Virtual consoles expanded for the Wii U - a podcast by J-Foo

Hey Folks, J-Foo here! I'm here to talk about Virtual consoles! I have several virtual consoles games, Ranging from "Super Mario World" to "Super Smash Bros." and I love playing each and every one of them! I especially love the Japan only releases. But... This is where I become conflicted... As you may know... I'm a big retro gamer... I love my retro games... I love the cartridges, I love how difficult they are to get to work, and I love how I have to essentially cough up a lung blowing into the game to mysteriously get it to work.

But does that mean Virtual consoles aren't worth it? I mean the price of the virtual console version of a game is about the same price as the physical retro copy USED!... Well the benefits and the disadvantage become clear when I put my nostalgia aside for old gaming tech.

Pros to virtual consoles:

It's pretty obvious that virtual consoles are pretty handy to have. You can play them on your Wii/U/3DS at any time. Being a big punch out fan, I love that I can play that game on several different consoles. ALSO, you don't have to change out the cartridge, and on top of that, it saves space having to store bulky cartridges. And having to hunt down a psychical copy of a game that actually WORKS, and the console or clone console, and they ultimately have a shelf life. Where as for virtual console games, the shelf life is as long as the system lasts. And finally, you get access to games that weren't originally available in America.

Cons to virtual consoles:

So as for what is WRONG with virtual console games, is that if your console bites the dust, the that's it, or at least for the wii. If your Wii went belly up, and had to get a new one, you have to buy them all over again. I think Nintendo solved this with the 3DS and WiiU, but I'm not 100% on that. You also lose that priceless nostalgia of the good old days, unless that was before your time and are a horrible person. And if you already own said games, but just want to be able to play it on your console, you'd have to pay for it again (I've done this, and it's a small trade off since my games get played a lot).

conclusion:

From what I can gather, virtual consoles are amazing and convenient, and allow us to relive good old times, minus some nostolgia. But that isn't to say retro games aren't worth having. Each one has their place in our hearts. Retro games to relive the beginning, and virtual games to remind us how it all started, and in the end, we're still playing great games either way.