Virtual Console downloads on the decline

Wii News | Retro downloads slowing as time goes on.

The Wii user base may be expanding at an impressive rate, but the popularity of Virtual Console downloads isn't matching that growth.

The declining popularity of the retro download service was first spotted by Wired, with the site noting that official Nintendo figures (announced in late-January) showed 1.5m titles were sold through the Virtual Console in roughly the first two months of the console's life. In the last three months however, sales haven't grown as fast as the userbase has, with Nintendo confirming at a recent press conference that only 1.8m VC transactions had been processed since those first 1.5m sales.

In other words, while the Wii itself has undeniably enjoyed a successful first few months in virtually every region, the same can't necessarily be said for the Virtual Console.

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77 Comments

Crestfallen

6 years ago

The Virtual Console will appeal to Nintendo faithfuls only. That's why I think that the VC has started at its peak and will only go downward. There are no new customers.

Casuals and newbies will have very small amount of interest in the VC (their loss).

We all know that the VC can handle dumps of un-touched ROMS, but where the are the original titles already.

InvivnI

6 years ago

Well if they made the damn Wiipoints cards a little more readily available....

That and they're hardly losing money on VC, so most sales are pretty much pure profit on games that have already been made.

VOOK

6 years ago

Sure they are down, but its only been down once, if the trend continues I would call it a decline but at the moment from the two reporting periods it is down.

Yeah and Wii Point Card etc...

theory

6 years ago

crestfallen wrote

The Virtual Console will appeal to Nintendo faithfuls only. That's why I think that the VC has started at its peak and will only go downward. There are no new customers.

Casuals and newbies will have very small amount of interest in the VC (their loss).

We all know that the VC can handle dumps of untouched ROMS, but where the are the original titles already.

Nintendo faithfuls only? What about the games from SEGA/Turbografx consoles?

Casuals and newbies don't like old games? Yes they do, they love the same games every casual and newbie ever played - games with characters such as Mario, Sonic and Alex Kidd. Puzzle games like Columns and Tetris. Fun racing games like Mario Kart.

You assume a lot. Your comments don't seem to allow for any leeway, as though it is 100% fact that the VC will appeal to Nintendo faithfuls only and that casuals and newbies have small interest in the VC.

As far as I am concerned Nintendo will come out on top because they are selling tried and true classic games that will remain playable forever.

I'm not arguing, just wanted to give you something to think about in regards to your bold statements.

brad_sickness

6 years ago

I don't like old games anymore. I can barely play them for more than 10 minutes without getting fed up. It's fun for the nostalgic feel only, other than that... they no longer entertain me.

So count me as a part of crestfallen's comment I guess.

Spanca

6 years ago

theory wrote

As far as I am concerned Nintendo will come out on top because they are selling tried and true classic games that will remain playable forever.

I can't help but lol at that when the 360 and PS3 cop so much for apparently doing nothing to "advance" gaming compared to the Wii.

LeonJ

6 years ago

Hard to go a mere port when the 360/PS3 is offering 'enchanted' titles. I certainly find 'old school' game mechanics ie saves/loads etc very fustrating now-a-days.

That and it's too expensive.

Marlor

6 years ago

LeonJ wrote

Hard to go a mere port when the 360/PS3 is offering 'enchanted' titles. I certainly find 'old school' game mechanics ie saves/loads etc very fustrating now-a-days.

That and it's too expensive.

I don't have a problem with the older game mechanics. But, then, my prime game-playing years were in the 1980s, so I'm probably immune to them.

And I wouldn't say it's expensive. For those of us who have tried to track down old (rare) cartridges and bought GBA remakes, the price seems positively cheap.

TheAnswer

6 years ago

Well it doesnt help Ninty when they release titles like Donkey Kong Jr Math, they need to release better titles

Qbert

6 years ago

Great news, glad to see that not everyone is paying the stupidly high prices for most games*. I doubt it, but hopefully Nintendo lower the prices and even tweak games to add save states and online gaming.

*IMO, but by this small decline it seems many others agree.

Lord Halo Nerd

6 years ago

I still buy VC games but there hasn't been a lot of 200 Wii Point cards available to buy.

onggie

6 years ago

IMO if the games were a tad cheaper I would say it would be much more appealing. But I can't warrant spending that much money on say an old snes game.

Infested Jibbs

6 years ago

To be expected.The novelty factor has worn off, and the service is pricey so after 'splurging' on a handful of early release games(whether they were up their alley or not), people are now saving their pennies for games they actually want.

Crestfallen

6 years ago

theory wrote

crestfallen wrote

The Virtual Console will appeal to Nintendo faithfuls only. That's why I think that the VC has started at its peak and will only go downward. There are no new customers.

Casuals and newbies will have very small amount of interest in the VC (their loss).

We all know that the VC can handle dumps of untouched ROMS, but where the are the original titles already.

"That's why I think" doesn't allow for leeway??

Anyway when I think of newbies I don't think of those who have played Alex Kidd and I definately can't imagine too many of them hooking their Wii on the router. Also, I think the DS achieves what the VC tries to and I don't see it as too much of a stretch to think that people who spend $400 on a console do it to play new games.

Quote

As far as I am concerned Nintendo will come out on top because they are selling tried and true classic games that will remain playable forever.

Are you still talking about the VC there or Nintendo's new games??

Because if you talking about Nintendo's new games, then that means I have to believe that Nintendo will cater for both casuals and hardcores through both revolutionary and stagnant game ideas.

Now that's a bit of a stretch.

ittekimasu

6 years ago

Well definitely the trend of VC games cant go on forever since it has to go down sometime, since nintendo has experienced a positive start to VC i just hope that they continue to submit games so that when one that does come up that someone wants its available instead of this service dying and becoming stagnant just because of a small decline.

I'm sure people are saving for games that they want but they are still keeping an eye for a retro game which appeals to them, I've heard that the storage for the wii insnt that huge so its probably best to just save for the ones that scream 'buy me!'

~DESTROY~

6 years ago

If there were more titles worth forking out for im sure d/l numbers could have been higher.
As soon as neo-geo gets up on Vc im sure it will help, Turbo Graffix Emu. would have been a nice inclusion for us Aussie folk though hmmmm.... Nintendo?
Have you forgotten us down here altogether yet?

edit bump;
Wii pts cards were a bit tough to get and as Jibbs said ppl are saving their coinage for worthwhile titles e.g. Lylat 64 [would have love to play splatterhouse on T/gfx though..... ah well! *wipes tear*
Only just picked up Adv. Wars and Lost in blue for muh' Nes DS.
Gotta say though after all the 360 games next-gen titles if you will, That i've played on a crisp 1080i Lcd since Launch.
The DS and last gen games that i've been into of late have shown me (Imo) that through all the greatness, glitz and glamour that is next-gen gaming there has been lost a core stratagy or even fundamental elements that one experiences in titles such as the above DS titles.

There have been some outstanding 360 titles for sure but imho I think its a case of chasing the end of a rainbow when the pot of gold (last-gen)
is right at our feet.(Dirt Cheap2)
Anyway Adv. Wars blew my mind, and it showed me Nintendo are still making some of the best games as old as it is. Its not the Graphics that make the game, its the gameplay, story and strategy that bind a game into the annums of time and gamers hearts at the end of the day.

edit:
My point was that VC is making part of gaming roots easily accessible to consumers and the games available are the ones that we remember so dear in our hearts, if it wasn't for VC im sure alot of people would not have had a chance to re-live those warm fuzzy moments and reminisce on times when the world was a better place and life's pleasures were simple amidst the sprites.

hinduguru

6 years ago

Had my Wii for 3 days and have already downloaded double the amount of games (2) that i have d'loaded thru Xbox live arcade (1)...

And i'll be downloading alot more if there were more N64 games available, esp at a cheaper price.

ObsoletE

6 years ago

i think it's a combination of everything here.

the novelty factor initially would've drawn many purchases. i know there are one of two games i bought that i wish i hadn't, but i bought because of the hype surrounding it's re-issue.

the price has definitely caused me to consider my purchases more closely. i think the whole points thing is one of the biggest scams of the online console revolution. change value from something everyone knows to something else means generally people will spend more than they intend (not restricted to Nintendo - just a pet-peeve of mine for this generation). now people have probably realised they spent more than they meant to, so sales will even out for a bit.

availability of points cards.
a big one for some people.

i don't personally think they peaked too early. i think they did release a tonne of great old games right off the bat, but i think there are a tonne more that are just as wanted. but, it does lead to an ebb-and-flow effect on sales anyway, as they can't chuck all the AAA games up fast else they'll fail in the latter stages of the Wii's life.

theory

6 years ago

Spanca wrote

theory wrote

As far as I am concerned Nintendo will come out on top because they are selling tried and true classic games that will remain playable forever.

I can't help but lol at that when the 360 and PS3 cop so much for apparently doing nothing to "advance" gaming compared to the Wii.

Glad I could give you a chuckle Spence.

crestfallen wrote

theory wrote

As far as I am concerned Nintendo will come out on top because they are selling tried and true classic games that will remain playable forever.

I'm talking about the VC. I don't mean Nintendo will come out on top as in that their online selling of games will be more successful, just that they will come out on top as in make a lot of money off them (especially with minimal work - it's basically all profit).

I'm not comparing to XBLA and the PS3 Online store. They are all great and I am thankful for the new stuff I'm seeing on the other two. Hopefully Nintendo get it together and release some new games too, but I won't be mad either way. It is truly a backwards compatible machine - all the way back, and you can't hate on that. Well, you can and you will, but I think it's stellar. Yes. Stellar.

David

6 years ago

Jibbs wrote

Ding! We have a winner!

LeonJ wrote

Hard to go a mere port when the 360/PS3 is offering 'enchanted' titles.

Did a witch put a curse on them?

crestfallen wrote

The Virtual Console will appeal to Nintendo faithfuls only. That's why I think that the VC has started at its peak and will only go downward. There are no new customers

It didn't go downward, it more then doubled, it's just that the uptake slowed down.

renegadesx

6 years ago

Yeah crest, its not just fanboys that use the VC, any fan of old school that were there during the SNES/Mega Drive days (which i still consider the glory days of video games). Back in the day I was a big time Sega fanboy, and VC reminds me of how great Sega really were when they had their own hardware and I am wishing for Master System and Saturn content.

I sorta agree with Jibbs that it is expensive but not expensive for a really good game (aLttP, Mario World, Story of Thor etc) but is expensive for a bad game (Altered Beast)

The problem with putting new downloadable content for the Wii is it doesn't have the capacity, you would have to buy a HDD to put it on (and the Wii doesn't have one). The Wii has so many spaces for channels in the main screen and only 512Mb of space, and both of those for me are starting to fill

ugh the boot

6 years ago

I've given up on the Virtual Console because of one major factor....lack of storage on the Wii. I don't wanna build up a collection of classic games on SD cards! It just sux Nintendo had to be the ones to get all these awesome games cuz I would rather store them on my 360 or even better the Ps3. It's mostly the Megadrive and Turbografx stuff i'm interested in aswell so it was just bad luck Nintendo got the rights. There are heaps of SNES and N64 games I want aswell....but imo the N64 games haven't aged very well so I can't really play them and the SNES....well it sux because I really want a lot of those games but thankfully I own a bulk of them already on GBA. If Nintendo start allowing games to actually be played off the SD cards then I might start downloading them again. It just sux the Wii had to have only 512mb storage cuz about 5gig would've been perfect and i'm sure that wouldnt've cost them too much more to implement....but as usual Nintendo think of themselves first and foremost.

Infested Jibbs

6 years ago

Have you filled up the wii's internal storage?

If yes, your post is valid.If not, your post, your whole post, is invalid.

ugh the boot

6 years ago

Haven't filled it up completely....but a couple more N64 downloads and it will be....so what's the point in that? I don't get to save any games that have actually been designed for the Wii? That's just stupid.

Also chock me (and most of my mates) upto crestfallen's comment cuz none of them want to play oldskool games (except Street Fighter) for more than 5 minutes....if at all. I don't mind them myself but the only ones I can actually play byself anymore are shmups.

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