Virtual Console

[The NZA]

 

So, there's some good games coming soon, some great ones already available, yet there's reports of VC sales slowing...some are saying the novelty's dying, others compain about everything from the classic's controller not being wireless, to the more relevant pricing system: over here, its $5 for NES titles, $8 for Genesis/SNES, $6 for TG-16, and $10 for the few N64 titles.

 

So far, ive only bought Mario 64, and it plays great on the GC controller. Id absolutely love to replace my NES and especially SNES cart library with something digital, as ive never been overly fond of PC emulators, and the Dreamcast ones are good but imperfect. Better yet, $20 can grab you adapters to play with either your NES or SNES controllers, and let me tell you, the option to play my NES classics on a big TV with the NES Advantage controller, its very tempting.

 

But, id be looking at almost $100 of games, and what's more, what becomes of my new/old library when this medium moves on? If the wii itself dies, i could lose them, i dont even know if i can back them up to SD or other memory or not.

 

Still, another point someone raised elsewhere was: what if we had an XBL-like system? Can you imagine how cool itd be to simply have the option of a high score board, signature-tags and such to show off your skills at Tetris or Contra? The mere thought of old-school games with "achievements' makes my head spin.

 

To me, such a system'd really warrant the price, but as it is, you can often get the original carts off of Ebay for less. If we went to iTunes like pricing (NES titles for $1-2) id likely try out all kinds of ones i never got to play...as it is right now, its a tempting playground that i only get in on when i cant find the game otherwise, like Zombies Ate My Neighbors, likely my next purchase.

[Jables]

My Wii's been gathering dust since about the second week of purchase(bearing in mind I only hired the titles I've played thus far) and I think the big killer for the medium is 1) lack of achievements(Microsoft has ruined console gaming for me) and 2) in the case of VC- no demos. I'm guessing the pricing is roughly the same here-allowing for conversion of course- but I can't justify between 10-17 bucks for games I could ust as easily buy in cart from and plug into the console. As for actual Wii titles, no release yet has really blown my skirt up but then I'm champing for Trauma Centre. With the 360, no matter how inclined I may be toward a title, I can dl the demo and check it out. Nintendo could definitely benefit from something like this, hell, if they were to sell plug-in harddrives you could back your channels, internet preferences & VC purchases onto I'd buy it in a heartbeat and probably even start buying VC titles çause as Nick points out- what if the console goes bust?

[The NZA]

I think Nintendo says you bought the title, there's a record of it, you get it back and such, but ive read guys saying if they send their wii in for repairs, they lose at least their saves or somehting they had on the internal memory...im not all too sure.

 

Again, Achievements on old-school games'd be a blast, fuck even a high-score board to show off would be awesome. I remember spending hours on Mario Kart or NBA Jam tring to beat old records that panch & others'd gotten on my borrowed games. We had crazy competitions for the "build your own boxer" mode in Evander Holyfield's Real Deal Boxing.

 

I agree tho, a demo system (for actual Wii titles) would be great but i gotta say, between hard drive space and download speed i dont know how likely it'd be. Me, im using Gamefly's rentals as a demo, gonna try Cooking Mama and such soon (though again, i recommend Paper Mario quite highly when it comes out there). Demos for VC titles might not really work but then again, youre right that i just dont see me putting down that kinda $ when i dont remember (beyond the few screenshots their online store has) how a game particularly plays.

 

Again, if they do like a half-off sale for the holidays or somethig, i could see stocking up. Im dying to replace my old games, especially with the optin of playing them like they were back then (framerate/controller/TV etc).

[Jables]

'See now, imagine an external harddrive looks like an original NES control, or a 60gig ROBBIE(or whatever that robot fella). That would fucking rock, and vintage nuts like us'd pop that down the cash before our frontal lobes could start screaming with outrage. Yeah?

[The NZA]

haha...yeah, some kinda ROB extrnal drive would be all mine. Even a Game & Watch one...shit, just allowing the use of one, along with a price cut per title'd prolly get me on board. Again, for what its worth, the Dreamcast emulates NES nearly flawlessly; SNES not so much.

[The NZA]

...who voted "the game i want isnt yet out", and what game specifically?

[soldier of fortune]

I've bought a few VC titles, Mario Kart, Super Mario World, Streets of Rage, Sonic, and Super Mario Bros.

Must admit though Mario Kart is a great laugh, me and nanno spent ages playing it at the weekend.

[Jables]

Yeah I shoulda mentioned also that I'd've probably bought a couple staple titles like Mario Kart & such already, but 1) we went on a op-shop scavneger hunt about 2 months ago and found this for my 64 and 2) Alana's learnt to hide her credit card details better since I thrashed the fuck out've it for Xbox points.

[The NZA]

Well, these titles still wont get demos, but for now, we'll get videos - its a start.

[The NZA]

Finally! fuck holding out for Nintendo Club to offer that SNES wii controller.

 

 

In June, videogame crapvendor Innex will start distributing this Retro Adapter by Komodo, a $20 (projected) dongle that will let you plug in and use your NES, Super Nintendno, or Nintendo 64 controllers on the Nintendo Wii, perfect for all those Virtual Console games.

[gunsmithx]

why would I want that when I have my wavebird? :P

[The NZA]

...you ever tried playing any non-N64 games with that monstrosity?!

 

ill get one yet, damn you

[gunsmithx]

your just jealous that i have one!

it is awesome!

[The NZA]

since we're on this - how does it fare with batteries? i want to play Killer 7 sometime and not have like 2 feet of cord between me and the wii.

[Jables]

WaveBird's champion when it comes to battery life. Even when I was rocking the gamecube with that bad boy I hardly ever had to change batteries(and that was frequent use- these days I barely turn the thing on and haven't replaced batteries in like, 2 years).

 

Tragically, I found a second Wavebird the other day for $15, but it was sans receiver. I gotta assume you can't run two off the one receiver/frequency, right?

[The NZA]

switch VC news!

 

Kotaku gets clarification on Nintendo paid service for Classic Games

 

UPDATE (9:50pm): Nintendo confirmed that this monthly plan has indeed changed, telling Kotaku: “Nintendo Switch Online subscribers will have ongoing access to a library of classic games with added online play. Users can play as many of the games as they want, as often as they like, as long as they have an active subscription.”

 

IGN details

 

Will Nintendo announce new details about its new online service plan at E3 2017?

 

We will announce further details later this year.

 

 

Does the compilation of classic games include Super Nintendo and Nintendo 64 games?

 

At launch, the classic game library will include NES games. Super NES games continue to be under consideration, but we have nothing further to announce at this time.

 

 

Will the test version of the chat app launching this summer include the appointment feature?

 

Starting this summer, any Nintendo Switch owner with a Nintendo Account and a supported smart device will be able to use a version of the smart-device app with limited functionality. We have nothing further to announce at this time.

 

 

Is a subscription to the new Switch online service the only way to get classic games or will there also be a virtual console-type service that allows you to purchase games individually?

 

We have nothing to announce on this topic.

 

Are the Classic Game Selection compilation titles yours to keep as long as you're subscribed to Nintendo Online? Do you lose access to these games if you unsubscribe?

 

The Nintendo Switch Online collection of classic games is available only to users with an active subscription

 

so, at the very least, they dumped that dumb idea of only letting you access a classic game with online features the month it drops, which was a really boneheaded idea: PSN proved you only need people to stay active every month to grab rights to play stuff. this is sounding closer to something worth $20/year, depending on the lineup.

 

also, famitsu:

 

Q: In the explanation of "Classic Game Selection (tentative name)", there is "Online Play also ~", but recognizing that games where local battle and cooperation play were made correspond to online games and cooperative play Do you agree?

A: Details about the specification of online play will be announced at a later date.

 

Q: Are the titles that can be played through the "Classic Game Selection (tentative name)" updated over time? Or, will the number of titles that can be played increase, or is it an image that packages are increasing like " Vol.1 ", " Vol.2 "?

A There is nothing we can tell at the moment.

 

Q: Is "Classic Game Selection (tentative name)" different from virtual console (VC)?

A: "Classic Game Selection (tentative name)" which we introduce now is software which adds a new function to the classic game, different from VC. The schedule of VC on Nintendo Switch is undecided.

 

Q: Are there services apart from the one that have been announced, such as cloud saves or distribution of digital items?

A: There is nothing we can say at the moment.

 

Q: Do users need to subscribe to "Nintendo Switch Online" on a system or account basis?

A: Subscription is on a Nintendo account basis. Please wait for future announcement on handling multiple Nintendo accounts with one Nintendo Switch or handling Nintendo accounts with multiple Nintendo switches.

 

Q: Although it is said that you can experience the online system for free before the service starts in 2018, will it be necessary to separately register for the service?

A: The subscription to "Nintendo Switch Online" is done through the Nintendo eShop. You can subscribe by adding the balance to your Nintendo eShop account by credit card or prepaid card. We also plan to sell download cards for "Nintendo Switch Online" usage.

 

so at least we know, whatever form VC ends up taking, the classic game subscription thing is a separate entity - part of me wonders if one will affect the other though, like if Contra III gets online play for the classic game of the month, will the regular version not show on VC for a while? etc