These numbers perplexed me. I felt like my entire argument was ripped out from under me and maybe I was the only one disappointed by this year's releases. And then I started to look over the actual games and I began to notice a troubling pattern. This year Nintendo introduced two brand new retro systems to the Virtual Console - arcade games and the Commodore 64. Since their launches both of these systems have received eight titles, which makes up third of the 48 titles right there. Yet, of the 16 games spread across those two platforms, I've only recommended three games. That means that only 19% of the games released on these new platforms have been worth buying without hesitation.

Unfortunately the introduction of these new platforms has come at a high price. While Nintendo uploaded games like Altered Beast and the dreadful California Games, they've all but ignored the Neo Geo and Nintendo 64. In the ten months of 2009 we haven't seen a single Neo Geo game added to the Virtual Console, not even one. The Nintendo 64 fares better, but only slightly. Fans of Nintendo's final cart-based console received only one game this year, the criminally misunderstood Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask. To add insult, Nintendo only uploaded two TurboDuo games (Bomberman '94 and Detana!! TwinBee).


To me this isn't a good trade. While I certainly loved my Commodore 64, the games are outdated in a way that makes them hard to enjoy in the 21st century. As somebody who loves classic gaming enough to devote an entire website to the subject, if I'm saying that the games are too archaic then you know something's wrong. The arcade games have also been abysmal, especially compared to all of the amazing games they could be releasing. If all you're going to give me is Altered Beast and Rygar, then why not switch back to the Neo Geo titles? A week with Wind Jammers and Pulstar will go a long way to mend my broken heart.

Another problem is the release schedule, which went from two and three games a week to just one. It used to be that a week would bring us one good game and one bad (or at least average). It was rare to go too many weeks without at least one must-own title. Yet these days we're stuck with one game a week, so if you don't like the game (or the genre) one week, you have to wait an entire week to get something different. This seems to amplify the bad weeks even more, and there have certainly been a lot of those this year.

Another problem is the type of games Nintendo seems to be uploading this year. Now that Nintendo has exhausted most of their biggest hits (as evidenced with the release of Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask) we get the also-rans and the B-list titles. For example, I had no problem giving Pitfall: The Mayan Adventure, Life Force and Uncharted Waters "Go" ratings, but I don't feel these games are in the same league as Mega Man 2, Secret of Mana or Earthworm Jim. While I may have enjoyed playing through Super Empire Strikes Back and Revenge of Shinobi, they weren't exactly high on my wish list.

Even more troubling is the lack of quality import titles being released on the Virtual Console. In 2008 we saw nine different import titles, including a few titles I never thought I would see over here (Cho Aniki, Do Re Mi Fantasy and Super Fantasy Zone). In contrast, 2009 has delivered just three import titles (Sonic Chaos, Bomberman '94 and Detana!! TwinBee). To make matters worse, two of these more expensive import games were released in the U.S. on other platforms, meaning that they aren't even imports.

Nintendo acts like they are running out of games to add to the Virtual Console, but that couldn't be further from the truth. Just off the top of my head I can think of dozens of worthy additions to the online game store. Where's Act Raiser 2, Bionic Commando or Shadow Gate? And what about Castlevania Bloodlines, Chuck Rock and Contra Hard Corps? And there are plenty of import games that are just waiting to be released in the U.S., such as Rondo of Blood (a game that is already on the Japanese Virtual Console). What's more, Nintendo doesn't even need to stick with the consoles they are already offering, they can bring us the six SuperGrafx games or something for the Atari Jaguar. They sky may be the limit, but with Nintendo dragging their feet we'll never see the comprehensive retro game catalog that we deserve.

All this couldn't come at a worse time. Lately the Wii has had what can only be described as a rocky release schedule, with only a few major games being released in a year. Plus, after much bellyaching from the likes of me, Nintendo has finally decided to let you run games off of your SD card. This isn't the time to slow down your Virtual Console output, it's time to switch into top gear and remind everybody why gaming was so much fun in the 1980s and 90s. So maybe the Virtual Console isn't broken, but there's no question in my mind that Nintendo is doing as little as possible to keep it on life support.