Virtual Console

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Revision as of 22:53, 4 March 2015 by MarkyVigoroth (talk | contribs) (I expanded the article using more information. The table is still a work in progress, though.)
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3ds vc logo.png
Current version: n/a
Active: Yes
OS: Wii, 3DS, Wii U
Authors: Nintendo
Official website: eShop
Source code: Nintendo OSS (Partial)

Virtual Console is a service created by Nintendo that allows users to purchase and emulate games.


Overview

Games played through Virtual Console are usually free of accuracy issues.

In terms of functionality, the Virtual Console emulator is very bare-bones compared to unofficial emulators, but the 3DS version has restore points (save states) and screenshot saving. The Wii U version has both plus controller customization (Game Gear on 3DS also has it), Off TV Play, Pixel smoothing and scaling changing. Despite this, usually only the bare functionality is emulated: there is no way to save ghost data in Mario Kart 64 due to a lack of a Memory Pak emulated.

The different regions of Virtual Console (Japan, North America, Europe/Australia, and South Korea) have different games and update them to different schedules. At times, North America gets games that were exclusive to Japan while Europe/Australia gets games that were exclusive to the previous two regions. These imported games are priced a little higher than normal and tend to be straight ports with no translation. (Exceptions include Monster World IV and Sin & Punishment.) Other games that can be priced higher than normal are games based on externally-licensed properties, one example being the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles games.

Virtual Console games can be retired from the shop, though purchased games can be redownloaded.

Pricing of Virtual Console games can be ludicrous. If you don't want to pay for VC ROMs on your Wii, you can just install them as .wad files through WAD Manager. You can even install .wads from other regions, though you need to watch the PAL/NTSC divide.

Supported Systems

Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom)
Sega Master System
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super Famicom)
Mega Drive / Genesis
Nintendo 64
PC Engine
Neo Geo
Commodore 64
MSX
Game Gear
Game Boy
Game Boy Color
Game Boy Advance
Nintendo DS
Arcade

Input Key

Virtual Console games come from many different systems and have to be mapped to those on the supported console, sometimes having to be mapped to different controllers. Even then, at times (notably emulated Nintendo 64 games), mappings may not be consistent.

Wii games in the Virtual Console support the Classic Controllers (which were made with the purpose of the Virtual Console) and GameCube controllers. Some games also support the lone Wii Remote. PC Engine/TurboGrafx-16 games that support 5-player mode require that the users connect a combination of GameCube controllers and Wii Remotes (with or without Classic Controllers attached to the Wii Remotes).

List of Wii Virtual Console button mappings

List of 3DS Virtual Console button mappings

List of Wii U Virtual Console button mappings