Gaming Forums => Nintendo Gaming => Topic started by: NWR_insanolord on October 28, 2014, 07:28:26 PM
Title: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 28, 2014, 07:28:26 PM
Between the various Castlevania titles and Demon's Crest, not to mention the unexpected return of Donkey Kong Country, at least in Europe, the Virtual Console has had its best month in quite a while. With the pace of releases speeding up (at least on the Wii U), Nintendo seems to be taking the service more seriously.
We've seen theme weeks and sales, but what else do you think Nintendo should do to revitalize the service? Is there a specific tactic you think Nintendo should take with it, or a specific addition they should make? What platform should be the next addition to the library?
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: Soren on October 28, 2014, 07:35:54 PM
Finally start releasing the DS library like they promised at the start of the year for starters.
Hey N64 games. Where are they? I'm not even going to bother saying Gamecube because who knows when that's going to come.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: marvel_moviefan_2012 on October 28, 2014, 07:51:57 PM
Finally start releasing the DS library like they promised at the start of the year for starters.
Hey N64 games. Where are they? I'm not even going to bother saying Gamecube because who knows when that's going to come.
The N64 games are already there, you just have to go into Wii mode to play them. I am very satisfied with virtual Console its still my favorite aspect of Wii/Wii U ecosystem. I have way too many games backed up to worry about whats new to come.
But in the interest of offering some suggestions, DS games would be nice, so would more GBA and Game Cube obviously a welcome addition. What I personally would like to see would be some more retro classics, like get some damn Atari 2600 on there, gold mine right there. They could also use some more Arcade games in the arcade section and possibly some Sega CD stuff like PSN has. Also there are dozens of SNES and Genesis games I am still waiting for them to release, they seem to have really slowed down on those in recent years.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: TrueNerd on October 28, 2014, 08:01:20 PM
October was a great month because they put out a good amount of good content. Just keep doing that.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: UncleBob on October 28, 2014, 08:51:04 PM
Online play... :(
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: pokepal148 on October 28, 2014, 09:44:46 PM
having games would help.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 28, 2014, 09:52:49 PM
They had a lot of games this month, especially in Europe. That may be an outlier, and given the history of the service it probably is, but I'm choosing to be optimistic.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: pokepal148 on October 28, 2014, 09:58:44 PM
Most of those games are from capcom who only have so many games they can do.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 28, 2014, 10:00:12 PM
There were at least 4 Castlevanias in there, which are Konami. Not to mention six Donkey Kong games in Europe from Nintendo.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: pokepal148 on October 28, 2014, 10:03:00 PM
I always get that one mixed up, doggone it.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: Phil on October 28, 2014, 10:07:25 PM
I don't want to say anything good about it because I don't want to jinx it! It'd be all my fault! :'(
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: Spak-Spang on October 28, 2014, 11:22:55 PM
Where does it need to go.
Simple: It needs to be self contained and considered its on virtual console literally. This means one purchase play on any Nintendo device.
Also, Nintendo needs release only one version of each title. Hopefully choosing the best version. So Arcade Donkey Kong, not NES Donkey Kong.
Finally, add new stuff with the emulation. online multi-player, (Even if it still uses split screens.)
And after they make all this...fast release of the library. I am talking 10 games a week...not 2-3.
As it is, Nintendo is charging a pretty high premium for older digital games. They really need to up their game and provide a better value and experience.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: famicomplicated on October 29, 2014, 12:20:00 AM
It's not hard:
Step 1: Get to the amount games that was on the Wii FOUR YEARS AGO
Step 2: Continue releasing games
Bonus CRAZY idea: Keep handheld games on 3DS, console games on Wii
IMO, the VC has gone backwards not forwards in terms of systems and games. It is a completely ridiculous situation, and considering the Wii U will only be around for another 1/2 years, frightening to think it might all be reset AGAIN for the next system....
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 29, 2014, 01:04:19 AM
With the Wii U's successor most likely featuring a completely different architecture, it'll probably be an even harder reset than the Wii U was.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: marvel_moviefan_2012 on October 29, 2014, 01:20:09 AM
The Wii U's successor is already out there, its called the PS4.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: NWR_insanolord on October 29, 2014, 01:26:03 AM
And the PS4 does feature a completely different architecture.
Really, though, I think the thing I want the most from the Virtual Console is a sense of stability and consistency. We had an amazing October, but that probably won't last, and with no real reasoning.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: marvel_moviefan_2012 on October 29, 2014, 01:28:59 AM
I did my part, honest. I spent enough to earn six of those DDP promo tickets and I barely had this thing a month.
I did check out the PS4 virtual store and yeah its not as awesome as PS3 is so maybe Nintendo needs to not follow Sony's footsteps and just work on getting more partners.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: Spak-Spang on October 29, 2014, 02:59:57 AM
What I don't understand, I thought the games had the emulators sort built into them.
We don't need a restart, what we need is a single purchase, online enabled, start with all the games available being here from the start.
Also, Nintendo needs to make the contract for 3rd parties if you release the game on the VC it will be there permanently...into even future consoles.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: Triforce Hermit on October 29, 2014, 09:21:38 AM
Crawl up Square Enix's ass for releases from the NES and Gameboy consoles. Add a SNES library, and a Gameboy Advance library.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: Khushrenada on October 29, 2014, 11:32:19 AM
"Where does the Virtual Console go from here?"
Back into its crypt to return to its eternal slumber.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: marvel_moviefan_2012 on October 29, 2014, 11:54:36 AM
I did my part, honest. I spent enough to earn six of those DDP promo tickets and I barely had this thing a month.
I did check out the PS4 virtual store and yeah its not as awesome as PS3 is so maybe Nintendo needs to not follow Sony's footsteps and just work on getting more partners.
I was wrong I guess I had 8 gift cards issued to me looks like I have spent more money than I realized.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: Luigi Dude on October 29, 2014, 01:22:10 PM
Start getting Sega and TurboGraphix games again. TurboGraphix especially since the Japanese eShop has PC-Engine games making the lack of them in the West even more confusing.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: Mop it up on October 29, 2014, 01:53:12 PM
I get the feeling that sales of Virtual Console games had slowed way down, which is why they started trickling them out and don't seem them as a priority anymore. It's also probably a part of why Nintendo are more focused on bringing new content to the VC like Earthbound and GBA games instead of converting over the Wii catalogue, which is technically still playable on a Wii U so Nintendo figure that's good enough.
What I would like to happen are these things, most of which I think won't happen: -Get the entire Wii library on Wii U. -Make a unified VC across 3DS and Wii U for all games that can run on 3DS (NES, SNES, and Genesis should work, not sure about GBA, supposedly the 3DS has a hard time emulating it when still running the full 3DS OS). So if you buy an SNES game on Wii U, you can also play it on 3DS at no extra cost. Buy a Game Boy game on 3DS, you can play it on Wii U too. -No fees to transfer/update games to the next systems. -Add netplay. Currently I don't buy VC games, but I totally would if they had netplay. -Add Game Boy Color and Super Game Boy features to GB VC games.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: marvel_moviefan_2012 on October 29, 2014, 02:21:49 PM
or consider, don't shoot me, putting VC onto Steam to reach a wider audience especially if they don't consider PC's to be a threat.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: MagicCow64 on October 29, 2014, 05:49:13 PM
I think it's pretty clear at this point that the WiiU virtual console will never be as robust as the Wii's was. Partially due to Nintendo's curious apathy and partially due to the seeming reluctance of third parties to put out games beyond Capcom and Konami. I mean, it should be nearly free money, but I suspect at this point the volume is too low for the effort. And/or they want to juice "HD" remasters or whatever for IOS or PSN.
What I think Nintendo should do for the next system:
-Stop building the emulators into the games. If there were just system-wide emulators built into the console they could firehose games out, with adjustments necessary for a few titles that used special cartridge chips.
-Increase the number of save state slots. It's a great feature that would be given even more utility with extra slots, and further discourage illegal emulator use.
-Speaking of illegal emulator use, they should keep competing with these on features. Add stuff to the Virtual Console like speeding up games, graphics options, etc. (the GBA game options are a good step). Allow the user to toggle post-hoc "fixes" for slowdown and flickering and whatnot, while keeping the original experience intact for people who prefer it.
-Release Startropics and Blaster Master on the WiiU so I can finally cheat to beat the games.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: Louieturkey on October 29, 2014, 07:08:26 PM
I'm not touching VC again until it's cross buy where one purchase means being able to play it on all systems which the game is compatible.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: Retro Deckades on October 29, 2014, 08:57:27 PM
I wrote a (long) letter to RFN with the following suggestion which unfortunately never made it to air.
If it's a money issue (i.e. licenses, fees third parties need to pay, etc.), why not allow a pre-order/kickstarter-like option for possible future releases? The funds could go toward getting the game released on the service. Once funded and released, all future purchases would be money in the bank. It might help to alleviate any anxiety third party publishers may have, and it could possibly help bring games with licensing issues to the service. All they need to do is throw up a page on the eShop where people can periodically vote/pre-order. Heck, it might even help drive more traffic to the eShop on a regular basis.
Anywho, I'm probably oversimplifying it, but I think there's a potential solution in there somewhere.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: ClexYoshi on October 30, 2014, 06:40:08 AM
I have a fun and facinating little solution to this if they continue to build the emulator into the ROM...
how about lifting policies on modifying code on these games? they dipped their baby toes into this with things like 3D Classics Kid Icarus having far better controls based on the Game Boy title, or letting Sega make enhanced emulators for their titles, or some of the ideas like Super Luigi Bros. or Fast Mario Bros. in the NES Remix packages? this could allow for a number of things.
-LUA scripts like what's possible with FCEUX. There's a LUA script for Metroid that pretty much adds in the mini-map and the pause menus from Super Metroid, including quick switch between ice beam and wave beam after they've been aquired and it makes the game SO much more playable...! they could of course run with it in other directions too, like say... right analog quick aim of eggs in Super Mario Advance 3, or bullet hell Super Mario World, or Power-up boxes ala' Mario Kart in F-Zero...! just fun, Game Genie-Esque scripting things that can be toggled around. this also could be used to have... y'know, had a toggle to make Mysterious Murasame Castle a proper 'NES' game (English title, replaced shogi piece powerups with chess piece sprites, MMC1 style music emulation instead of the FDS Sounding music)
-Private reach-out strategies to work out a small recognition deals with folks that made popular fan mods to have their mods toggle-able on some emulated games. This could be huge. I'm not just talking Kaizo Mario world and Rockman 4 MI (ZING! My thread about that game is lonely...) or stuff like that. I'm talking about huge stuff like cleaning up Mother 3 Fan Translation for an ESRB rating, or maybe getting something akin to Sega's relationship with Christian "Taxman" Whitehead going with fans who are willing to do these reverse engineering jobs in exchange for working on the inside just a bit and getting industry experience they could use in the future! (For those out of the loop, The Taxman in 2008 made an engine for iOS specifically designed to run proper updated, but slavishly close to the original ports of Sonic games, and Sega ended up hiring him on and licencing his engine to make the 2010 remake of Sonic CD that had playable Tails, choosable soundtrack, sonic 2 style spindash and Sonic CD style spindash togglable, many of the terrain clipping bugs fixed, and proper 16:9 support in it. He also did a Sonic 1 and Sonic 2 port to iOS with Sonic 3 style stuff added in like playable tails and knux, spin dash, 7 emeralds, a recreated Hidden Palace zone complete with a new Dr. Robotnik boss battle involving a trombone, as well as other extra goodies)
- allocation of some Treehouse resources or licencing to 8-4 Play to localization efforts similar to how Sega was allowed to release localized Monster World IV to VC. It's not necessarily Mother 3 that I'm thinking of here either. Now that Mysterious Murasame Castle has made it over, I feel it's time for the other two big lost FDS series to emerge and come into the limelight. I feel the world is ready for stuff like Shin Onigashima and the Famicom Detective Club games. Or the various Fire Emblem stuff. Or For the Frog the Bell Tolls. Or the original X. I feel in particular the Gameboy games I just mentioned could easily have enough push put behind them to drum up interest to recoup the small effort...!
- Satellaview Virtual Console. If we're going to string all the above ideas together, then this would probably be the ultimate result, and something I think has the potential to be especially exciting, although it'd take a good deal of re-engineering with modern internet tools, such as some sort of streamed audio for stuff like the BS Zelda titles, as well as leaderboard and potential social media intigration, as Satellaview VC would be a venture into Nintendo putting out a subscription based service. possibly with original content too. and they could try their hand at a free VC game of the month with this subscription. like... providing you with a copy of Alleyway or Urban Champion for your hard earned cash.
Title: Re: Where does the Virtual Console go from here?
Post by: marvel_moviefan_2012 on October 30, 2014, 01:07:51 PM
you asking Nintendo to talk developers into doing things with their classic games they already do on other consoles, in other words your wasting your breath. If Nintendo wanted to do Virtual Console right it would be more like PSN where you have cross buy, you have a robust catalog and you have major developer support. Sure your pretty much limited to non-Nintendo consoles but that opens the door to just about everything else. Just like Wii U is mostly a Virtual Console machine I also have dozens of classic games on my PS3 and there are too many to buy I never have enough money to get all the ones I want.
