Yeah I know upwards to 10 dollars for a micro-transaction of a decade old game sounds rough. Yes, I realize you can illegally acquire these games for free. Yes, I realize that some people would rather get them on eBay in cartridge form *remembers getting red in the face blowing on those damn things* for cheaper (although with the overpriced S&H charges that frequent those auctions, I wouldn't call them cheaper).

Yesterday I clocked in a few extra hours on Zelda on my Wii. But it wasn't Twilight Princess I was playing...it was the good old NES game that started it all. My thumb on the abnormally-but-comfortably large D-pad of the Classic controller and the other one tapping those buttons that let me attack...it was good times, reminiscent of the fun I had with my NES back in the day.

It was about 4am by then, the time had passed admittedly quicker than I was expecting (I had to get up at 7:45!) so I headed to bed. Instead of pressing up and select at the item menu, I pressed the home key and went back to the menu. Today I'll resume exactly where I left off, instead of at a set save location with a set number of hearts, something I would have had to have left my console on overnight to do in the past (which wasn't an uncommon procedure back in the day, but it basically means you couldn't take a break from that game and play another).

Granted emulators have had this ability for awhile, I got more into playing LoZ on my TV with the classic controller than I have playing it on an emulator with a gamepad, a lot more into it, and I had a lot more fun. Exactly why...I couldn't say...perhaps it's simply because the game plays better when it's played as it was meant to.

A few days ago I was reliving Mario 64 with the controls I would expect from an Nintendo 64 game (actually better, since the analog is better), not a control setup I would have to suffer through on a computer. That same day I was able to experience the awesomeness of Gunstar Heros for the first time - as the game was meant to be played - on a console (while playing 2-player as well!). I played the original Mario Bros. Classic with my girlfriend in two-player. I kept working at beating Super Mario Bros. without losing a single life. I played Bonk's Adventure for the first time.

I do not regret spending those fourty dollars. Yes I realize "hard" compilations may have more bang for the buck, but I generally only enjoy a game or two on average out of those anyways, at least with the VC I get to choose which ones I want, and which I don't, and choose them as I wish, as if I was in a compilation cafeteria.

I look forward to other stellar content that I missed in the past to be available for download. The VC has extended the Wii's library as far as I'm concerned, I'm sure everybody missed out on a few classics back in the day. I've found that playing them as they were meant to be played brings out more of the...er..."magic" than playing them on a PC, or on a handheld.

Kudos to Nintendo. I just wish games came out twice a week instead of just once :P