So I've been playing with my Wii more often than normal lately, partially because I'm almost done with Fallout 3 and I have a Wii queue I need to blow through by the end of this month. While I've mostly been playing through the console releases, I also handle the Virtual Console news for Blogcritics Gaming each week. And it's been a while since I've been enticed to buy a game off the Virtual Console, in large part because they've been offering games I either own or can get elsewhere via eBay or any number of compilation discs that have come out in the past 5 years.

However, that's not to say I wouldn't use the Virtual Console more often if there was once noticeable difference: more import titles. Games we haven't been able to play before. Stuff like:

Excitebike Vs.:



or its sister game, Mario Excitebike:



or the missing games in the Ganbare Goemon series:



Or maybe TwinBee?



Better yet, why not F-Zero 2?



Or any of the old Fire Emblem or Famicom Detective Club games?



And that's just the tip of the iceberg. There's plenty we haven't experienced and would love to. With a little bit of effort (and the storage solution Nintendo has promised), the Virtual Console doesn't have to be for new gamers. Sin and Punishment proved this when it drew enough downloads to actually convince Treasure there was enough interest for a sequel and that North America and Europe would support this game. The wii pretty much has the retro digital download market cornered, as Microsoft and Sony are too busy supporting retro remakes and new titles from smaller publishers to keep adding in classic games every week. I'm not expecting a sudden flood of import titles, but if you live in Europe or North America, we only have a few games to pick from that we've never been able to get easily before. There is so much potential being wasted here that it pains me to see it.

So, Nintendo, if you're listening, get off your ass and give us a few more games from the Land of the Rising Sun. We know you can do it, and it would benefit you if you did. The question is: are you going to bother trying?