Topic: Speculation on the other 10 free games for the Ambassador Program

[Shaymin]

So we know we've got the following so far:

NES - Super Mario Bros, The Legend of Zelda, Balloon Fight, Donkey Kong Jr, Ice Climber
GBA - Yoshi's Island, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Mario Kart Super Circuit, Wario Ware Mega Microgame$, Metroid Fusion

NES

So we've got 2 games that were in the Classic NES series, 2 that were e-reader games and one that was both (Ice Climber). Based on that, and assuming that the only games that they'd have permission to put out gratis is 1st party stuff.

I'm going to open the bidding at: Metroid, Zelda II, Clu Clu Land, Golf and Ice Hockey.

Metroid will be there to dull the pain of no Metroid Zero Mission, and hey, it's the 25th anniversary of Zelda right? If they're not going to plop out another collector's disc, might as well give the loyal fans another cheap thrill. Ice Hockey will be the obligatory proof that they're not just porting stuff that's also been ported to the GBA. Clu Clu Land and Golf are probably the simplest games that don't already have an equivalent game on the eShop already (Excitebike 3D Classic, and Dr Mario will be out on the eShop in all territories by September 1).

GBA
List of possible games
This is the trickier one to predict. There MAY be another Mario Advance game or Mario and Luigi, but I can't see it happening between Mario vs DK, Mario Kart and Yoshi's Island. It may be a little too much Mario for anyone to handle.

I think they may take the opportunity to float a couple of franchises that have been previously moribund, so we're probably going to get two of an F-Zero game, an Advance Wars game or a Fire Emblem game. They have lots of Kirby to play with, a potential Game and Watch Gallery (#4), a couple of remakes of Donkey Kong Country, and quirky stuff like Drill Dozer. The longshots are anything Square-developed (Nintendo is the publisher of record for all of Square's GBA output, but later, rarer stuff like FFVI Advance is NA/Europe only) and any Pokemon game that isn't a spinoff.

My predictions: F-Zero Maximum Velocity, Advance Wars, Kirby Nightmare in Dreamland, Pokemon Pinball Ruby/Sapphire, and Drill Dozer

What say you?

[TJ Spyke]

I think your GBA games are good choices, I really hope they don't include Metroid on the NES side though. I would rather them do something else.

[stevey]

Mother 3 (never to go on sale in the main store)

[TJ Spyke]

Mother 3 (never to go on sale in the main store)

LOL, that would really piss some people off. I am sure it could help boost 3DS sales among groups like Starmen.net, who would buy a 3DS just for this game.

[GoldenPhoenix]

I hope if and when SUper Mario Advance 4 comes out the ereader bonus levels come with it (and the fact they are releasing other games in the Mario Advance series indicates we may see it). Anyway I am impressed with the program, it is more then many systems get when a price cut occurs.

[NWR_insanolord]

I want Mario 3 in some form, either as the NES title (not going to happen if they're sticking with games that were on the GBA), or preferably, Super Mario Advance 4. Mario Golf Advance Tour was #1 on my GBA top ten, so I'd absolutely love to see it.

[Mop it up]

I really have no idea what they could be, but I'm hoping for The Legend of Zelda: Minish Cap, Final Fantasy V, and Tales of Phantasia. Only one of these seems likely to happen of course.

[NWR_insanolord]

I would bet that the GBA games will be limited to first party titles. The good thing about that is there aren't many duds in that group.

[Mop it up]

The games I mentioned were published by Nintendo in North America, but that probably isn't good enough. I own almost all the GBA games that Nintendo studios created, and all the ones I want besides pretty much Zelda: Minish Cap. So I don't think I'll be getting much out of this deal. If they offer a Fire Emblem game then that would be okay too, I've never played a game in the series since it doesn't look like something I'd like, but I still want to try one so getting one for free would be nice.

[TJ Spyke]

Square Enix will probably want to sell Final Fantasy V on the 3DS's Virtual Console one day, so I don't see them agreeing to let it be exclusive to 3DS early adopters. As much as I would like to see some third party games, I do agree that it's almost certain that all 20 games will be from Nintendo owned IP's.

[NWR_insanolord]

The reason we're getting Virtual Console games is because it costs Nintendo effectively nothing. These games were finished years ago, sold, and made back all their development costs, so all this is costing Nintendo is the bandwidth we use to download them. It would start costing them real money if they had to pay any third party for the rights to their games.

[Kwolf]

I wouldn't mind one of the GBA pokemon games.   I haven't played a pokemon game since the original ones.  Minish cap would be nice also.   Looking over the list of possibilities, makes me really excited to see what the other five might be.  I did kinda wonder about some of the titles Mop it up mentioned.  Given that Nintendo didn't announce the other titles right now, perhaps they are maybe working on some deal to give away titles that they helped publish.    I can hope at least.
 
 

[Shaymin]

Don't forget that there's already a Zelda game coming this fall for free (Four Swords on DSiWare).

[noname2200]

Metroid will be there to dull the pain of no Metroid Zero Mission

Hey, don't say that. We might still get the better GBA game. 

Anyhow, I don't see any rhyme or reason to the ten games they've promised beyond "Nintendo games," so I have no idea what the other ten might be. I'd be cynical and say they'll be smaller titles, a la Balloon Fight, but they're already giving us some of the heavy-hitters (Mario, Zelda, Kart), so...

And I doubt Zelda II will be included, but I'd be thrilled to be wrong.

[apdude]

Perhaps the original Kid Icarus to tie into the new release?

[leahsdad]

I'd be cynical and say they'll be smaller titles, a la Balloon Fight, but they're already giving us some of the heavy-hitters (Mario, Zelda, Kart), so...

You know, to be honest, I still have trouble wrapping my head around this too.  Just focusing on the GBA games, for sake of argument--  those are HUGE GBA games.  Assuming that a good chunk of early adopters are, like me, people who check the eshop every thursday and buy anything good, then man, they are losing a bunch of money.  I would have definitely paid for those GBA games when they came up for their turn on the eshop.  Hell, I'd pay upwards $8 or $9, for Fusion, maybe $10? 

So yeah, I would also be cynical and say they'll be smaller titles.  They want to sell at least some of those, don't they?  But hey, I can't make heads or tails of this strategy of theirs.

[NWR_insanolord]

I said this in the Talkback, but my prediction for the final three GBA games is Advance Wars, Minish Cap, M&L Superstar Saga.

[Ceric]

I said this in the Talkback, but my prediction for the final three GBA games is Advance Wars, Minish Cap, M&L Superstar Saga.

Ironically I own all of those but Minish Cap.

[UltimatePartyBear]

I for one have only seen one title announced that I would actually pay money for, and that's Mario vs. Donkey Kong, which had disappeared from retail land by the time I got a GBA.  I either own or have no interest in the rest, but I'll probably play all of them.  I'm hoping for Advance Wars.  I have AW2, but I never even saw the first game in a store.

[Ceric]

I for one have only seen one title announced that I would actually pay money for, and that's Mario vs. Donkey Kong, which had disappeared from retail land by the time I got a GBA.  I either own or have no interest in the rest, but I'll probably play all of them.  I'm hoping for Advance Wars.  I have AW2, but I never even saw the first game in a store.

I remember having a hard time getting mine and I got a GBA at launch.

[leahsdad]

I'm hoping for Advance Wars.

The last levels seemed really hard, and I just couldn't finish them as a result.  Maybe it's because I'm stupid strategy-wise.  Never have been good at those games.  But with a create/restore save state feature?  That might be the unfair advantage I need.

[Pajamas]

I'm hoping for Advance Wars.

The last levels seemed really hard, and I just couldn't finish them as a result.  Maybe it's because I'm stupid strategy-wise.  Never have been good at those games.  But with a create/restore save state feature?  That might be the unfair advantage I need.

I may be wrong, but I think the GBA games are going to be released without save state functionality.

[TJ Spyke]

No, AFAIK they will be released with all the features the games originally had.

[rebonack]

No, AFAIK they will be released with all the features the games originally had.

NES games will be more like beta versions until they're offered up for sale on the eShop, meaning they'll lack multiplayer, save state, and other features. I believe the same is true of GBA games, except they haven't said whether the features will be added later (since they claim they won't be added to the eShop).

[TJ Spyke]

I know about the enhanced NES versions, but I think the reports have been that the GBA games will be pretty much just the games.