Hey guys, I was wondering how you guys would want to see the Virtual Console end up like on the Switch. I got a pretty lengthy demand, but you don't have to go as in depth as me.
Ever since the Wii, every main console and handheld Nintendo put out has had some form of Virtual Console. Every console and handheld has had NES games and PC-Engine/Turbografx-16 games (PC-Engine on 3DS exclusive to Japan), while the consoles also had Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 games.
Every console and handheld has had exclusive software libraries from specific consoles. The Wii had Genesis, Master System, Neo Geo, Commodore 64, and Arcade games exclusive to its VC lineup. The 3DS had portable games such as the Game Boy, Game Boy Color, and Game Gear exclusive to its lineup (with New 3DS being the only version of 3DS with SNES games). The Wii U had GBA and DS releases which were exclusive to its lineup (barring the Ambassador only GBA games on 3DS).
If you could follow all of that, then I'm impressed. Virtual Console has had a lot of libraries before but as a whole it's all over the place. I hope that on the Switch we can see every console/handheld library that has been on Virtual Console on the Switch. Handheld games would work great due to the Switch's portable nature, and stuff like Neo Geo and Arcade would be great for the living room. There really shouldn't be any reason for a console/handheld/arcade system that has ever been on Virtual Console to skip the Switch. (And by the way, Wii games on Wii U aren't considered Virtual Console)
I also want to talk about controls. The Wii U VC did something good and had control binding, but with the Switch it'll need to be very in-depth. All these different ways to control the game will make control customization difficult. One way I can see this being solved is by having universal controller layouts that you can set and save yourself. For example, maybe you like using a Joypad for NES games, but you want to change the default layout. Simply change it in the menu, save and name it, and now you have that layout for every NES VC game as an option.
Next up, display options. As far as display options go, Virtual Console has been really inconsistent. Sometimes display options like 240p on the Wii and Perfect-pixel mode for Game Boy games on the 3DS were locked-away by weird button combinations. But other times like GBA games on Wii U and SNES games on New 3DS, display options were simply in the menu. Virtual Console on Switch needs to standardize the display options to just have them always in the menu. The NES Classic Mini has some good display options and a nice menu for them, so I hope that's standard for the Switch.
Another thing, releasing games. Nintendo has been really slow recently with Virtual Console releases, but it's because they believe that this trickle-down form makes games sell better since they stand out as a new release. If this is the case, then Nintendo could easily just have sales on Virtual Console games every week. Maybe give it a theme each week. People will turn on their eShop and see some Virtual Console games on sale, and that pressure of "it'll probably not be cheaper in the future" will usually get people to bite. Hey, it works for Steam!
And finally, pricing. Pricing needs some deduction across the board. For a lot of people the price of Virtual Console games is a bit of a rip off. For the love of god, just make NES games two dollars Nintendo, that's what you're technically pricing them for with the NES Classic Mini! It also shouldn't cost more than a dollar to transfer VC games you bought on another console to the Switch. At this point purchasing games should be tied to an account, so crossbuy should happen in the future.
So what do you guys think?