Wii VC service coming to an end soon

Mathius · 12/13/2017, 12:44 AM

The end is nigh! According to what my Wii told me today the Wii VC will allow the purchase of Wii Points until this coming March (2018), with service ending in January of 2019. I keep my Wii plugged in to my CRT at all times due to its excellent 240p output. Games like Super Air Zonk, Dynastic Hero, NAI, etc look excellent on a 240p CRT w/ component, so I'd get them Points bought now while you still can. Let's give the VC a nice, big sendoff. It deserves it!

ClodBusted · 12/13/2017, 02:55 AM

Thanks for letting us know! ~~Now the time to scramble Valkyrie again~~ The time is now to get those sweet sweet TG-16 games on VC while the shop lasts.

SignOfZeta · 12/13/2017, 11:13 AM

Or maybe now is time to crack your Wii and fill it with all the games they never sold in the VC.

I noticed a new Just Dance game at Target the other day. They have no PS3 or Vita anymore but technically Wii is still worth stocking. I'd imagine backward compatibility helps.

HuMan · 12/13/2017, 02:58 PM

I wish those Wii points cards were still available, I'd rather not use a credit card.

I didn't buy much from the Wii Shop Channel over the years, but it certainly helped set a good standard for old software re-releases. There's still a great selection of classics on the Wii VC, plus some nice exclusives in the WiiWare section.

Mathius · 12/13/2017, 04:44 PM

It'll probably be the last time we'll see that Alien Crush remake available. I'll be downloading that one for sure. It was still up last time I checked.

ClodBusted · 12/14/2017, 10:46 AM

HuMan, you can still use Nintendo eShop cards, they work for the Wii, too.

HuMan · 12/14/2017, 12:07 PM

Wait, really? Positive?? If that's true I'm totally grabbing an eShop card.

ClodBusted · 12/14/2017, 12:19 PM

I did this several times by myself.

HuMan · 12/14/2017, 02:52 PM

Out of curiosity I checked Google about eShop cards on the Wii Shop Channel, I see mostly UK sources confirming that they do work. Are you in Europe? USA? I'm in Canada and my Wii still says "Redeem Wii Points Card" at the Add Wii Points screen.

ClodBusted · 12/14/2017, 04:39 PM

I'm in Germany. Even though my Wii said pretty much the same as yours, I was able to use eshop cards up to this year.

HuMan · 12/15/2017, 12:06 AM

Going by google results, eShop card support was a European innovation. The North American version still only supports original Wii Points Cards, oh well. I'll just break down and use a credit card.

OldRover · 12/26/2017, 02:44 PM

Letterbomb -> Homebrew Channel -> WiiMednafen -> all the PCE one can PCE.

VestCunt · 01/02/2018, 04:51 PM

I didn't buy a Wii until last year, but it's a cool system and I'm thankful for its support of older games. A third of the TG library was released for it and that's pretty cool. I remember we got a little uptick in traffic around here when it came out.

WiiWare wasn't bad either. They didn't make a Bonk game for it, but we got new entries for Adventure Island, Alien Crush, Bomberman, Gradius, Star Soldier, and non-TG lines like Contra, FF, Mega Man, etc.

As for buying Wii points, if you won't use your credit card for buying video games, why have a credit card?

TR0N · 03/16/2018, 04:01 AM

Mylifeingaming just put out a video game suggestion to check out before the vc dies.

By the way joe of gamesack has a segment.

Mathius · 03/16/2018, 11:24 PM

Thanks for that, Tron! I have 1000 points left over from my buying spree so I'm trying to figure out what I want to spend it on. I've got it narrowed down to The Last Blade 1 or 2, Wonder Boy IV, Sengoku 2 or 3, or maybe some random N64 game.

TR0N · 03/17/2018, 02:01 AM

Quote from: Mathius on 03/16/2018, 11:24 PMThanks for that, Tron! I have 1000 points left over from my buying spree so I'm trying to figure out what I want to spend it on. I've got it narrowed down to The Last Blade 1 or 2, Wonder Boy IV, Sengoku 2 or 3, or maybe some random N64 game.

Don't mention it i just went with a wiiwear,genesis and n64 games for my last buys on the vc.I didn't download any neo-geo games since i all ready have the system itself.Though the switch of late has been getting allot of neo-geo games through the e-shop so there's that.

ClodBusted · 03/26/2018, 02:47 AM

I just got Shock Troopers 1 and 2. Fuck yeah.

For those living in Europe: The Wii Virtual Console lineup of Master System, Mega Drive and NES games should be avoided. Those releases often contain the old PAL roms and thus run at 5/6 gameplay speed, squished with black horizontal bars and, for the earlier releases on these systems, even with 5/6 speed BGM.

For SNES and above, the games offered on VC are either old roms that had already been optimized for PAL back in the day when they were available on cartridge, with improved gameplay speed, less bars and correct BGM speed. Or just straight NTSC roms that run at 60 Hz no matter what (all TurboGrafx-16/PCE games).

E.g.:
Castlevania (NES): 5/6 gameplay speed, squished with horizontal bars, 5/6 BGM
Castlevania III (NES): 5/6 gameplay speed, squished with horizontal bars, correct BGM speed
Super Castlevania IV (SNES): Improved gameplay speed, slight bars, correct BGM speed
Castlevania X: Rondo of Blood (TG-16/PCE): NTSC (no reduction in gameplay speed, no bars, correct BGM speed).

Mathius · 03/26/2018, 03:04 PM

I just picked up Shock Troopers II, Ys Book 1&2, Gate of Thunder, Alien Crush Returns, Dracula X, Mega Man 9, Shinobi Arcade, Sengoku 2. I have 3000 Points left. I may pick up some Metal Slugs for their 240p output. That's why I got most of the above games. They look beautiful via component on a CRT.

ClodBusted · 04/04/2018, 04:52 AM

I also got Mega Man 10 (Wii Ware), Space Harrier (Arcade), Pokémon Snap (N64) and Harvest Moon (SNES).

Space Harrier allows for a wide variety of control schemes via D-pad, analog stick and even motion controls using the Wii Nunchuk. Good thing there's a menu option to reverse the Y-axis as well as a button for feeding the machine with credits until you get fed up with the trademark Space Harrier "Aaaaaaaargh!" scream.

Mathius · 04/04/2018, 04:15 PM

Quote from: guest on 04/04/2018, 04:52 AMI also got Mega Man 10 (Wii Ware), Space Harrier (Arcade), Pokémon Snap (N64) and Harvest Moon (SNES).

Space Harrier allows for a wide variety of control schemes via D-pad, analog stick and even motion controls using the Wii Nunchuk. Good thing there's a menu option to reverse the Y-axis as well as a button for feeding the machine with credits until you get fed up with the trademark Space Harrier "Aaaaaaaargh!" scream.

M2 did the Wii VC port which explains all the attention to detail.