Virtual Console sales down in the period pre-Ninja Spirit

by JC Fletcher { Apr 28th 2007 at 11:30AM }

We talked about the Nintendo of Japan press conference yesterday, and the 45 Wii games Nintendo is teasing us with. During that same press conference, Satoru Iwata revealed that 3.3 million Virtual Console games have been downloaded since the launch of the system.

3.3 million sounds like a lot, right? It sure does to us. But Game|Life's Chris Kohler did the math based on their January statement of 1.5 million and realized that the sales were actually slowing down since January. Whoops.

Our own take on the situation: we're afraid it's going to get worse before it gets better. The new audience that Nintendo's attracting has no attachment to retrogaming, by definition. And Nintendo isn't doing any kind of promotion or advertising to create such an attachment.. Meanwhile, the hardcore crowd that enjoys VC games faces a selection that is still too limited.

Our alternate take on the situation: Ninja Spirit will make everything better. It'll make us feel better, anyway.

Tags: iwata, ninjaspirit, nintendo, nintendo wii, NintendoWii, sales, vc, virtualconsole, wii

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

vidGuy @ Apr 28th 2007 12:02PM

It's all about selection. I downloaded 7 VC games within the first 6 weeks of launch, but I haven't hit much in the last month or so that I've been interested in (cept Star Fox, which I might get soon or later).

I definitely think Nintendo should market the VC on the box or in commercials, but they can't go overboard with it - it would make it seem like the Wii is JUST for retro gaming. I imagine that's why Nintendo doesn't advertise it much (at all?) now, because they want the Wii to be associated with NEW games and NEW ways of playing.

Bishma @ Apr 28th 2007 12:27PM

There are 5 games on the VC that I really want but haven't yet purchased. The reason is that I just haven't had time to do a lot of gaming lately. I'm still working on finishing Zelda and Elebits, how can I have time for excite bike?

baronjon @ Apr 28th 2007 12:34PM

I have the same problem as #2. I bought Punch Out!! two days ago when i turned on my wii for the first time in about a month. Phoenix Wright and my work takes too much time..

during my summer vacation i imagine i will purchase several [more] VC-games.

Grey Acumen @ Apr 28th 2007 1:07PM

I'll tell you three basic problems with the virtual console:

1.) THERE IS NO WAY TO BUY JUST 100 WII POINTS!

Seriously folks, 70 - 90% of these, I've never played, you want me to not only spend the $8 the game costs, but you also want me to pay an extra $2 on top of that which I can't use for ANYTHING? Screw you!

2.) No Demo

With me, it's 70 - 90%, but with complete non gamers, it may be that they haven't played 100% of the games on the VC. No one plays the damn things anymore, and if you get advice from someone who played the game back in the days, you can never tell for certain if they REALLY liked it, or if it's just lacking memory and nostalgia doing the talking.

3.) retro gamers KEPT their games.

The people who are seriously into the classical games have KEPT those games. I'm not even hugely into them, but I still have everything all the way back to duck hunt, I still have the original NES, SNES, and N64. If I want to play a game for those, I'll just buy it off of ebay for $1.50

Seriously, just take out the $50 Wii points option and add in a simple $1 Wii points option and you'll have a huge increase in sales. Have demos, and people will use it as a "well, I've got a few minutes to kill" thing and then get hooked.
Also, quit with the freaking regional release, just make the F-ing releases go worldwide to save people the confusion.

Stephen @ Apr 28th 2007 1:18PM

The whole problem is VALUE.

The reality is that you are really getting very little for your money. A $5 minimum on the VC games (especially for NES titles) is ridiculous when you consider that a LOT of people bought the games once before (in a past life).

For about $20, you can buy a Dreamcast and run plenty of homebrew and emulators on it. NesterDC comes to mind. Or, if you are concerned about keeping things on the up and up, you can just buy the REAL thing for typically less then the VC cost.

I would be willing to pay maybe $1-$2 for the VC games, but beyond that, I would not even consider it. I can ALREADY get some native Wii games for $19.99. So, why in the world would I send $10+ for a VC game?

Stephen

(01) @ Apr 28th 2007 1:23PM

I haven't dowloaded a VC game in a while, but it's mainly because I'm waiting for specific games, not that I don't have an interest in the VC per se. One thing that Nintendo does need to is offer demos for the games. $10 is a lot to drop on something you've never played, let aone heard of. Give us a 5 min/1 level demo and I feel like sales will move a bit more.

JC Fletcher @ Apr 28th 2007 1:30PM

Stephen: I agree that the prices are high (especially for Genesis games-- what's up with that?), but I would also point out that with the possible exceptions of Baseball, Tennis, and Urban Champion, those $5 NES games are WAY better than those $20 Wii games.

Grey Acumen: you're ABSOLUTELY right about the point cards. MS does the same thing with Live, and it seems designed to trick you into spending more money than you want. Like maybe if you've got $2 left over, you'll just buy another card and keep doing it until you've evened it out or something.
MS sells cheap garbage like gamerpics just to get the remainders of people's point cards. It's odious.

Here's a surprise: Sony is the only console company NOT using a point model. Things on the PSN cost MONEY.

Ken @ Apr 28th 2007 2:15PM

Meh. I could care less about the whole buying 100 points. I'm going to use the points eventually anyway, so might as well buy in bulk.

I own about 12 VC games, and enjoy every one of them. Sometimes I go by this site, and other times it's just instinct.

Bob the Mexican @ Apr 28th 2007 3:35PM

So far, I've only downloaded Sonic. I'd love it if we got actual arcade emulation for Nintendo arcade games. Why would I download a crappy NES version of Donkey Kong when I know it wouldn't take much for Nintendo to offer the original arcade version? That goes for Punchout too. Why does it have to be just console versions?

Mr Khan @ Apr 28th 2007 3:54PM

In my case, i only download those games that i feel i NEED, no experimentation for me, mostly because i'm incredibly strict about disk space

Bomberman 93, Toe Jam & Earl, and Ice Climber

all great, but i'm waiting for something else compelling (Super Metroid, Earthbound, Metal Slug, Majora's Mask)