Wii's Virtual Console Games...this sucks!

[Trader05]

I ended up picking up another Wii recently and on my last Wii i had tons of games downloaded on VC. They are on My Nintendo page as registered games and I called up Nintendo asking if I could tranfer my account and re-download the games i previously paid for on my new console. The quick answer was no and they explained that if you download any VC games they are locked to that specific console. The only way to transfer is to send both Wii's into Nintendo.

So im beat...i had around 20+ VC games purchased. I can see they have the games locked by console for piracy concerns with the SD card, but i think it would be easier if they had a User Account associated with Nintendo in situations like this. What if your Wii gets stolen? You would now have to purchase every game over again.

::end rant::

 

[purbeast0]

well thats what you get w/nintendo and their 1980's online community.

 

[Modeps]

The Wii is the best! It has no flaws!

 

[Queasy]

:Q and people thought the 360's DRM was bad.

 

[AstroManLuca]

Hmm, that's weird. They let you re-download your purchased games if you've sent the Wii in for repair. I wonder if some extra whining and complaining would get you anywhere?

 

[Thraxen]

So what happened to the first Wii?

 

[Trader05]

Originally posted by: Thraxen
So what happened to the first Wii?

I ebayed it around Christmas time and it actually never made it to destination. Thank god i insured it through UPS and they ended up covering it. Thats why i brought up the "stolen" issue, even to nintendo. Still no go.

 

[Krakn3Dfx]

Thanks, I was considering buying a few games on the VC, but knowing this, I will now NOT be doing that.

 

[MetalMat]

And they wonder why people hack systems and download roms / emulators :roll:

 

[RandomFool]

That sucks.

 

[Ultima200]

That would drive me insaine!!! I feel your pain!

 

[Saulbadguy]

Originally posted by: Trader05
I ended up picking up another Wii recently and on my last Wii i had tons of games downloaded on VC. They are on My Nintendo page as registered games and I called up Nintendo asking if I could tranfer my account and re-download the games i previously paid for on my new console. The quick answer was no and they explained that if you download any VC games they are locked to that specific console. The only way to transfer is to send both Wii's into Nintendo.

So im beat...i had around 20+ VC games purchased. I can see they have the games locked by console for piracy concerns with the SD card, but i think it would be easier if they had a User Account associated with Nintendo in situations like this. What if your Wii gets stolen? You would now have to purchase every game over again.

::end rant::

A user account, if tied to a console, would probably work better. Just a user account would be dumb, then anyone could use it.

 

[MikeyLSU]

in reality, you shouldn't be able to get your games back.

It is basically stealing.

Timeline...correct me if I'm wrong.

You had a Wii with 20 or so virtual console games.

You sold said Wii on ebay with the 20 games(I'm sure you listed the Wii with the games to make more money)

You bought a new Wii and expect to get your old games for free. Meaning that you bought the games sold them, then want them back for free.

That is like buying GTA 4, selling it on ebay, then writing to rockstar that you want the game from them since you owned it at one time.

 

[CKDragon]

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU
in reality, you shouldn't be able to get your games back.

It is basically stealing.

Timeline...correct me if I'm wrong.

You had a Wii with 20 or so virtual console games.

You sold said Wii on ebay with the 20 games(I'm sure you listed the Wii with the games to make more money)

You bought a new Wii and expect to get your old games for free. Meaning that you bought the games sold them, then want them back for free.

That is like buying GTA 4, selling it on ebay, then writing to rockstar that you want the game from them since you owned it at one time.

This is what I was thinking.

But it's way more fun to bash the Wii so let's not bring logic into it.

 

[Modeps]

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU
in reality, you shouldn't be able to get your games back.

It is basically stealing.

Timeline...correct me if I'm wrong.

You had a Wii with 20 or so virtual console games.

You sold said Wii on ebay with the 20 games(I'm sure you listed the Wii with the games to make more money)

You bought a new Wii and expect to get your old games for free. Meaning that you bought the games sold them, then want them back for free.

That is like buying GTA 4, selling it on ebay, then writing to rockstar that you want the game from them since you owned it at one time.

The complaint is more or less that the Wii's system ties games to the hardware exclusively and not the user... Just for comparison, if you're authorized to play the full version of a game on the 360, you can download it on any 360 and login to your account to play. If the Wii were to fail at any point, you'd need to send your new Wii into Nintendo just to get your games.

In the past, you could sell your system and keep your games (I sold my gamecube, but kept many of my Gamecube games for use on the Wii). Downloadable content is changing that dynamic and companies really have to try and future proof their systems instead of just thinking about the "now".

 

[Gooberlx2]

Originally posted by: Modeps

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU
in reality, you shouldn't be able to get your games back.

It is basically stealing.

Timeline...correct me if I'm wrong.

You had a Wii with 20 or so virtual console games.

You sold said Wii on ebay with the 20 games(I'm sure you listed the Wii with the games to make more money)

You bought a new Wii and expect to get your old games for free. Meaning that you bought the games sold them, then want them back for free.

That is like buying GTA 4, selling it on ebay, then writing to rockstar that you want the game from them since you owned it at one time.

The complaint is more or less that the Wii's system ties games to the hardware exclusively and not the user... Just for comparison, if you're authorized to play the full version of a game on the 360, you can download it on any 360 and login to your account to play. If the Wii were to fail at any point, you'd need to send your new Wii into Nintendo just to get your games.

In the past, you could sell your system and keep your games (I sold my gamecube, but kept many of my Gamecube games for use on the Wii). Downloadable content is changing that dynamic and companies really have to try and future proof their systems instead of just thinking about the "now".

Right, the problem could be solved by being able manage game activations, console registrations and user accounts online. For a particular user, games are only activated for one console at a time. This could be enforced with a phone-home type system every time you boot up the game.

That way, for any console sold (in this case), the OP could deactivate all the games on that console and re-download them to this new one.

 

[MikeyLSU]

Originally posted by: Modeps

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU
in reality, you shouldn't be able to get your games back.

It is basically stealing.

Timeline...correct me if I'm wrong.

You had a Wii with 20 or so virtual console games.

You sold said Wii on ebay with the 20 games(I'm sure you listed the Wii with the games to make more money)

You bought a new Wii and expect to get your old games for free. Meaning that you bought the games sold them, then want them back for free.

That is like buying GTA 4, selling it on ebay, then writing to rockstar that you want the game from them since you owned it at one time.

The complaint is more or less that the Wii's system ties games to the hardware exclusively and not the user... Just for comparison, if you're authorized to play the full version of a game on the 360, you can download it on any 360 and login to your account to play. If the Wii were to fail at any point, you'd need to send your new Wii into Nintendo just to get your games.

In the past, you could sell your system and keep your games (I sold my gamecube, but kept many of my Gamecube games for use on the Wii). Downloadable content is changing that dynamic and companies really have to try and future proof their systems instead of just thinking about the "now".

OK, but I am talking specifically about the OP situation. He sold the games and got money for them...now he wants them back for free from Nintendo.

 

[Modeps]

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU
OK, but I am talking specifically about the OP situation. He sold the games and got money for them...now he wants them back for free from Nintendo.

True, but he doesn't even have the option to 'deactivate' them or anything of the sort. I'm guessing he never thought he'd have a Wii again either though... so he may have sold them on ebay as "NINTENDO WII, LOTS OF VC GAMES"

 

[Trader05]

Originally posted by: Modeps

Originally posted by: MikeyLSU
OK, but I am talking specifically about the OP situation. He sold the games and got money for them...now he wants them back for free from Nintendo.

True, but he doesn't even have the option to 'deactivate' them or anything of the sort. I'm guessing he never thought he'd have a Wii again either though... so he may have sold them on ebay as "NINTENDO WII, LOTS OF VC GAMES"

LOL! I wouldn't complain if i sold the system and had a trouble free shipment. My package got "lost in transit" supposingly, so i basically considered it stolen. I posted this for a heads up on how this situation was handled. This also means that if you buy an extended protection plan from a retailer, after the nintendo warranty is up and your console goes bad=bye bye VC games. FYI I just purchased about $40 VC games boohoo

 

[Burrens78]

I bought a Wii when it came out and purchased 2 VC games before selling it. Knowing that the VC games, and my account was tied to the console I unlinked it to my www.nintendo.com account (there is an option on the Wii to do this). I then also reformatted the Wii's memory before I sold it.

A few months later I purchased another Wii (sellers remorse) and linked it to my nintendo.com account. I too cannot re-download my purchased games, even though there is history tied to my nintemdo.com account acknowledging that I purchased the VC games previously.

That does in fact suck. As far as I can tell, that is Nintendo stealing from ME!

 

[Trader05]

Originally posted by: Burrens78
I bought a Wii when it came out and purchased 2 VC games before selling it. Knowing that the VC games, and my account was tied to the console I unlinked it to my www.nintendo.com account (there is an option on the Wii to do this). I then also reformatted the Wii's memory before I sold it.

A few months later I purchased another Wii (sellers remorse) and linked it to my nintendo.com account. I too cannot re-download my purchased games, even though there is history tied to my nintemdo.com account acknowledging that I purchased the VC games previously.

That does in fact suck. As far as I can tell, that is Nintendo stealing from ME!

I also unlinked my nintendo account before i sold it, but i didnt factory format my system.

 

[randomlinh]

sigh... why can't nintendo get these simple things right? it's bad enough their online aspect is terrible. This is what will keep me from getting wii ware games.

On a similar note, the lockdown of save files for mario kart and ssbb is ridiculous. you run into the same arguments of "what if my wii breaks.. and I had over 300hrs logged into SSBB?" just play it again? I think not.

 

[Blayze]

This is the main reason I still haven't download any VC titles, and I probably never will.

Like others I also hate that some game saves are locked to the console. It totally defeats the purpose of even having the SD card for backups.

I'm on my 3rd Wii (1st disc drive broke, 2nd was a refurb that didn't work, 3rd new unit that works great). Although I didn't have any VC titles they did transfer all my stuff each time. I don't see why they can't just let you download the games again if they are on the MyNintendo page. That also defeats the purpose of keeping track of what you have.

I have a feeling when more Wii warranties end, and people start having to pay for repairs to get new system this VC/Game Save issue will get pretty annoying for everyone. I thought that you could call them up and have it transferred, but I guess I was wrong. I just hope the Wii I have now doesn't break.

 

[mugs]

Originally posted by: Trader05

Originally posted by: Thraxen
So what happened to the first Wii?

I ebayed it around Christmas time and it actually never made it to destination. Thank god i insured it through UPS and they ended up covering it. Thats why i brought up the "stolen" issue, even to nintendo. Still no go.

Well you sold it with the VC games on it, right? Why didn't you insure it for the full value including VC games?

 

[SunnyD]

Originally posted by: randomlinh
sigh... why can't nintendo get these simple things right? it's bad enough their online aspect is terrible. This is what will keep me from getting wii ware games.

On a similar note, the lockdown of save files for mario kart and ssbb is ridiculous. you run into the same arguments of "what if my wii breaks.. and I had over 300hrs logged into SSBB?" just play it again? I think not.

You've got bigger problems if you've invested 300 hours into SSBB...