My bad! When Nintendo left any and all games for the MSX computer off of their recent release calendar for Virtual Console in Japan, I interpreted that to mean what it has always meant: That the games had been delayed.
But as it happens, Nintendo shoved the MSX game *Aleste *onto Virtual Console at the last minute, meaning that games for the retro computer are finally available on the download service. The launch title — a 1988 shmup by Compile — isn’t exactly that hot of a game, with lots of slowdown and flickering, but there’s an interesting feature. Pressing the minus button brings up the MSX Options menu, above, which is controlled by a Wiimote cursor.
It allows you to change the type of music you hear — the basic bloops of the computer’s built-in sound hardware or the upgraded melodies of the optional FM card attachment — or swap the two fire buttons around, depending on what you’re used to.
Of course you are not used to anything, since this is a purely Japanese retro otaku nostalgia. And it’s for that reason that I doubt we’ll see MSX Virtual Console games on these shores. Still, the addition of MSX to the lineup opens up a wide variety of different possibilities, like Snatcher, or the original Metal Gear games.