For those of you with Wiis, here it is.

2663 5676 0299 9232

That is my Wii number. Let our Miis be free and Mingle!

But what I really wanted to talk about in this briefest of posts is how Nintendo is a devious little bastard. Collectively. Or perhaps, he who helms the Virtual Console.

I’ve been looking at their pricing system, and it is actually an interesting feat. They have structured the cards that you purchase, and the amount that you pay, so that you will keep buying cards. Observe the pricing of the SNES, TurboGrafx, and Sega games. 800 pts, 600 pts, and 800 pts.

But the cards are only sold in quantities of 2000 pts. So, if at any time you choose to purchase a game from one of these systems, they’ve roped you in. Because you will always be left with extra points that cannot be spent (or you will be forced to by a TurboGrafx game, which no one really wants anyway).

Imagine I buy a 2000 pts card. And I want to purchase Kid Icarus (NES, 500pts), Kirby Adventure (NES, 500pts), and Super Castlevania IV (SNES, 800pts). After making these purchases, I have 200 pts left over. But these points cannot be redeemed in any monetary way. I cannot have the points transfered back to a credit card, or points card which I then sell or something. No. Those points are stuck there, and I need to use them.

And for that, I need another card. 2200 pts is the current balance. Now, I go and make my next ring of purchases. I want to get Donkey Kong Country (SNES, 800pts), Super Mario Bros. 3 (NES, 500 pts),  and Super Metroid (SNES, 800pts). Dammit. Now I’m left with 100pts lingering.

So, I buy another card.

And the cycle continues. It is genius. The only way you can avoid it is by buying only NES and N64 games , or by buying the occasional TurboGrafx game to offset the points numbers (as 1 SNES (or Sega) + 2 TurboGrafx = 2000pts).

It is just plain mean.