Wii Virtual Console: One Year Later

Last November I spent the better part of a week discussing games I hoped to see on the Wii Virtual Console. For those who missed the original posts, the Nintendo Wii has a service that connects the video game system to the internet to download older classic video games (for a fee). For folks like me, with boxes of old discs and cartridges, this service is a great development. Let's see how well my wishlist paid off.

Alien Crush, Sonic the Hedgehog, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Military Madness, Kid Icarus (as detailed in my last post on the subject), Super Metroid, Paper Mario, Splatterhouse, Devils Crush, and Galaga '90

So ten out of my wanted 50. But I'm not disappointed. The vagueries of the software publishing world probably knock out half my list. Nintendo did release a good crop of games this year, including titles never seen in the US before AND NeoGeo games. I got Super Metroid, so I'm not complaining anyway.

Of course, the Wii isn't the only source for downloadable retro content. The PS3 offers arcade and original PlayStation content (Like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and MediEvil). And the Xbox 360 has been offering arcade games for download since 2005, plus board games like Settlers of Catan and Carcassone. Microsoft recently announced a handful of downloadable original Xbox games, including Halo and Psychonauts. I'm more excited about Psychonauts than anything Nintendo could release to the Virtual Console next year. It's a gem.