A recent press conference in Tokyo shed some light on the astonishing success of the Virtual Console service so far.

Nintendo's own Shinji Hatano reiterated a previous figure of 7.8 million downloads and then went on to reveal that currently the service had generated 3.5 billion yen ($33 million / £16 million)

The loaded humble Nintendo exec then said, "We're currently unsure if this is a lot or low. They're not bad figures."

Considering that Nintendo haven't been transparent with the exact figures for what has been downloaded so far this vague statement is about as close as we might get to understanding just how successful the Virtual Console service has been so far. It seems certain by any standards that within a one year period the VC has delivered great returns for Nintendo and the companies who partner with them.