Report: Japan Expecting 50 Virtual Console Releases In 2006

A new report from Ziff Davis-owned consumer website 1UP has highlighted the list of retro titles expected for Nintendo's Wii Virtual Console download service in Japan throughout the remainder of 2006, many of which are at least currently exclusive to that region. According to the report, no less than 50 titles are expected to be released over the service in Japan across the NES, SNES, Nintendo 64, Genesis, and Turbografx-16 platforms. By way of comparison, in North America, where the Wii launched on November 19, users have access to just 17 virtual console games, the bulk of which are first party titles. The complete list of games slated to be released according to the report is as follows: NES: Donkey Kong,Donkey Kong Jr., Gomoku Narabe Renjyu, Baseball, Tennis, Pinball, Urban Champion, Soccer, Super Mario Bros., Ice Hockey, The Legend of Zelda, Xevious, Solomon's Key, Gradius, Mario Bros., Wario's Woods, Legend of Kage, and Ninja Jyajyamaru-kun SNES: Super Mario World, F-ZERO, The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past, Super Castlevania IV, Street Fighter II, Donkey Kong Country, Mario's Super Picross, Contra III: The Alien Wars, Sim City, Fire Emblem: Monsho no Nazo, and R-Type III Nintendo 64: Super Mario 64 Mega Drive (aka Genesis): Ecco the Dolphin, Gunstar Heroes, Golden Axe, Columns, Shadow Dancer, Altered Beast, Space Harrier II, Sonic the Hedgehog, Toejam & Earl, Puyo-Puyo, and Ristar: The Shooting Star PC Engine (aka TurboGrafx-16): Bonk's Adventure, Super Star Soldier, Dungeon Explorer, Victory Run, Bomberman '94, New Adventure Island, Jyaseiken Necromancer, R-Type I, and Military Madness The pricing for the virtual console titles is also slightly different in the East, with Mega Drive (aka Genesis) titles priced at 600 Wii points, rather than 800. While the majority of these titles are expected to be available on December 2 in time for the Wii's launch in Japan, a few will come in the days and weeks that follow throughout the rest of 2006.