I also plan to email both to Nintendo of Europe and Nintendo of America, but what do you think of this?
Dear Sir/Madam
I must initially apologise for the length of this communication, this is because it deals with a rather technical problem; please bear with it!
I am writing to query Nintendo on certain issues regarding the download ?Virtual Console? service on your new Wii console.
The most important query I have is that, although I have set my Wii console to display in 60Hz 480i mode, whenever I choose to play most games downloaded through the Virtual Console, the Wii instead chooses to display the game in 50Hz 576i mode. Is this meant to happen, or do I have a faulty console? I must initially point out that there is an exception; as TurboGrafx-16 games do display in 60Hz mode properly; but games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Mega Drive and Nintendo 64 exhibit this abnormal behaviour.
If Nintendo has in fact chosen to display Virtual Console games in 50Hz 576i, may I suggest a serious error of judgment is being made? 50Hz European PAL conversions of games for these older systems were often substandard and inferior versions of games, typically playing at a noticeably slower speed to the 60Hz American/Japanese NTSC versions, as well as displaying black borders at the top and bottom of the screen, squashing the image on the screen.
If you would like to see a short demonstration of what I mean, I would direct you to look at the video found at the following web address; it is a video showing a comparison of the 60Hz version of ?Sonic The Hedgehog? being played, followed by the 50Hz version. Note that this game is one that is available on the Wii?s Virtual Console and runs abnormally, in 50Hz, even though my console is set to display in 60Hz. The video can be seen at:
The differences are obvious to see. This game is a typical example of what PAL conversions for release in Europe were like. The game runs noticeably slower; for example if you watch the timer in the PAL video it is obvious that it is counting in seconds that are much longer than real time. For a game with particular emphasis on speed, like this one, having slower gameplay is a great disappointment.
Fortunately however, in recent years, PAL televisions have become capable of displaying 60Hz signals, and virtually all televisions in Europe can now display a 60Hz signal without issues. All games consoles released in Europe since the Dreamcast support a 60Hz option, allowing gamers to play their games as originally intended, in full screen and without borders. The two ?next-gen? consoles that have been released so far in Europe, the Wii and the Xbox 360, both contain a 60Hz option in their menus. Retro games that are downloaded through the 360?s Xbox Live Arcade run flawlessly in 60Hz, an example is ?Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting?, so why does the Wii Virtual Console version of ?Street Fighter II: The World Warrior? only run in 50Hz? I would like to point out that Street Fighter II on the SNES was notorious for having an especially poor PAL conversion, with borders even larger than usual, and gameplay with characters akin to ?moving underwater.? It is my understanding that Microsoft make a 60Hz mode mandatory for all games released on the Xbox 360, in fact a 50Hz mode is now optional for developers on that console. European gamers would much prefer a mandatory 60Hz mode to a mandatory 50Hz mode, if the development of a game in two modes is too costly. I believe Nintendo should firmly consider a stance similar to Microsoft?s on this matter.
I find the Virtual Console in Europe at the moment to be a rather poor service for the gamers who would like to play the classics as they were meant to be played. We in the UK and the rest of Europe are paying more for our Wii Points than our counterparts in other regions, and yet we cannot play our games in 60Hz and they can. There is no information on the Wii Shop Channel as to which games run in 50Hz only and which run in 60Hz, so we are unable to make an informed choice as to which games to spend our Points on. Indeed many permutations of 60Hz, 50Hz and 50Hz-optimisation levels have appeared on the Virtual Console. For example:
Five different levels of optimisation for PAL televisions currently exist on the Virtual Console, even though the service is still in its infancy. Can you understand now why the system is so confusing?
Why not display every game in 60Hz? This would eliminate the problem at a masterstroke.
However, I think I do understand why Nintendo has adopted the current system:
However, may I point out that English-speaking customers in Europe, especially in the UK, do not actually require the alternative European language options! As the service is electronic downloads, Nintendo could simply and inexpensively release the USA version of the ROM for download on Europe?s Virtual Console, allowing the emulator on the Wii to run in 60Hz! This is how I envision such a system working:
I hereby freely release this idea to you and grant you all license of using it if you wish to!
My final query regards a specific game. It says on the Wii Shop Channel that ?Mario Kart 64? cannot save Time Trial Ghost Data. I believe this is because Controller Paks (N64 Memory Cards) have not yet been implemented in the Wii?s emulation )I?d imagine a lot of Nintendo 64 games, before release on the Virtual Console, will require Controller Paks to function in the emulation!). Will this Time Trial Ghost Save feature be later included in the game in the future through a Wii System Update?
So, in summary, my queries are:
I appreciate your taking your time to read this long letter. It saddens me that European customers appear to be getting the short end of the stick again when we pay so much more, and I hope Nintendo become aware of this severe issue and implement a solution while the Virtual Console library is still fairly small, allowing a solution to be implemented more simply now, than later when there are hundreds of games in the library.
As you can see, I have enclosed a Stamped Addressed Envelope.
I await your earliest reply.
Yours faithfully,
<Me>
<My address here!>
I must initially apologise for the length of this communication, this is because it deals with a rather technical problem; please bear with it!
I am writing to query Nintendo on certain issues regarding the download ?Virtual Console? service on your new Wii console.
The most important query I have is that, although I have set my Wii console to display in 60Hz 480i mode, whenever I choose to play most games downloaded through the Virtual Console, the Wii instead chooses to display the game in 50Hz 576i mode. Is this meant to happen, or do I have a faulty console? I must initially point out that there is an exception; as TurboGrafx-16 games do display in 60Hz mode properly; but games for the Nintendo Entertainment System, Super Nintendo Entertainment System, Sega Mega Drive and Nintendo 64 exhibit this abnormal behaviour.
If Nintendo has in fact chosen to display Virtual Console games in 50Hz 576i, may I suggest a serious error of judgment is being made? 50Hz European PAL conversions of games for these older systems were often substandard and inferior versions of games, typically playing at a noticeably slower speed to the 60Hz American/Japanese NTSC versions, as well as displaying black borders at the top and bottom of the screen, squashing the image on the screen.
If you would like to see a short demonstration of what I mean, I would direct you to look at the video found at the following web address; it is a video showing a comparison of the 60Hz version of ?Sonic The Hedgehog? being played, followed by the 50Hz version. Note that this game is one that is available on the Wii?s Virtual Console and runs abnormally, in 50Hz, even though my console is set to display in 60Hz. The video can be seen at:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=b0llsb77Esc
The differences are obvious to see. This game is a typical example of what PAL conversions for release in Europe were like. The game runs noticeably slower; for example if you watch the timer in the PAL video it is obvious that it is counting in seconds that are much longer than real time. For a game with particular emphasis on speed, like this one, having slower gameplay is a great disappointment.
Fortunately however, in recent years, PAL televisions have become capable of displaying 60Hz signals, and virtually all televisions in Europe can now display a 60Hz signal without issues. All games consoles released in Europe since the Dreamcast support a 60Hz option, allowing gamers to play their games as originally intended, in full screen and without borders. The two ?next-gen? consoles that have been released so far in Europe, the Wii and the Xbox 360, both contain a 60Hz option in their menus. Retro games that are downloaded through the 360?s Xbox Live Arcade run flawlessly in 60Hz, an example is ?Street Fighter II Turbo: Hyper Fighting?, so why does the Wii Virtual Console version of ?Street Fighter II: The World Warrior? only run in 50Hz? I would like to point out that Street Fighter II on the SNES was notorious for having an especially poor PAL conversion, with borders even larger than usual, and gameplay with characters akin to ?moving underwater.? It is my understanding that Microsoft make a 60Hz mode mandatory for all games released on the Xbox 360, in fact a 50Hz mode is now optional for developers on that console. European gamers would much prefer a mandatory 60Hz mode to a mandatory 50Hz mode, if the development of a game in two modes is too costly. I believe Nintendo should firmly consider a stance similar to Microsoft?s on this matter.
I find the Virtual Console in Europe at the moment to be a rather poor service for the gamers who would like to play the classics as they were meant to be played. We in the UK and the rest of Europe are paying more for our Wii Points than our counterparts in other regions, and yet we cannot play our games in 60Hz and they can. There is no information on the Wii Shop Channel as to which games run in 50Hz only and which run in 60Hz, so we are unable to make an informed choice as to which games to spend our Points on. Indeed many permutations of 60Hz, 50Hz and 50Hz-optimisation levels have appeared on the Virtual Console. For example:
- The vast majority of games are simply the 50Hz versions as they were before, both bordered and slow.
- ?Super Mario Bros? on the Nintendo Entertainment System, while running in 50Hz on the Virtual Console, has been sped up to the same gameplay speed as the 60Hz version. However, the borders are still on screen, and the speeding up has created the undesirable effect of speeding up the music and sound to faster than it should be. Sega Mega Drive games are the only games that actually suffered from slower music and sound from 50Hz conversion, the rest of the consoles only had the visuals slowing, so speeding up the sound and music in Super Mario Bros is incorrect.
- Some games, for example both Nintendo 64 games on the Virtual Console ?Super Mario 64? and ?Mario Kart 64? have reduced borders from their original versions, but still run in 50Hz and at the slower speed.
- ?Donkey Kong Country,? a game developed by Rare, is the only game to run in 50Hz on the Virtual Console but still run at exactly the same speed as the 60Hz version, as well as displaying in full screen.
- TurboGrafx-16 games are the only games that run in 60Hz on the Virtual Console. However, this is the correct method, and is the only way to ensure that every single game on the Virtual Console is displaying as it was meant to be played by the original developers.
Five different levels of optimisation for PAL televisions currently exist on the Virtual Console, even though the service is still in its infancy. Can you understand now why the system is so confusing?
Why not display every game in 60Hz? This would eliminate the problem at a masterstroke.
However, I think I do understand why Nintendo has adopted the current system:
- When these games were released in different territories, the actual data on the game cartridge was different. Typically, there was a Japanese Version, a USA Version, and a PAL (Europe/Australasia) Version of the actual game data.
- Nintendo has released the PAL Version of this actual game data (which I believe is called a ?ROM?) on the European Virtual Console, because the PAL ROM is the only version containing the alternative European language translations. A side effect is that this version is also the only one that runs in 50Hz.
- TurboGrafx-16 games run in 60Hz on the Virtual Console because the ROM of the game was never changed for European release, the console itself had a 50Hz conversion chip inside! Therefore the frequency is actually selectable by the TurboGrafx-16 emulator on the Wii, but not for the emulators of other consoles, that are locked to the PAL ROM?s 50Hz setting.
However, may I point out that English-speaking customers in Europe, especially in the UK, do not actually require the alternative European language options! As the service is electronic downloads, Nintendo could simply and inexpensively release the USA version of the ROM for download on Europe?s Virtual Console, allowing the emulator on the Wii to run in 60Hz! This is how I envision such a system working:
- Where the current information is on the Wii Shop Channel of which game controllers may be used with a download (Wii Remote/GameCube Pad/Classic Controller) another graphic is displayed showing if the game is available in 50Hz, 60Hz or both.
- Where there is currently one ?Download? button, there would be separate ?Download 50Hz Version? and ?Download 60Hz Version? buttons. The 50Hz download would link to the PAL ROM; the 60Hz download would link to the USA ROM.
- If a user chooses to download the 60Hz version, a warning could be displayed saying ?Only the English language will be available in the 60Hz version of this game. If you require alternative languages, please download the 50Hz version.? This would allow the user to continue downloading the 60Hz version or cancel if they need alternative languages.
- When this system is initially rolled out, a Wii System Update could check if each Wii has 60Hz display mode selected or not, and if it does, it could automatically download the USA ROM onto the Wii in question.
I hereby freely release this idea to you and grant you all license of using it if you wish to!
My final query regards a specific game. It says on the Wii Shop Channel that ?Mario Kart 64? cannot save Time Trial Ghost Data. I believe this is because Controller Paks (N64 Memory Cards) have not yet been implemented in the Wii?s emulation )I?d imagine a lot of Nintendo 64 games, before release on the Virtual Console, will require Controller Paks to function in the emulation!). Will this Time Trial Ghost Save feature be later included in the game in the future through a Wii System Update?
So, in summary, my queries are:
- Is my Wii meant to be displaying all Virtual Console games (excluding TurboGrafx-16) in 50Hz, even though my Wii is set to display in 60Hz in the menu, or is it faulty?
- Will Nintendo consider releasing a Wii System Update to the Virtual Console to allow our downloaded games to play in 60Hz, the way they are meant to be played?
- Will Nintendo consider releasing a Wii System Update to the Wii Shop Channel to allow us to see which games will run in 50Hz only, 60Hz only, or both before we purchase and download them?
- Are Nintendo planning to release a Wii System Update to Mario Kart 64 to allow the game to save Time Trial Ghost Data?
I appreciate your taking your time to read this long letter. It saddens me that European customers appear to be getting the short end of the stick again when we pay so much more, and I hope Nintendo become aware of this severe issue and implement a solution while the Virtual Console library is still fairly small, allowing a solution to be implemented more simply now, than later when there are hundreds of games in the library.
As you can see, I have enclosed a Stamped Addressed Envelope.
I await your earliest reply.
Yours faithfully,
<Me>
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