A quick check on ebay reveals no change. One item is going for $72.99 with a day and a half left, mint condition complete with map and instructions.

Totally!!! Once Final Fantasy VI came to the GBA, the prices on ebay for Final Fantasy III dropped hundreds of dollars!!!

I know that if you send your Wii in for repair, and they instead send you a replacement system, you can re-download your games for free. I’m not sure what “account number” the previously downloaded list is tied to but I would think that it would be a safe bet that if your Wii was destroyed or stolen all you would need to do is buy a replacement Wii and then tell Nintendo what happened to your old one. Come to think of it, the games are probably tied to your Wii’s Friend Code, or possibly the serial number…which Nintendo can probably update.

This happened to me when my original Wii bit the dust.

I do agree though, they don’t make the process very easy.

Since 2,000 wii points = €25 or $37.50 you end up spending way less on the originals.

I love collecting the originals, theres nothing like turning on my snes, having to give the cartridge and slot a good blow before hand.

I do buy some for the VC to see if i like em, but i also like to have my own originals.

The VC has one major shortcoming where i think it shoots itself in the foot, if your ever robbed and someone steals your games collection or it ever gets destroyed in a fire or something, then you lose all those great games on the old machines and still lose them with your wii. I still think you should be able to register games to a wii account that you log into to play VC games, that way if anything ever happened your wii you wouls still hold on to your games, similar to steam for the pc.

For me it just depends on the game. Otherwise I completely agree.

The virtual console is intended to be an easy way for AVERAGE people to discover and and rediscover the games that they played when they were younger, or heard about but never had the opportunity to experience, and as hard as it is for most gamers to admit we just are not the average VC customer. Oh, and its a way for Nintendo to make a ton of quick cash.

I don’t understand why people can’t comprehend that, and just enjoy what is available for what most people would consider to be a fair price.

Matthew- You have given me a great idea, I think I’ll get all of my systems together for one big group hug…yes I’ll even let the Virtual Boy play along!

It would be interesting to calculate the value of each of the games you buy and figure out how much you’re saving.

Hmm..

legend of zelda $7.74 $5
Super Mario Bros. 3 $9.29 $5
ActRaiser $11.50 $8
Breath of Fire II $29.98 $8
Contra III: The Alien Wars $16.49 $8
Donkey Kong Country $17.01 $8
Super Metroid $17.69 $8
Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time $15.98 $10
Paper Mario $28.90 $10
Sin and Punishment $40.00 $12*
Yoshi’s Story $13.34 $10
Gunstar Heroes $23.49 $8
Military Madness $45.88 $6
Totals: $277.29 $106

Looks messy, but I should show the math. Add it all up and I saved $171.29! That’s a lot of extra money lying around…

My point is that for most, you’re actually saving a lot more money than you think.

I have a huge problem with the final total presented at the end. The final cost of collecting all of the games is over $1000 higher than the VC versions, but as you can see from the figure above the total, the insane difference is mainly due to the Turbografx-16.

Take away the Turbografx-16, and the final cost for collecting the originals comes in at around $1339, while the VC versions will run you $1031.

It’s still more expensive to collect the originals (add another $500 to get each of the systems in working condition), but the difference isn’t as bad as suggested when including the Turbografx-16 games.

Now excuse me while I go hug my SNES and my Wii at the same time. Group hug!