DK is a Nintendo staple.

SSB will be the next one to appear. I don't like how N64 games are being released on the VC. I know they want to space them out. But so far it looks like this in the Americas:

2007 - 9 games
2008 - 5 games
2009 - 1 game as of July 13th update.

I just hope they keep it at 2 VC games a week like last week.

VC is a total mess. I love the service, but there are no sales, demos, etc.

I get the feeling that Nintendo doesn't want Virtual Console to overshadow Wiiware. So they wait with the big VC-titles until special occasions

Seems like Nintendo likes to save their big VC titles for milestones numbers like 350 or 400, so I guess we might see DK 64 eventually, but as far as the 64 goes Smash Bros. will be next

and this is a HUGE flaw. Delaying good games for milestones does not increase sales of lesser known games that are released every week. and this may (just guessing here) hurt sales of the well known games. If a great game is released every 50 titles. Then it'll take a long time before anothe rgreat game is released. Super Mario RPG was 250 in September. Majora's Mask was 300, 8 months later. 8 months is a fairly long time. D:

Hold on now. I'm pretty sure something important was obtained through the Jetpack game. Although i'm not entirely sure what that was since i haven't played the game in years... omg, now i have the sudden urge to plug in that N64....

To be honest DK64 is just one of many titles waiting to be brought to VC. Other uber popular titles like SuperMarioWorld2 and EarthBound just two perfect examples. As well as SmashBros etc...etc...

I have a feeling Nintendo is holding these titles back so that they have first party software to release in the future. Maybe even saving them for their next generation system.

I want DK64 really bad too, though I was pretty satisfied just getting the whole DKC series! I can wait a little while for Donkey Kong!

Just look at PSN they have some 50 classic titles while Nintendo has hundreds! I'm pretty satisfied with Virtual Console so far!

Frankly the VC has been one of my biggest disappointments with the Wii. Nintendo has dragged their feet for so long especially considering that 64 emulation is old hat these days. I get that a lot of stuff is held back by licensing, but in many cases that simply isn't the case.

I can actually answer this question. The title is in the limbo of dual ownership. While Nintendo may own the license and the game in a general sense. They do not own the engine on which the game runs. The engine is a modified Banjo Kazooie engine which was the property of Rare and is now the property of Microsoft.

Remember that Rare was a second party, and not a first party. They were autonomous of Nintendo which did not own a controlling stake in the company. That is the way they wanted it, and Banjo was supposedly a big coming out for Rare being that the game was entirely theirs. From top to the very bottom. I suppose it shows a lack of forethought on the part of Nintendo to have allowed Rare to use their own proprietary engine in one of their games, or at least have negotiated a long term contract.

Regardless Nintendo does indeed own the car, but they forgot to make sure the engine was theirs as well. They could still build a new engine for the game, or they could actually negotiate with Microsoft. I am sure an agreement could be reached easily enough with both parties being happy. I just don't see Nintendo doing either for a virtual console title. When they have to do nothing for the others.