C64 resurrected on Wii

TechRadar loves the Wii, though we have to admit to having one niggling little problem with Nintendo's wonder-toy.

We simply don’t have the time to dedicate weeks of our lives to playing Nintendo's beautiful epics such as Super Mario Galaxy and The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess. So it’s great news for nostalgia fans and aging, time-poor gamers this week to hear that Nintendo is partnering with

Commodore

to bring C64 games to the Wii’s online Virtual Console shop.

Best selling computer of all time

The C64, according to the Guinness Book of World Records, is the best selling single computer model of all time, with an estimated 22 million units sold.

Internatonal Karate and Uridium are the first two Commodore classics being made available at some unspecified time soon to European gamers only, with further "regular updates" to tap into the C64’s massive back catalogue of over 4,000 games.

C64 games will cost you around 500 Wii points to download (that equates to about £4 in earth money) and the first pair of titles should be available soon.

The wonders of the Virtual Console

If you have yet to check out the wonders of Virtual Console then we urge you to do so, as you can already find hundreds of gaming gems from the not-so-distant past from companies such as Nintendo, SEGA, Turbografx and NEOGEO.

Laurent Fischer, managing director of European Marketing & PR of Nintendo Europe, said of the new partnership, “We are extremely pleased to be working with Commodore Gaming… With over 184 classic titles now available to enjoy, Virtual Console on Wii is a great way for users to access a breadth of classic retro games.

"We hope that this great choice of games will bring nostalgia to our gaming fans, while an entirely new generation of video game players can experience a host of classic games for the very first time.”