Nintendo Wii Fanboy

Today's news: The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time hits the Virtual Console in Europe, and every gamer in Japan and the U.S. shakes their fist and curses Nintendo. What a coup! It seems like things are really hot and cold for Europe when it comes to gaming. Usually, gamers have to pace around, waiting for games and systems that are months delayed, but when you guys get something early, it tends to be pretty awesome.

So ... you downloading it today? OoT isn't cheap by VC standards, but is that much to pay for what many consider to be one of the best video games of all time?

Today's releases:

• Kid Icarus -- NES -- 500 Wii points
• The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time -- N64 -- 1000 Wii points

A handful of new NES titles are destined to hit the VC today at their usual time of 9am PST. With all three being solid titles from the Nintendo Entertainment System's line-up of games, we suspect we'll be forced to give each and every one a download. The details for each game are:

• Kid Icarus - NES - 1 player - 500 Wii Points
  
• Ice Climbers - NES - 1-2 players - 500 Wii Points
  
• Kirby - 1 player - 500 Wii Points

Will you be joining us in giving these a download today?

Yes, the U.S. Virtual Console launch line-up is a bit ... anemic. We know, it hurts. However, one has to consider why it doesn't really matter: 1) We'll all be too busy playing Twilight Princess to bother with the Virtual Console immediately, and 2) Nintendo has promised ten new Virtual Console releases per month. That's quite a bit, especially looking at how often Xbox Live Arcade is updated, but the question then becomes: what's on the horizon?

Well, thanks to the ESRB, we've got a clue. The ESRB requires that games be rated before release, which obviously means that companies need to send in their product quite a bit in advance. Since they publish their ratings, we've managed to score a list of eight potentials, and quite an eight they are (all rated E for Everyone):

• Duck Hunt
  
• Hogan's Alley
  
• Kid Icarus
  
• Kirby's Adventure
  
• PilotWings
  
• Pro Wrestling
  
• Punch-Out
  
• Wild Gunman

Kid Icarus, Duck Hunt, and Punch-Out? Holy hell. The Virtual Console is awesome.

[via Joystiq]

[Thanks, Zeke!]

[Update 1: Legal issues?]