Commodore 64 Games Go Wiii

[magerette]

This doesn't seem to be too rpg related and is non-pc mostly as well, so I didn't stick it on the newspage, nonetheless some of our members may find this newsbit interesting. It's posted at
MCV UK (http://www.mcvuk.com/news/29683/Commodore-64-games-hit-virtual-console), and states:

Virtual Console will soon boast an array of titles from the Commodore 64 to bolster its current line-up of Nintendo, Sega, Turbografx and Neo Geo titles.

Among the first titles from Commodore 64 which will be made available on Virtual Console are International Karate and Uridium. These titles will be added to with regular updates to the line-up from the Commodore 64 back catalogue.

Virtual Console games from Commodore 64 will be available from the Wii Shop Channel soon and can be downloaded for 500 Wii Points each. Currently these titles will only be available on the European Wii Shop Channel.

“The massive impact the Commodore 64 had on video-gaming is still evident today with many gamers remembering the computer and its games with great fondness,” said CEO of Commodore Gaming Bala Keilman.

[JDR13]

This is really cool, as the Commodore 64 had a lot of great games.

The only thing is, that price is way too high for those games. 500 Wii points = $5, I can't believe that Nintendo is going to charge that much for emulated Commodore 64 games.

[txa1265]

It is a fairly standard price for virtual consoles ... only on GameTap do you get a better deal ... we have a 2000 point card burning a hole in our Wii ;)

[Alrik Fassbauer]

What are these Wii points anyway ?

[txa1265]

What are these Wii points anyway ?

Virtual money ... you buy old console games using 'points' and buy points with cash.

[Alrik Fassbauer]

I see. How are they "earned" ?

[JDR13]

I see. How are they "earned" ?


I think txa confused you with his "virtual money" reply. You have to buy them with real money. You can get them online thru your Wii with a credit card, or purchase a Wii points card at a retail store. The cards give you 2000 points and cost $20.

Most of the games on there are close to being fairly priced imo, but I couldn't see myself paying that much for Commodore 64 games, unless they're talking about bundles.

[Alrik Fassbauer]

I see. That reminds me of Gold in some MMORPGs.

[txa1265]

I see. That reminds me of Gold in some MMORPGs.

Not really - it is the standard in console 'currency'. The reason not to do direct $$ is that by doing points you can allow non-credit card holding kids to buy stuff.

[Alrik Fassbauer]

Well, no, I meant that gold advertisers (like in the MMORPG section here) sell in-game gold four out-game cash, Dollars or what kind of currency is used.

I see Wii points as a similar thing like in-game gold here, because you buy them by out-game cash.

To me, it's in principle the same concept, only used differently, applied to a different area.

[txa1265]

I dunno ... for me I think of it as more like the system at old arcades where you buy 'tokens' with real cash and play games with those ... or like traveling to a different country and exchanging currency.

Because it isn't something you can 'earn' in any way, nor does it have 'in game' meaning. You have to the 'Wii Store' (similar on X360 and PS3) and literally *buy games* using those points.

[Alrik Fassbauer]

I dunno ... for me I think of it as more like the system at old arcades where you buy 'tokens' with real cash and play games with those ... or like traveling to a different country and exchanging currency.

Okay, one can interpret it this way, too.

[JDR13]

There is no similarity at all between Wii points and MMORPG currencies. Like txa said, there is no in-game meaning at all. Wii points are simply used to buy\download the games themselves.

[blatantninja]

Maybe I can finally finish Times of Lore!

[Alrik Fassbauer]

There is no similarity at all between Wii points and MMORPG currencies. Like txa said, there is no in-game meaning at all. Wii points are simply used to buy\download the games themselves.

I used the term "in-game" as an example to outline the similarities.

I do know that they have no "in-game" function (at all).

[JDR13]

I used the term "in-game" as an example to outline the similarities.

I do know that they have no "in-game" function (at all).


What similarities? :)

[xSamhainx]

Well, there must be a market for it or they wouldnt be doing it. To me it sounds like an abysmal waste, playing some godawful old c64 title on some state of the art console. Love to see the face of the kid that accidentally picks one of those games and fires it up for the first time.

[bjon045]

I wonder what the graphics would be like on a 50 inch set, probably each pixel block will be as big as your head.....

[Alrik Fassbauer]

What similarities? :)

Is it that difficult to understand ? :confused:

Real money -> symbolic transfer -> influence to game

This is the most general description I could make up.

Real money -> Wii points -> (whole) game bought
Real money -> gold -> (in-)game items bought

What's so difficult with that ???

[JDR13]

Is it that difficult to understand ? :confused:

Real money -> symbolic transfer -> influence to game

This is the most general description I could make up.

Real money -> Wii points -> (whole) game bought
Real money -> gold -> (in-)game items bought

What's so difficult with that ???


I was wondering the same thing about you.

Why do you insist on trying to compare real money with video game currency??

Real money is not "symbolic", at least not in my country.

[skavenhorde]

I don't know about kids, but I'm glad they're doing this. I've been using Vice as an emulator to play some of the better games C64 made. Granted there aren't a lot of games that I would replay now but games like Bard's Tale 1,2,3, Wasteland, Legacy of the ancients, Ghostbusters, Treasure Island, Moebius, Mail Order Monsters, Archon, Spy vs Spy, Autoduel, Swiss Family Robinson, Pirates and Below the Root are great even today. I hated the PC port of Bard's Tale and only play the C64 one.

Even with my love of these games, I know there is no chance that someone who didn't grow up on these games will find them enjoyable. I guess Ninetendo is counting on people like me to buy these to make a profit. It's an unusual thing to sell from a giant corp but hey Nintendo isn't known for going with the flow and it seems to work out for them. They snuck in innovation with the Wii when Sony and Microsoft were trying to outdo each other with graphics.

[txa1265]

Well, there must be a market for it or they wouldnt be doing it. To me it sounds like an abysmal waste, playing some godawful old c64 title on some state of the art console. Love to see the face of the kid that accidentally picks one of those games and fires it up for the first time.

There is a *huge* market for playing older games - the NES and SNES and N64 games have done very well, and Microsoft and Sony have done very well with theirs, and GameTap does quite well even on the Mac side where playing old stuff like that is the only thing you *can* do.

I guess JDR and I are getting hung up on the fact that you are buying games using points instead of buying credit to circumvent earning gold for in-game lewt. My better analogy would be the 'Totalgaming (http://totalgaming.stardock.com/)' system of 'tokens' that you buy with cash and then use to buy games.

[skavenhorde]

There is a *huge* market for playing older games - the NES and SNES and N64 games have done very well, and Microsoft and Sony have done very well with theirs, and GameTap does quite well even on the Mac side where playing old stuff like that is the only thing you *can* do.

I guess JDR and I are getting hung up on the fact that you are buying games using points instead of buying credit to circumvent earning gold for in-game lewt. My better analogy would be the 'Totalgaming (http://totalgaming.stardock.com/)' system of 'tokens' that you buy with cash and then use to buy games.

TXA those are old console games. What I found unusual is that they went with old Commodore 64 games. I think it would be harder for kids or people that didn't grow up on that machine to play games on it, due to the graphics and the unusual way you have to load games "insert side 1" "insert side 2, character disk, boot disk" Don't get me wrong I love those games, I just didn't know there was a market for them.

And Totalgaming is great. I used it to buy Gods: Lands of infinity and had no problems with it. It's a little unusual the way you have to download and then load the game. But it's not that different from steam.

[JDR13]

TXA those are old console games. What I found unusual is that they went with old Commodore 64 games. I think it would be harder for kids or people that didn't grow up on that machine to play games on it, due to the graphics and the unusual way you have to load games "insert side 1" "insert side 2, character disk, boot disk" Don't get me wrong I love those games, I just didn't know there was a market for them.
.


Graphics aside, those issues obviously won't exist on the Wii. Loading will be instantaneous, and there will be no need for any disk swapping.

That being said, I still think $5 a pop is too much for Commodore 64 games. I could see paying $2-$3 at the most.

[xSamhainx]

Well, if some of these games are "great" (as you said previously) and worth revisiting in the first place, you should have no problem shelling out 5 measely dollars for them. I'd think just having access to these old games on a spankin new console would be worth the price of admission alone, if you really would seriously like to revisit them.

[woges]

Too expensive as far as I'm concerned.

[MasterLich]

Well, nobody said that C64 RPG's are going Wii. Uridium and IK+ just require reflexes to play; did you guys expect to swing your Wiimote like a sword in Bard's Tale?

Otherwise, the idea of making new ports with improved graphics of the classics is a good idea and gets my support.

[woges]

Umm, they are just emulating the old games they aren't developing new versions.

[woges]

Mind you if they have a few classics that you want to reply it's ok. You can already do this on a pc for years though even with Amiga games and the like.

[txa1265]

That being said, I still think $5 a pop is too much for Commodore 64 games. I could see paying $2-$3 at the most.

I agree - I know that Atari collections for handhelds and consoles do 'OK' in terms of sales, but nothing like newer stuff. So perhaps there will be collections ...

[Alrik Fassbauer]

I was wondering the same thing about you.

Why do you insist on trying to compare real money with video game currency??

Real money is not "symbolic", at least not in my country.

I'm not comparing it, and I NEVER said that real money is "symbolic", but the in-game money and the Wii points are ...

[blatantninja]

If I didn't have an emulator already on my PC, I'd probably jump all over this. Of course, PC emulators have their issues as well, and if they have done any type of optimization to run the games on the Wii, it may be worth it to buy a few, even at $5. And since you can use a WiFi keyboard with the Wii, it should be fairly easy!

[azraelck]

You can download remakes of a lot of the old C64 games for free at retroremakes.com, and quite often they have vastly improved graphics as well. In fact, the only thing on my computer is these and other freeware stuff like N. I have remakes of both C64 Ghostbusters (I & II), Wizball, Impossible Mission, Spy Hunter and several more. It's actually a 'booming' segment of the freeware market.

Implausible Mission FTW!

The only games I'd really be interested in are those like the Phantasie trilogy or Rags to Riches, where they're not on the PC (at least Phantasie II isn't) and are impossible to find a working disk image of (key word being working). I'll tolerate the older DOS games pitiful graphics and sound in exchange for already having many of them sitting on a backup disc.

[zakhal]

The only games I'd really be interested in are those like the Phantasie trilogy

Amiga/Atari ST versions are the best ones. I had Phantasie3 for amiga like 15 years ago. It was the best rpg I had for that computer. Just a year later though I got PC and ultima underworld / betrayal at krondor and phantasie was quickly forgotten.

[Sir Markus]

'Virtual Console' C64 games should be fun for the, oh, 8 or 9 people still alive that actually owned/know what it is. Five bucks should buy you the whole catalog, IMO. In all seriousness, it's cool that somebody is trying to preserve those games. Blue Max, anyone?