Often I think of the fact that Wii VC launched with Genesis and N64 support, while with the Wii U VC, it's only been hinted that they have plans to bring the latter to the service and no mention at all of the former. So I thought I'd see how the Wii VC stacked up against the Wii U VC given the same length of time. If enough people care, I'll update it weekly. And so far this only counts the North American VC.
1 year, 6 weeks since launch
Wii U VC: 74 games total (as of 3/6/14)
2 consoles (NES, SNES)
Wii VC: 192 games total (as of 12/31/07)
6 consoles (NES, SNES, N64, Sega Genesis, TurboGrafx-16, Neo Geo)
Games unique to Wii VC as of the above date (136):
ActRaiser (SNES)
Adventure Island (NES)
Adventures of Lolo (NES)
Air Zonk (TurboGrafx-16)
Alex Kidd in the Enchanted Castle (Genesis)
Alien Crush (TurboGrafx-16)
Alien Soldier (Genesis)
Alien Storm (Genesis)
Altered Beast (Genesis)
Art of Fighting (Neo Geo)
Axelay (SNES)
Baseball Stars 2 (Neo Geo)
Battle Lode Runner (TurboGrafx-16)
Beyond Oasis (Genesis)
Blades of Steel (NES)
Bloody Wolf (TurboGrafx-16)
Blue’s Journey (Neo Geo)
Bio-Hazard Battle (Genesis)
Blazing Lazers (TurboGrafx-16)
Bomberman ’93 (TurboGrafx-16)
Bonanza Bros. (Genesis)
Bonk 3: Bonk’s Big Adventure (TurboGrafx-16)
Bonk’s Adventure (TurboGrafx-16)
Bonk’s Revenge (TurboGrafx-16)
Bravoman (TurboGrafx-16)
Chew Man Fu (TurboGrafx-16)
China Warrior (TurboGrafx-16)
Columns (Genesis)
Comix Zone (Genesis)
Cratermaze (TurboGrafx-16)
Cybernator (SNES)
Dead Moon (TurboGrafx-16)
Devil’s Crush (TurboGrafx-16)
Donkey Kong Country (SNES)
Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy’s Kong Quest (SNES)
Donkey Kong Country 3: Dixie Kong's Double Trouble! (SNES)
Donkey Kong Jr. Math (NES)
Double Dribble (NES)
Double Dungeons (TurboGrafx-16)
Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine (Genesis)
Dragon Spirit (TurboGrafx-16)
Dragon’s Curse (TurboGrafx-16)
Drop Off (TurboGrafx-16)
Dungeon Explorer (TurboGrafx-16)
Dynamite Headdy (Genesis)
The Dynastic Hero (TurboGrafx-16)
Ecco Jr. (Genesis)
Ecco the Dolphin (Genesis)
Ecco: The Tides of Time (Genesis)
Elevator Action (NES)
Eternal Champions (Genesis)
F-Zero X (N64)
Fatal Fury: King of Fighters (Neo Geo)
Gain Ground (Genesis)
Galaga ’90 (TurboGrafx-16)
Gate of Thunder (TurboGrafx-16)
Ghouls ‘n Ghosts (Genesis)
Golden Axe (Genesis)
Golden Axe II (Genesis)
Golden Axe III (Genesis)
Gradius III (SNES)
Gunstar Heroes (Genesis)
J.J. & Jeff (TurboGrafx-16)
Kid Chameleon (Genesis)
The King of Fighters '94 (Neo Geo)
Kirby’s Avalanche (SNES)
Landstalker: The Treasures of King Nole (Genesis)
Legend of Hero Tonma (TurboGrafx-16)
The Legend of Kage (NES)
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time (N64)
Light Crusader (Genesis)
Lode Runner (NES)
Lunar Pool (NES)
Mach Rider (NES)
Magician Lord (Neo Geo)
Mario Kart 64 (N64)
Metal Marines (SNES)
Military Madness (TurboGrafx-16)
Milon’s Secret Castle (NES)
Monster Lair (TurboGrafx-16)
Moto Roader (TurboGrafx-16)
NES Play Action Football (NES)
Neutopia (TurboGrafx-16)
Neutopia II (TurboGrafx-16)
New Adventure Island (TurboGrafx-16)
Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos (NES)
Ninja Spirit (TurboGrafx-16)
Ninja JaJaMaru-kun (NES)
Ordyne (TurboGrafx-16)
Paper Mario (N64)
Pokémon Snap (N64)
Power Golf (TurboGrafx-16)
R-Type (TurboGrafx-16)
R-Type III: The Third Lightning (SNES)
Ristar (Genesis)
Rolling Thunder 2 (Genesis)
Samurai Ghost (TurboGrafx-16)
Shining Force (Genesis)
Shining in the Darkness (Genesis)
Shinobi III: Return of the Ninja Master (Genesis)
Shockman (TurboGrafx-16)
Silent Debuggers (TurboGrafx-16)
SimCity (SNES)
Sin and Punishment (N64)
Soccer (NES)
Soldier Blade (TurboGrafx-16)
Sonic 3D Blast (Genesis)
Sonic Spinball (Genesis)
Sonic the Hedgehog (Genesis)
Sonic the Hedgehog 2 (Genesis)
Sonic the Hedgehog 3 (Genesis)
Space Harrier II (Genesis)
Splatterhouse (TurboGrafx-16)
Star Fox 64 (N64)
Star Soldier (NES)
StarTropics (NES)
Streets of Rage (Genesis)
Streets of Rage 2 (Genesis)
Streets of Rage 3 (Genesis)
Super Air Zonk: Rockabilly-Paradise (TurboGrafx-16)
Super Mario 64 (N64)
Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES)
Super Star Soldier (TurboGrafx-16)
Super Thunder Blade (Genesis)
Sword of Vermilion (Genesis)
Tecmo Bowl (NES)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles (NES)
ToeJam & Earl (Genesis)
ToeJam & Earl in Panic on Funkotron (Genesis)
Top Hunter: Roddy & Cathy (Neo Geo)
Victory Run (TurboGrafx-16)
Vigilante (TurboGrafx-16)
Virtua Fighter 2 (Genesis)
Volleyball (NES)
Wave Race 64 (N64)
Wonder Boy in Monster World (Genesis)
World Class Baseball (TurboGrafx-16)
World Heroes (Neo Geo)
World Sports Competition (TurboGrafx-16)
Yoshi’s Story (N64)
Zanac (NES)
Games unique to Wii U VC as of the above date (23):
Brawl Brothers (SNES)
Clu Clu Land (NES)
Donkey Kong 3 (NES)
Double Dragon (NES)
Earthbound (SNES)*
Final Fight 2 (SNES)
Final Fight 3 (SNES)
Golf (NES)*
Harvest Moon (SNES)
Kirby Super Star (SNES)
Kirby’s Dream Land 3 (SNES)
Mega Man (NES)
Mega Man 2 (NES)
Mega Man 3 (NES)
Mega Man 4 (NES)
Mega Man X (SNES)
Mega Man X2 (SNES)
Pilotwings (SNES)
Renegade (NES)
Spelunker (NES)
Super Punch-Out!! (SNES)
Super Street Fighter II: The New Challengers (SNES)
Uncharted Waters: New Horizons (SNES) *never came to Wii VC in its lifetime
Crazy. I didn't realize how much the progress had sped up in getting NES and SNES games to the VC... but we really shouldn't have to celebrate getting games on the Wii U VC that were already available on the Wii VC, and we really should have Genesis, TurboGrafx-16 and N64 support by now.
Shouldn't you compare to the number of Wii VC games released by February 2008?
There should probably a ton more games you missed if you want to compare the amount of games released within the same time frame.
I'm personally baffled by how terrible Nintendo has handled the current Wii U virtual console. It felt like ages for them to release games on the original Wii VC, and to have them start all over with the Wii U is beyond disappointing.
Edit:
By the way I appreciate the effort, very cool to have these stats compiled in a nice list.
It seems that it should be out to 12/10/07, 1 year and 3 weeks since the first Wii VC game went online on 11/19/06. Please feel free to keep correcting me if I'm wrong! I'm working on a fixed list now...
If we had Genesis, N64, TG16, Neo Geo, and other consoles with more than 1 release a week it would be a much better pace of releases.
If we had more consoles and the same release pace of the early VC, releases wouldn't slow down for quite a few years.
“A thing may be too sad to be believed or too wicked to be believed or too good to be believed; but it cannot be too absurd to be believed in this planet of frogs and elephants, of crocodiles and cuttle-fish.”
― G.K. Chesterton
Those too. I would also add new systems like the Amiga, Saturn, and Dreamcast, but I don't know if we'll ever even get the old systems added again. Nintendo is moving so slow on the VC.
“A thing may be too sad to be believed or too wicked to be believed or too good to be believed; but it cannot be too absurd to be believed in this planet of frogs and elephants, of crocodiles and cuttle-fish.”
― G.K. Chesterton
I'm thinking that if I keep this up to date, I will die of depression!
Today, on 2/20/14, 1 year and 4 weeks since launch, we get Ice Hockey (NES).
Ice Hockey (NES) came to the Wii VC on 12/11/06, less than a month after the service launched.
On 12/17/07, 1 year and 4 weeks since its launch, the Wii VC got Cybernator (SNES), Alien Storm (Genesis) and Monster Lair (TurboGrafx-16).
I'm thinking that if I keep this up to date, I will die of depression!
Today, on 2/20/14, 1 year and 4 weeks since launch, we get Ice Hockey (NES).
Ice Hockey (NES) came to the Wii VC on 12/11/06, less than a month after the service launched.
On 12/17/07, 1 year and 4 weeks since its launch, the Wii VC got Cybernator (SNES), Alien Storm (Genesis) and Monster Lair (TurboGrafx-16).
Oy vey.
Ouch.
“A thing may be too sad to be believed or too wicked to be believed or too good to be believed; but it cannot be too absurd to be believed in this planet of frogs and elephants, of crocodiles and cuttle-fish.”
― G.K. Chesterton
I don't think it's fair to complain about the number of consoles as no doubt those deals needed to be renegotiated and likely wouldn't have been as big a priority for Nintendo or the other rights-holders as getting to grips with this new hardware platform. Part of any comparison is not knowing how much of the team doing software for Wii or Wii U was devoted to the Virtual Console.
Arguably the fact that it was a new service on Wii meant it got more attention as the idea of directly selling emulated content to people was new and the Wii 1st party release schedule had more gaps in it in the early days if I'm not mistaken. With the Wii U I'd expect the VC to take a back seat as Nintendo is trying to avoid big schedule gaps (albeit with mixed results) and the VC clearly isn't a core plank for them. This is likely to change with the lack of support from larger publishers, however.
I totally agree that one game per week is, well, weak. I think we should be seeing two titles per week at least - if anything the Wii U should have more VC titles than the Wii had - assuming download is becoming more important to them as Iwata said in previous shareholder meetings.
The Wii U VC is disappointing to say the least , but you can in theory play all the wii vc games on the wii u via the wii settings ,maybe this is what Nintendo are thinking , personally I would like more variety .. I'm not a huge fan of snes or nes really ... and why they only bring one game a week is baffling ...especially when the demand for more games is there....
@Sean_Aaron I agree that the situation has changed, but they should have made this a priority. Could Sega, big supporters of Nintendo, really charge much for licensing Genesis games? Why are we not getting TurboGrafx if Japan is getting it? Closed door discussion aside, Nintendo is expecting us to be excited about a slow trickle of unexceptional releases available on Wii five or more years prior. We should be getting a deluxe VC service, not a worse one. And if the folks behind these missing consoles really are being intransigent, Nintendo should be stepping it up in other areas. If we were getting 3 VC games a week at this time for Wii, we should be getting as many or more now, whether they be Genesis, TurboGrafx, SNES or whatever. But if Nintedo did hammer out deals for Genesis support etc, they wouldn't have to put in that extra effort to release 2+ of their own games a week. Whatever they do, expecting us to be happy about what's sometimes just one early NES game a week is ridiculous.
I don't think it's been said we're not getting TG-16, has it? As to it being a priority, I cannot agree. I think they figured fans will have their pre-existing collections and people who weren't Wii owners won't be buying a Wii U primarily for old games. I don't know what's involved in getting other publishers stuff on the Wii U VC, but if it requires that publisher to do the work then it might be as simple as Sega, et al having bigger fish to fry.
I absolutely agree one NES game a week is bogus, but I don't think we could reasonably expect a ton of VC content on day one given this console seems to have been released a wee bit early to compensate for a sharp decline in the fortunes of the previous incumbent machine from Nintendo.
At the minute I would say that the Wii U VC has not keeping up pace with the Wii VC and has so far been disappointing. Like others have said this could be down to the fact Nintendo need to negatioate with Sega, D4 Enterpises etc for emulated content to be released on the Wii U. Hopefully PC Engine games will make it to Europe & America. I'd also like to see GameCube & possibly Capcom bringing their CPS 1 & 2 to the VC.
Handled right the VC could hold the answers to software draught on the Wii U .
Why do say "unique to Wii" and "unique to Wii U" when some of them are on both systems? It's not "unique" to Wii if it's also on Wii U, and vice versa. The two lists should be, "Wii Library" and "Wii U Library". Or, have three lists: "Unique to Wii", "Unique to Wii U" and "Both Wii & Wii U". Just my two cents.
At the minute I would say that the Wii U VC has not keeping up pace with the Wii VC and has so far been disappointing. Like others have said this could be down to the fact Nintendo need to negatioate with Sega, D4 Enterpises etc for emulated content to be released on the Wii U. Hopefully PC Engine games will make it to Europe & America. I'd also like to see GameCube & possibly Capcom bringing their CPS 1 & 2 to the VC.
Handled right the VC could hold the answers to software draught on the Wii U .
That's what I'm hoping for. It's a shame this might be years off at the current rate of releases.
“A thing may be too sad to be believed or too wicked to be believed or too good to be believed; but it cannot be too absurd to be believed in this planet of frogs and elephants, of crocodiles and cuttle-fish.”
― G.K. Chesterton
Why do say "unique to Wii" and "unique to Wii U" when some of them are on both systems? It's not "unique" to Wii if it's also on Wii U, and vice versa. The two lists should be, "Wii Library" and "Wii U Library". Or, have three lists: "Unique to Wii", "Unique to Wii U" and "Both Wii & Wii U". Just my two cents.
Because this isn't a list showing all of the games on the Wii VC right now, it's a list that shows the progress of the two services. 1 year and 4 weeks from the launch of the service the NA Wii VC had 184 games, 133 of them are not yet on the Wii U VC. The Wii U VC currently has 70 games, 22 of them were not on the Wii VC at this stage. If we were talking end of life it'd be 70 vs 403 not 70 vs 184.
I don't think it's been said we're not getting TG-16, has it? As to it being a priority, I cannot agree. I think they figured fans will have their pre-existing collections and people who weren't Wii owners won't be buying a Wii U primarily for old games. I don't know what's involved in getting other publishers stuff on the Wii U VC, but if it requires that publisher to do the work then it might be as simple as Sega, et al having bigger fish to fry.
I absolutely agree one NES game a week is bogus, but I don't think we could reasonably expect a ton of VC content on day one given this console seems to have been released a wee bit early to compensate for a sharp decline in the fortunes of the previous incumbent machine from Nintendo.
Well while they "work it out" if that's what's happening there's no reason why they can't push the NES and SNES harder. I don't see why there's any technical or legal reason why they can't push out some games like Final Fantasy or Super Mario Kart given that they are already out on the Wii VC globally and on the Wii U VC in Japan.
Plus I think you're kinda missing the point of the VC. It's not about getting people to buy the console, I don't see why it would be. It's more about keeping the eShop vibrant and making some fairly easy money from fans. It's even less of a hassle now than it was in the Wii VC days because they already negotiated the deals and got the games through all of the rating systems. I don't understand why it's not being pushed harder.....
Some playlists: Top All Time Songs, Top Last Year
"Don't stir the pot" is a nice way of saying "they're too dumb to reason with"
Forums
Topic: Is Wii U VC keeping pace with Wii VC?
Posts 1 to 20 of 87
This topic has been archived, no further posts can be added.