Nintendo Wii Fanboy

The VC Advantage is usually geared toward nostalgia -- specifically, evoking the memories of a time gone by, when we were denied resources such as GameFAQs, we had to look up codes in magazines, and we had to walk two miles uphill to school (both ways!). Help was available in other places besides magazines back then. Needed to know what to play and how to advance? You could turn to a book ... and we're not talking about glitzy Prima strategy guides packed with glossy photos, either.

Growing up, I didn't have much access to gaming magazines, and I'm not even sure why. I'm sure I was aware that Nintendo Power existed, and I know I read a few issues, but I wasn't a subscriber and rarely bought it (blasphemy!). I did, however, read many of Jeff Rovin's How to Win books cover to cover.

Nostalgia is a great thing. Of course, it can have expensive consequences, as the Virtual Console has shown us. What's not fun, however, is downloading a game after remembering how fun it was, only to find that the game is actually terrible.

Have any of you experienced this? If so, what VC games just don't meet up to your nostalgic expectations?

Geek hero, Weblogs, Inc. buddy, and, yes, former Wesley Crusher Wil Wheaton has discovered the Virtual Console, and like all reasonable people who have just been given access to Alien Crush, he likes it! In a column on the generally-not-safe-for-work SuicideGirls website, Wil traces his NES experiences, taking us back to a time when people voluntarily played Kung Fu. After playing a demo NES in a store, he attempted to persuade his parents to purchase a system, calling it "...probably the most advanced computer that will ever be made."

Naturally, when the Wii came along and gave him another crack at The Legend of Zelda and other NES classics, Wil was more than pleased to share the games he grew up on with his stepson. We love to hear good things about the Virtual Console, and we're also glad Wil chose to play NES games in his youth instead of nefarious mind-controlling puzzle games. This is probably the most heartwarming article we've ever read on a porn site.