NEO-GEO and MSX games coming to VC in Japan

[*NormalGamer*]

wii.ign.com/articles/767/767123p1.html

Neo Geo Coming to VC
Play SNK classics on your Wii later this year.

by Anoop Gantayat


February 23, 2007 - If the Virtual Console's lineup of NES, Genesis, Turbografx, SNES and N64 classics wasn't enough for you, Nintendo has a few major additions planned for later this year. The Nintendo.jp website was updated today with news that MSX titles will start appearing on the Japanese version of ths service this spring. And in the summer, SNK Playmore will start its support with Neo Geo games!

MSX support was announced a while back, but this is the first we've heard of an actual time frame. Nintendo also revealed today that the first MSX games for the service will be Eggy and Aleste. Both are due out this Spring and will cost 800 Wii points each. This is about the same price as Super Famicom games.

Neo Geo support was widely expected, but never officially confirmed prior to today's update. Nintendo did not share specifics on what games will be available starting in the summer.

The Japanese Virtual Console lineup differs from that of other territories. We'll be sure and let you know when MSX and Neo Geo support will begin appearing in the English speaking world.

*NG*: You can check the link in Nintendo of Japan's website to see MSX and SNK Playmore being added:

www.nintendo.co.jp/wii/features/virtual_console.html

It's about time, SNK.

Also, the VC 2007 lineup with the very first Square-Enix title added:

wii.ign.com/articles/767/767127p1.html

Hopefully this will follow in the U.S.(and around the rest of the world) later on.

[Pilgrim John]

Actraiser? Well, at least Altered Beast will have some company in the old folks' home...
Too bad those NEOGEO and MSX games aren't coming to the States. If they did, I'd pick up Waku Waku 7 and Garou: Mark of the Wolves (NEOGEO) and Metal Gear 2 (MSX).

[Jason-RN]

I'm pretty sure that Neo Geo will eventually come Stateside, John. SNK has been a pretty big supporter of Nintendo lately, and some Neo Geo games are already on GameTap... So it's definitely possible to see them on the US Virtual Console.

[Waffle Monger]

METAL SLUG METAL SLUG METAL SLUG METAL SLUG METAL SLUG

[Richard-RN]

King of the Monster and King of Fighters for VC?!!??!?! Also Pilgrim, what's wrong with Actraiser? That game is AWESOME. Though I would have preferred a classic square RPG, Actraiser is definitely nothing to scoff at. Great sim/action game.

EDIT: And what makes you think those games won't make it to the states?

[Pilgrim John]

A lot of games that rocked Japan don't come stateside, Richard. It's just a fact of life. While I do have my hopes, there's still the ugly chance that it's not going to happen.
As for Actraiser, I scoff at it because it was overrated to begin with and didn't age too well. People can remenisce about it as much as they want to, but as for me, I think my game time is better spent playing A Link to the Past or Gunstar Heroes. You know, actual classics.

And Gray, if you really want Metal Slug, I suggest picking up Metal Slug Anthology, available now.

[Richard-RN]

It's also a fact that George Harrison said it was very possible that some of the JP only games released over the years would be translated and make their way onto the American VC. Hoping for the SNES FE titles and Sin&Punishment though not anytime soon. The fact that Neo Geo games are on Gametap make it hugely possible that they make it to the VC. As for the MSX, I don't see why its games wouldn't make it over here either. On consoles this basic, it would be highly profitable to translate the small amount of text and sell it at 6 dollars a pop on VC. If you haven't yet noticed, American gamers (esp Nintendo gamers) don't like being ignored (see inclusion of Marth/Roy into American SSB Melee)

[*NormalGamer*]

richardrn said:

The fact that Neo Geo games are on Gametap make it hugely possible that they make it to the VC.

Oh, so classic Neo-Geo games are available on that service? I better check that out.

*checks gametap.com*

[Pilgrim John]

richardrn said:

It's also a fact that George Harrison said it was very possible that some of the JP only games released over the years would be translated and make their way onto the American VC. Hoping for the SNES FE titles and Sin&Punishment though not anytime soon. The fact that Neo Geo games are on Gametap make it hugely possible that they make it to the VC. As for the MSX, I don't see why its games wouldn't make it over here either. On consoles this basic, it would be highly profitable to translate the small amount of text and sell it at 6 dollars a pop on VC. If you haven't yet noticed, American gamers (esp Nintendo gamers) don't like being ignored (see inclusion of Marth/Roy into American SSB Melee)

Sure, we don't like getting snubbed, but it happens all the time, all the same. I'd love to see Live-A-Live rereleased for VC with actual translation (The ROM I played was buggy, and the iffy-translations often scrolled out of the bubbles), but I doubt that's going to happen. I want to see Sin & Punishment, Jump and Ultimate Superstars, and all the Parodius games make it over here, but it's unlikely that many of them will come. Some might, others have chances somewhere near zero percent. We'll just have to take what we can, and chew what we missed.

[*NormalGamer*]

SNK Speaks on Wii Virtual Console Deal
USA President sheds light on plans

2 Mar 2007

news.spong.com/article/11950?cb=48

As you may be aware, Nintendo made a somewhat muted announcement that was to see SNK titles hitting the Wii Virtual Console. No games, franchises or a release date was known. We spoke to SNK US boss Ben Herman to find out more.

"Nintendo is going to be adding Neo Geo games to Virtual Console," Explained Herman. "The games will be available at some point this year. I can't say exactly when. I expect that we'll be putting out a certain limited number of titles per month.

"I can't say which games or franchises will come available right now, though that is being worked out in Japan as we speak. Of all the MVS and AES games in the Neo Geo Library, I'd say that any of them would be available.

"I know that Nintendo has all the code for NES and SNES titles, all of the manuals and so on. They have a pretty good filing cabinet and all they have to do is seek permission from the IP holder to put the game out over Virtual Console, then share the income. When this was announced, I said to you, wouldn't it be great if they could put the Neo Geo system on there. I didn't mean the arcade system, rather the AES home system. Right now I don't know if the focus will be on AES or MVS, even though they are largely the same, but the fact that the Neo Geo is being added is a very exciting thing."

So how will this news impact on SNK's traditional business areas of delivering home versions of its coin-op offerings? We're aware that SNK has encountered some trouble in the US domestic market with platform holders over content issues with modern released of older titles... "It's difficult to say," continued Herman. "If you're dealing with a customer, who wants to download games through Virtual Console, that's great. I think that if anything, it's going to make our consumers who know us, as well as a lot of new players who do not know us, become much more familiar with the SNK franchises."

So no conflict between the boxed SNK releases? "No. I think that if we were to release games that have not been available on modern systems... There are a lot of games that people want from us that we have been unable to release for whatever reason, and it would be a nice opportunity to deliver these games. There'd be a lot of money involved in releasing a version of a game that has limited or niche appeal. This way, if people want to buy something, they can just buy it.


"I think that when we're added to Virtual Console, if people don't know Neo Geo, they're going to see it on Virtual Console, look at it, taste it and in that sense, it's going to be a very good thing for SNK's visibility and the world rediscovering who we are."
How does this impact on the deal with Sony, being penned out right now, for Neo Geo content on the PlayStation 3? Will certain titles be exclusive to one system's online offering?

"What I would say is, right now, I personally have not seen anything to suggest that there will be any exclusivity of titles for either machine. Microsoft has been very selective and is not looking for everything... Sony is just getting started. Nintendo is being careful, with NES and SNES titles, not to over-saturate the market. Microsoft has shown us that online games can be a strong part of a machine's offering. Nintendo is still not letting Wii third-party publishers include online capabilities in their games and it doesn't look like they will during 2007. So the best chance they have at building an online presence appears to be what they're doing with Virtual Console.

"You have two platforms out now that run high-def games and a lot of our catalogue merchandise is not in high-def, obviously. There will be new arcade development, and the arcade development that was announced last year at the Tokyo Game Show, will include high-def content because unless you have a high-def product, you're not going to put out a PS3 of an Xbox 360 game. Right now we have PlayStation 2, PSP, Nintendo Wii and DS, for which I would like to get more product, though we have the first DS product coming out this spring... These are great platforms and we're participating in many of them."

So, any exciting peripherals for the VC? There's speculation that we might see a huge dirty wireless arcade stick...

"Two things: One, Nintendo has told the games community to go out and developer peripherals that will work with whatever games are coming out for the Wii. Two, there's a number of peripheral companies. It's their job to do this and those are the companies that will work on that. Of course, one nice thing Nintendo did was to release the Classic Controller..."

@ *referring to bold*

I guess Ben Harman didn't hear the news about Wii Online kits already shipped last month according to an Reggie interview.