Now this is not going to be another thread about what VC games should be on the service but aren't. Instead I am going to talk about developers who were once big supporters of the VC and seem to have dissapeared. So let's get started... (the MIA dates are for NA region)
Namco - MIA since March 25, 2009 - Namco has not released any VC games since the launch of the VC Arcade. They released three out of the four games for the service on that day, so it seemed to be a sign that they planned to heavily support the service. And they did, in Japan. They released tons of games for the VCA in Japan, so why did they stop supporting it in NA and EU? Perhaps they will start releasing VC games again, but it's been two years now...
Konami - MIA since March 15, 2010 - Konami has been awfully quiet on the VC front for over a year now. I'm not sure if they are still supporting the Japanese VC, but there are still plenty of games that they could release for us gamers in NA and EU. Where is Castlevania Bloodlines? Where is Contra: Hard Corps? Heck, where is CONTRA? It's hard to believe one of the most popular NES games is still not available on the VC yet. At least they gave us Rondo of Blood before moving on.
Sega - MIA since April 12, 2010 - I know that Monster World IV is coming out (at least in EU), but you can't deny that they have been neglecting the VC. It seems they are putting their games up on every other download service known to man. It could be that the other services are more profitable than the VC. But there are still many, many games that they could release onto the VC. I'd really love to see some more Master System games available, as that is a system I never played growing up.
Commodore Gaming - MIA since November 9, 2009 - Now that's a joke. It's almost certain that they have given up on the VC, and the games they did put up seem to have been crippled with poor emulation. But hey, anything can happen I guess. Maybe they will start supporting the VC again.
LucasArts - MIA since January 25, 2010 - While I am certainly happy that they put up the Super Star Wars games and Zombies Ate My Neighbors, there are still many games from their back catalog I would love to see on the VC. Some may think it's pointless, but I would love to see the NES Star Wars games, because they are completely different games as the SNES ones. And the game I want most to appear on the VC is Maniac Mansion. C'mon LucasArts, make it happen!
While these companies seem to have given up, there is always hope they will come back. Don't forget D4 Enterprises was gone for over a year before coming back strong with more Neo Geo games, Capcom was MIA for over a year before coming back with a handful of VCA games (and hopefully more soon) and Hudson has certainly come back with a vengeance. I just hope Hudson releases more TG16 games, as it was a console I never played growing up as well. Square Enix and Natsume also appear to be big VC supporters now too, so that is good news for retro fans. I hope Natsume releases Abadox at some point. Anyways, did I forget any companies? What are your thoughts on why these companies have gone quiet on the VC front?
Uh.....hmm. I would say most of those companies have already released the games that have overwhelming demand, and the rest to be released are just niche classics, but I could be wrong. I'm not a walking video game encyclopedia after all.
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I seriously wish that Namco would start supporting the VCA outside of Japan. :/
As for Sega, they released a couple of games late last year in Japan like Super Hang-On, and they're pretty good about getting VCA games released outside of Japan, so I expect them to release a game really soon.
Now this is not going to be another thread about what VC games should be on the service but aren't.
Wut?
The sentence makes sense to me...
EDIT: To further clarify... there have been plenty of threads about how Game X should be on the VC now, even an op-ed by the Nintendo Life staff regarding the issue. I was trying to focus on specific companies that seemed to have abandoned the VC.
Now this is not going to be another thread about what VC games should be on the service but aren't. Instead I am going to talk about developers who were once big supporters of the VC and seem to have dissapeared. So let's get started... (the MIA dates are for NA region)
Namco - MIA since March 25, 2009 - Namco has not released any VC games since the launch of the VC Arcade. They released three out of the four games for the service on that day, so it seemed to be a sign that they planned to heavily support the service. And they did, in Japan. They released tons of games for the VCA in Japan, so why did they stop supporting it in NA and EU? Perhaps they will start releasing VC games again, but it's been two years now...
Konami - MIA since March 15, 2010 - Konami has been awfully quiet on the VC front for over a year now. I'm not sure if they are still supporting the Japanese VC, but there are still plenty of games that they could release for us gamers in NA and EU. Where is Castlevania Bloodlines? Where is Contra: Hard Corps? Heck, where is CONTRA? It's hard to believe one of the most popular NES games is still not available on the VC yet. At least they gave us Rondo of Blood before moving on.
Sega - MIA since April 12, 2010 - I know that Monster World IV is coming out (at least in EU), but you can't deny that they have been neglecting the VC. It seems they are putting their games up on every other download service known to man. It could be that the other services are more profitable than the VC. But there are still many, many games that they could release onto the VC. I'd really love to see some more Master System games available, as that is a system I never played growing up.
Commodore Gaming - MIA since November 9, 2009 - Now that's a joke. It's almost certain that they have given up on the VC, and the games they did put up seem to have been crippled with poor emulation. But hey, anything can happen I guess. Maybe they will start supporting the VC again.
LucasArts - MIA since January 25, 2010 - While I am certainly happy that they put up the Super Star Wars games and Zombies Ate My Neighbors, there are still many games from their back catalog I would love to see on the VC. Some may think it's pointless, but I would love to see the NES Star Wars games, because they are completely different games as the SNES ones. And the game I want most to appear on the VC is Maniac Mansion. C'mon LucasArts, make it happen!
While these companies seem to have given up, there is always hope they will come back. Don't forget D4 Enterprises was gone for over a year before coming back strong with more Neo Geo games, Capcom was MIA for over a year before coming back with a handful of VCA games (and hopefully more soon) and Hudson has certainly come back with a vengeance. I just hope Hudson releases more TG16 games, as it was a console I never played growing up as well. Square Enix and Natsume also appear to be big VC supporters now too, so that is good news for retro fans. I hope Natsume releases Abadox at some point. Anyways, did I forget any companies? What are your thoughts on why these companies have gone quiet on the VC front?
I'm surprised really as they can make LOADS from the Master System (being ignored in America)...but they haven't neglected it...Hang On was released in Japan only last October/December...they aren't really releasing SEGA games over here for obvious reasons (SEGA always favour Japan over the west despite selling worse there...which is nicknamed "SEGA logic")
Commodore is an even more puzzling one...don't they WANT to make money? I don't see their games selling on DS or any other Digital Stores.
LucasArts never really made that many games to begin with (there is the Amiga...but that's not on VC).
Namco...what the heck are they doing!?! They have so many games to release on the VC (let me try a Tales of series Namco...and not overprice them in the UK!) it's a joke that they've just decided to do a SEGA and decided to focus on Japan. (I don't envy Japan...I envy Namco/SEGAs decisions).
Konami's always made weird decisions...Kojima is never far behind when I think of Konami...they have many games but they only seem to care about Castlevania/MGS...how about selling the original MG on NES?
As for Hudson, being under Konami means possibly endless Adventure Island/Bomberman releases...which is pretty sad.
Capcom's strategy has also been weird this last year with DMC/Street Fighter...why not release Darkstalkers on the VC to make it up to Wii only owners for the lack of MvC (I know they got TvC but who reads those comics unless you are Japanese?)
Square Enix probably started selling these games on the VC due to how much money they are losing on Final Fantasy XIV. They know how much their ports sell....
Finally, I'd like to see Nintendo at least create better terms with how much profit these companies get....wouldn't they like to get better third party support at least on their service if the Wii isn't doing so great?
I personally think the more smaller devs should start releasing on the VC now...even ones that bought licences to other game franchises...Treasure still need to release Mischief Makers and a few more obscure games. Then there's the Cotton series as well as a few more Irem titles.
The problem is the VC on Nintendo is a separate service. If they run out of old games, they run out of things to release. Every other service these games are on (app store, steam, PSN, etc.) have the old games mixed in with the new ones. So they can run out of old games and not have a problem filling out a release schedule.
Of course, long delays are probably just another hurdle 3rd parties don't want to deal with when it comes to Nintendo. They haven't exactly been super nice to VC devs. So VC ports are probably the last thing they do now.
You also have to figure in compilations might be more profitable (I'm looking at you Namco), given the low online connectivity rate, and how expensive titles are on VC compared to compilations. I'm sure we'll see just about everything that was originally released here that's Japan only now. And most of what's on other services too.
I am way too lazy to think of something clever. My Backloggery
Sunsoft has been quiet as well. Since they also own rights to the Rennovation titles I was hoping to see something from them after release Aero the Acrobat 2 (which was awesome by the way)
Namco - MIA since March 25, 2009 Konami - MIA since March 15, 2010 Sega - MIA since April 12, 2010
While these companies seem to have given up, there is always hope they will come back. Don't forget D4 Enterprises was gone for over a year before coming back strong with more Neo Geo games, Capcom was MIA for over a year before coming back with a handful of VCA games (and hopefully more soon) and Hudson has certainly come back with a vengeance.
Sega has been the biggest presence on the VC aside from Nintendo. They certainly haven't given up. My only complaint would be the prices of their games. Those same games are so much cheaper elsewhere, but Nintendo sets the prices so I can't really blame Sega. As for Konami, they don't have that many games that aren't Castlevania. I believe we've gotten everything we can from them.
I absolutely agree with you on NAMCO. I hope they get busy stateside. In Japan they have Arcade Burning Force ready to go. I'd kill for some Burning Force and I'd maim for some Phelios.
Namco - MIA since March 25, 2009 Konami - MIA since March 15, 2010 Sega - MIA since April 12, 2010
While these companies seem to have given up, there is always hope they will come back. Don't forget D4 Enterprises was gone for over a year before coming back strong with more Neo Geo games, Capcom was MIA for over a year before coming back with a handful of VCA games (and hopefully more soon) and Hudson has certainly come back with a vengeance.
Sega has been the biggest presence on the VC aside from Nintendo. They certainly haven't given up. My only complaint would be the prices of their games. Those same games are so much cheaper elsewhere, but Nintendo sets the prices so I can't really blame Sega. As for Konami, they don't have that many games that aren't Castlevania. I believe we've gotten everything we can from them.
I absolutely agree with you on NAMCO. I hope they get busy stateside. In Japan they have Arcade Burning Force ready to go. I'd kill for some Burning Force and I'd maim for some Phelios.
Konami still has some good stuff besides Castlevania they could release. They could release more imports like Salamander and Gradius II (Famicom), not to mention more games from the Twinbee and Parodius series. I'd definately love to see some Sunset Riders on the VC too. Then theres the huge back catalog of arcade games.
And it's true, Sega hasn't totally given up, it's just they seem more focused on Japan as of late. I'm sure that will change though. I'm curious to see if the online version of Puyo Puyo makes it over here.
Namco - MIA since March 25, 2009 Konami - MIA since March 15, 2010 Sega - MIA since April 12, 2010
While these companies seem to have given up, there is always hope they will come back. Don't forget D4 Enterprises was gone for over a year before coming back strong with more Neo Geo games, Capcom was MIA for over a year before coming back with a handful of VCA games (and hopefully more soon) and Hudson has certainly come back with a vengeance.
Sega has been the biggest presence on the VC aside from Nintendo. They certainly haven't given up. My only complaint would be the prices of their games. Those same games are so much cheaper elsewhere, but Nintendo sets the prices so I can't really blame Sega. As for Konami, they don't have that many games that aren't Castlevania. I believe we've gotten everything we can from them.
I absolutely agree with you on NAMCO. I hope they get busy stateside. In Japan they have Arcade Burning Force ready to go. I'd kill for some Burning Force and I'd maim for some Phelios.
Konami still has some good stuff besides Castlevania they could release. They could release more imports like Salamander and Gradius II (Famicom), not to mention more games from the Twinbee and Parodius series. I'd definately love to see some Sunset Riders on the VC too. Then theres the huge back catalog of arcade games.
And it's true, Sega hasn't totally given up, it's just they seem more focused on Japan as of late. I'm sure that will change though. I'm curious to see if the online version of Puyo Puyo makes it over here.
Don't forget that Konami has yet to release The Goonies 2, Rush N Attack, Jackal, Monster in my Pocket, The Adventures of Bayou Billy, Contra 1, Sunset Riders, Castlevania: Dracula X (U.S. version) and some others
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The problem is the VC on Nintendo is a separate service. If they run out of old games, they run out of things to release. Every other service these games are on (app store, steam, PSN, etc.) have the old games mixed in with the new ones. So they can run out of old games and not have a problem filling out a release schedule.
Of course, long delays are probably just another hurdle 3rd parties don't want to deal with when it comes to Nintendo. They haven't exactly been super nice to VC devs. So VC ports are probably the last thing they do now.
You also have to figure in compilations might be more profitable (I'm looking at you Namco), given the low online connectivity rate, and how expensive titles are on VC compared to compilations. I'm sure we'll see just about everything that was originally released here that's Japan only now. And most of what's on other services too.
Namco still hasn't released a Tales of Compilation...and they'd make loads if they did (since there are so many), but releasing it on the VC would be a better decision for those type of games.
Don't forget that Konami has yet to release The Goonies 2, Rush N Attack, Jackal, Monster in my Pocket, The Adventures of Bayou Billy, Contra 1, Sunset Riders, Castlevania: Dracula X (U.S. version) and some others
Goonies and Monster in My Pocket are licensed games.
The problem is the VC on Nintendo is a separate service. If they run out of old games, they run out of things to release. Every other service these games are on (app store, steam, PSN, etc.) have the old games mixed in with the new ones. So they can run out of old games and not have a problem filling out a release schedule.
Huh? That argument makes no sense. There's this thing called WiiWare which allows these developers to continue making new games for download while they simultaneously support Virtual Console.
As for Konami, they don't have that many games that aren't Castlevania. I believe we've gotten everything we can from them.
No we haven't. They still have Castlevania games they could release like Castlevania Bloodlines, Castlevania Dracula X and maybe even the N64 Castlevanias. Not to mention they could release the original Contra and Contra Hardcorps. And how about the original MGS for the NES? There's no excuse for them not to release these. These are all part of very popular franchises and would sell well.
Edit: Almost forgot about Rocket Knight Adventures and it's sequel Sparkster!
Sunsoft has been quiet as well. Since they also own rights to the Rennovation titles I was hoping to see something from them after release Aero the Acrobat 2 (which was awesome by the way)
I'm dying to see them bring Turbo CD games like Valis and Exile to the VC. Who knows? Maybe even Cosmic Fantasy 2.
Konami still has some good stuff besides Castlevania they could release. I'd definitely love to see some Sunset Riders on the VC too. Then theres the huge back catalog of arcade games.
It would be cool to have Sunset Riders on the VC Arcade. I'm still a little bummed about Konami's X-Men being exclusively not on the Wii.
I understand not including the dual-monitor 6-player version because it would probably look awful on the Wii's 480p output, but why not a single-screen version?
I thought of another company that I left off from the original list. HAL. Now I know that Nintendo owns them, but they used to publish games under their own brand back in the day. The haven't released a VC game since Lolo 2 back in 07 (or it may have been 08), but there are plenty of other games they could release. Lolo 3, Day Dreamin Davey, Hyper Zone, just to name a few.
Konami has only released twenty VC games outside of Japan (don't know how many they released in Japan). Konami was quite popular for their arcade and console games in the eighties and early nineties. If Konami made a big push for publishing VC games, we could easily see double the amount of games they have already released and each one could be a classic well known game, especially if they wanted to release arcade games too.
Edgey, Gumshoe, Godot, Sissel, Larry, then Mia, Franziska, Maggie, Kay and Lynne.
I'm throwing my money at the screen but nothing happens!
I have also wonder what happened with Lolo 3. Did they just forget it exists (because it was called Lolo 2 in Japan, although I don't think they've gotten it either)?
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