N64 lists, but should I even make a Turbografx list when I don't know which titles they actually can release? Did NEC actually release those two games in the US and Europe? Many of the titles I'd like to check are ones missing from Nintendo's official list...

Currently available on the VC in the US from Hudson:

NES: Adventure Island (Westone/Hudson developed), Star Soldier, Lode Runner, Milon's Secret Castle

Super Famicom: Do-Re-Mi Fantasy (Import title)

Turbografx: World Class Baseball, Alien Crush (Compile developed), Devil's Crush (Compile developed), R-Type (Irem developed), Bomberman '93, Super Star Soldier, Soldier Blade, Neutopia, Neutopia II, Bonk's Adventure, Bonk 2: Bonk's Revenge, Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure, Chew Man Fu, New Adventure Island, Air Zonk, World Sports Competition, Military Madness, Power Golf, Shockman, Blazing Lazers (Compile developed), JJ & Jeff, China Warrior, Double Dungeons, Riot Zone, Dungeon Explorer, Moto Roader, Crater Maze, Dragon's Curse (Westone/Hudson developed)

PC Engine: Battle Lode Runner

Turbo-CD: Gate of Thunder, Lords of Thunder, The Dynastic Hero (Westone/Hudson developed), Super Air Zonk, Monster Lair (Westone/Hudson developed) [all of these games were originally published in the US on the TG-CD by TTI and TZD]

Hudson titles not released:

MSX: For the US, everything.

NES: (US releases, most also in Japan and many also in Europe)
Adventure Island II
Adventure Island III
Bonk's Adventure
Starship Hector
Star
Mendel Palace (Game Freak developed)
Xexyz
Adventures of Dino Riki
Raid on Bungeling Bay
Bomberman
Bomberman II
M.U.S.C.L.E.
Mickey Mousecapade (Hudson developed and published in Japan, Capcom published in the US)
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu
Princess Tomato in the Salad Kingdom
Felix the Cat

NES: (EU only releases)
Beauty and the Beast (port of the SNES game)

Famicom: (Japan only releases)
Adventure Island IV
Championship Lode Runner
Star Force
Bikkuriman World
Pooyan
Seirei Gari
Takahashi Meijin no Bug-tte Honey
Binary Land
Nuts & Milk
Doraemon
Ninja Hattori Kun
Momotarou Densetsu
Momotarou Densetsu Gaiden

SNES: (US releases, most also in Japan and many also in Europe)
Super Bonk
Super Adventure Island
Super Adventure Island II
Super Bomberman
Super Bomberman 2
An American Tail: Fievel Goes West
Beauty and the Beast
Hagane (CAProduction/RED developed)

SNES: (EU/JP only releases)
Super Bomberman 3
Virtual Soccer (Probe developed)

Super Famicom: (Japan-only releases)
Super Bonk II
Earth Light
Earth Light: Luna Strike
Elfaria (RED developed)
Elfaria II (RED developed)
Super Bomberman 4
Super Bomberman 5
Shin Momotarou Densetsu
Super Momotarou Dentetsu II
Super Momotarou Dentetsu III
Super Momotarou Dentetsu DX
Momotarou Dentetsu Happy
Super Power League
Super Power League 2
Super Power League 3
Super Power League 4
Daikaijyuu Monogatari
Super Bomberman: Panic Bomber W
Undake 30: Same Game - Mario Version
Caravan Shooting Collection
Kishin Douji Zenki: Rettou Raiden
Kishin Douji Zenki: Denei Raibu
Tengai Makyou Zero
Saikyou: Takata Nobuhiko
Crystal Beans: From Dungeon Explorer
Same Game
J-League '96 Dream Stadium
Bomberman B-Daman
Bakukyuu Renpatsu!! Super B-Daman

N64: (all regions) -- All titles.

 

[Somnid]

As far as VC goes:

Bandai-Namco Published Splatterhouse in all regions.

R-Type and R-Type 2 (JP only) on TG16 were published by Hudson in all regions.

R-Type III was published by Jaleco in the US, Irem in Europe and Japan.

Victory Run was done by Hudson in all regions.

Vcreviews as far as I can tell will only list the US publisher, there are some discrepancies between regions though.

 

[A Black Falcon]

As far as VC goes:

Bandai-Namco Published Splatterhouse in all regions.

R-Type and R-Type 2 (JP only) on TG16 were published by Hudson in all regions.

R-Type III was published by Jaleco in the US, Irem in Europe and Japan.

Victory Run was done by Hudson in all regions.

Vcreviews as far as I can tell will only list the US publisher, there are some discrepancies between regions though.

R-Type III, Jaleco in the US on the VC? Really? GameFAQs lists it as being published by Irem in all regions, VC-Reviews as being published by Irem, and IGN, for some odd reason, says it was published by Nintendo on the VC. At least they agree that Irem developed, though.

I just edited that part of the post, fixing some issues with it...

There are more inconsistencies like that one. It makes things simpler if I assume that some things on GameFAQs are errors (NEC as the US publisher of Victory Run on the Wii (Hudson in EU/JP; Hudson original developer and publisher), NCS as the US publisher of Double Dungeons on the Wii (with NEC the European publisher and Hudson only in Japan; NCS original developer, and Japanese publisher, NEC original US publisher), and NEC as the US VC publisher of Splatterhouse (Bandai-Namco as the JP/EU publisher; originally published on the TG16 by NEC in the US and Namco in Japan). Victory Run and Double Dungeons were probably published on the VC by Hudson in all regions, and Splatterhouse by Bandai-Namco in all regions.

But still. If Irem publishes games on VC (they have), why is Hudson publishing R-Type for TG16 while Irem publishes the other R-Type games on VC (for SNES)? Does Hudson have full rights to all of NEC's TG16 and TGCD games for VC release? But no, some games originally published by NEC had other publishers on the VC. Silent Debuggers (GameFAQs data): original developer, Data East. Original publisher: NEC. Wii VC publisher, JP/EU: G-Mode. VC publisher, US: Nintendo. Silent Debuggers also isn't in NoA's Wii VC list, and VC-Reviews lists its publisher as G-Mode. Actually G-Mode here too, my guess would be... but it, and some other examples, just mess up more the picture of who has the rights to the TG16 and TGCD games NEC published.

That does help though. Yeah, I thought that VC-Reviews only had the US release dates. It's very, very odd that Nintendo's own page is MISSING TITLES that came out on the VC. Why in the world...

 

[Iam Canadian]

Okay, you all know I've been pulling for Earthbound on the VC for a long time now. Even though Nintendo has shown no intention yet to put it up, I've always put stock into Starmen.Net's vague statements claiming that Earthbound is coming "soon". I remember when the statement was that their inside source claimed that the only thing remaining before the game was ready was the electronic manual.

But when they make statements like this, I get worried.

That's right -- this is the last leg of the Siege. Why now? Because Nintendo of America seems determined that they will NOT release EarthBound on the Virtual Console. They pulled the EarthBound demo from the Masterpieces section of Smash Bros Brawl. Why would they do that? Nobody knows for sure, but we're pretty sure about one thing: it's not good news. If EB doesn't come out on VC, then the series is officially dead in America.

I don't know what was involved with Starmen saying this, since I believe that they do have an inside source of some kind, but when even they are saying things like this, it makes me very concerned for Earthbound appearing on the VC. Nintendo's spite towards Earthbound fans never ceases to baffle me; why pass up on the free money that releasing Earthbound would entail (seeing as the game was already ESRB-rated), if not simply spiting their fanbase?

 

[JoshuaJSlone]

That's a bit old news, since it just seems to be going off the lack of the demo in SSBB. Repeating what I said in another thread at the time, that could be taken different ways. My initial reaction was that it strengthened rumors of a DS compilation. If a DS rerelease was coming up, they wouldn't be putting the old version on the VC anytime soon. If they're not putting it on VC anytime soon, why put a VC demo? That does beg the question "Why put it in the Japanese release?" then, but considering Mother 3 and the 1+2 compilation of recent years, it's already quite a known entity. In the US it'd basically be starting from scratch again.

 

[Iam Canadian]

Why would Starmen wait until now to use the SSBB example to put forth the idea that Earthbound won't appear on the VC, especially when they've been so confident that it will come out? I think Starmen knows something that would induce them to say this all of a sudden.

 

[Man God]

Their source is shite.

I've heard all sorts of stupid conspiracy theories.

EB was a commercial failure so they don't want the free money that would happen from the VC release.

Some of EB's music is too close to some other songs so they don't want to get sued.

5 Jewish bankers in their Zionist airship are stopping the release of the game because it offends their true pagan god the Mani Mani Statue.

Nothing about the series makes sense, except for the DS compilation that is going to be announced at E3.

Then I'll finally get all the VC games I ever wanted.

 

[Iam Canadian]

Then I'll finally get all the VC games I ever wanted.

I was kidding when I said that.

Not that it matters, since I doubt that this fabled DS compilation is coming, as awesome as it undeniably would be.

Besides, thanks to Nintendo's inept implementation of the VC gifting system, I can't gift you squat anyway.

 

[Man God]

I think it is. I wasn't quite sure until they cut EB out of Smash. Mother 1 and Mother 2 for download is basically free money. Why get rid of it unless they're planning to sell it by some other method?

 

[A Black Falcon]

Here's what I have so far for Turbografx lists (games not released on the VC). As I said in my previous post this is all questionable.

Games originally developed or published by Hudson (many were published in the US by TTI and/or TZD, but Hudson clearly has those rights now -- I won't mark all those titles.)

Hudson's Sega Genesis and Sega CD releases are here too, because I forgot them in my last post.

Turbografx: (US releases)
Keith Courage in Alpha Zones (Hudson developed and published in Japan, NEC published in the US)
Aero Blasters (Kaneko developed and published in Japan, TTI published in the US)
Timeball
Bomberman
Jackie Chan's Action Kung Fu (Now Production developed)
Raiden (Hudson developed and published in Japan, NEC published in the US)

PC Engine: (Japan only releases)
Bikkuriman World
Shanghai
YouYou Jinsei
Necromancer
Sengoku Mahjong
Sadakichi Seven: Hideyoshi no Ougon
Susano O Densetsu
Tengai Makyou: Ziria
Power League II (sequels to World Class Baseball, all JP only)
Power League III
Power League 4
Power League 5
Power League '93
Super Momotarou Dentetsu
Super Momotarou Dentetsu II
Aldynes (SuperGrafx system required)
Battle Ace (SuperGrafx system required)
Madouou Granzort (SuperGrafx system required)
1941: Counter Attack (SuperGrafx system required)
Aoi Blink
Maniac Pro Wrestling
Momotarou Densetsu Turbo
Mitsubatchi Gakuen
Momotarou Katsugeki
Momotarou Densetsu II
Populous
Power Eleven
Final Soldier
Doraemon Nobita No Dorabian Nights
Ninja Ryukenden (Ninja Gaiden)
Honoo no Doukyuuji: Dodge Danpei
Momotaru Densetsu Gaiden 1: Dai 1 Shuu
Power Tennis
Bomberman '94 (released in the US on the Genesis as Mega Bomberman)

Turbo CD: (US releases)
Dungeon Explorer II
Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure (CD version)
Fighting Street
Ys Book I & II (Falcom developed)
Ys Book III: Wanderers From Ys (Falcom developed, Hudson published in Japan, NEC published in the US)
J.B. Harold Murder Club (Hudson developed and published in Japan, NEC published in the US)
Dragon Slayer: The Saga of Heroes (Falcom developed, Hudson published in Japan, Working Designs published in the US)
John Madden CD Football (US only release)
SimEarth
Cotton
Riot Zone
Might & Magic III: Isles of Terra


PCE CD: (Japan-only releases) -- All titles.
No Ri Ko
Bikkuriman Taizikai
The Space Adventure Cobra (Cobra Kuroryuuou no Densetsu)
Gambler Jiko Chuushinha
Shanghai II
Urusei Yatsura: Stay With You
Pomping World (Buster Bros.)
Cobra II: Densetsu no Otoko
Seiryuu Densetsu Monbit
Populous: The Promised Lands
Super CD-ROM2 Taiken Soft-shuu (game?)
Tengai Makyou II: Manji Maru
Super Raiden
Star Parodier
Doraemon Nobita No Dorabian Nights
Adventure Quiz Capcom World: Hatena no Daibouken
Record of Lodoss War
Quiz Tonosama no Yabou
Ginga Ojousama Densetsu Yuna
Dragon Slayer II: Eiyuu Densetsu (Falcom developed)
Inoue Asami: Kono Hoshi ni Tatta Hitori no Kimi
Fushigi no Umi no Nadia
Quiz Caravan Cult Q
Tengai Makyou: Fuun Kabuki Den
Ys IV: The Dawn of Ys (Falcom developed)
Bakushou Yoshimoto no Shingeki
Power Golf II: Golfer
Garou Densetsu 2 (Fatal Fury 2) (Arcade Card required)
Art of Fighting (Arcade Card required)
World Heroes 2 (Arcade Card required)
Neo Nectaris
Blood Gear
Hyper Wars
Garou Densetsu Special (Fatal Fury Special) (Arcade Card required)
Record of Lodoss War II
Bomberman: Panic Bomber
Kabuki Itouryodan (Arcade Card required)
Ginga Ojousama Densetsu Yuna II
Ginga Densetsu Fukei Sapphire (Arcade Card required)
Kuusou Kagaku Sekai Gulliver Boy (supports Arcade Card, but not required)
Hyaku Monogatari
Seiya Monogatari: AnEarth Fantasy Stories

Sega Genesis (all US only releases)
Mega Bomberman (port of Bomberman '94 for JP TG16)

Sega CD (all US only releases)
The Space Adventure Cobra (not sure if this is a new game or a port of the JP TGCD games)
Lords of Thunder (TGCD port)
Dungeon Explorer (original game, not a port)


TTI/TZD Releases TTI and TZD did not develop games, just publish and sell them in the US. All of these are US releases, Hudson most probably has the rights to the US releases of these games now.


TTI-published titles currently on the VC: (overlaps with other lists)

Turbografx: Alien Crush, JJ & Jeff, Dead Moon, Air Zonk, Bravoman

Turbo CD: The Dynastic Hero, Lords of Thunder, Gate of Thunder, Super Air Zonk ("Distributed By TTI")


TTI-published titles not currently on the VC:

Turbografx:
Aero Blasters (Hudson)
Battle Royale (Incredible Technologies) (US only)
Bloody Wolf (Data East)
Timeball (Hudson)
Bomberman (Hudson)
Andre Panza Kick-Boxing (Loricels) (US only)
Champions Forever Boxing (Distinctive Software) (US only)
Ghost Manor (ICOM)
Dungeons & Dragons: Order of the Griffon (Westwood Studios) (US only)
Bomberman '93 (Hudson)
Darkwing Duck (Interactive Designs)

Turbo CD:
The Adams Family (ICOM)
Prince of Persia
Shadow of the Beast
Riot Zone (Hudson)
Valis III (Telenet)
Godzilla (Alfa System)
Syd Mead's Terraforming
Beyond Shadowgate (US only)
Shape Shifter (ICOM)
The Dynastic Hero (Westone/Hudson)
Dungeon Master: Theron's Quest
Camp California (ICOM)
Sherlock Holmes Consulting Detective Volume II
Bonk 3: Bonk's Big Adventure CD (Hudson)


Games originally published or developed by NEC and NEC Interchannel (for whoever the heck has the rights to these games now... NEC mostly published other developers' projects, only some were internally developed. Hudson (I think), G-Mode, Irem, etc, have all released on the Wii VC games originally published by NEC...)

NEC-published titles currently on the VC: (overlaps with other lists)

Turbografx: Moto Roader, Dragon Spirit, Vigilante, Power Golf, Dungeon Explorer, Neutopia, Bonk's Adventure, New Adventure Island, Neutopia, Ninja Spirit, Ordyne, Splatterhouse, Crater Maze, Chew-Man-Fu, Bonk's Adventure, Bonk's Revenge, Dragon's Curse, Psyshosis, Super Star Soldier, R-Type, Soldier Blade, Silent Debuggers, World Sports Competition (all of these titles were developed by others and published by NEC)

Turbo CD: Monster Lair, J.B. Harold Murder Club, Ys III: Wanderers From Ys (all of these titles were developed by others and published by NEC)


NEC-published titles not on VC: (no listed developer means unknown)

Turbografx: (US releases)
The Legendary Axe (developed and published in Japan by Victor Interactive, published by NEC in the US)
Legendary Axe II
Space Harrier (developed by Dempa)
Gunboat (The Code Monkeys) (US only)
Deep Blue (Pack-In Video)
Galaga '90 (Namco)
World Court Tennis (Namco)
Davis Cup Tennis
Final Lap Twin (Namco)
King of Casino
Drop Off (Data East)
Cyper Core (Alfa System)
Pac-Land (Namco)
Veigues Tactical Gladiator (Bits Laboratory)
Boxyboy (Media Rings)
TV Sports Football (Cinemaware)
TaleSpin (Interactive Designs)
Raiden (Hudson)
TV Sports Basketball (Cinemaware)
Yo'Bro (ICOM)
Hit the Ice (Taito)
Time Cruise (Sankindo)
World Sports Competition (Hudson)
Magical Chase (Quest)
Sidearms (NEC Avenue)
Tiger Road (Victor Interactive)
Night Creatures (Manley and Associates)
Impossamole (Gremlin Interactive)

PC Engine: (Japan only releases) -- All titles. A good number.

Turbo CD: (US releases)
Lords of the Rising Sun (Victor Interactive published in Japan, NEC in the US)
Valis II (Telenet)
Last Alert
Sherlock Holmes, Consulting Detective
Splash Lake

PCE CD: (Japan-only releases) -- All titles. Lots!

 

[Jiggy]

I think it is. I wasn't quite sure until they cut EB out of Smash. Mother 1 and Mother 2 for download is basically free money. Why get rid of it unless they're planning to sell it by some other method?

Considering that NOA seems to be holding back already-prepared VC releases, according to those publishers IGN spoke with, I'm not sure it's safe to analyze their dealings with Earthbound as though they were acting in a logical fashion.

 

[Man God]

Nintendo has a damn good reason for holding back releases, they need enough content to last another three or four years! :lol

 

[Jiggy]

I don't see why the weekly releases should be prioritized as that sort of hypothesis suggests that they are. Supposing that Nintendo had--I don't know--68 titles ready to go and wanted to keep a weekly schedule, they could end up potentially blowing through them either in 68 weeks, 34 weeks, or ~23 weeks. But would it be so important to them that they could honestly say "We release weekly content on Wii" that they'd rather take the 68-week schedule than a 34-week schedule that would generate money faster, generate money less chipped-at by inflation, and probably lead to fewer third-parties calling them to ask why in the world their games weren't available yet?

That type of reasoning, if it's really what they were using, would be pretty far removed from anything I can understand. If I were them, I would look at the situation and take into consideration that, no matter what I did, the weekly releases would come to an end at some point in the future. Why not end them sooner rather than later? Sure, I suppose they could slow down the releases in order to buy themselves more time with which to bring more publishers on board, but I'm not sure how well that would work out since 1) they'd be eroding the core gamer mindshare in the meantime with their slow release schedule, and 2) they'd be in less of a position to bring those publishers over, since the third-parties could look at the VC release schedule and estimate just how many weeks their games might not be put up even after they were ready to go.

It seems to me that there's no reason not to at least step down from the weekly releases with a brisk pace, in a situation where stepping down eventually is inevitable. To put it another way, I see no logical* or financial reason they'd want to insist on drawing the weekly releases out as long as possible. There could be one, though, so let's keep up the discussion.



*Unless someone can convince me that merely being able to brag about having weekly releases is a logical goal for a company to aim toward.

 

[Capndrake]

Vcreviews as far as I can tell will only list the US publisher, there are some discrepancies between regions though.

Yeah, we're trying to look for a way to list both the US and EU publisher (If different). Two recent examples are RCR and Double Dragon: Published by 505 Games in Europe, Aksys Games in the US.

EDIT: Black Falcon, Bloody Wolf is on VC, published by G-mode. The reason for that (And Silent Debuggers) is that Data East went bankrupt and G-mode bought most of their games.

 

[Man God]

I don't see why the weekly releases should be prioritized as that sort of hypothesis suggests that they are. Supposing that Nintendo had--I don't know--68 titles ready to go and wanted to keep a weekly schedule, they could end up potentially blowing through them either in 68 weeks, 34 weeks, or ~23 weeks. But would it be so important to them that they could honestly say "We release weekly content on Wii" that they'd rather take the 68-week schedule than a 34-week schedule that would generate money faster, generate money less chipped-at by inflation, and probably lead to fewer third-parties calling them to ask why in the world their games weren't available yet?

That type of reasoning, if it's really what they were using, would be pretty far removed from anything I can understand. If I were them, I would look at the situation and take into consideration that, no matter what I did, the weekly releases would come to an end at some point in the future. Why not end them sooner rather than later? Sure, I suppose they could slow down the releases in order to buy themselves more time with which to bring more publishers on board, but I'm not sure how well that would work out since 1) they'd be eroding the core gamer mindshare in the meantime with their slow release schedule, and 2) they'd be in less of a position to bring those publishers over, since the third-parties could look at the VC release schedule and estimate just how many weeks their games might not be put up even after they were ready to go.

It seems to me that there's no reason not to at least step down from the weekly releases with a brisk pace, in a situation where stepping down eventually is inevitable. To put it another way, I see no logical* or financial reason they'd want to insist on drawing the weekly releases out as long as possible. There could be one, though, so let's keep up the discussion.



*Unless someone can convince me that merely being able to brag about having weekly releases is a logical goal for a company to aim toward.

No, the real reason has more to due with keeping the various publishers happy, I'd imagine. If they released everything good in one go then the bad games would be buried. Now in a free market approach this should be expected and even welcomed, but in reality Nintendo gets a better cut if they can con people into buying new bad games. They are stringing people along to a certain extent I think.

People will buy the good games no matter what.

People might buy the lesser games if there is no other option.

 

[FFantasyFX]

No, the real reason has more to due with keeping the various publishers happy, I'd imagine. If they released everything good in one go then the bad games would be buried.

Would your position then be that certain publishers were unhappy in 2007 when we basically averaged around three releases per week? Did the shovelware get buried and the publishers threaten to pull their terrible titles? :lol And are they really unhappy in Japan, where they still have around three - four games a week and probably averaged closer to five in 2007? I sincerely doubt that the drawdown has been at the behest of other publishers. And, even so, I think in the long run the squandering of consumer goodwill and interest would negate any small advantage that Nintendo gained by stringing along consumers and causing the occassional desperate impulse buy.

 

[Man God]

I'm just speculating anyways. I couldn't care less, the majority of the 1-2 game weeks have had something that I'd purchase and I don't care what was rated by the ESRB months ago. The games will keep coming until they don't, so it's best not to worry.

 

[jarrod]

awesome lists

Quick sidenote, but Falcom didn't develop any of their licensed PCE/CD2 games except Legend of Xanadu 1-2. Everything was outsourced (Alfa System did Ys 1&II/III actually for example), as it usually was for Falcom console games.

Also, RED made all the Tengai Makyo games except the Kabuki fighter, which I think Racjin made.

 

[jarrod]

Nabbed from the June NP thread...

VC Poll Results:

Readers Most Wanted
1. Earthbound
2. Super Mario RPG
3. Chrono Trigger
4. Mother
5. Majoras Mask

NP Staff
1. Mega Man: The Wily Wars
2. Terranigma
3. FF6
4. Super Mario RPG
5. Rocket Knight Adventures

...time to start conspiracy theories about NOA blocking MM1-2 in favor of TWW! :lol

And hey, maybe they'll actually cave into demand and deliver some Mother soon?

 

[Somnid]

Nabbed from the June NP thread...

...time to start conspiracy theories about NOA blocking MM1-2 in favor of TWW! :lol

And hey, maybe they'll actually cave into demand and deliver some Mother soon?

The NP staff has much better taste. Terranigma is in much more need of release than EB.

 

[jarrod]

Well, both lists sorta-fail for having Mario RPG. Otherwise though, yeah Nintendo's list is rather shockingly better. :lol

RKA!! <3 <3

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

Nabbed from the June NP thread...





...time to start conspiracy theories about NOA blocking MM1-2 in favor of TWW! :lol

And hey, maybe they'll actually cave into demand and deliver some Mother soon?

No thanks.

Originals only, please.

 

[jjasper]

...time to start conspiracy theories about NOA blocking MM1-2 in favor of TWW! :lol

I doubt they would do that
$15 vs. $8

 

[jarrod]

No thanks.

Originals only, please.

That's my stand personally too... though I'd probably double dip if we got Powered Up style WiiWare remakes or something.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

I'd double dip as well...but if they did decide to release Wily Wars, there's no way in hell they'd bother to release the NES originals.

I'd eat up new Wiiware remakes up in a heartbeat, though. Especially MM2 and MM3

 

[Ranger X]

I too would buy the originals on VC and remakes or enhanced version on Wiiware.

STARFOX 60 FPS!! MAKE IT HAPPEN!

 

[MoxManiac]

I'm pretty happy with the MM Anniversary Collection, aside from the horrible front end, so I don't need the VC releases.. I'd get MM7 on VC though, that kinda suffered on AC.

 

[SonicMegaDrive]

I too would buy the originals on VC and remakes or enhanced version on Wiiware.

STARFOX 60 FPS!! MAKE IT HAPPEN!

Oh man, I nearly forgot about that...Wario Ware Wii had something similar, right?

I would totally kill for that.

I'm pretty happy with the MM Anniversary Collection, aside from the horrible front end, so I don't need the VC releases.. I'd get MM7 on VC though, that kinda suffered on AC.

yea but i wanna play with the wiimote.

 

[jarrod]

I'd double dip as well...but if they did decide to release Wily Wars, there's no way in hell they'd bother to release the NES originals.

Actually, I suspect they'll release the NES originals first (eventually) and then maybe do the Wily Wars after that. I bet we get All-Stars too eventually.

I'd eat up new Wiiware remakes up in a heartbeat, though. Especially MM2 and MM3

Ditto. Hell, they should just port the first and continue the remakes as DD only across PSN/XBLA/WiiWare. They could even be PSP compatible still honestly.