Nintendo is finally embracing the virtual console with its 8-Bit Summer campaign

Nintendo has a bad habit of introducing neat and potentially amazing concepts and then failing to follow through on them. The company is at least trying to overcome its bad reputation by running a summer-long promotional campaign for the Nintendo 3DS Virtual Console called 8-Bit Summer.

Starting July 5, Nintendo plans to roll out many 8-bit games to the 3DS, covering titles from the Nintendo Entertainment System and Game Boy. Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, The Legend of Zelda, and Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Legends are just a few of the scheduled games.

Granted, Nintendo isn't releasing a ton of content, but the fact it organized a summer event for the Virtual Console means a lot, especially considering what happened with the last major digital store.

The Wii Virtual Console was a great idea, and I spent hundreds of dollars on many classic games I didn't want to pay collector prices for, but then it simply died. Nintendo rolled out a lot of potential platforms including the Sega Master System and Commodore 64. Still, the marketplace didn't pick up.

The 3DS is a better platform for the Virtual Console, though, especially now that the rest of the Nintendo eShop is finally making money. Being able to take older games with you is great, and the 3DS is set to play pretty much anything Nintendo might want to emulate without having to buy a separate controller.

Hopefully 8-bit Summer proves to Nintendo that people want decent Virtual Console support.

Tags: The Legend of Zelda, Wario Land: Super Mario Land 3, Kid Icarus: of Myths and Legends

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Ed Grabowski

June 24, 2012

I'm still waiting for the day where they inevitably release all the the GBA games that they gave to ambassadors and promised those games wouldn't be available to download by anyone else. We all know that's a load of horse crap. They are not going to let gems like Yoshi's Island, Minish Cap, Metroid Fusion and Wario Land 4 go to waste on a few hundred thousand ambassadors who got it for free.

Just like pre-order bonuses that are promised to be exclsuive, these things are always made available to everyone eventually. And, when the day comes where Nintendo does go back on their word, I can't wait to see the backlash. Hopefully its bad enough that they offer ambassadors some more goodies to make up for the lie.

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Joshua Garcia

June 25, 2012

The biggest selling poing for me on the new 3DS XL is the virtual console. I've never been a big handheld guy and I've missed out on some great gems from the past.

Paul Davis

June 28, 2012

I agree that it is quite a positive sign that Nintendo is starting to place a greater promotional emphasis on virtual console releases. But I have a couple comments/questions on the article overall.

First off:

"Nintendo has a bad habit of introducing neat and potentially amazing concepts and then failing to follow through on them."

Really? Like what for example? You seem to be insinuating that Nintendo doesn't deliver on a number of fronts, but it would be nice to have some concrete opinions or examples rather than vague statements.

"The Wii Virtual Console was a great idea, and I spent hundreds of dollars on many classic games I didn't want to pay collector prices for, but then it simply died. Nintendo rolled out a lot of potential platforms including the Sega Master System and Commodore 64. Still, the marketplace didn't pick up. "

I don't think "died" is exactly the right word. Major releases have certainly slowed to a trickle over the last couple years, but it didn't die out. There are tons of great games from many systems on the virtual console service, and if you are a "retro" console gamer it is hard to argue with the selction. The service itself is additive too with eventual diminishing returns. You can't release Super Mario Bros 3 every week. Are there a lof of console games from years past that I would love to see on the service? Absolutely. Is the service perfect right now? Nope, an account based system where some games could be shared between the 3DS and Wii/Wii U would be ideal. But that doesn't mean the service is dead or lacking quality. Within the last few months a number of great games have been released, including the previouly Japan only Monster World IV.

I think an interesting question to ask is: Why are releases so sporadic? Is Nintendo holding back releases from other developers to pad them out? Are other developers just not submitting their classic games to be used through the system? There is some balance here that has to be met, obviously Nintendo is not going to dump 30 triple AAA titles out in one day, and other developers/publishers most likely do not want their releases crammed in together without any spotlight. I honestly don't know all of the in and outs of how games come through the virtual console pipeline, but it would be interesting to find out!