On a more exciting note WiiWare gets Hudson’s Alien Crush Returns today after what seems like a long, long wait. That’s more like it! You can also download Home Sweet Home which you might enjoy if you like those pesky home decorating TV shows.
USA VC Update: Space Harrier
Welcome to the Fantasy Zone! Today’s solo Virtual Console game is none other than Space Harrier from the Sega Master System. A console which many North Americans simply won’t even remember. As such we can’t help feeling that today’s update is a bit of a kick in the teeth, sure it’s not a bad game, but releasing it with no other games is hard to stomach. This is already out in Europe so you can check out our review for more info.
Comments 130
just one game? thats no good at all. really, what are nintendo america playing at?
Terrible update...
This sucks.
EDIT: Why doesn't Nintendo just release Dracula's Curse instead? There are many better games to be released that are already in Europe.
Thats it? Fail
Quite a bad update. I am sure people would prefer the Saturn or 32X version of Space Harrier.
Hahah, interesting update. If this is our slightly delayed Halloween release, I guess it truly is horrifying.
Hahah, interesting update. If this is our slightly delayed Halloween release, I guess it truly is horrifying.
They truely picked a scary game...an apt reminder that tere was a time that arcade converisons were not perfect...by a mile.
Quite a bad update. I am sure people would prefer the Saturn or 32X version of Space Harrier.
Yeah those ones are pretty much arcade perfect. Who would have thought it took nearly a decade for that game to become arcade perfect...then again Donkey Kong never managed it (DK64s version is an emulated version of the arcade cabinet; not a port).
Space Harrier isn't a terrible game, but it's only decent at best. Entertaining for a bit and impressive for its time, albeit not nearly so impressive as its original arcade counterpart. A shame it's the only VC release for the week... especially since neither of the WiiWare releases interest me in the least. Alas. Good thing I have a massive backlog of games that desperately need completed.
After all, we don't really have too much to complain about considering the outpouring of truly terrific games we've received in the past five-six weeks. On top of that, [Old Man Mode]back in my day, we had to wait months for anticipated (and even non-anticipated) games to come out. We certainly didn't have the luxury of having a few games released for convenient, home-based, online download every seven days.[/Old Man Mode]
still, how many of us actually played the arcade game to compare it to?
What kind of a**clowns are Nintendo hiring for the U.S.? Two single-game weeks in a row - twice the FAIL! Ah, Summer 2008 memories rush back...
Gimme an F! Gimme an AIL! What's that spell?...
you guys know the pattern "good good good bad bad bad good bad bad good bad". We are about to hit the bad part at full force
EDIT:
The actual quote from the mascot is
Crap, crap, good, crap, crap, crap, good, crap, good, good, good, crap, crap, good, crap, and then it repeats, it’s been like that since the beginning of time every week.
I can't recommand people people that like shooters to download the Sms version of Space Harrier.
I have to agree with the 32x version of Space Harrier is the best version of the game. I don't own Sega Ages for the Sega Saturn yet, so I can't comment on it.
There are at least 4 shooters on the Sms that are better than Space Harrier.
What an ugly morning news...
Yup, back to drough after a great summer. VC could end up being craptastic until Christmas. That is, I hope Nintendo will make things more interesting as Christmas approaches...
Anyways, we got a lot of excellent and long-winded games lately, so I'll try not to start complaining too fast. It can't be SMRPG or SoM every week, and with Ogre Battle and MM3 coming our way sometime, it's okay to have a few lame weeks once in a while. It gives us time to finish games that are worth it
Ah, here comes the Bunch Of Weeks Where We Can't Have A Decent Game.
Well son of a bitch. I was hoping for something better than this turd of a VC week. Thanks a lot, Nintendo.
Earthworm Jim was good. It just wasn't a great game.
snore
checks WiiWare
And another drought begins! Why not give us Castlevania III today, huh? There's no good reason for this half arsed update, Nintendo! Not that I don't have things to play this time, though but it still irks me that Nintendo would pull this again.
We've gotten a basket full of good games in recent months. My prediction would be to brace yourselves for a few more 'weak' release dates, and cross your fingers for Christmas.
Ummm... No Nintendo come back when you have Castlevania 3
My VC sense tells me we must prepare for a long season of 1 game weeks again.
Castlevania III will probably be released to coincide with Castlevania Judgment.
Why do that have to release this piece of garbage when they could have given us Castlevania 3? I'm sure tons of people are going to download Space Harrier instead of Castlevania 3. Smooth move Nintendo!
Nothing I can see myself downloading today. Meh.
Hmph, I wanted Monster Party for Halloween...
Haven't touched my Wii in weeks, and haven't DLed a VC game in longer... When I do get some points, at least I'll have Secret of Mana and EarthWorm Jim to get...
... OH WELL, back to Fallout 3!
I was hoping for CV3 but I guess this will give me a chance to finally download MM9...yeah!
This is craptastic!!
back to LBP.
If this is going to be like summer of 08 then next week will be one NeoGeo game. Hopefully Metal Slug 2.
Is this some kind of f**king joke!? This would've been the perfect time to release Castlevania III/Rondo of Blood and Devil World, and they give us this turd and nothing else? Horrifying indeed.
At least we got ACR on Wiiware.
@Bendover. Nah, if that happens, it'll be probably be something like World Heroes 2.
Is it me or do people who post here have some fundamental lack of understanding on the concept of not flooding the market.
You all seem to be of the opinion that Nintendo should be pumping out 3-4 VC titles per week on top if 2-3 Wiiware games.
Sorry but businesses don't work like that.
ACR is obviously the title Nintendo wants to promote today so it slips out a minor VC game as catchup to ensure more people go for it.
In case you havn't noticed there's a credit crunch going on. People din't have money to download 5-6 AAA titles per week.
Nintendo times the releases to ensure that the big hitters have room and arn't overcrowded.
The only reason we got so many games in the first year was to build up the library. Its the same reason Nintendo doesn't release 100 VC games per week, or release them all at the same time.
Its called maximising profit. Welcome to the real world people...
Fail week is fail.
Betagam, all people are asking is for some variety in their Virtual Console releases. If you're not into an average 8-bit shooter thats a poor port of the arcade original then you're screwed this week. We're not asking for several AAA games every week. Sure there are two WiiWare games too but Home Sweet Home won't appeal to many people.
Congrats America, you are on "5" SMS games! XD
Meh, this isn't too bad for me. I've got so many games that I've got to beat that this week's release doesn't bother me. Now let's see what did I have to beat again, oh right: Duke Nukem 1, Duke Nukem 2, Duke Nukem 3D (a port with extra episodes, I beat the original DOS version over the summer), Quake 2, MK Wii, Metroid Prime (almost done, on the Omega Pirate), Sonic Mega Collection, EVERY game on the Orange Box, Burnout Paradise, and I think that's about it. Well I'd better get started
Long time reader, first time post. Days like today make me wish Nintendo and Sega still hated each other. I personally only get excited about NES and SNES games coming out. Hopefully we'll get Mega Man 3 and Castlevania III before the end of the year. I would really like to see Final Fantasy III, but it seems like that is just a pipe dream for now.
Where the hell did all the Space Harrier hate come from?
Its not hate for Space Harrier just that its the only VC game of the week.
Well I guess ye can console yerselves with secret of mana. It will be of some comfort to ye at least.
Hopefully we'll get mega man 3 and castlevania 3 soon. I'm not getting anything this week.
@ Betagam7 - How about 1 good game? That's what most people are saying. Because Nintendo sucks balls, no one has the space for 3-5 good games anyway. But why release crap? Is dropping crap on the VC 'maximizing profit'? All I would ever ask is 1 really good game. Maybe 2 every now and then. The reality of most of the business world is that 1) the customer is always right, 2) if you give the consumer what they want, they'll keep coming back, 3) build a good relationship with your customers; make them feel appreciated. Please tell me how releasing crap answers any of those. Please also keep in mind that the crash of the video game market back in the 80's happened because the market was flooded with BAD GAMES. THAT is flooding the market.
Nintendo: If you're hell bent on releasing a single Master System game, at least make it worth our while. Phantasy Star comes to mind. Or how about a good Master System game not previously released in the states. Ninja Gaiden, Master of Darkness, (an excellent 'Castlevania' homage), or even the Aladdin (completely different from any other version released, but an excellent 8-bit game). For that matter, Psycho Fox would have been preferable. So why not make us happy and release a quality game with some substance if you're going to release one. Oh that's right... you'd actually have to give a s***.
@Manicfatty: You know what I tend to notice about your list of business world realities? NONE of them ever seem to apply to the video game industry. I have no idea why, but it seems to be a universal concept, regardless of the company (though Nintendo is arguably the worst about it). In fact, I can think of very little in the business world that actually works like that anymore. Much as I hate to say it, the reality is that those beliefs have been largely outmoded.
Yeah, Phantasy Star or Golden Axe Warrior (which should've come out a couple weeks ago when Beast Rider did, imo) would be my picks for SMS. I don't really give a crap about the rest. I'm semi-interested in Space Harrier because I like its area in Sega Superstars Tennis, but it's pretty obvious that the SMS version isn't worth my five bucks.
I don't mind a lousy week or three too much now, as I have no Wii memory left (figuring out what to delete would be a PAIN), and I have WAY more than enough games to play amongst my Wii, PS3, Xbox 360, DS, GBA (due solely to Mother 3, which eats up most of my spare time now), and PSP (which I've been MEANING to play for quite a while now...). With the vague expectation of more Squenix games in upcoming months, I think I could live with everything else being crap. Well, I do hope they put up Super Punch-Out sometime before or at the launch of the new Wii game...
Wow only one game hopefully this is going to happen next monday
C'mon people STOP complaining that we only got one decent game today. NOA has been giving us nothing but great games these past weeks. So STOP whinning. I'm actually glad with this update. I still need to finish Secret of Mana, Super Mario RPG, and Earthworm Jim!
Indeed, Betagam7, there is an economic crunch happening. However, the market we're talking about are games under the $10 range (U.S), not a new car. For the most part, that still falls under impulse buy. If anything, the sale of actual Wii games, being much more pricy, would be what suffers. Meaning to maximize profits other sources (VC games) would be used to pick up the slack.
@ WarioFan63 - It's a marginal game at best. I have fond memories of the arcade game, and I even remember having a moderately good time with the master system version, which I played to pass the time on my Game Gear with a Master Gear converter. It's just that it's a blah 8-bit conversion of an arcade game that owed much of it's success to it's 'wow' factor. And it's over in a flash with no replay value.
@The Fox - Another good point that I wanted to make but I was already writing a novel. Well said. In hard economic times, people cut back on entertainment. They don't go out as much and they tend to maximize their entertainment dollars with shopping bang for the buck and staying at home. It is also recommended that you treat yourself from time to time with little things. It helps keep your spirits up and helps curb 'emotional shopping' which can be damaging. How about a $5 -$10 GREAT game?
ESWAT and Crack Down have both appeared in Europe but not yet in the U.S. Releasing both or even just one of them would have made this week better.
WiiWare - Good UD
VC - Not so good
@ poggydude (#11):
Honestly, who cares what some little kid who calls himself "The Mascot" thinks? So he spends a lot of time on the computer, it certainly doesn't mean that he's cracked any "code". And besides, what constitutes as a "bad" and a "good" release is purely subjective. For example, I hate Secret of Mana, so that was a bad release to me. But a lot of people were very excited about that one coming out. There will be a few exceptions to this rule, however. For intance, It seems like most everyone thinks that Space Harrier is a dissapointment...I know I do. My opinion, of course.
YOU GUYS ARE TRIPPING!
Space Harrier, to me, is the MUST HAVE title the Master System has to offer. You can sleep on it, but you're only hurting yourself. I still have my original MS version, but for sheer convenience, I will definitely be throwing cash down.
Bah! We had to have a wasted week sometime and I guess this is it
@Badknux: Agreed (regarding the subjective statement). I make an effort to be happy for those who wanted a well-recognized great game upon its release, like last week with Earthworm Jim. I don't really want it, but other people do, so it's all good. It really is a total disappointment like Space Harrier (respectfully excusing the opinion of lockelocke) that gives me cause to be disappointed with Nintendo. As I said above, however, a lousy week now and then is perfectly fine with me. But I do agree that we need fewer one-VC-game weeks, as those pretty much always suck for a good number of people. Nintendo should've at least thrown Devil World out there today...
Devil World is an import game for you so it has to be released on an import week.
AW. I just got back from work, saw "M.U.S.H.A. and more," and celebrated for about five seconds. Then I saw this. Ouch.
I actually want this game, but it is mostly for nostalgia purposes. There is much better stuff out there to play than this, though.
Oh no, don't tell me the VC's dry season is about to begin again. At least I bought Turok: Dinosaur Hunter, Yoshi's Story, X-Men: Mutant Apocalypse all for only $7, & I got Kobe Bryant in NBA Courtside for free so I should be fine for the next few weeks.
Guys calm down, Australia gets one game updates all the time, and we have to wait another fortnight to get another VC update.
Ah well. Although I was hoping for something other than Space Harrier. I still need to buy Earthworm Jim anyway.
Joy, oh joy. Space Harrier. What a great update (sarcasm)
@ Stuffgamer1:
Two games ever week (at least) would be nice. I don't think that's asking too much.
I was hoping for Devil World, but was it ever released in North America?
I was hoping for Devil World, but was it ever released in North America?
It was not so you'll have to pay 600 Wii Points whenever it does come along. Could be a while as Japan had it for months before Europe.
@BigA2- Yeah, I suppose we could have it worse...
What ever happened to Nintendo releasing some of the GOOD NINTENDO GAMES (i.e.Yoshi's Island,Kirby Superstar, Earthbound,etc.)?! Those are some of the best games Nintendo has made, and they would certainly sell very well (especially Earthbound). Nintendo should at least give us a bunch of actual release dates, that way we would know what to expect, if anything at all. Why would it be bad business to get people excited about upcoming releases? Sometimes I just don't get Nintendo...
have this game on my master system so im not intrested but it is still a decent game, which can offer some entertainment.
@OoT_For_Life!
they want to spread their big hit titles so when wii sales go down nintendo will have a good lineup on the VC, your not going to get smashbros with earthbound, they want the VC to last as long as possible without throwing all their greatest hits away over the course of two years. also i don't really see whats so great about earthbound anyway.
Please come soon Ness, so the western culture can once again be ridiculed. Especially after this inappropriate release. This would've been a perfect Monday for Earthbound or Castlevania 3. In fact, any Monday would be perfect.
@Oot For life!
They'll sell very well but it's a bad business move to dump all their games in 1 sitting. Yoshi's Island won't be coming for a while since Ninty is trying to make the VC emulator compatible with super Fx games. Earthbound could be saved for either the 300th vc game release or saved for christmas. KSS has been delayed temporaily due to the ds remake.
One game update two weeks in a row. This isn't good...
I think I figured out what's happening. NOA is paying the Mega Man Naming Committee (TM) to pick the release titles.
This week's release: "Mediocre Man!"
Pretty poor update for the US. You're better off getting Shenmue, then you can play a classic game and the arcade version of this.....
Yay Space Harrier! Along with the Wiiware games, this is the best update this month!
@AlphaNerd01
Same here, I was about to pull out my wallet for some Wii points before I realized that it said "OFLC-Rated". Well, I was looking forward to Space Harrier as well, so no harm done( to me).
How many of you have finished secret of mana? Plus you have tetris party still to play. Look on the bright side... thats one less crap game they can spring on us
Plus, how many people have been talking up 'catch-up weeks' to get games in both regions lol.
Not interested, is just a boring vc week for me; I'm happy for the ones who wanted it thou.
Alright, time to play one of the 100 games I already have.
*does his best Kaz Harai impression - It's Space Harrier! SPAAAAACE HARRIER!
@Bass X0: Where the heck did this concept of an "import week" come from, anyway? I don't remember Nintendo ever having announced any such thing. Seems pretty stupid, anyway. It's obvious YOU guys don't have "import weeks," otherwise you wouldn't have gotten Devil World this past Friday.
@timp29: You know the only way we're ever going to catch up? If Europe doesn't get two games we don't have, and three days later, we only get ONE that they already had (and it's lower quality than the two they just got, to boot). One-game weeks are NOT conducive to catching up, no matter how you look at it.
BTW you guys are all saying this is a bad week. Is ACR's popularity suddenly starting to decline???
Crap I wanted Castlevania. Oh well...I almost never download VC anyway. (Only 5 so far...)
Hoo boy, my heart burns...before I let out all the acid, I'll just say this is my reasoning, so while I think I'm correct, I know there is a good chance I'm not.
First, while these one-game releases are disappointing, I must point out that we are still getting three games per week. At least throughout 2007, three-game releases were the norm. We have just returned to that norm and the only difference is those releases are spread out between two platforms: the VC and WiiWare. Four releases may be cool, but from a business viewpoint, it wouldn't be the best pathway towards maximizing profit.
Second, why is everyone giving Nintendo so much credit? Nintendo cannot just release any game it wants. The companies that sign on to have their games on the VC choose the games they want to release. Therefore, Sega decided to put Space Harrier out. Nintendo probably just decided which week to put it up. If Nintendo refused to place it on the VC, imagine how Sega might have reacted.
Three, while I'll make no judgement to whether this game is good or not, I'll say certain people will enjoy it. This is why I find it troubling that people are bashing Nintendo for not releasing games they want. Someone is always going to be disappointed--and sometimes it is the majority that is disappointed--but that doesn't mean the game shouldn't be released. Look at lockelocke; to him, this game is a must-have. Will you accuse him of being wrong?
@Stuffgamer. Devil World originally came out in Europe. We're the only ones that didn't get it.
Wow, 1 game. What is happening to Nintendo? Did they decide to screw the excellent roll of good weeks they had and start to go back to the summer months again?(Goodness I hope not.) The only reason this will be good is if they are deciding to release bad games to leave room for good games during Christmas or if they want us to try and play some of the excellent games they released over the past 2 months. Whatever the reason, I want this year to end positive so we have a good outlook for next year.
@stuffgamer1
I agree mate, i said it was a catch up week in jest. A few NA & Europe peoples have mentioned the need to have 'catch up' weeks where games that have been released in one region only get released in the other to restore parity. Clearly this week will never satisfy that when castlevania iii and SoM are still in one region only... hence the LOL
@virus
I agree complete completely. Nice reasoning.
I truly was expecting this, but I needed the time anyway since I just got my r4ds in the mail...talk about busy backing up games...LMAO
Four releases may be cool, but from a business viewpoint, it wouldn't be the best pathway towards maximizing profit.
People aren't asking for four games realistically - we just want a minimum of two VC games at least. I think it would actually be preferable to have two weeks with two games each rather than one week being a three game week and the next being a one game week. Whatever the game is on a one game week, its still just one game. There is no variety and if you don't like that particular game then you're pretty much screwed.
If Nintendo refused to place it on the VC, imagine how Sega might have reacted.
We're not saying that Space Harrier should never have come to VC just that it was accompanied with another game instead of being the sole game.
Well if we got a couple of Master System games I would've been happy, I personally hate Space Harrier with a passion, but if it had come with say Shinobi or Wonder Boy in Monster Land that would've softened the blow
But I accept that every game has SOME sort of following, and especially after looking at the pages for REALLY bad games that came out on VC, found some quotes in the comments section to reflect that.
Baseball - "this game is awome! i have it on the origanal nes"
Cruis'n USA - "this game kicks! i gave it 5 stars to balance the rating a bit... its more a 3 star game boosted to 4 though because it's so much fun"
Donkey Kong Jr. Math - "it's fun (if it's the same game). woth 500 points? maybe not but I'm still gettin it..."
And my personal favourite
Urban Champion - "I'm just glad that someone at Nintendo must still appreciate this game. I feel lucky to have this on my Wii."
Ok I won't do that anymore but it was fun
Bass. Explain to me why you think Nintendo owes you 2 VC releases a week?
You ask why Space Harrier couldn't be accompanied by "another game" but as I stated in my original post, IT HAS BEEN,
Alien Crush Returns did not come out for a different platform. It was a big name release for Wiiware that came out ALONGSIDE Space Harrier. I don't know why you are ignoring this and choosing only the reference HSH in your post.
You ask "what's wrong with variety". This week Nintendo has released a 3D space shooter, and alien themed pinball title and some sort of home design sim.
Sounds like variety to me...or is your Wii incapable of downloading Wiiware. The way people react on this forum you'd think it was a different system.
I don't see people complaining that Nintendo didin't release Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii, Smash Bros Brawl and Twighlight Princess simultaneously so I don't understand why people think the policy should be any different on VC. Nintendo knows that some games are duff ones that wouldn't sell well if facing stiff competition but it still has a duty to its publishers to try and sell them as best it can. It's not a case of "burying" minor games, its a case of trying to give them some space to breathe.
Similarly Hudson, putting out a major release, more than likely asked for some "quiet" competition to increase sales of their own game. Its doubtful Sega asked for the same for a relatively minor earner like SH
@Bass X0
I did mean four games total. If you have two games on both the VC and WiiWare each week, I don't see those four raking in a maximum profit. I know one-game releases are a bummer, but like Betagam7 alluded to, we did receive two games in addition to Space Harrier. Sure, they aren't VC games, and that can be disappointing, but it is still three games. (Also, sorry for not being clear enough!) Still, I do understand how a three-game week transfer to a one-game week may also be disappointing.
And you weren't asking for Nintendo to not release Space Harrier. Others were or at least implying it by questioning why Nintendo had to release these "crappy games." Yes, they also wanted SH to come with another game, but they said that in addition to the other desire.
@Mr. Cheez: Yeah, seems I was misinformed. Although there was a weird three-year gap between the original Japanese and European releases (GameFAQs data)... But my question regarding the existence of the concept of "import weeks" still hasn't been answered by anyone...
@timp29: I'm not so good at picking up on "lol." I'd probably have figured out what you mean better if that was at the very end. Anyway, I see what you mean. I have nothing against the concept of catch-up weeks personally, but they should match up lesser-wanted games like this with more popular games in the same week.
@Betagam7: Obviously, Bass was referring to VC, as nearly everyone else here has been. A lot of people here prefer to post about VC on this site, and reserve their opinions on Wiiware for that site. And some do prefer to totally discredit Wiiware for various reasons. I'd almost like to myself, just because of how much faster my Wii memory fills up with Wiiware games than with VC games! I don't think it's so hard to release more games of different genres to entire different customers, anyway. They could've released some old platformer or something, for example. Would that REALLY have messed up the sales of their other releases very much? I doubt it, because the audience would be different.
I've only downloaded three WiiWare games - Lost Winds, Megaman 9 and Toki Tori. I treat WiiWare differently to the VC; one if new games and the other is old games. I'm more attracted to the old games - besides, I'm British. We get seperate WiiWare weeks to Virtual Console weeks. I'm just commenting on the American releases because they I am interested in whats released there. I'd be annoyed at these releases if we got them.
@ Virus - Once again, I must say that most people would be happy with the occasional 1 game week if the release is either a great classic game that is a know quantity, or a great import title that has never seen these shores. Something exciting. And honestly, there are plenty of games to finish so 1 game weeks are welcome in my book. It's crap releases that are troubling. And Nintendo IS the gatekeeper for ALL VC games. They have many games approved and ready to go. They have held up other companies games before, to the point of embarrassing these companies when they've changed up their release schedule. Some companies have quietly voiced disappointment with Nintendo in this process. This extends to Wiiware as well. So Nintendo IS responsible 100% for the VC. There is a considerable backlog of games that are done. rated and waiting for release.
@ Betagam7 - 1) This is the VC site, not the Wiiware site. 2) Alien Crush is basically a remake of a game that many people have already downloaded for less. that's not to say it's not a cool remake, and multiplayer options are welcome. But it is a remake, not an entirely new game. 3) Devil's Crush which has also been out for sometime is a better game than Alien Crush to begin with, which is saying something because I like Alien Crush. 4) Because Nintendo have decided to continue being asshats, many people's systems may NOT be able to download a Wiiware game... because there is no storage! 5) People didn't complain about the major Wii specific Disc-based game releases because they have the intelligence to understand that these games take YEARS to develop and are epic in scope. VC games are 8 and 16 bit games that have been done for, in some cases, decades and only require emulation. Minimal turnaround time, relatively speaking. That's comparing apples to... particle accelerators. They have no common ground to realistically be compared to one another.
I'm really tired of hearing about Earthbound. Hasn't history shown that N always releases big games after release numbers divisible by 50 (i.e. 50, 100, 150...)? SMRPG was 250, I think Zelda 2 was 100; you get the picture. It'll be 300 before we should even wish for EB.
@chunky_droid: Oi now, Cruis'n USA IS a good game.
Oh, and I downloaded Space Harrier. It's a good game, though the Master System port is hardly the best one out there. It was definitly made for arcades, though, being a relatively shallow experience that doesn't invite to repeated plays, but rather a quick game every now and then. Still fun, though I feel kind bad for kids who got this as their first cart, having nothing else to play.
Cramps up your hands, to.
@Manicfatty
I do not mean to be a butthead, but I don't quite agree with your comment. While SH has garnered mostly lackluster reviews, you cannot simply call it crap when there are people who enjoy it. Also, I can accept that Nintendo might have total control over which games are released out of the rated games, but you have presented a paradox. If Nintendo has one-game releases, you want it to be a stellar game (understandable). Then you imply Nintendo should just shrug off the "crap" games of other companies to release these great games. Your reasoning for this is Nintendo has already done this so there is no problem with it continuing, but this angers the game companies. So who should Nintendo satisfy: the companies or the gamers?
I realize you possibly meant something else with your comment, but my response is derived from what I understood.
"Mostly lackluster reviews" is a bit of a stretch, too... the game has 4 reviews on GameFAQs, their final score being 7, 8, 9 and 9 out of 10.
Seriously now, Space Harrier is a well liked game.
Well darn, that's the most beneficial correction to my argument I've ever seen. Thanks.
@ Adamant
I had Cruis'N USA on my N64 back when I was 13, I quite liked it back then, to the point where I unlocked every single colour for every vehicle including the secret ones. I was mostly pointing out games that MOST people think aren't that great. I probably wouldn't like Cruis'N USA if I played it again though.
And from what I can gather looking at reviews for most games on GameFAQs is that if you don't like a game most people don't bother writing a review for it either, and Sandbag lost the character battle! cries
Whether or not this site is about VC releases is frankly irrelevent if were talking about Nintendo's strategy, particularly in the US.
Nintendo groups Wiiware and VC releases as the same thing in America, releasing them on the same day.
The fact that you may prefer VC over Wiiware is also, frankly, irrelevent to Nintendo's strategy. The top and bottom of it is that Nintendo releases downloadable games for its console each Monday in the USA. This week you got three downloadable games with a good selection of variety in genre.
Manicfatty: I'm afraid you've rather missed my point over the disc based releases. Even if they didn't take years to develop and were all developed in the same time period (lets say some super Shigeru does them all in a week) Nintendo still wouldn't release them all on the same day for the same reason it doesn't with VC releases.
It spreads them out so that, instead of forcing people to choose one or two titles due to time and economic factors, people will be more inclined to buy one after the other.
How many of you have bought a VC game that you normally would have ignored if the games you "wanted" were all available. I bet almost every single one of you...
You may find this strategy to be annoying and infuriating, I'm not disagreeing with you on that point, but get this: It's called Capitalism.
America pioneered it, as I remember, so I'm afraid you might have to get used to it.
raises hand
I haven't bought a game I didn't already know I wanted. But you did say 'almost' . And there's a tonne of games I know Nintendo will release that I want, and I haven't finished my most wanted on the already released.
But I'm one of the supposed few people who've downloaded more than 50 games as well
But I do understand Nintendo's strategy in releasing games, but if I had it my way I'd have 1 Wiiware and 2 VC a week. I haven't bought any Wiiware yet, just no interest in it yet (the only one I actually want is Megaman 9)
@ Betagam7 - Dude, seriously? I never debated why Nintendo spread the release of their major games out, but rather I answered your (admittedly rhetorical-sounding) question regarding why people weren't up in arms over the milking of their stable of IPs. Or didn't you actually want that answered?
And the fact that this is the VC site HAS EVERYTHING TO DO WITH IT! It is the very reason for the tone and subject matter of the opinions and statements you refute! As a matter of fact, anything else falls into the category of 'Off Topic'.
Last but not least, it would do you more justice to avoid topics with which you are not familiar. It undermines all that you have to say when you present items pulled from your waste chute and present them as a factual argument. You obviously don't have a grasp on what capitalism is, it's origins, or where the term actually has it's roots. Here's some help: http://encarta.msn.com/encyclopedia_761576596/Capitalism.html
You'll find that the Unites States had absolutely nothing to do with the birth or pioneering of capitalism, and didn't have any significant role in it's growth as a modern concept until the late 19th century. And even then, it was a dubious contribution at the time, and one that has helped turn a fundamental concept into a dirty word. It's success in it's new form was at the terrible expense of others. Nintendo actually broke laws that came out of the reforms of this era during the 1980's. Our first truly positive, and progressive contributions didn't come until the 1930's.
I'm not trying to be an ass, and I encourage everyone to check out the article. But seriously. I really wish you wouldn't take the tone of talking down to me and everyone else when we're only expressing our opinions, and fostering lively debate. And as we've learned from this Presidential race, you never win a debate by being a pitbull, or by relying on attacks and sarcasm in place of substance.
@ Virus - I don't think you're being a butthead
I guess we'll have to agree to disagree! Oh, and IGN gave it something like a 4.5 and our own VC Reviews gave it 3 out of 5, so... hehehe. Just bustin' your chops!
http://www.vc-reviews.com/news/tags/US+Releases
Since July, America has only seen four weeks which just had a single release - with the last two weeks making up half. So I don't see why some people here are talking as if solo weeks are regular and that weeks with two games is generous. Two games is normal.
@Bass X0 - werd. I just want exceptional games when it's a single release. I'm not asking for great games every week. Good would be nice. But single game weeks should be so because the game is worth it Just my opinion. I think 1 extraordinary stand-out game a month would be good, with ok to good sprinkled in. We've actually had some really good weeks in that time period!
Capitalism is the economic system in which the means of production are distributed to openly competing profit-seeking private persons
For the means of production see Nintendo's VC service (as in this case distribution fills in for the lack of physical production with virtual titles) and for the profit seeking persons see the various publishers...Sounds like Nintendo's running of the VC service to me...although yes, I should have said "championed" rather than pioneered, but I can see how one small mistake clearly renders everything else I've said as redundant!
As for being off topic, far from the case. There's no point asking a question (repeatedly), i.e "why arn't we getting more games" if you arn't prepared to look at the bigger answer, which in this case is "you are...they're on Wiiware"
When there was no Wiiware then you might have had a reason to get annoyed with one game (although I really don't see why, Nintendo doesn't owe you anything...this isn't a subscription service and as we know, its merely opening up the means of distribution to whoever wants to lay their cards on the table, regardless of whether they want to use its means of distribution to put out good games or bad)
Just because those who run this website choose to run it and WiiwareWorld independently doesn't alter the fact that Nintendo treats them as one downloadable gaming product. I could set up a website about Ringo Starr and moan about why he doesn't sing on more Beatles songs, I could then say that any answers involving John, George or Paul were off-topic as this was a Ringo only site but it wouldn't stop them BEING the answer.
While Nintendo groups them together then its going to keep pulling that old (whoever pioneered it) capitalist trick of maximising profit by staggering their releases (in both quality and quantity).
Incidently "expressing my opinion" and "Stirring up lively debate" is exactly what I'm doing despite you attempting to paint me as the 2nd coming of Sarah Palin (who I despise).
Look up "Straw Man Argument" in your online dictionary...
I guess the simple fact is that the more games we get the better. We have had weeks where they gave America two VC games and two WiiWare games. We call those good weeks regardless of the quality of game (since variety is the key rather than quality, we don't realistically expect a great game every week).
Personally I'd be happy (although not thrilled) with one game every week, if only Nintendo et al would bother themselves to properly convert it for the PAL format! I've given up on anything Sega now (dissapointing when you consider the Dreamcast pretty much pionee...er championed 60hz) and the minimal work Nintendo does to some N64 and SNES games just about scrapes them into contendership.
The Hanabi festivals are pretty much the only time they can guarantee any more of my money and that's rather sad.
The Americans may be huffed about only getting Space Harrier, but at least they got it running at a halfway decent speed! Your game isn't arcade perfect but our game isn't even console perfect!
"Oh, and IGN gave it something like a 4.5..."
IGN's VC coverage is laughable at best. Unless they absolutely can't get away with it, they rate everything low.
Stirring up lively debate usually doesn't take the fomr of pointed attacks and rhetoric. Declaring the format of a site irrelevant for the purposes of your arguments doesn't really make any sense as the purpose of this site speaks to the content. Wiiware is a total separate entity from the VC and serves a different purpose. There are plenty of people that own the Wii for 2 reasons alone; 1) Nintendo's IPs, and 2) the nostalgia and convenience of classics on the VC. The VC is a classic gamer haven. Wiiware has a much broader demo. It only makes sense to separate the 2 sites. In many cases Wiiware doesn't answer the desires of the VC crowd. Actually, with the sort of shovel-ware offerings being pumped out, Wiiware doesn't offer anyone much. There have only been a handful of notable and space/cash worthy titles. Which is good, because no one has room anyway. If Nintendo sees them as one and the same... well...not surprising. It is Nintendo. If it ain't so, they'll make it so... in their minds anyway. The vast majority of people I know who own a Wii (around 25, throughout a wide demographic) haven't even downloaded a Wiiware title, but have 25-30+ VC Games.
I think you're analogy is very thin. I can see what you're getting at, but I find your reasoning flawed. I don't see Wiiware being more than marginally relevant to the more/better games argument at best. The fact is that this back and forth between good and bad weeks, single game and multiple game weeks had been going on long before Wiiware hit the scene.
I don't know that we'll ever know Nintendo's full reasoning. Once a game is out there, it's not like it won't be downloaded after the first week. They don't have shelf lives. They could have started with a library of 200 games, and still would have sold through the roof. They could use the Nintendo channel and messages to your 'IN' box to promote and highlight games ever week or day if they want to. Even personalizing the selections to your shopping history, a la Amazon.
I never said anything about being owed anything. Nintendo just doesn't get my cash. Period. That's my vote.
And it was your snide tone and in-your-face manner when referring to capitalism that sparked my response. Otherwise I probably wouldn't have responded. You spoke as if we were somehow too feeble-minded to understand Nintendo's money making agenda. We get it, we just think there are better ways to handle it. And a good company listens to it's consumers and fans.
I don't need to look up the Straw Man Argument; I am familiar with it. It's not applicable here. I responded based on your comments. I rebutted the tone of your statements. At the end of the day, we'll have to agree to disagree on this, or get caught in a feedback loop.
I can see where this is all going, and I am moving on. At least we agree on Palin. And that's something.
@ Adamant - or it could just be their opinions. I can't say that I find their comment any less valid than anyone else's. Let alone the random sampling of reviews from the dark corners of the internet found on GameFAQS (who are those ppl? ). Some people aren't as charmed by the old school flavor, and it takes more for them to get excited about a game. And that's valid too. There are plenty of new comers to these games. And it seems to be very much in line with VC Reviews score. It's just weighted differently.
For what it's worth, I'd probably give it (IGN Style) a 6.5, because it is fun for about 15-30 min once a week for a month or two. That just isn't worth the download to me. Just my opinion
They could have started with a library of 200 games but then the question is who would have bought Urban Champion (and many others).
I think that this is what Nintendo was thinking, how does it shift the dross if there's over 100 AAA titles burying it from day one.
Of course the answer is not to release dross in the first place but then as we've seen with Space Harrier, what does and doesnt constitute dross tends to polarise peoples opinions.
It works the other way round though, companies don't want competition for their AAA titles. Hudson would have wanted a big launch of Alien Crush Returns (which I know you rate only as a remake but is a big title to Hudson and many consumers) so Nintendo quietens down the VC schedule to tempt more people intospending there Wii points elsewhere. After all, Nintendo wants to encourage development of Wiiware, it already has VC.
Wii points is Wii points to these companies and its daft to ignore that simply because you personally are only interested in VC.
I'm not saying I don't prefer VC either (I think my collection is about 30/1 VC over WW) but I can understand why they do what they do.
Now if they'd ONLY released Space Harrier period this week then I think people would have had a reason to be a bit miffed.
IGN and (particularly) Gamespot seems to be of the opinion that the VC is largely made up of outdated trash and will keep their scores as low as they can get away with - the only games they'll award high scores are the universally recognized classics they simply can't call bad without being called biased.
Likewise, these game sites use a terribly imbalanced rating system for their reviews - a 3/5 from VC Reviews would be something like an 8/10 over there, while anything under 7 s basically pure trash.
Space Harrier is a shallow arcade-style game, yes, and it's not something you'll play for hours, but it's a great game for quick sessions every now and then, and for 5$, that's hardly bad value.
"IGN's VC coverage is laughable at best. Unless they absolutely can't get away with it, they rate everything low."
Ummm....Not exactly.
Here's a few examples of some VC games that aren't that well-known that received decent scores from IGN:
You're also wrong in saying that they consider everything below 7.0 to be trash. A 6 is "passable" and a 5 is "meh", which I believe means "average", which isn't necessarily a bad thing. And of course they're going to rate the most well-known games the highest. That's to be expected. Of course OoT is going to get a 10: It was only one of the most influential games of it's time, and of course SMB3 would get a 9.5, as it's considered one of the best games of all time, and THE highest-selling one.
I do agree though that Gamespot are horrible reviewers when it comes to VC games. They never rated ANYTHING higher than an 8.5 (save for SMB3), not even truly great games like Ocarina of Time and Super Metroid. They're even worse when it comes to Wiiware. The service has 30-some games on it so far, and they reviewed a paltry 11 of them. They also gave 5s to Lostwinds and My Life As a King, which were the service's most highest-rated launch games. I just use WWW (or sometimes IGN) when I need Wiiware coverage.
@Wariofan, waaaaay up at the top. "Where the hell did all the Space Harrier hate come from?"
It's not necessarily hate for SH itself, just the fact that it's the ONLY VC game we got this week. That, and the fact that it's not Castlevania III or Devil World.
@Chunky_Droid, #83. You have good eyes, my friend! I saw the Cruis'n USA and Baseball quotes, and found them to be quite amusing myself. Couldn't find the Urban Champion and DK Jr. Math quotes though. Perhaps they've been deleted?
@Adamant: Your point on Space Harrier is valid, I believe. But it's not a long step from there to people complaining that that's ALL Nintendo wants to sell to us again. I've made such claims in the past (before Mario RPG and Mana came out, of course). From an economic viewpoint (if working under the assumption that people beat games before buying new ones, which is COMPLETELY untrue for me and who knows how many other people), releasing shorter games for the same price as the longer games makes more sense. Nintendo does a bit more of that than I'd like. I don't really feel that I need too many games for "quick sessions every now and then," and there are already better options on VC (I use Clu Clu Land to fill that space on VC, because I really like that game!). So again, Space Harrier comes out looking lack-luster, especially with no other VC releases (as has been stated many times already).
@Betagem7: Is Alien Crush REALLY a big title? Maybe I've just been ignoring it (by which I mean not even noticing articles about it and stuff), but I've heard next to nothing about it. I'm just not particularly convinced that it's a good enough game to carry the week with two so-so at best games released alongside it. I'm not so sure how ANY pinball game could be placed on that pedestal, regardless of quality. It's not exactly a prime genre, normally.
While some of us have been on the topic of games that should be released, when the heck is Zoda's Revenge coming out? I've been waiting for it since StarTropics came up at the start of the year. Hasn't it been mentioned that it's one of the very LAST first-party NES games yet to release on VC? Seems like Nintendo should hurry up and finish the job instead of dragging it out further...
As some of the earliest VC releases, the "Crush" series has built up something of a hardcore following on VC thus prompting Hudson to knock out this new Wiiware version. There are alot of people excited about it (not least me who's just finished wracking up 160 Million points on the old one)
Not sure how anyone can complain about the pricing of 500 pointers. Its just over the cost of a pint and you'll get alot more out of it.
As for IGN; 7.5 for DoRemi Fantasy??. Iv'e heard nothing but awesome praise for this game and if I wasn't on a complete one before you buy one policy to try and regulate my gaming I'd have snapped it up. Not least to support 60hz gaming.
@BananaJane: The arcade version of Space Harrier is on my copy of Shenmue 2? I really should get around to playing that game...
Thanks for the tip!
@Betagam7: Did you think I was complaining about the pricing of 500-point games? I really wasn't. I was just pointing out how StarTropics is a better value for 500 points than Space Harrier, for example. Or, if you don't care for StarTropics, SMB3 or something. It's just a fact, and I didn't mean to complain as such. That "cost of a pint" comment means nothing to me, however, as I don't drink (half because I'm underage at 19, half because I just don't want to regardless). I'd rather compare the cost of a VC game to another game.
@Manicfatty
Darn, I was hoping for an epic battle. Hopefully we will find ourselves on the same side of the argument next time.
Stuffgamer1: No I was just agreeing with Adamant that for that price even a game you only play for 10 miutes now and again isn't bad value. (I forgot about Cybernoid for C64 though, that and Dragon's curse are the only times I feel like I really should have had another pint!)
Also, everybody really should buy Shenmue 2. Not for Space Harrier but because its great! I own the DC and Xbox versions and I'd probably buy it agai for Wii or Xbox Live just to try and convince them to finish the story!
@Betagam. Yeah, I've wanted to try out Shenmue, and have been debating whether or not I should get a Dreamcast from ebay. Since I plan to get a 360 fairly soon, is the Xbox version backwards compatible? When's the Wii version supposed to come out?
Edit: For the record, I'm a Palin hater too.
@Betagam7: Ah, now I see. I could add Ice Climbers to the list of games not worth 500 points. And Donkey Kong and its ilk. Those are just my opinions, though.
@Mr. Cheez: Yes, the Xbox version is BC. And the Wii version was purely hypothetical, I believe. I've heard no news about the series being resurrected at all.
whats with the hate comments for palin?
biden was caught in so many lies in the debate...
@ posts 116 and 118 (and others I might have missed)
Since when do we need political comments on a forum for video games? To prevent a flame war I hope it's left at this.
I'm with you Fox. It was only a matter of time before someone started posting political opinions on this site. I watched Fox all Election Day, and I'm so sick of hearing about it!
Bear in mind that the Xbox only has Shenmue 2. I would recommend you picking up a cheap DC and playing volume 1 first. There is a bonus DVD with highlights of part 1 on Xbox but its not really the same as playing it. Shenmue 2 is also available for DC but only in PAL regions.
Not to mention that the DC is an awesome console in its own right up there with the SNES as one of the best library of games of all time. You definately won't regret picking one up.
I agree with Fox actually. I thought all the talk about capitalism and Palin was very unnecessary on a gaming site. I just threw in the fact that I hated Palin for the hell of it.
@ Fox, Mr.Cheez & BadKnux -
I made a broad comparison of the dirty politics of this last election to pointed attacks and what I perceived to be a rude and condescending tone of another poster and they later made a comment about a certain running mate. I didn't want to continue arguing and there was some common ground so mentioned that I was in agreement. I guess that's where the rest came from, so I apologize. I pulled away from the discussion because I saw it going nowhere (nowhere good anyway), but I guess it was a little too late. My apologies for not showing more discretion. I usually show a bit more restraint.
@ Betagam7 - Apologies to you as well. I'm usually not so vehement in my positions. That's not to say I won't argue a point, I'm just not usually a easily worked up. Guess it's the times we live in . But I am sorry. And I'm very happy to see Shenmue finally getting the praise and attention it deserves. When you look at games today with sandbox environments, changing weather and passage of time and in particular the single button or sequenced button action events (God of War for instance), you can see Shenmue's influence. It's not everyone's cup of tea, but most will find something to love. Between the arcades, and getting games for Ryu's Saturn there's plenty for classic gamers as well! My 2 bits. I actually imported the UK Shenmue 2! I was hooked. Never saw the whole Sega going system agnostic thing coming, so imagining it coming out on another company's system wasn't gonna happen. Stupid Bernie Stolar
I'ts a shame that we'll probably never see the ending to Shenmue now, although in this era of downloadable games you'd think they'd port both games to Xbox live arcade. They could even ressurect the Shenmue passport with a service like that and if the 2 games sell wel enough they could surely finish it off with a third installment.
The game was ridiculously expensive to produce at the time but surely not anymore. You have the engine and the music already in place.
I actually prefer the PAL DC version to the xbox as I prefer the Japanese voices to the Western dub, although there is a sort of surreal kung-fu movie feel to the voice acting in the original.
i aswell apologize for getting off topic with the political comment but i also had to respond to the fellow comments about the matter.
I propose a group hug.
@post 126
Best idea I've heard in a while!
No surprise political comments leaked onto here, as the recent election in the U.S capped the end of a loooooong race. At least we're all good, though!
@ Mr. Cheez
http://www.vc-reviews.com/games/nes/urban_champion
Post #24. It's quite a lot of praise for the game!
http://www.vc-reviews.com/games/nes/donkey_kong_jr_math
Post #8. Not a huge quote at all, and someone else back then said that this game is better than Donkey Kong JR.
Now to press F5 repeatedly on Nintendo's press site
I also love how a single comment can turn into an all out war on forums lol, (joins group hug, despite not taking part in war)
There was a war? To bad I missed it.
Oh, well I'm sure another one will erupt some where.
@Gameking. Don't worry, there's no shortage of wars on this site.
Thanks Mr. Cheez I was afraid that I had missed out on a once and a lifetime event.
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