News Article

Virtual Console Confirmed for DSiWare

Posted by James Newton

This was an April Fool's joke. It is not real.

It's been a long time coming folks: ever since the DSi launched in April last year Nintendo fans worldwide have been clamouring for the ability to download past handheld titles in a similar fashion to the Wii's Virtual Console feature. Time and again Nintendo denied the existence of the service, but we can exclusively reveal Virtual Handheld will be available in the coming weeks.

This was an April Fool's joke.

Not only will the service let you download and store classic GameBoy titles including Zelda: Link's Awakening, Pokémon Blue and Red and classic plumbing outing Super Mario Land 2: Six Golden Coins, there will be other systems available too. Sega's ill-fated Game Gear machine is set to make its legal emulation debut, presumably with conversions of classic Sonic titles, and Atari is even said to be licensing its famously power-hungry Lynx console back catalogue.

Fancy something even more obscure? How about the promise of support for SNK's beautiful Neo Geo Pocket Colour, famous for its control stick and dazzling list of top-drawer fighting games. Who could resist a portable piece of Samurai Shodown, SNK vs. Capcom or King of Fighters?

This was an April Fool's joke.

Although no pricing has been confirmed, we've been told to expect even the biggest titles to fall well below the standard pricing of DSiWare downloads, with hints of a Hanabi-style festival to celebrate the rarest titles. As soon as Faselei! is on there, certain Nintendo Life staffers may explode in happiness.

This was an April Fool's joke.

[via tinyurl.com]

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User Comments (197)

XD375

#5

XD375 said:

The best part is the return of the Virtual Console reviews layout.

And yes, this is a very cruel joke.

Link-Hero

#6

Link-Hero said:

That was predictable. An announcement like this on the night before April Fools (at least for me)? You cannot trick me!!!

CorbsAdmin

#8

Corbs said:

Wow, I'd forgotten how much I missed VC-Reviews and WiiWare-World.

WolfRamHeart

#9

WolfRamHeart said:

Ha Ha, very nice job guys! Happy April Fools Day!:D

I can't believe that it was one year ago today that WiiWare World and Virtual Console Reviews merged to become Nintendo Life!:O

Sean007s

#14

Sean007s said:

Damn....you guys had me there for a second until I remembered.
APRIL FOOLS BAHAHAHAHAHAH.

natendo

#18

natendo said:

I’ll admit, you had me till I read the comments :D

Back in the day, EGM posted an April Fool’s joke on how to unlock Sonic and Tails in Smash Bros. Melee. You had to get 15 knock-outs in cruel melee mode or something.

JamieOStaff

#19

JamieO said:

Just for a moment, regardless of this April 1st date, we should allow ourselves to dream. Gaze out of the window, fixate on the reflection of the Spring sun as it takes up offence against the puddles lodged into the roadside potholes. Enjoy a teeny daydream about how amazing it would be to have Game Boy, GBA, Atari Lynx, Sega Game Gear and Neo Geo Pocket Colour on DSi Virtual Console. Man, they could include WonderSwan Colour while they were at it. It would be absolutely freakin' awesome.

I would don a pair of ruby red slippers, click my heels together and shout out loud,
"There's no place like SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium's Ghosts 'n Goblins mini-game, there's no place like SNK vs. Capcom: The Match of the Millennium's Ghosts 'n Goblins mini-game"!

April fool, or no April fool... Nintendo, please, "Make it so"!

Plus, the 'Wii Virtual Console Reviews' and 'WiiWare World' design layouts are an absolutely superb contribution to the April Fools Day japes. Genius! Just navigating through NLife today is going to be a sweet nostalgic experience in itself. Great idea and excellent work, Nintendo Life. :)

Twilight_Crow

#20

Twilight_Crow said:

You guys rule! :D Awesome joke! LOL You got me for a moment there :P.

Also, Happy Merge Anniversary! :) I almost cried when I saw the old layouts, I miss those days, when I had barely discovered WiiWare-World.

SwerdMurd

#21

SwerdMurd said:

so clean with the tiny url link to the auto-google April Fool's message. Great job guys--I needed a laugh after the night-from-hell that I've had.

skywake

#22

skywake said:

I was about to say how I was now very, very tempted to get a DSi and would have if the 3DS wasn't on the distant horizon. Then I read the comments and noticed where the tinyurl led. Well played!

....... but oh how I really do want portable VC!

XD375

#24

XD375 said:

@WolfRamHeart

They didn't technically "merge" to become Nintendo Life. You see, Nintendo Life was an already-existing website, which was closely affiliated with VC-Reviews and WiiWare World to the point of making the layouts for the websites. On April 1st of last year, VC-Reviews and WiiWare World were mixed in with Nintendo Life.

I really, really, really miss these old layouts. Any chance they can stay forever as an option? [:

JimLad

#30

JimLad said:

Oh that is cruel...
hahah, I think I prefer the ones that make you go 'NOOOOO' than the hope lifters.
Seriously though, DS virtual console must be coming at some point with classics like Mario Land, Donkey Kong Land, Kirby, Metroid, Links Awakening, Pokémon, etc for Nintendo to re-sell. Maybe they are adding colour to them (but hopefully giving you the option to turn it off.)

V8_Ninja

#31

V8_Ninja said:

The thing I'm more interested in is why Nintendolife changed to the old VC reviews site. Is this some sort of april fool to the april fools? I don't get it. :|

GamerZack7

#32

GamerZack7 said:

Awwww...me wanted to play old boy of game titles...

On the other hand, perhaps the April Fool here is that we were fooling ourselves into believing this to be an April Fool's joke, and that this is real...in which case we've fooled ourselves this time around!

vio

#33

vio said:

Nah, it's an April Fools joke man. Just click on the "source" link and you'll see.

morphballer

#36

morphballer said:

I was like, OMG!!! And then I remembered its April 1st. :(

Today, I am avoiding all news sites.

PHANTOM93

#38

PHANTOM93 said:

Nice April Fools joke!! Would have had me if I hadn't gone on to Google - er, I mean Topeka - earlier.

In all seriousness though, you guys should make the old template a viewing option (it loads a lot faster on the DSi than the other template).

jorenmartijn

#47

jorenmartijn said:

I didn't believe it in the first place! And great job with the old-style website, too, NintendoLife!
You can always dream it'll come true anyway, though...

3230ru

#50

3230ru said:

Nintendo should really pay attantion to the idea because people are going crazy about this...

suburban_sensei

#52

suburban_sensei said:

Holy crap...it's early so at first when I read it my face lit up. I am not kidding you, I actually believed it for two seconds, then I looked at the date, before even reading the post, and just chuckled. Hehe, good one, guys!

Chunky_Droid

#53

Chunky_Droid said:

God dammit James, I'm a staffer here and I got ultra excited! Grrrr!

You should've gone full blown and told us that all the monochrome GB titles were being released in full colour :P

Kurachi

#55

Kurachi said:

imo would be worse if they said gb,gbc and gba games would be on wii's VC as joke

Terra

#56

Terra said:

Ah, the old site designs. Good times on VC Reviews and WiiWare World. :)

FATEM

#57

FATEM said:

The fact that you got me fully when I have repeatedly said DSiVC is not going to happen is an amazing feat. That was the most successful April Fools prank I have ever witnessed.

LinktotheFuture

#60

LinktotheFuture said:

You guys got me. Good thing everyone else knew this was a joke, or I would have looked really stupid to my brother. Too bad this isn't true.

XCWarrior

#62

XCWarrior said:

Wow, I love you guys and all, but next time please make an April Fool's Joke that is realistic.

Token_Girl

#63

Token_Girl said:

Well done sirs.

I believed it, and then as I was clicking on the link, I remembered what day it was.

Then the disappointment set in. All of the disappointment.

Sean_Aaron

#66

Sean_Aaron said:

If they were putting Mattel Electronics Football II on the DSi Virtual Handheld I'd buy five DSis just to give them away to random people on the street.

Ah well, maybe that system will get added next April 1st...

Percentful

#69

Percentful said:

You know, I actually believed this until I read the comments. :P
I always fall for April fools day. Always.

Stargazer

#70

Stargazer said:

I believed this until the comments section as well.

Bravo, guys. I rarely fall for these, but this one is such a no-brainer that it SHOULD be real.

Maybe 3DS will make this a reality :-) Super Mario Land in 3D!

MasterGraveheart

#74

MasterGraveheart said:

@NintendoLife: You are very bad people and I hope you get April Fooled big time. Even those of your staff not involved with this little cherade. Hope you don't get hurt, but hope you get fooled big time. You got a lot of these guys' hopes up, y'know.

arielp

#75

arielp said:

April Fool aside,

i Think Virtual Console already hits DSi,

Game and Watch Series?

if G&Ws considered consoles?

RocketBird

#79

RocketBird said:

I just started thinking that I would buy a DSxl for this...then I saw the comments. DANG, I'm gullible.

Ristar42

#81

Ristar42 said:

Grrrrrr! The joke's on Nintedo really though as if this were true, I'd be buying a DSi on my way home tonight, seriously. Still, nice gag!

Erica_Hartmann

#82

Erica_Hartmann said:

Almost fell for it...just woke up not too long ago and I'm not much of these kinds of a holidays person anyway. XD

(watch and see that they announce this at E3, XD)

pixelman

#86

pixelman said:

Aw, I was hoping the site would get some upgrades today like the last April Fools' day.

I love the old layout, by the way. <3

RyuZebian

#87

RyuZebian said:

My slow reactions prevented me from seeing through the news post's clever disguise... Until I read the comments.

nintendogamerftw

#90

nintendogamerftw said:

I cried twice at this article.
Once when I first saw it.
And once more when I realized it was an April Fool's joke.
How could you do something like that!? :'(

TerraBranflakes

#91

TerraBranflakes said:

I'm all for fake news on april first but this one is way over the line imo the only joke i can think of meaner then this is a fake million dollar check. but i guess i shouldn't have been fooled nintendo is probally gonna save a vc esque service for 3DS there really is no point in them doing this on ds unless they were planning on releasing 3DS in 2011... even if that were the case i still doubt it

BlueFlameBat

#97

BlueFlameBat said:

I thought April Fools jokes were supposed to be funny.

I have a NEO GEO Pocket Color, by the way.

The_Ink_Pit_Ox

#99

The_Ink_Pit_Ox said:

I agree that this was a bit much. It's like pranking kids by telling them it's Christmas, only to have them find a fake tree with no presents.

:(

jangonov

#101

jangonov said:

The entire time I knew it was April Fools day, and I promised myself not to believe anyone or anything, and yet I wanted this to be real so much that I put my rules aside and got excited for a second. LOL I think I am the biggest fool, since I expected it, and believed it anyways.

StarBoy91

#102

StarBoy91 said:

Ah, I remember when last year, on April 1st (four months before I joined this site), when VC-Reviews merged to make the best website of all time: NintendoLife. :)
Happy April Fool's Day!! :)
Also, Happy Yearniversary, NintendoLife! :)

Despair1087

#103

Despair1087 said:

dude. you just ruined my day... now i have to go to class...

i guarantee there wont be another prank played on my today that was this cruel.

but i'm a good sport. nice one, guys!

theblackdragonAdmin

#104

theblackdragon said:

oh come on, guys, do y'all really take everything you read on April 1st at face value? lighten up :3

StarBoy91

#105

StarBoy91 said:

I'm glad that I was born on April 5th.
Who knows what would've happened if I was born on the 1st? :(

Pj1

#109

Pj1 said:

I'm gutted I thought this true but it's an April fools day joke is it?

I was going to buy a DI XL if this had been true...

I've had a s**t day so this tops it, it's not funny either

jangonov

#110

jangonov said:

@StarBoy91 that would be awful. it's 2007 "here is a present! Its a wii!" ........"why is there a box of rocks here?" "APRIL FOOLS!!!! oh and uhh...happy birthday."

Yanagi

#114

Yanagi said:

Man, I just woke up, so my April Fool's senses weren't in full swing.

It wasn't until you mentioned the Neo Geo Pocket Color that this ruse took on a cruel twist. I mean, I still have my old NGPC, but the thought of playing those games on a backlit screen is sooooooo enticing.

As it stands, you have toyed with my emotions and I now I don't know if I can ever love again (sob).

JayArr

#120

JayArr said:

That was a good one. Of course we all know this will NEVER happen.... in 2-D

Kevin

#121

Kevin said:

Bring back VC-Reviews look and get rid of the Nintendo Life look. Seriously, I miss it sooooo much! Always prefered the VC-Reviews look. I don't care if I get flamed for saying that. My heart broke when you guys merged with the best VC site on the net!

Nintendoftw

#127

Nintendoftw said:

THis wasn't a funny April Fools joke guys.. Seriously.. I was very excited until i saw the comments..

Starkiller

#128

Starkiller said:

I don't believe I actually fell for that. I need more pranks to keep me on guard, April Fools isn't celebrated enough around here.

Link79

#129

Link79 said:

Yeah right guys. Oh and remember that virtual boy confirmed for VC crap they tried to pull a couple years ago? Nice try but no cigar.

Rensch

#131

Rensch said:

It seems a lot of people fell for it.

Me? Not even for a second. It's not gonna happen until that new DS is released. Perhaps then we will get to see it. It's a terrific idea and nintendo is aware of that

Link79

#132

Link79 said:

They've been saying it's really gonna happen eventually ever since the VC started. I guess Nintendo isn't interested in making lots of more money by actually putting gameboy games up for download. Seems like a no brainer but Nintendo for some dumb reason doesn't agree.

StarBoy91

#134

StarBoy91 said:

The thread forums have existed since the merge with NintendoLife, I think.
And I like participating in the forums. :)

zezhyrule

#137

zezhyrule said:

Ooh, I can't wait!!! :)
I'm going to get Zelda: LA, SML2, and PKMN Red first day!! I haven't played LA in a long time. I hope that the Wario Land titles are released! :D Wonder if the service will come by Summer?

CH405K1N6

#138

CH405K1N6 said:

I got SO HYPED UP for a minute, and then I remembered what day it was. Dammit, you guys are cruel :'(

SepticLemon

#141

SepticLemon said:

Same here, I was going to facebook message a friend who loves California Games on the Lynx. Looks like he's going going to get that fix...

CH405K1N6

#142

CH405K1N6 said:

@Kelvin: They had TG-16 titles at VC launch, but no one had even HEARD of the TG-16 before. I will say that much in defense of the people who fell for this.

NFreak007

#145

NFreak007 said:

That is REALLY cruel. You really got my hopes up. Shame on you Nintendolife!

(it's OK, I can see the funny side!)

Crunc

#150

Crunc said:

I hate April Fools Day. And wish Nintendo would do this very thing, including Atari Lynx games. I had fun with quite a few of those games.

Brennan

#151

Brennan said:

Mean Mean people. I was about to say that I can stop buying the old games up on ebay to add to my collection, then I was shot in the back with April Fools. I hate April.

vikingscool

#152

vikingscool said:

I wish that would be true. :( If it that true, that would be great! But, oh that's April Fool's Day.

StarBoy91

#153

StarBoy91 said:

@Brennan - so you dislike the month that some users may have been born in solely because of this one day? Easter takes place this Sunday, on April 4th.
I will admit, some jokes are certainly hard to tell until someone else mentions it.

ReddLionz

#155

ReddLionz said:

Right when I saw this, I bought it. But right after I clicked on the article I realized that nothing comes true on April Fools Day.

carson

#157

carson said:

they worked so hard on this joke....and the first post knew it was fake.

great job!

BlueFlameBat

#158

BlueFlameBat said:

@theblackdragon
I've been burned by April Fools jokes before. I'm not setting myself up for another disappointment. Besides, I just checked the source. The joke was cruel, not funny.
Actually I don't own a DSi and I don't plan to buy one until Nintendo somehow allows users to transfer digital rights from one unit to another in case of getting stolen or trading up to a superior model. This still would be cool if it wasn't BS though.

Viper6391

#160

Viper6391 said:

I wish this was real! Seriously, why doesn't Nintendo do this? I know a ton of people who would want to play those games. Nintendo would make so much money if they did this. Alas, nothing but a cruel joke. I hate April Fool's Day!

Stuffgamer1

#161

Stuffgamer1 said:

Here lies an example of a GOOD way to joke around on April Fool's Day without upsetting anyone. Darned funny read.:D

GammaGames

#164

GammaGames said:

Ok, now i hate u. i wanted to get Links Awakening. >:( shame on ur good joke, even though i hated it. btw, i like this layout WAYY more, it loads faster on my dsi.

sdcazares1980

#166

sdcazares1980 said:

I knew that this was an April Fool's joke, but hey, we all have to dream about it still. But even so, that's cruel! :( :)

28greg

#174

28greg said:

Boo!!! I Can'y believe nintendolife would pull such a cruel prank like that! its r

Stuffgamer1

#176

Stuffgamer1 said:

@Bobpie: The spirit of April Fools needs to shove off, then...we don't need his kind here. Obviously, we want journalism with integrity instead of crushed hopes and ruined days.

StarBoy91

#177

StarBoy91 said:

Wow! People are still posting in this thread even though it's no longer April Fool's Day? How 'bout that?

HAPPY EASTER, NINTENDOLIFE!!!

Doskias

#180

Doskias said:

Wow, I didn't see this until today, so I didn't even think about it being an April Fool's thing. I'm sad now.

StarDust

#186

StarDust said:

The other day it had dawned on me that nobody tried to pull an April Fool's joke on me, nor had I thought to pull one on someone else.

Now, a whole week later, I read this :'( ...
BOOOO00OO0OOOO0OOO0O00OO0O000oo0o0o00ooo0o0ooo0oo00ooo...

Please bring back WarioLand 3 for Game Boy Color; I wore the label off that game; it was so awesome!

No joke either about the Atari Lynx eating batteries - I think my mom spent more on batteries for that system than she did for my games. When the batteries started to wear out, they would get frikkin' hot as heck; I would put the batteries into a Ziploc bag and stick them in the ice chest to cool them down, after which they would give me another 5-10 minutes of playtime before I had to throw them away... Those were the days :P

VirtualConsoleGuest

#188

VirtualConsoleGuest said:

It was really upsetting (a few days ago), since I only came to V.C.Reviews after-the-fact, that I missed the original website ‘look’ by so little, and that the news stuff wasn’t real.

Oh well to the news though – it is sort of funny, even now - ironically I just really got more interested after skimming the commentary and hearing about the original style showing up. I hope I’m not asking the air, but can there be a special option to toggle to the PREVIOUS V.C. layout?

AgentBoogeyman

#192

AgentBoogeyman said:

Just registered to say this one thing: F. You.

Bad form. Truly bad form. If you're going to make an April Fool's joke like this, don't keep it around AFTER the day so people run into it two weeks later thinking it's legit.

James

#193

James said:

I would have thought the hundreds of comments saying "April Fools!", the source and time/date stamp might have been a clue. However, we've since made some small revisions that may help avoid this in future.

LuWiiGi

#195

LuWiiGi said:

Ah, I remember the day this article came out (I cried myself to sleep that night). Man, it was cruel, but now that the 3DS is getting Virtual Handheld we can all rejoice. Also, I like how you changed the article.

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