Sega of America just announced the lineup of downloadable classic games that it will have available on Wii before the end of 2006. There are some decent games -- like Gunstar Heroes! -- but Sega says the titles will "start" at 800 Wii Points each, which works out to eight of your American dollars.
Eight freakin' bucks? Xbox Live Arcade is cheaper.
Update 1: Matt over at IGN has Nintendo's first-party VC pricing -- $5 for NES games, $8 for SNES, $10 for Nintendo 64. $10 for a game like Super Mario 64 is ok, and there are definitely SNES and Genesis classics worth $8. But not all of them. Altered Beast? I'd rather buy Urban Champion.
Update 2: Chris Remo of ShackNews says that Hudson's Virtual Console lineup, including Bonk's Adventure and Bomberman among others, will be priced at a more reasonable $6 each. Still a little bit pricier than I'd expect for emulated, completely un-enhanced ports of very old games. But slightly better.
Full release (including lineup of games) after the jump.
SEGA UNVEILS VIRTUAL CONSOLE TITLES FOR THE Wii CONSOLE
Ten SEGA Genesis® Classics Will Be Available for Download on the Wii™ in 2006
SAN FRANCISCO (October 31, 2006) -- SEGA® of America, Inc. today announced the first round of titles from its SEGA Genesis® library that will be available on the Wii™ Shop Channel for downloading to play on Wii's Virtual Console™ in 2006. Prices will start at 800 Wii™ Points to download the SEGA Genesis titles. Wii Points can be purchased online or at retail at an MSRP of $20 for 2,000 points. Spanning all the popular genres, the titles available at launch include SEGA Genesis classics such as Sonic The Hedgehog, Altered Beast, Golden Axe, Columns, Ecco the Dolphin, Gunstar Heroes, Space Harrier II, Toe Jam & Earl, Ristar and Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine.
2006 Title Line Up
Sonic The Hedgehog - Play as Sonic in the original high-speed smash hit action video game And rescue your friends from the evil scientists Dr. Eggman! (1991/© SEGA)
Altered Beast - Use the power of the beasts to save the Goddess of Athena. (1989/© SEGA)
Golden Axe - Choose from three warriors; Ax, Tyris and Gilius and fight together to defeat Death Adder. The game supports not only co-op mode but also competitive mode. (1988/© SEGA)
Columns - Line the jewel in vertical, horizontal and diagonal to erase them in the big hit puzzle game that enchants users with its beautiful graphic and sound. (1990/© SEGA)
Ecco the Dolphin - Help Ecco the dolphin find his missing friends by exploring his vast ocean world. Use Ecco's unique sonar ability to talk to other sea creatures while exploring the ocean depths. (1993/© SEGA)
Gunstar Heroes - This big hit action shooter game developed by Treasure enables up to two players to play simultaneously to stop the resurrection of the destructive force plotted by the Imperial. (1993/© SEGA)
Space Harrier II - Space Harrier II is a 3D shooter and was one of the original launch titles for the SEGA Genesis. (1988/© SEGA)
Toe Jam and Earl - Embark on an unexpected journey throughout earth with two funky aliens who love the music and collecting items. (1992/© ToeJam&Earl Productions,Inc. © SEGA)
Ristar - An action game starring Ristar, the child of a shooting star. Use his powers to grab everything around him to blow up monsters and find the truth about his origin. (1995/© SEGA)
Dr. Robotnik's Mean Bean Machine - Dr. Robotnik is stamping out music and fun in Mobius with his giant, robotizing Mean Bean Steaming Machine. Before he turns all the citizens of Beanville into robots, you must save the day by gathering up beans in matching colors and defeating Robotnik's guards! (1993/© SEGA)
"Nintendo has offered a great gateway in bringing classic SEGA titles such as Sonic The Hedgehog, Altered Beast and Toe Jam & Earl to Wii console owners," said Scott A. Steinberg, Vice President of Marketing, SEGA of America. "This is only the beginning though, as you can expect to see more announcements regarding other legendary titles from SEGA's catalog coming to the Wii Shop Channel in the coming months."
In addition to providing downloadable access to Nintendo games from the NES®, Super NES® and Nintendo 64®, the exclusive Virtual Console service only available on the Wii features a "best of" selection from the SEGA Genesis game library that will be updated with new game content every month. After users download Virtual Console games from the Wii Shop Channel, each game will appear in the Wii Channel Menu as its own channel. To play the game, users simply select the game's channel.
