Virtual Console

The Virtual Console is one of many special features of the Wii and the Nintendo 3DS. The Virtual Console allows gamers to download games that have been uploaded by their respective companies. The Wii version currently only has video games from stationary consoles, mostly Nintendo's own NES, SNES, and Nintendo 64. Nintendo will not be uploading Nintendo GameCube games to the Wii Virtual Console, due to the fact that GameCube ISOs use 1.35 GB on the hard drive (the internal memory on the Wii is only 512 MB), and the Wii is backwards-compatible with all GameCube discs and most accessories. Hudson, Sega, SNK and Commodore have provided the Wii Virtual Console with Sega Genesis/Mega Drive, Sega Master System, TurboGrafx-16, Neo Geo, MSX (Japan only), and Commodore 64 games. Also, Nintendo has provided the Virtual Console with arcade titles under the name Virtual Console Arcade. For the Nintendo 3DS, only games from portable consoles have been announced, namely Game Boy, Game Boy Color, Game Gear, TurboGrafx-16, and likely the Game Boy Advance, considering the 3DS is not backwards compatible. It's noteworthy however, that demos from NES and SNES were shown at E3.

Wii Points
Wii Virtual Console games are bought with Wii Points via the Wii Shop Channel. Wii Points Cards, which are sold at most game retailers, each come with 2,000 redeemable Points on them. However, in Japan, cards are worth either 1,000, 3,000, or 5,000 Wii Points. Wii Points can also be purchased directly through the Wii Shop Channel with a credit card in blocks of either 1,000, 2,000, 3,000, 4,000, or 5,000 Points.

On a side note, 100 Wii Points is equivalent to an American one dollar bill.

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While this pricing is true for most games, a few select games have been priced differently. Imported games such as Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars and Mario's Super Picross in Europe and Australia and Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels outside Japan cost 100 Wii Points more than usual.

In the United States, retailers currently only sell 2,000 points cards for $20 apiece, at a price of one cent per point.

Similarly, in Australia, retailers only sell 1,000 points cards for $20 apiece. But since there's different currency (one Australian dollar is the equivelent to two American dollars), it's generally no different.

*Note: Games released on the Virtual Console Arcade are automatically set to 500 points. However, most Virtual Console Arcade games are priced higher than 500 points.

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Various controllers can be used to play Virtual Console games.
 * Wii Remote - when turned sideways, it acts as a substitute for the NES controller.
 * Classic Controller - can play any game; designed to resemble an SNES controller
 * Nintendo GameCube controller - can play almost any game.

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Nintendo 3DS
Games on the Virtual Console of the 3DS do not have 3D capabilities, except for 3D Classics. They are selled via Nintendo eShop.

The following Mario games have been announced for the Virtual Console of the 3DS:


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 * Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels was only available in Europe and Australia from September 15, 2007 until October 1, 2007. It was then still available to freely re-download for those who purchased it while it was initially available. On August 22, 2008, it was made available again, this time without any time restrictions.
 * This is also the first time that the NES version was made available outside Japan, having been remade for the SNES elsewhere. Thus, its title screen reads "Super Mario Bros. 2", its Japanese name.
 * Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars was regarded by Nintendo as the 250th game to be released on the Virtual Console in North America. This is also the first time Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars got an official European release.
 * Timed demos of several Virtual Console games are included in Super Smash Bros. Brawl, all of which star the game's various fighters. The only default Mario title is Super Mario Bros.; Donkey Kong, Super Mario Bros. 2, and Super Mario World are the others, but they must first be unlocked.
 * Despite being the launch title for the SNES, Super Mario World was actually released several months after the Virtual Console's launch.
 * Despite the GameCube controller having built-in force feedback, no N64 game supports the vibration feature (originally requiring a separate peripheral). Also, Mario Kart 64 required a Controller Pak to save ghost data, which the VC version does not support.

Changes
Although Nintendo has claimed they will keep all Virtual Console releases as true to the original as possible, they have made several changes to various games for certain reasons.

''Super Mario RPG: Legend of the Seven Stars

 * The attack Flame Wall was recolored to avoid the risk of seizures.
 * For the European release, the offensive word "bugger" was replaced with the word "pest".
 * Moleville has a notably darker color scheme.

''Super Mario 64

 * During gameplay, the drop shadows located at the top and bottom of the screen have been removed and can only return if Mario loses all of his Health Points.
 * The typo at the end of the game ("Mario, it that really you?") has been corrected.

''Mario Kart 64

 * When the Lightning item is used, the flash that appears during the use of that item has been adjusted to avoid the risk of seizures.