Topic: How Can Nintendo Revitalize the Virtual Console?

[Kairon]

Keep in mind, the content we're talking about attracting here is the content that's not expected to make enough sales to overcome an additional $2500 cost.

I really don't think the problem is the ESRB fee. The problem is getting Nintendo customer butts in seats when it comes to the eShop.

[Louieturkey]

If I buy a VC game, I should be able to play it on every Nintendo system that allows for DL content. PERIOD.  I'd buy a lot more VC and DL titles if I could play them on whatever hardware I have.  It makes zero sense to tie DL titles to intentionally disposable consoles.  SMB should be playable on one's DSi, DSiXL, 3DS, Wii, and WiiU without any hassles or extra cost.  The fact that Nintendo hasn't done this in the last 3 years is bull####.

This is why I no longer buy digital games from Nintendo.  Unless I can transfer my Wiiware/VC titles from my Wii to a WiiU, I won't be buying a WiiU.  With Sony, you used to be able to download a game onto five different consoles without trouble.  They have since cut that down to two consoles (and a PSP or Vita for PS1 classics and PS Minis), but that is still loads better than Nintendo.

Plus, if my PS3 dies on me completely, I can deactivate it and reset which system I can download the games to without hassle.  If my Wii dies, from what I've heard, my games are lost completely.

[TJ Spyke]

Keep in mind, the content we're talking about attracting here is the content that's not expected to make enough sales to overcome an additional $2500 cost.

I really don't think the problem is the ESRB fee. The problem is getting Nintendo customer butts in seats when it comes to the eShop.

The fee is lower for lower budget games. If a game costs less than $250,000 to make, then the ESRB fee is $800.

[Kytim89]

There is a good chance that a GBA and Gamecube Virtual Console will provide an even more robust amount of games than any other console on the service because most of the licensing contracts on those games are still young enough that legal issues might not arise as much as those games that are twenty-plus-years-old. Third party companies like EA and Activision could put out tons of Gamecube games, and there are alreadt tons of good GBA games that could be released for the 3DS. It all hinges on how Nintendo(of America) handles the service in the future.

[Spak-Spang]

If I buy a VC game, I should be able to play it on every Nintendo system that allows for DL content. PERIOD.  I'd buy a lot more VC and DL titles if I could play them on whatever hardware I have.  It makes zero sense to tie DL titles to intentionally disposable consoles.  SMB should be playable on one's DSi, DSiXL, 3DS, Wii, and WiiU without any hassles or extra cost.  The fact that Nintendo hasn't done this in the last 3 years is bull####.

This is why I no longer buy digital games from Nintendo.  Unless I can transfer my Wiiware/VC titles from my Wii to a WiiU, I won't be buying a WiiU.  With Sony, you used to be able to download a game onto five different consoles without trouble.  They have since cut that down to two consoles (and a PSP or Vita for PS1 classics and PS Minis), but that is still loads better than Nintendo.

Plus, if my PS3 dies on me completely, I can deactivate it and reset which system I can download the games to without hassle.  If my Wii dies, from what I've heard, my games are lost completely.

Actually, I am completely with you.  I sold my Wii.  Before I did, I disconnected my Virtual Console games from my Wii and separated it completely.  So that my Wii and account are independent.  I have a Nintendo account...and it has registered all my games.  I should be able to buy a Wii U hook that account to it, and then play my games again I already bought.  If I can do this, I WILL buy a Wii U, because I know if I don't I will lose access to all those classic games.  If Nintendo says NO, you can't...then I will not buy a Wii U period. 

This isn't a hate on Nintendo, because it was my decision to disconnect my Nintendo games from my Wii...and it may end in nobody playing those about $150.00 worth of VC games and Wiiware games.  But I should have understood and read the user agreement fully...my mistake. 

I hope Nintendo shows wise direction in this area...but I have my doubts.

[nickmitch]

Removing the ESRB from the equation is a terrible idea. Nintendo will have to scrutinize the games themselves (much like Apple does). The cost only transfers, it doesn't disappear.

Are you kidding me?  Apple "scrutinizes" the games being released?  No sir!  Apple runs a couple of quick - mostly automated, from my understanding - checks on each game and then publish immediately.  If there are problems (discovered later and reported by the appropriate parties) with offensive or illegal content then they pull the game after-the-fact and keep all profits earned in the meantime as payment for their trouble.

Nintendo already does QA checks that are more intensive before publishing anything on their digital service.

Apple's approval process is known for being arbitrary, nebulous and inconsistent. Do they get in to the nitty gritty of a game? Who the **** knows, but they'll block apps with little to no reasoning and force devs to resubmit. Nintendo shouldn't be using that process

But the VC games already made it past that scrutiny. And given the story about The Binding of Isaac, even with the ESRB Nintendo's scrutinizing potential eShop titles.

I thought we were talking about the VC games that weren't rated already.

Also, isn't The Binding of Isaac unrated? If a lawsuit broke out, Nintendo would be targeted. If it was a M-rated game, they could just put it out there. Nintendo doesn't want that potential liability.

Targeted for what, exactly?  Doing the same thing as every other major digital download service?  Following in the footsteps of iOS - the critical and commercial darling that is supposedly killing their business?

You know, all those lawsuits that came up which resulted in the creation of the ESRB in the first place. Nintendo doesn't want to go back to that. Saying "This game is safe to be on our systems" makes them liable for any damages the game might cause. Simply saying "This game is violent" in the wrong way, could make them liable. Saying "The ESRB said this was rated M" takes the blame off of them because they're deferring to a regulatory body.

We are talking about Virtual Console, which means games that already were published and met the content guidelines on their original systems. Mortal Kombat-levels of violence are probably the biggest issue, and limiting access to downloads of questionable content is exactly why the system has parental controls in place.

I asked if we were talking about those games because I wasn't sure. People keep referencing iOS games. But those game not being rated is what created the need for the ESRB. Saying they're fine as-is now is basically saying the whole ESRB is pointless.

[Uncle_Optimus]

Keep in mind, the content we're talking about attracting here is the content that's not expected to make enough sales to overcome an additional $2500 cost.

I really don't think the problem is the ESRB fee. The problem is getting Nintendo customer butts in seats when it comes to the eShop.

There is no doubt building an audience receptive to download games, and then enhancing the discoverability of those games is the most important challenge.
Behind this there are maybe dozens of policies Nintendo could revisit and revise to boost not just the function of their digital download platform but also their competitiveness vis-a-vis their more highly regarded competitors. Removing ESRB fees from their developer equation for download titles, thus bringing the cost structure a little more closely in line with their fast growing competition, that is indeed only one small fix in what could be characterized as an overhaul!

As a consumer, I agree that a more pertinent change to my bottom line is to remove that customer-unfriendly tethering of purchased content to one system. Given how the notions of fair ownership of purchased content has and continues to evolve, I think Nintendo will have no choice but to give up their current stance or risk further marginalizing themselves.

Covering their ears and singing "la-la-la" is not sound strategy (I notice many folks write off company policy as "Nintendo being Nintendo"). I think the company is generally fairly shrewd. (One recent example is eschewing HD for the Wii to keep costs down, a decision that was business savvy in retrospect but derided by pundits originally.) Nintendo does seem to forestall certain changes to business practice as long as possible though, and this of course has bit them in the ass pretty hard in the past: I.e. "Customers don't want CDs!" Of course customers ultimately didn't care but the publishers and developers sure as hell did :p

*koff* And this brings us back to how decisions sometimes have got to be made to lubricate development....

(Man what a fascinating company, just toeing that line between trailblazing innovator and industry curmudgeon!)

[Kytim89]

Would making Paypal a payment option for the eShop's Virtual Console be a good idea? I could instantly purchase games without having to deal with those points cards again.

[Kairon]

Would making Paypal a payment option for the eShop's Virtual Console be a good idea? I could instantly purchase games without having to deal with those points cards again.

What makes Paypal easier than using a credit/debit card online?

[Chozo Ghost]

Would making Paypal a payment option for the eShop's Virtual Console be a good idea? I could instantly purchase games without having to deal with those points cards again.

What makes Paypal easier than using a credit/debit card online?

I don't know about easier, but it would add an extra layer of security. I don't see it happening though, because that would add in a middle-man which wouldn't offer this service free of charge. Either consumers or Nintendo or both would have to pay them somehow, and for that reason I don't see this happening.

[AnGer]

I just looked through the list of available VC titles for Germany and it isn't that bad a selection, yet I miss some games from the SNES era that were quite popular but somehow didn't make it to VC.

I may also suggest adding games that haven't been released in Europe or even outside of Japan before to the library. Nintendo did this already to a certain degree but largely limited it to their own games (Mario Picross, SM RPG or Sin & Punishment) but I think people here'd like to see stuff like Lufia I.

Plus, Nintendo should definitely redo their emulator. I find it very unpleasant that I have to switch my TV's picture to 4:3 mode to play a VC game and then switch it back to play a Wii game. They really should do it like Sony here.

[MukiDA]

This one isn't hard. First off, stop treating the Virtual Console like new releases. When I look through the Virtual Console, I AM LOOKING TO SPEND MONEY. Limiting my selection is a HORRIBLE idea. So no more weekly releases, just GET IT ALL ON THERE WHENEVER POSSIBLE.

So everything that Nintendo has exclusive release rights on SHOULD BE ON THERE. If they want easy sorting, do it by popularity or reviews. This isn't difficult.

Trick number two is to link the potable and console Virtual Consoles. Get the platforms on each solidly downpact. If all you can get onto the 3DS is the Game Boy and NES, that's fine, but make it ARBITRARY to keep your purchases for each older system sync'd on demand between your 3DS and your Wii U. The game purchase, the current save, and the current "snapshot", should be synced up. This entire architecture needs to be seen as BOTH an easy profit vector and as a simple customer loyalty feature.

Moving your VC from the Wii to the Wii U shouldn't even by UNDER DISCUSSION. Hell, moving your entire VC library to the NEXT FIVE GENERATIONS OF NINTENDO HARDWARE should be a GIVEN. It's 2012 and you WANT people to believe that DRM WORKS, let alone that the virtual console will always be there for them. The VC is something that APPLE, MICROSOFT AND SONY WILL NEVER HAVE. So you really want people to feel like their Virtual Console purchases to feel just as real as the plastic cartridges of old.

In the end, the Virtual Console should almost be an awesome back-burner service, that just MAKES MONEY while you're busy making the big games. It NEEDS ITS OWN MAJOR PRODUCTION AND DEVELOPMENT STUDIO. When release schedules are slim (which Nintendo has dealt with steadily for FIFTEEN STRAIGHT YEARS), the story of someone meandering about the Virtual Console catalog and blowing $30-50 in a go 'cause of all that nostalgia should be COMMON. The idea that I can pick up some NES Mario and Zelda and play them at home, take my 3DS with me and have my games AS-IS outside shouldn't even be up for FUCKING DEBATE. They're all features that should ALREADY BE THERE (I'm sorry, I have a tendency to shout a lot in real life, as well).

TL:DR? Here's the bullet points:

• CATALOG AND FORGET. Put EVERYTHING you can on that service
• FOREVER OWNERSHIP. Guarantee that your VC library will always exist across Nintendo platforms
• PORTABLE GUARANTEE. Can you get it on both 3DS and Wii U? Then you HAVE BOTH, and if you want, we'll keep your game sync'd across both.

There's a lot of things Nintendo is ALREADY SQUANDERING before the Wii U even releases, but the Virtual Console is the most egregious.

[Disco Stu]

First of all, please make the promised transferability of titles from the Wii to the Wii U as painless as possible.  Please.


Second, this probably goes without saying, but the Wii U has to have save states like the 3DS.  Not just the "pick up where you left off" save state, but the one you can make whenever you want.  I've been gaming since the late-80s and I am not ashamed to admit that these days I don't have the patience to finish NES-era games without this feature.  It'd be nice if this feature was available on the NES/SNES titles I already own on my Wii once they transfer.  If that happens, I may finally beat Ninja Gaiden for the first time.


I feel like the synchronization of virtual console between the Wii U and the 3DS is something Nintendo would never do.  I'm not holding breath for it, at least.