I sold my original Wii back in the Fall of 2008. Not only was it because I needed the cash at the time, and it was still in heavy demand, but I also wanted to donate a portion of the proceeds to the National MS Society. While it was a very generous offer for me to do so, I noticed that I missed a lot of good titles that I really wanted to play: Punch-Out, New Super Mario Bros. Wii, Gradius ReBirth, as well as many upcoming titles that I had strong interest in such as Sin and Punishment: Star Successor, Metroid Other M, and of course, Mario Galaxy 2.

Thus, it was my decision to get another Wii, and what better way of doing so than to purchase the new Black Wii that came with both Wii Sports AND Resort, as well as the MotionPlus accessory. For $200 it was a great deal for anyone ready to get a new Wii.

So I purchased my new Wii, and after hooking everything back up again, I checked my Club Nintendo membership that will still available from my past Wii, and noticed all the previously registered Virtual Console games I had in my collection. However, even with my account linked, I couldn’t re-download my registered titles without purchasing them again. Trying to figure out why, I emailed Nintendo’s customer support. A day later, I received the following reply: "In regard to transferring a Wii Shop Channel account to a new system, the points and content associated with your Wii console are specific to that console, which means there is no way for you to transfer that account to another system."

What crap! You mean to tell me that I need to buy all those registered titles AGAIN? I refuse to do that, and I don’t understand why I am being screwed over like this. Now granted, I sold my Wii previously, but what if I was unfortunate enough to have my Wii go defective, and unable to get it repaired? The result is that I would have to buy a replacement unit, and guess what the results will be again? That’s right, I’ll need to re-buy those Virtual Console titles again! One game for the price of three? You have to be kidding me!

What is with Nintendo and this decision? Yes I can understand they need to protect their digital rights ownership, but look at what Apple does. On iTunes, they are smart enough to allow one account to be shared by up to 5 different systems, be it a MacBook, iPod, iPhone, or iPad. And if you need to get your downloads re-activated? Simple, email or call Apple and they will take care of you.

Microsoft? Same story. My hard drive survived three different 360 consoles. But did I need to make a second and (help me) third purchase on my Xbox Live DLC? No. All I need to do is go to my "Download History" and on each item a quick select of "Download Again" fixes the problem.

So why must Nintendo be so stubborn? It’s not like they are hurting money wise, as the Wii apparently prints money for every unit sold. Reggie needs to look at what Microsoft and Apple are doing and follow their DLC model. But based on my past experiences with him, I doubt that will happen.

If anything, they should at least send me a Wii Points card for all my trouble. I’m not expecting it.

Currently Playing: Red Dead Redemption (360,) Alan Wake (360)

Waiting For: Super Mario Galaxy 2 (Wii)