Thursday 8 June 2006
Gamers will be able to play retro games for as little as £2.50 on Wii according to Nintendo president Satoru Iwata.
Speaking at a Japanese marketing event, Iwata revealed that Wii's Virtual Console games - which will allow gamers to download and play old titles on the console - won't seriously damage gamers' wallets. Games will be priced at 500 yen and 1,000 yen, which works out roughly as £2.50 and £5.
The success of Microsoft's Xbox Live Arcade has proved that there is a big demand for retro games with gamers currently able to play old arcade classics in exchange for 1,200 Microsoft Points (around £7). There are also rumours that Sony will be providing a similar game download service for PlayStation 3.
Where Nintendo might have the edge, though, is in the quality of games, as it will be able to offer the very best of Mario and Zelda rather than some long-forgotten arcade game.
