There is a trend (not just on this site) to rip the nintendo download service. Now first, let me say that yes, Nintendo have stretched themselves a bit thin. There are DSI, wiiware, and virtual console updates that take place every week. Here's a chart taken from wikipedia. The numbers on the right are the number of virtual console games released per country (in order: Japan, North America, Europe, Australia, South Korea). 500 - 5 19 - - 500 (400 in Korea) 118 81 66 64 23 500 14 10 11 11 - 600 122 59 55 55 - 800 700 2 - - - - 800 (600 in Japan) 86 64 65 64 - 800 (600 in Korea) 56 41 34 35 13 900 19 19 19 19 - 1000 (800 in Korea) 16 15 16 16 4 Virtual Console Arcade 500 13 4 4 4 - Total games as of May 4, 2009 446 298 289 268 40 So first, one negative note: why does Japan have 148 more games to choose from then the US? No idea. Second, a positive note: there are 298 games to choose from._ I guarantee that of those 298 games, I could find 100 worth owning. For everyone who spends every monday with a frown wondering why nintendo chose to release game x instead of game y, here are 45 quick games you should own: 1. legend of zelda (nes) 2. super mario bros (nes) 3. kirby's adventure (nes) 4. excitebike (nes) 5. punch out!! (nes) 6. ninja gaiden (nes) 7. super mario bros 2 (nes) 8. adventures of lolo (nes) 9. metroid (nes) 10. super c (contra 2) (nes) 11. super mario bros 3 (nes) 12. startropics (nes) 13. river city ransom (nes) 14-16. mega man 1-3 (nes) 17. castlevania 3 (nes) 18. castlevania 4 (snes) 19. r-type 3 (snes) 20. A link to the past (snes) 21. contra 3 (snes) 22. super mario world (snes) 23. donkey kong country (snes) 24. gradius 3 (snes) 25. donkey kong country 2 (snes) 26. super metroid (snes) 27. super turrican (snes) 28. super mario rpg (snes) 29. secret of mana (snes) 30. super punch out (snes) 31. mario 64 (n64) 32. ocarina of time (n64) 33. gunstar heroes (genesis) 34. streets of rage 2 (genesis) 35. vectorman (genesis) 36. phantasy star 4 (genesis) 37-38. sonic 2-3 (genesis) 39. air zonk (TG-16) 40. devil crush (TG-16) 41. bonk's revenge (TG-16) 42. gate of Thunder (TG-16) 43. Ys: book 1 and 2 (TG-16) 44. bomberman '94 (TG-16) 45. baseball stars 2 (Neo Geo) I can tell you that not only are there plenty of games that I didn't list that numerous people love (wave race 64, f zero - snes, comix zone - genesis, etc), but there are undoubtedly a number of great games released that I know next to nothing about. So, sorry, there is no earthbound. And yes, there are at least a dozen games that I wish would see the light of day on the virtual console. But there are plenty of games out there to be had. Cheers.
