European Virtual Console Gets Previously Foreign-Only Releases

Officials from Nintendo of Europe have confirmed that the Wii’s Virtual Console will begin to feature titles that were previously not released in Europe, but only in either North America or Japan. In previous generations of consoles a great many titles never saw release in European countries -- particularly role-playing games, but also any other title which was deemed unlikely to be cost effective in terms of translation and adaptation for PAL television standards. The latter issue led to many games running slower than their original versions and with large horizontal borders – a problem evident in their reissue in Europe on the Virtual Console. The new wave of previously unavailable titles are themed around the Japanese Hanabi fireworks festival and begin today with SNES title Mario’s Super Picross – previously never released outside of Japan – and NES title Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels. Both games will be priced at 100 Wii Points ($1) more than normal for both NES and SNES releases. The Lost Levels was released with enhanced graphics on the SNES compilation Super Mario All-Stars in the West but never in its original form. The game was the original Japanese sequel to the first Super Mario Bros., which was deemed too difficult for Western audiences. An entirely different game was released as Super Mario Bros. 2 in the West and known as Super Mario USA in Japan. The game will be available on the Virtual Console only until 31st September in Europe, although all other games will be featured indefinitely. Other previously unavailable titles due for release in subsequent weeks include Tecmo’s Ninja Gaiden and Jaleco’s Ninja JaJaMaru-Kun on the NES and Konami’s Graidus III for the SNES. The most anticipated title so far announced though is Sin & Punishment for the Nintendo 64. Created by cult developers Treasure, the 3D on-the-rails shooter is widely regarded as the highest quality title for the console never released outside of Japan.