Wii Virtual Console to feature Commodore 64 games
Thursday, February 21st, 2008 at 10:18am by Jack
You read that headline correctly: Later this year Wii owners (in Europe at least) will be able to download Commodore 64 games, beginning with International Karate and Uridium.
According to Next Generation, Nintendo promises that these titles “will be bolstered by regular updates to the line-up from the Commodore 64 back catalogue”.
The C64 titles, which will be downloadable from the Wii Shop Channel for 500 Wii points each, are currently only slated for European release. Um, boo? I think?
February 21st, 2008 at 10:29 am
If this really does happen, will we continue to see 1-2 VC releases a week anyway? I’ve never complained about how the VC has been updated in the past, but this 1-2 a week business with so few N64 games is getting ridiculous.
February 21st, 2008 at 10:31 am
500 points? I don’t know about that. While I had, and loved, a C64 when I was a wee little guy, I know for a fact that they’re not on the level of NES games. 300-400 is much more appropriate.
I want to play BluePrint again.
February 21st, 2008 at 11:00 am
@Dustin
Yeah, I too wonder why the number of weekly releases has dropped. Still, I love the virtual console, and am already way behind in my purchases. WiiWare will only contribute to my problem. I think I may start crying.
February 21st, 2008 at 11:01 am
That’s nice. What would be awesome is Amiga games !! There were so many good titles on that machine : ProjectX, Alien Breed (!!), Brian the Lion, Deliverance, Shadow of the Beast, Flashback, Chaos engine, Zool, Super stardust… and some thousand others.
February 21st, 2008 at 11:08 am
C64 on VC!!! A million 20-30 something British men just jumped for joy. For those saying the C64 games weren’t on par with the NES, I think you’re forgetting some absolute classics.
What are the odds on Great Giana Sisters turning up? About a billion to one? Even less likely?
February 21st, 2008 at 11:12 am
Why only Europe??
February 21st, 2008 at 11:12 am
Doc_R, I’m certainly not implying that there weren’t great C64 games, but let’s take a look at the current pricing structure of the VC. It’s based primarily around year of release. Regardless of how good the games are, the NES games are 500, the SNES games are 800, the N64 games are 1000. So then if the C64 had it’s heyday in the early 80s (82-84) and the NES had its heyday in the late 80s (86-89) then there should be a difference in price.
It would have to be a very, very good C64 title for me to pay $5.00 for it. Like BluePrint. I’d pay $5 for BluePrint. Release BluePrint. Please.
February 21st, 2008 at 11:28 am
@ Andrew-MG,
The C64 was actually going strong in the UK right up to the late eighties, as was the Spectrum. Many NES and C64 games are actually startlingly equivalent. As a little comparison, which would you rather pay 500 Wii points for, the censored NES version of Maniac Mansion, or the full C64 version?
Yes, I can only think, of the top of my head, of about a dozen C64 games that are still worth the money, in terms of real gameplay rather than nostalgia, but, to be perfectly honest, I think the same is true of the NES. 500 points is really good value for some games, but an absolute joke for others.
Perhaps one day the VC will run a sale where the price of less downloaded games is slashed to take account of how well they’ve aged.
February 21st, 2008 at 11:32 am
I want Raid on Bungeling Bay!!!
February 21st, 2008 at 12:12 pm
Sweet! I just want some of the classics… Below the Root, Bungling Bay, Mule, I could go on for weeks.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:47 pm
With so many consoles on the VC at the moment, 1-2 is a bit small of an amount. I’ve never touched a C64 game before so I’ll be looking forward to that. hopefully it’ll impress me more than king of fighters for neogeo did.
February 21st, 2008 at 12:59 pm
The Camadore 64 was my first system, but I’m not about to pay 5 bux for one game, what a rip!
February 21st, 2008 at 1:03 pm
VC title pricing has nothing to do with year of release. Not sure where you’re getting that info. Its solely based on the system it was released on. There are games that were released on the NES, even after the SNES was out. I’ll bet you dollars to donuts that if those older games hit the VC, they will be priced the same as NES games not SNES games.
Also, the C64 had many great games, they were just a bit more niche because not as many people had C64s back then. I will gladly pay $5 for the titles. Sure, 3-4 dollars would be better, and $1-2 would be even better still. But $5 won’t hinder my interest. That seems as fair as NES games for $5 to me.
February 21st, 2008 at 1:20 pm
Okay, you’re right that it’s not entirely based on year of release. I was thinking year of release (of the system), and aside from Neo Geo, it’s been consistent. If you look at the prices:
NES: 1985 - 500 Points
TG-16: 1989 - 600 Points
Genesis: 1989 - 800 Points
SNES: 1991 - 800 Points
NEO GEO: 1990 - 900 Points
N64: 1996 - 1000 Points
So what I’m saying is that it’s pretty clear that the price of the games has been a direct function of the release date AND horsepower of the machine they were originally developed for. There is a bit of wiggle room in there, but my main point is that the quality of the game has no bearing on the price of the VC release - it’s all about the console it was released for. Thus, looking at the existing pricing scheme, taking into account the seemingly obvious rationale for the current prices, it seems logical that C64 games would be 1-2 dollars less than NES games.
Hopefully this makes more sense than what I posted above. Likewise, Atari 2600 games, if ever released for VC should be even cheaper than C64 games.
If you think that the EXISTING pricing scheme for VC games differs from what I posted here, then what *DO* you think the price is based on?
February 21st, 2008 at 1:40 pm
Hold on, Europe’s getting this before Japan and before North America? Never thought I’d see that happen. Although here in North America we still don’t have Freshly-Picked Tingle’s Rosy Rupeeland.
February 21st, 2008 at 3:20 pm
Egh, never cared for the C64.
February 21st, 2008 at 3:51 pm
**** COMMODORE 64 BASIC V2 ****
64K RAM SYSTEM 38911 BASIC BYTES FREE
READY.
February 21st, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Hasn’t this been mentioned a long time ago. I remember hearing early last year that impossible mission is supposed to come out fr vc at some point.
February 21st, 2008 at 4:11 pm
where’s my stinking Tetris Attack from the 64. I have Tetris Worlds for the cube currently, and its HORRIBLE
February 21st, 2008 at 4:52 pm
At 500 points, I don’t care what they release from the C64 and where and when. For $15 you can buy an actual C64 in a joystick and plug it into your TV. Lame pricing, lame geographic region, and ancient games that mostly won’t stand the test of time.
February 21st, 2008 at 4:55 pm
Although I really would like to play beach head and uridium once more….
February 21st, 2008 at 9:04 pm
the C64 was big in europe during the 80s. i hope they decide to release it in other regions too.
February 21st, 2008 at 9:18 pm
The more VC platforms, the better I say !
And as for 500 points? A little pricy, but so is EVERY OTHER VC game, to be honest. The fact that people buy these over priced VC games is the reason why Nintendo continues to over charge.
And yeah, if you buy 3 or 4 VC games for the Commodore 64, you could have bought a REAL one with games and a controller at a garage sale, or maybe e-bay…
I wont be buying any C-64 games thanks, but maybe some people will enjoy them. Even at this high a price…
February 22nd, 2008 at 1:42 am
I won’t mind the 500 points per C64 game, as long as it is the good C64 games. But that is the best part about downloadable content. Pick and choose
February 23rd, 2008 at 8:11 pm
Oh dear god, thank you!
February 26th, 2008 at 6:31 pm
Like the others say, in Europe the C64 was popular well into the late eighties (I was playing on mine into the 90s), hence the geographic launch and pricing. Probably the most technically proficient game came out in 1993: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mayhem_In_Monsterland
February 26th, 2008 at 8:24 pm
OK. I like my retro games as much as the next person, but what is next? MS-DOS games on the VC? TRS-80 games??? Colosal Cave here I come!
A hollow voice says “Plugh”.
March 1st, 2008 at 8:40 pm
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