The Wii Virtual Console import tax

VC import taxI’ve seen a few people post about this at blogs like 4cr and Aeropause, so I thought it would be worth a post here to see what you guy and gals think. The query is about first party imports on the VC and their “modest” price increase. Or, their import aficionado player’s tax, as I like to call it.

The two import games are 600 points for the Famicom title Super Mario Bros 2 and 1200 points for N64 title Sin & Punishment. The latter required no localization efforts, which is where I initially thought the extra two bucks was going to. Nope. Instead, it’s a tax on players who recognized that both of these titles are worthy imports and wish to download them. Less informed people, like mom and pop or whoever, probably saw Nintendo pimp the fact that these games were “never before released in the U.S.!” and felt inclined to buy something that, to them, felt really rare and special. Either way, it’s extra cash in Nintendo’s pocket.

My VC has been cool lately — thanks in no small part to my AA battery issue — but also because I’m just not in a VC mood right now, so I really hadn’t planned on hitting up either of these games just yet. That’s me though, what about you? Is the import VC tax worth it? How about if it means more import games in the future?