Virtual Download Network: Which Service is Better?

As the age of high-def and online gaming became more and more overwhelming, the potential for classic gaming seem to disappear from the outside world and now three competitors had open a new virtual world that will build a new home for those classic games to be remember. Now as gamers we must decide of the three, which one would be the most dominate and which one would flop. Hopefully, one of them may be here to stay but to which one, you decide. Here are the three virtual download services from our three competitors and their many ups and downs that you should know of.

Microsoft X-Box Live Arcade

Advantages:

This is Microsoft online arcade service that offers X-Box and X-Box 360 owners the chance to download and plays some of the greatest arcade and classic titles from the past complete with new online features. Some games ranged from old classics like Pac-Man and R-Type to arcade fighters like Ultimate Mortal Kombat 3 to Street Fighter II' Hyper Fighting to timeless arcade beat 'em up like Double Dragon and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II and even console fan favorites like Castlevania: Symphony of the Night and Sonic the Hedgehog. Though the price of each title varies from one another the features it held are very well worth it.

Disadvantages:

Although Microsoft created the service for arcade fanatics and classic gamers, the problem with the service is that as of today, the numbers of playable games are a bit in the small list. There aren't many interesting features to some of the arcade classic like Pac-Man and some arcade classics that were once challenging before at the time when it came out as an arcade game, are now nothing but a quick brisk of simple play to kill time, for example Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles II was the first turtle game to came out at the arcade. At the time when it was an arcade game, it's very challenging because it requires the players to keep playing and if a players runs out of quarters or token, then it's game over, but in X-Box Live Arcade, the game gave the player infinite quarters much like infinite lives in an actual brawling game. This feature ruins the challenge and makes the game nothing but a quick arcade play through and there are no options for setting number of lives to spice up the challenge.

Sony PlayStation Network

Advantages:

Sony also had its very own virtual gaming system built into its online service via PS3 and PSP. The PlayStation Network is a virtual network that allows players to play downloaded games, watch downloaded movie trailers, and listen to any downloaded mp3s. There are also many features that will become available in the case if the player downloads any firmware update to update the features overtime and there are even some classic titles that came out with new features as well and at cheaper friendly prices. Sony even announce that some of their all time PSOne classics can be download to be found on the PlayStation Network. Also the PS Network will also had games trophies and demo game trailers for views in Sony's new downloaded Second Life-style virtual world called Home.

Disadvantage:

Although games, movies, and music can be play in the PlayStation Network, some of the stuff that can be downloaded there are just extras that were supposedly available or already available on some certain games for example old titles like Mortal Kombat II, Rampage World Tour, and NARC are just a few. They are just ported versions of old games found in the recent Midway Arcade Treasures 2 collection and if you already had that collection you will waste money downloading them in the PS Network. Also some games like Tekken: Dark Resurrection; though cool and cheap, were just an updated games ported from their PSP versions and some games like flOws feels much like graphic demo then an original games themselves. Also many of the available classic PSOne titles that can be downloaded and store on the network can only be played by transferring them to the PSP and for those who doesn't had a PSP may find them useless and unplayable.

Nintendo Virtual Console

Advantages:

This network is Nintendo's way of making the Wii backwards compatible for playing classic games. At first it was just a simple idea, Nintendo announce it that classic games from their three previous consoles: the NES, Super NES, and Nintendo 64 can be downloaded and play on the Wii for a small fee or from purchasing Wii points. Now having the options to download only classic games made for those three Nintendo systems is a good thing, but nobody ever believe that other classic competitors would want to join in on the fun. NEC and Sega also wanted a position in Nintendo's virtual territory and thus games from the Sega Genesis and Turbo Graphix-16 were available for download. Also more good news arise when SNK and MSX also announce that classic titles from their MSX and Neo Geo consoles were to be available for download on the VC soon as well and import titles such as Super Mario Bros. - The Lost Levels and Sin and Punishment which never saw the lights of day here in the U.S. back then are now available for play for the first time. Nintendo even allowed developers the options of creating new fresher games though none are found in the VC yet. The best news of them all is that once player download a certain game, if that game is accidentally deleted from their Wii, player can re-download it free of charge.

Disadvantages:

Although Nintendo focus only on games from classic consoles, chances are some of these games may or may not had any quality in them and no new features were included aside from a save anytime option built in the VC. Online plays are also unavailable and for the many that already had the original cartridge versions on the original console may find it useless to re-download the same games. Another problem is that Nintendo's Wii console only had limited memory storage and no hard drive to back it up, players are required to used SD Cards in able to save the many downloads that are available. And also though Nintendo let's you save your own VC games through SD Cards, the downloaded VC games that were download from their original Wii console can only be play on that console, meaning that if you download your VC game through your brother's Wii, you can only play it on your brother's Wii and none other. Players can't transfer downloaded games to other Wii console nor can they play them on other Wii console as well.

So, in conclusion, Microsoft, Sony, and Nintendo all had different strategies in their virtual gaming world. While X-Box want to bring back some timeless classics and the arcade era games with online features, Sony wanted to give players the edge of creating their own virtual multimedia library. Nintendo, on the other hands focus on offering players the chance to re-experience classic games from classic consoles of the past without online experience but also allowed for new games to be created as well. No matter which service you choose or had available to you chances are, you will at least find one classic game that you may enjoy though one may be better than others.