VC Games: different Scoreboard for it?

Prenz :

I will re-cap and expand upon what I posted elsewhere.

1) Separating VC games from the cartridge versions, for the 95+% of cases where NO differences exist, is one way to effectively KILL cross-generational competition.  Only people born in the 80's/90's who have these cartridges will basically be on the charts.  In years time, as games broke down and fewer and fewer people even have an NES, the charts become obsolete, uncared about, and 'clutter'.

2) The VC is a fantastic service that opens the doors to new generations forever, without sacrifcing the integrity of the source material and code.  Nintendo has created a system where you fairly pay for games that are the EXACT same code that was burned into cartridges.   Some known exceptions have been noted in games like Pokemon Snap, which called for N64 vs VC separation at Cyberscore.  But exceptions have generally been found to be rare, especially on old school games, where it's a very simple 8 to 16-bit code.

3) The VC is NOT an emulator.  Emulators have tools and options to play around with, framerates, savestates, etcetera.

The Wii / 3DS let's you keep a game on pause.  That's it.

Can you do that on a regular home console?  Yep.  You can pause a console like NES, mid-game.  You can then turn off the TV itself, play your GameCube for the next week, and return to your NES some time to recover that pause and start playing again.  NES doesn't heat up, there are no fans.  It can stay on for months.  The Wii's system is just easier in this regard, but it is NOT some special feature at all really.

(Note that a VC \"pause state\" is NOTHING like an emulator save state, which you can return to again.  If you get game over after your Wii \"pause state\", then there is absolutely NO WAY to recover where you were.)

4) Restricting access blindly to younger (and older) gamers because they don't have the game packed into some plastic, not-Earth-friendly cartridge is a bit of generational snobbery in my opinion.  \"Look at my expensive, hard earned cartridge collection, you don't deserve to even play this games because you weren't around back then.\"  Yeah right.

The game is the code behind the plastic, not the piece of plastic.  It's still being paid for, and the money is still going to the owners (Nintendo, Sega, Capcom, SNK) legitimately in every way.

That is all :)  I don't plan on getting into a debate on this one.  These are the 4 pillars I would refer back to anyway.

Prenz

thelegendarypsr :

Huge list of small differences from a wiki page

Differences from original games
Nintendo has stated that the Virtual Console releases will be faithful to the original games, eliminating the possibility of graphical enhancements, customizable controls, or added online multiplayer features.[62] However, for various reasons, the gameplay experience is not always identical to the original.
For example, some Nintendo 64 games offered optional features that required peripheral hardware, such as the Rumble Pak for force feedback and the Controller Pak for additional data storage. Because these peripherals are not emulated or simulated in Virtual Console, the games play in Virtual Console as they would on the N64 without the peripherals attached.[62] In particular, Mario Kart 64 cannot save \"Ghost Data\" since no Controller Pak is available,[63] and Cruis'n USA and Wave Race 64 have had their save options disabled. Similarly, the Game Boy Color games Mario Golf and Mario Tennis cannot use a Transfer Pak to copy data to or from a real Game Boy Color running the same game.
Some reviewers have reported that games play differently due to the different controllers. For example, Super Mario World is often cited as being more difficult to play due to the GameCube controller's button mapping. The Classic Controller has a button layout more like that of the Super Nintendo's controller, and an adapter has been released that enables a player to plug an actual SNES controller into one of the Wii's GameCube controller ports.[64] Similarly, most N64 Virtual Console games have mapped the C-buttons to the right analog stick and the Z button to the L, ZL and ZR buttons on the Classic Controller, which some reviewers have described as awkward.[65]
Three Famicom games – Excitebike, Mach Rider and Wrecking Crew – included the ability to save player-designed levels via the Famicom Data Recorder. Since this peripheral was never released outside of Japan, the NES versions of these games did not support this save feature. However, all three games have had the feature implemented in their Virtual Console incarnations, allowing players to save course data to the Wii's memory.[66] Additionally, the N64 game Pokémon Snap allowed players to take their Game Paks to special in-store kiosks to print stickers of their in-game photos; the Virtual Console version emulates this by letting players send a photo to the Wii Message Board once per day. By contrast, the Virtual Console version of The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening (Game Boy Color) on the Nintendo 3DS cannot print photos taken in the game, since this required the Game Boy Printer peripheral to be attached throughout the game.
While virtually all Virtual Console games play identically to their original versions, some games have been altered cosmetically to address licensing and copyright issues. For example, Tecmo Bowl (NES) originally included the names of real football players licensed from the NFL Players Association, but since the game's release, Electronic Arts obtained exclusive rights to the license. Consequently, the names were removed from the Virtual Console version, with only the players' numbers being shown. A similar case occurred with Wave Race 64, in which Nintendo's license with Kawasaki had expired and all of the ad banners in the game were replaced with Wii and Nintendo DS banners. The Mega Drive/Genesis game The Revenge of Shinobi originally featured Spider-Man as a boss character, but the game had been banned from later compilations and download services because the license to that character had expired. To address this issue, the 2009 release for Virtual Console removes the Marvel copyright notice and changes the character to pink, but retains all of Spider-Man's behaviors and patterns.[67] And the Virtual Console release of StarTropics (NES) changes the name of one weapon from \"Island Yo-Yo\" to \"Island Star\", since Yo-Yo is a trademarked term in Canada.
Other games have experienced minor graphical differences from their original versions as well: F-Zero (SNES) eliminates the screen flashing when the player runs over the edges of the track, and Nintendo 64 games render polygons at a higher resolution than in their original hardware (though sprites and text appear blocky and pixelated by comparison)[citation needed]. The Virtual Console release of The Legend of Zelda (NES) uses the updated version featured in 2003's The Legend of Zelda: Collector's Edition compilation for the GameCube. While the gameplay is identical to the 1986 original, this release includes the save screen from the Famicom Disk System version, as well as an updated translation of the introduction screen.
One significant difference in gameplay occurred in Kid Icarus (NES), which had its password system altered to disable certain special passwords that gave the main character special powers or large amounts of money, while also enabling new passwords to be found.[68] Many players did not like this change, and the later release of Metroid, which used a similar password system, retained its original behavior[citation needed]. Similarly, Mario Golf originally had a code to enable password input for special tournaments, but had this feature removed for Virtual Console.[69]
Certain games that were originally released only in Japan have been translated and released in other regions on Virtual Console. For example, in Sin and Punishment (N64), all menu commands and certain in-game text (all originally written in Japanese) have been translated into English. The game retains its Japanese title screen, and dialogue subtitles remain in Japanese since the game featured English voice acting.
The NES version of StarTropics shipped with a piece of paper, resembling parchment, which was an integral part of advancing the game's storyline. At one point in the game, the player is instructed to dip the paper into water, revealing a code required to continue. Virtual Console releases of this game work around the absence of this physical item by simulating it in-game or allowing the player to simply click a button to reveal the code.[citation needed]
Re-releases of Game Boy and Game Boy Color games on the Nintendo 3DS give the player the option to play the games as they appeared on their original hardware. By holding a button combination while launching the game, the 3DS presents the game in its original resolution and aspect ratio rather than stretching it to fill the screen, making it appear smaller but less pixelated. Game Gear games can also be played in the original resolution by changing the screen settings on the touch screen menu. Monochrome Game Boy games can be displayed in both \"black and white\" and \"black and dark green\" color palettes, switchable during gameplay.
[edit]PAL issues
With the launch of the Wii in territories using the PAL television system, it has become apparent that in most cases the games supplied for the Virtual Console run in 50 Hz mode and in their original unoptimized state. Unoptimized PAL games run roughly 17% slower than their original speed in 60 Hz and have borders covering the top and the bottom of the screen. Setting the Wii console to 60 Hz mode does not force the 50 Hz game into 60 Hz mode (as is possible on emulators and modified PAL consoles).
All currently released Nintendo 64 games are partially PAL optimized, resulting in full screen games (although still running in 50 Hz and locked to the original slower gameplay speed). This optimization was not the case for the original cartridge versions of Super Mario 64, Wave Race 64 or Mario Kart 64, making the Virtual Console versions superior in that regard.
Additionally, some Super Nintendo games are also partially PAL optimized with reduced borders but still retaining the slower run speed of the original PAL release (Super Mario World, Super Probotector and Street Fighter II).
A select few games were already optimized in the original release to begin with, and are thus just as fast as their 60 Hz counterparts this time around (the most obvious examples being Donkey Kong Country and Donkey Kong Country 2: Diddy's Kong Quest).
TurboGrafx-16 games are the only Virtual Console games to actually run in 60 Hz on PAL Wii systems; this is because the game data was never changed for release in PAL territories, the original hardware itself performed the conversion to a 50 Hz signal.
One example of a poor PAL conversion is seen in the Virtual Console release of Sonic the Hedgehog, which retains the slower framerate, music and borders of the original PAL Mega Drive version,[70] despite the fact that the GameCube release Sonic Mega Collection allows PAL users to choose which version of the game they want to play.
Recently, during Nintendo's 'Hanabi Festival' campaign, certain titles that were never released in Europe are being added to the Virtual console. Some of these games, namely the Japan-only titles such as Super Mario Bros.: The Lost Levels, are run in 60 Hz only, thus keeping the original speed and gameplay. A small reminder is shown when previewing the game's channel. Interestingly, these games can actually be played in both PAL60 (480i) and 480p modes. This makes these releases look significantly better on Progressive displays such as LCD TV's. The fast moving sprites in NES and SNES games generally create a significant amount of interlace artifacts on such displays that the 480p option resolves. However Hanabi Mega Drive titles run in 50 Hz with the usual PAL conversion problems, despite not been released in PAL.
Initially, some PAL Virtual Console games would not display correctly on high-definition televisions when connected via the component lead. However, starting with the April 13, 2007 update of the PAL Virtual Console, certain newly added games, such as Punch-Out!!, support the \"Wii Component Cable Interlace mode.\" This is a temporary fix to problems with various Virtual Console games being played over component cable on HDTVs. The mode can be enabled by accessing the operations guide of the game, and (with the Nunchuk attached) pressing the buttons Z + A + 2 simultaneously. A sound is played if the mode is enabled correctly. Several older games also have updates available to enable the feature, such as Super Castlevania IV. The mode can be disabled by using the same method, but with the button combination Z + A + 1 instead. A full list of games supporting this mode is available at vc-forums.com.[71]
The PAL versions of all 3D Classics games on the Nintendo 3DS except Xevious and TwinBee runs much smoother at 60 Hz unlike the Wii's Virtual Console versions which only run at 50 Hz mainly due to the fact the 3DS versions are semi-modified ports of their original NES versions. The ambassador and the full release versions of the NES games, however, retain their original PAL formats.

thelegendarypsr :

My apologies for the double post

Mods, admins - shall we leave the discussion and decision in your hands now, or are you happy to keep the discussion open for a bit?

Undead :

Maybe it was a bad idea to splitt up VC scores from cardridge scores but please, PLEASE think about this idea:

Make a Option for all Gamer sending a scores to see this score was made on VC or on original Cardridge Games.
What i exact mean is: a Option like on cyberscore (choosing the Handheld/Console you are made this score) for example.

-Super Probotector (SNES) \"made on a SNES Console with Original Cardridge\"
-Super Probotector (SNES) \"made on Virtual Console\"

thelegendarypsr :

(although that's wrong because you're not allowed to put the SS Veyron on the site, but that's me going on a tangent)