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Penguin Adventure released on Wii-U Virtual Console Japan

Penguin Adventure released on Wii-U Virtual Console Japan

by Sylvester on 03-08-2014, 04:06
Topic: Emulation
Tags: Virtual Console, Wii-U, Konami, Penguin Adventure
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With the MSX Revival grinding to a halt in Europe one would almost forget that in Japan D4 Enterprise and MSX Licensing Corporation are still collaborating with Japanese software houses to distribute their games in Project EGG and the Virtual Console for the Nintendo Wii and Wii-U.

One of the publishers they work with is Konami and after the release of several MSX classics for Nintendo Wii it was only a matter of time they would start releasing MSX games for the new Nintendo WII-U as well, starting with the release of Penguin Adventure for the Japanese Virtual Console on the Wii-U.

Source: Penguin Adventure on Wii-U Virtual Console Japan

Comments (11)

By iamweasel2

Paladin (713)

iamweasel2's picture

03-08-2014, 06:26

What ? Konami MSX games available through MSX emulation in ANOTHER videogame? How long will they milk that cow?

By Grauw

Ascended (10768)

Grauw's picture

03-08-2014, 12:36

It’s nice to hear that Project EGG is still going strong.

By iamweasel2

Paladin (713)

iamweasel2's picture

03-08-2014, 16:08

Please don't get me wrong. I support Project EGG. I just believe it wouldn't hurt Konami (or other companies) to bring something new to their customers, if they want to sell the same old games. If they don't want to remake the game in the new consoles like other companies did, they could at least provide an improved MSX version of these old games in the new consoles, like an SCC (or FM or Moonsound) version of the game, or MSX2 graphics, or a translated game (when it was only available in japanese)... Give something new to those people that already paid for that game 30 years ago before charging them again for the same product.

Selling the same old games that they sold before in other consoles through emulation and that can be played using that old cartridge you bought almost 30 years ago in the original hardware makes me think that the only purpose (besides making new money from an old product) is to avoid that the product becomes public domain.

By Grauw

Ascended (10768)

Grauw's picture

03-08-2014, 18:14

It’s also about making it accessible to the general public. Most people don’t even know how to run an emulator, plus you have to get the roms off all kinds of sketchy places.

As for the price, 6 euro seems reasonable, I doubt they will make much profit off it. A lot of people never bought the game 30 years ago, plus paying a little for convenience doesn’t hurt (can’t run an emulator on Wii U).

p.s. Author’s rights expire after 50-95 years (depending on the country), so you have to wait 20-65 more years for it to become public domain Smile. Yes that’s a ridiculously long term.

By mars2000you

Enlighted (6487)

mars2000you's picture

03-08-2014, 19:04

Apparently, the only reason that explains why the Wii U has been created is to make the things more difficult to run a non-official emulator on this system. But people are more informed now than in the past (*), and from I know, Wii U is not a great success, even in Japan. Especially if you have the 'normal' Wii and know how to install and run blueMSX-Wii !

(*) For example : http://nintendo.about.com/od/toppicks/tp/The-10-Most-Annoyin...

By iamweasel2

Paladin (713)

iamweasel2's picture

03-08-2014, 19:22

I find it hard to believe that people interested in playing MSX games (and don't have the original msx and the games) still didn't find a way to do it, even considering that they aren't able to use emulators. I see those emulators with Konami games being sold since Playstation 1. But that's my opinion of course. And even if there is just 50 people out there to buy it, this is new money to get from a game built in the 80s, so it's all profit, and that seems to be the plan here.

They could make much more money if they could improve the game just a little. I remember seeing an HD version of the Double Dragon game running in Xbox 360 and for the first time I thought about buying a modern console. But as I said, the idea seems to be to milk that (old) cow as much as possible.

PS: I thought in the US the software rights would expire in 20 years if in that time the software is not being sold anymore. I remember people saying that this was one of the reasons an official MSX emulator was released. Is that information wrong?

Grauw wrote:

It’s also about making it accessible to the general public. Most people don’t even know how to run an emulator, plus you have to get the roms off all kinds of sketchy places.

As for the price, 6 euro seems reasonable, I doubt they will make much profit off it. A lot of people never bought the game 30 years ago, plus paying a little for convenience doesn’t hurt (can’t run an emulator on Wii U).

p.s. Author’s rights expire after 50-95 years (depending on the country), so you have to wait 20-65 more years for it to become public domain Smile. Yes that’s a ridiculously long term.

By snout

Ascended (15187)

snout's picture

03-08-2014, 23:35

@iamweasel2 I think this might be a matter of cultural difference. From my personal experience with D4E there is quite some demand for the distribution of the original games without any alterations. If you look at the catalog of EGG. you can frequently find the same game in different versions e.g. MSX, PC-Engine and Sega. Because people are actually puristic enough to be able to buy a specific version or two. The convenience of just buying that, legally, from a Virtual Console or App Store seals the deal for them.

It's not (only) about milking old cows, but also about experiencing exactly the same game(s) you used to play some 25 years ago on any kind of device you just happen to own at that moment. And with games goes the same as with movies: remakes don't always improve the general experience or gameplay.

This might not make much sense for us non-Japanese, but we are not their target audience and with this approach D4E and their partners have managed to grow a respectable business.

By Grauw

Ascended (10768)

Grauw's picture

03-08-2014, 23:59

iamweasel2 wrote:

PS: I thought in the US the software rights would expire in 20 years if in that time the software is not being sold anymore. I remember people saying that this was one of the reasons an official MSX emulator was released. Is that information wrong?

Very wrong.

You’re probably confusing it with patents, which do expire after 20 years.

By Samor

Prophet (2174)

Samor's picture

04-08-2014, 12:15

D4E finally got Konami on board then? Or has it been like that for a while?

By snout

Ascended (15187)

snout's picture

04-08-2014, 12:56

quite a while already, e.g. the MSX versions of Metal Gear distirbuted with various Playstation 3 releases and distribution on separate mobile platforms. The first titles have popped up in EGG and Virtual Console as well...

By Samor

Prophet (2174)

Samor's picture

04-08-2014, 14:52

hm, I must've not been paying attention, because a while ago i did catch the article on the "MSX Racing Spirit" soundtrack...