Topic: I think I know why Nintendo is holding back VC games

[WindyMan]

Refer to my still-under-construction blog:

http://www.windyman.net/?p=60

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If Nintendo can release great games in Japan and Europe, why not in North America? There must be a reason.

It might have something to do with Sega. While we bitch and complain about the lack of Nintendo classics, Sega is pulling no punches. By the end of the year, this will be the Genesis lineup (in alphabetical order):

   * Altered Beast
   * Columns
   * Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine
   * Ecco the Dolphin
   * Golden Axe
   * Gunstar Heroes
   * Ristar
   * Sonic the Hedgehog
   * Space Harrier II
   * Toe Jam & Earl

Compare that to Nintendo’s post-launch VC additions. Notice a difference in quality? Not even a month after the Virtual Console service began, Sega already has most of their top-tier Genesis games available to download. So where’s the best of Nintendo? Most SNES games are good enough to compete with Sega’s releases, right? So where are they?

Isn’t it obvious yet? Nintendo is letting Sega have top billing on Virtual Console.

[NinGurl69 *huggles]

k.

[Hocotate]

Interesting... you know I never thought of that, but it makes sense. This waiting for Nintendo's big guns will make it all the more hyped when they are finally released though

[King of Twitch]

Sega does on VC what Nintendon't

[ShyGuy]

TG-16 is also sharing the spotlight. Perhaps these third party rewards will entice say...... SNK?

[Kairon]

SNK sure as hell better get on the VC, because I've never bought one of their games before, but I'm all geared up to buy almost anything on the VC.

~Carmine "Cai" M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

[JonLeung]

Maybe they're waiting for every physical copy of the NES Classics games on the GBA to finally sell before releasing them?

[utarefsoN]

the problem with SNK is that it is no longer in existence.... Bankrupt years ago. Though most of there people started a new company. Just cant remeber which. So getting the licenses to the games is a legal cluster fock.

[Neodymium]

I just read the letters S, N, and K in sequence regarding the Wii VC.

Now I need to wash my pants.

[Pittbboi]

See, your reasoning makes sense. It just ticks me off that they're even doing this.

It's one thing to hold off from releasing your entire gaming library to keep from flooding the place. However, all this picking and teasing and over-pricing Nintendo's doing with their VC is overkill. The main thing I feared about the VC was that Nintendo was going to use it as a crutch, and slowly but surely that seems to be the case. And there's no excuse. I shouldn't be anticipating SNES GAMES on my freaking Wii. They should just be there. Screw trying to help Sega out. Heck, this whole freaking operation is nothing but profit.  

[trip1eX]

Well they know you'll buy the big releases so they hold those off and tempt you with lesser fare first.

[Pittbboi]

But that's what I hate. I don't know about you,  but I pretty much have a good idea of what I liked on the NES and SNES and what I've always wanted to play. I'm not going to go for the lesser fare. And hey, even if I did decide to take a risk, I would do it anyway even if every single game Nintendo ever made was already on the VC.

They're treating the VC as part of their money-making strategy instead of a perk, which is what it should be. No matter what, Nintendo is going to make a profit from the VC. There's no way they can't. Them stretching the titles out so thinly is just them wanting to make as much money as they possibly can, and make the dry spells seem not so bad (which they'll still be. Because no amount of VC titles are going to tide me over if I'm anticipating a Wii game).

[Keldryn]

Seriously, the Wii hasn't even been out for a month yet.  If Nintendo releases a huge number of VC games all at once, there's going to be a mad rush all at once, putting a lot of stress on the servers and clogging their 'net pipelines.  And then everybody will be complaining about how long it takes to download stuff and how their download keep timing out.  Gamers will have a better experience purchasing titles when the online service isn't bogged down with hundreds of thousands of users downloading hundred of megabytes of data at a time.  And on the plus side for Nintendo, customers are more likely to buy more games over the long run if they're spread out over several months rather than if all of them are available right from day one.

All of this complaining is dumb.  It hasn't even been a single month yet.  Nintendo will release a few titles at a time, which makes sense from pretty much any perspective.  

[RiskyChris]

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Originally posted by: Pittbboi
But that's what I hate. I don't know about you,  but I pretty much have a good idea of what I liked on the NES and SNES and what I've always wanted to play. I'm not going to go for the lesser fare. And hey, even if I did decide to take a risk, I would do it anyway even if every single game Nintendo ever made was already on the VC.

They're treating the VC as part of their money-making strategy instead of a perk, which is what it should be. No matter what, Nintendo is going to make a profit from the VC. There's no way they can't. Them stretching the titles out so thinly is just them wanting to make as much money as they possibly can, and make the dry spells seem not so bad (which they'll still be. Because no amount of VC titles are going to tide me over if I'm anticipating a Wii game).

Nintendo is not your friend.  Nintendo is a business.

Thankfully, stretching out VC titles is about as evil as they will be.  At least they're not forcing Blu-ray on us.

[Pittbboi]

Well, duh. Nintendo being my friend would be them giving out virtual console games for free. Spreading them out like this is just mean.

And I refuse to see how much weight on the server this would be when are just a few megs, NES games even less than that, and only having SD cards to work with. There are servers that could handle that amount of traffic with ease.  

[UncleBob]

Are you kidding?  Their servers couldn't even handle updating all the Wii's on the 19th within a decent time frame...

[MorningStar]

How is Nintendo SO BAD at going online?

[Viewtiful mario]

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Heck, this whole freaking operation is nothing but profit.

[Sarcasm] REALLY?! that's ubserd! what next, are you going to say they make video games just so people will buy them and so they can make a profit? Thoes evil evil people![/sarcasm]

look at it this way, the T-G16 has already released Bonks adventures, Superstar Solder, and Bomberman, what else do they have left?  The wii is going to be out for 4 years, what's the point of quickly releasing titles if you've got plenty of time to do it.  Lests say nintndo releases Super Metroid, Earthbound, Zelda, Super mario World, and all of there other best selling francises within 6 weeks.  That's 42 days and already they've given us there whole library of AA titles.  Now what are they going to release for the other 98% of it's 4 year life cycle?  If they release it all right when everyone wanted it then there wouldn't be anything to look forward to in the future.

[NeoThunder]

You know, I keep saying the best way to handle this would be a boycot.
On the pricing that is.  If people were to all of a sudden stop buying Wii points cause of the overpricing of games.  I'm sure we would see them come down.  

However, I have to say even 3 or 4 new games a week is a lot more than Xbox Live Arcade....however, the small amount of VC games at launch was inexcusable.

[oohhboy]

I thought we banned the B word after that mess that kicked up years ago. Lets not speak of it again.

Beyond network considerations, emulation issuses, nintendo is in no rush to release thier own games because they will sell regardless of when they are released. It is no different from what happened during launch. Nintendo delayed/held back most of their line-up to give 3rd party some spot light time. At any given time there is only so much money being spent on games, even during launch. If they flood a time period with their own games, everybody else runs the risk of staving.

Also currently demand excceds supply for thw Wii, therefore, they don't need to increase demand. they need to bring their console supply up. Generating extra demand now would be a waste of effort and time for both Nintendo and the comsumer at large.

[31 Flavas]

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Originally posted by: MJRx9000
Sega does on VC what Nintendon't

Heh... You're familiar with the GBA "NES Classics" line of games, right? I saw an ad in Nintendo Power magazine for essentially a "Genesis Classics" release of Sonic the Hedgehog (the original) for the GBA.

My first reaction literally was, "Hey wait.... What about all that Blast processing crap? Sega does what Nintendon't!"

[SixthAngel]

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Originally posted by: Pittbboi

The main thing I feared about the VC was that Nintendo was going to use it as a crutch, and slowly but surely that seems to be the case. And there's no excuse. I shouldn't be anticipating SNES GAMES on my freaking Wii. They should just be there. Screw trying to help Sega out. Heck, this whole freaking operation is nothing but profit.

First of all the VC is in no way being used as a crutch.  The system is on the market for a month and in demand like crazy this is simply not the case.  There are also some great games out already (Zelda and Elebits come to mind).

You also should be anticipating VC game releases, that is what Nintendo wants.  These games are older but are being released just like new games.  Mondays have already become a Wii event, something that draws attention and the games even get some hype.  The trend is going to continue with big names being spread out, get used to it.

[The Omen]

Probably true, and at $8 a pop, this is the most money Sega has generated since 1990.

[NWR_pap64]

I STILL want to know how much the VC is doing in the US.

Maybe Nintendo is seeing how the third party games are doing before fully investing on the VC.

[BlkPaladin]

Well if others who buy for the VC are anything like me. There is nothing to worry about. I'm already have eight titles on top of what I bought in new games..