Topic: Donkey Kong 64

This is my first time posting here, so I hope I'm putting this in the right place.

Anyway, I was wondering why Nintendo has not put out DK 64 on the VC yet. I've heard several stories, including that they cannot release it because Rare made it. However, the DK Country games were made by Rare and are all available. Another story I heard was that it is too big for the Wii to download, but with the sizes of some Wiiware titles, this theory also seems pretty ridiculous. Is there any actual reason for this great game's absence, or is Nintendo just withholding it to see us suffer? Also, have they ever made any mention of it?

As far as I know, Nintendo gave Rare the rights to DK for DKC, but it was still Nintendo's property. When it came time for DK64, that was pretty much Rare's deal, and had little to do with Nintendo. Nintendo bought back the rights to Donkey Kong after they lost Rare, but there's a bunch of legal crap that's keeping Nintendo from being able to release games that were Rare's property.

grensworthshero is right, but I also think that Nintendo isn't too keen on N64 Virtual Console games in general. Go ahead, load up the Shop Channel and look at the difference in title abundance.

I'm sure I read somewhere that it may have something to do with emulation issues with the N64 expansion pack. Donkey Kong 64 used the expansion pack and to my knowledge there is no N64 game currently on the virtual console that used the expansion pack. Of course this may be entirely wrong (legal disputes seem just as likely) but it seems like a credible theory. Whatever the reason, its a shame as I certainly wouldn't mind playing it again.

Microsoft bought Rare. That's all you need to know.

Jetpac.

Yes your absolutely right, I can't believe I forgot about Majora's mask. Still it begs the question what those licensing issues are, especially considering the fact that the Donkey Kong country games have made it to virtual console.

@Chozo DK was still Nintendo's property at the time of DKC, they just gave the rights to publish the game to Rare, much like the Zelda CDi games.

So remove Jetpac. Give the player the coin that they earned from playing it without having to play it.

I read that Rare was actually WILLING to have DonkeyKong 64 released in Virtual Console. (In fact, they are actually wondering why the game is not out, yet.)

Actually, DK was Nintendo's property all along. Rare was primarily responsible for the 3D modeling and the other technical stuff. If you noticed in Mario Kart 64's credits, Rare was credited for providing the DK renderings. Unlike other Rare games, DK and co. are all, and always have been Nintendo's IP's. So really, there isn't any reason for it not to be on VC. It's only a matter of when it will show up.

Is Jetpac a character or something? Sorry, but it's been a long time since I played DK 64. If it has to do with characters though, then why would it be okay for the Microsoft and Nintendo releases to share characters? I'm referring to Banjo Kazooie, which shares the Beaver character with DKC 1 (an ending). Also, if Nintendo had to change the title in order to release it, it might never come. From what I heard, a similar situation occurred with Earthbound, and Nintendo refused to make any changes, despite it being perhaps the most desired game for the VC. By the way, does anyone know how Microsoft got away with having a Gameboy in Banjo Kazooie?

Thanks for all the responses! This is one of the few titles I really want on the VC, so I was really interested in its situation.

I think Dk64 like Mario Party 1 will release at the end of the year, like at chritmas, guys, it's 100 % Marketing ! And you know Nintendo! :S

I think that's pretty much the only issue, which can be removed.

Although it also has Donkey Kong Arcade, which with the current state of Nintendo, is not something they want to include for free, and not something they care enough to remove.

I blame the rate of N64 releases on the VC mainly. We have about two every year recently.

At this rate, it'll be a miracle if it shows up before 2011 and I'm not sure if we'll ever see it. Emulation issues is not a problem, as proven by The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. Rare did make the game, but they also made the Donkey Kong Country trilogy, all available on the Virtual Console.

However, the one thing that might prevent an Virtual Console release is the fact that the Jetpack game is inside the original Nintendo 64 versions. While Rare does want the game on the Virtual Console, they are owned by Microsoft and Microsoft would probably think otherwise, due to the inclusion of Jetpack, an Rare-owned game. Thus, this is in the same place as Goldeneye 007 and Diddy Kong Racing, unless Nintendo, Microsoft, and Rare can work things out, it's not coming on the Virtual Console, Games for Windows Live, or Xbox Live.

It's not as bad as the situation in Rare games owned by Microsoft, but it's not very likely. You'll have better luck seeing another TMNT game on the Virtual Console, since the original is already available.

Well summarized, SSBF1999. Couple of points though --

We don't know for certain that emulation is issue-free. MM being on VC shows that the Expansion Pak games can be emulated, but we don't know if there are any other tech issues with DK64. I tend to agree with you though; i doubt there's any significant issues.

And GoldenEye007 should really always be placed in its own category RE:if there will ever be a VC release, as there's more than just Ninty, Rare and MS. There's of course also all the Bond-license holders, and with all the controversy surrounding the Bond rights through the years (leading to Connery and Moore simulatenously having Bond films from differing studios), the owning party(ies) (Columbia? i forget now) are always extra-over-cautious with licensing.

They could release it for Christmas 2010, but with Donkey Kong Arcade omitted to allow for its release on the VC.

Nintendo should know that everyone will snatch up the arcade version, even if they price it above 500 points. The cement factory will distract everyone from the clearly inferior NES version. Good marketing.

The DK Arcade and Jetpac are slightly modified versions in DK64.

I can't remember seeing a Rare-coin in the old arcade games.

@StarFox: Nintendo would never remove stuff from the Virtual Console, even if it is absolutely required to get rid of licensing issues. Sure they change minor things, but something that major would be an major no-no for Nintendo.

@the shpydar: Remember that Wii Goldeneye project? It'll probably be shot dead by licensing issues.