Nintendo VP speaks: past-gen, Nintendo-created titles free!

[syzygy]

NOA vice president George Harrison talks 'bout a Revolution confirmed that past-gen, Nintendo-created titles will indeed be downloadable for free.

link here:

http://gamesradar.msn.co.uk/news/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=36071&subsectionid=1587

This is very cool, image with the revolution you will be able to download and play all the great Nintendo titles for free. And third party developers may charge a free to play their titles.

Where can I pre-order!

[THATinkjar]

It was what I expected. I'd still rather own the real thing, but for those hard to find classics (if any), it would be great.

[zmweasel]

NOA vice president George Harrison talks 'bout a Revolution confirmed that past-gen, Nintendo-created titles will indeed be downloadable for free.

link here:

http://gamesradar.msn.co.uk/news/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=36071&subsectionid=1587

This is very cool, image with the revolution you will be able to download and play all the great Nintendo titles for free. And third party developers may charge a free to play their titles.

Where can I pre-order!

I assume "past-gen" is NES, SNES, and N64. Maybe the old-school GB stuff, too?

-- Z.

[towerofsong]

Never expected it to be free, very happy. Hope it will be as good as a I imagine

[GobopopRevisited]

...hopefully this goodness will benefit from the goodness of an HDD...

[Mayhem]

Possible free wi-fi online play as well? I think Nintendo are attempting to take that bulls by the horns next-gen around...

[hydr0x]

hah, i guess i was right then ;)

that's great news :D

[WanganRunner]

WOW.

I will DEFINTELY be purchasing a Revolution now.......hell, I'd buy it even if they NEVER made any actual Revolution games...I'd buy it JUST for the Retro implications...

It's a no-lose proposition now.

I hope they include Ura Zelda on there :D

[s1lence]

This is the best news i've heard in a while. Something good for free in the console gaming world. Granted I'll still be buying the real carts for the systems anyway. :D

[THATinkjar]

It is just a shame that this news came in the same week that we learned of the Revolution's release date (supposedly). Late 2006 and early 2007 in Europe is a very long way off.

[Drexel923]

Possible free wi-fi online play as well? I think Nintendo are attempting to take that bulls by the horns next-gen around...

I believe they've already stated that online will be free...at least for Nintendo games, but I'm not sure about 3rd party stuff.

As far as this goes...it freaking rocks :D From the minute it was announced I hoped it would be free, and like others I had my doubts, but wow...great news.

[RetroYoungen]

The classic Nintendo titles... all for free...

You now have my undivided attention. :-P

This is a big deal, as I figured it would be a small fee, or some sort of monthly fee deal or something, but if their entire backlog is now free then I'm up for playing.

But it also begs the question, what about all of the retro stuff they've been doing lately, namely the GBA releases of titles like Castlevania and Bomberman? Will they still try to sell those to us, or will their production cease altogether, or what? And the games being free, does that mean they'll be free to play ONLINE, or free to DOWNLOAD and keep to play later?

[syzygy]

I would like to know if you will be able to download the Nintendo titles to your Nintendo DS, now that would really rock :D

[tylerwillis]

Score one for the big N. I'm hyped.

[Zubiac666]

NOA vice president George Harrison talks 'bout a Revolution confirmed that past-gen, Nintendo-created titles will indeed be downloadable for free.

link here:

http://gamesradar.msn.co.uk/news/default.asp?pagetypeid=2&articleid=36071&subsectionid=1587

This is very cool, image with the revolution you will be able to download and play all the great Nintendo titles for free. And third party developers may charge a free to play their titles.

Where can I pre-order!

I assume "past-gen" is NES, SNES, and N64. Maybe the old-school GB stuff, too?

-- Z.

Yeah...I was thinking about that too.
It would be too c00l to have a full gameboy emu else well.
There are just too many awesome titles that can't be missed.

I'm still amazed that even the N64 games will be free.
I mean: I know at least 5 stores here which sell new and used n64 games for up to 30euros.
and just think of all the import titles!
I don't believe that they include region protection into REVs emus(hell,and even if they do,it will be hacked in like 2 weeks).
me be very happy :D

[Lady Jaye]

That's good news, especially if the N64 catalog is included too... I still have yet to play the original Paper Mario!!!

[Pantechnicon]

Suddenly I don't feel so guilty about my plans to sell off my NES and SNES collections. Put me down for one Revolution ("Retro-lution"?) please.

/hugs Virtual Boy jealously

[kainemaxwell]

Ok, now I'm sold on a Revolution. Like others I figured there'd be a fee, maybe depending on the system you dled games for, but if its free then I'm definitly sold! I just hope they all play well on the Revolution's controller or this may not be as good news.

[stuffedmonkey]

Dude - I'm buying one. Hell - I should by two if that's true :)

[joshnickerson]

It should be interesting to see how, or if, this impacts the current prices of retro games...

[rbudrick]

WOW!

The only bad thing about this is when game systems go hologram the online feature of the old TV games will cease.

HAH! Basically, this rules.

-Rob

[downfall]

Nintendo has always stressed the fact that they wanted to be able to offer online gaming for free, so this isn't a huge suprise.

Here's what I really want to see though:

1. Online multiplayer on retro titles, especially N64 titles. That system had some absolutely stellar multiplayer games, and I hope they can somehow incorporate the ability to play them online.

2. Wireless downloads to the DS. I'd be more than happy to buy a blank DS game card (or something like the Play-Yan with an SD memory card) so that I could dump some classics on there for on the go gaming. As well, I'd also like to see online multiplayer there as well. Split-Screen Super Mario Kart with your screen on the top by itself, and the other three competitors on the bottom screen.

3. Free downloads from third parties. The Nintendo games are great, but in reality, companies like Konami and Capcom consistently produced many of the best titles for Nintendo's early systems.

4. The ability to play these games whenever you want. Since the Revolution doesn't have a hard drive, I'm not quite sure how this will work. Will the system save your progress in the flash memory and then load it back up when you download the game again? And if that's the case, what if you have to pay for a third party game? Will you have to pay every time to play? Hopefully not.

I'm intrigued by this now.

[DJ_DEEM]

that friggin rocks, maybe they even will release retro controllers that connect to the rev so you can use them in conjunction with the real games : ]

or perhaps an adaptor that allows nes, snes, n64 controllers to be plugged into it....that would rule!!

hey i can dream right??? : ]

[swlovinist]

This is an excellent move for Nintendo. If they can launch their system at a reasonable price, then they might be able to pull an uspet to either the Xbox or PS2 for second place. Don't get me wrong, I know it is a longshot, but the ability to download so many playable games for free is a HUGE advantage. Neither Sony nor Xbox and have such a rich past they can milk, and Nintendo knows this. As long as they dont screw up thier controller for the system, all I can say is this is the new system I am most excited about!

[grayrobertos]

The rev uses cube controllers so it shouldnt be a problem, also the memory is sd card based so you can add and remove cards as you please so maybe save ur collection on a 256mb card and take it to a friends.

Thinking about it, it does make sence that the service is free, as how hard is it to write an sd card.

[yuppicide]

Yeah that rocks.. I definately want the Revolution. I hope there's a hard drive in the sucker, a big hard drive, or hope I can hack it to have a bigger hard drive. I would love to download every past-NES console I can.

It would be cool if you could also download import games that NES made too. Some of those obscure Japanese games we never got here.

There also used to be a game for NES where you could make your own shoot em up game. I forget the name of it but an old Nintendo Power issue had screenshots and a paragraph on it. It was Japanese I think. Would be cool if you could make games and save them to hard drive to share with people.

[GarrettCRW]

There also used to be a game for NES where you could make your own shoot em up game. I forget the name of it but an old Nintendo Power issue had screenshots and a paragraph on it. It was Japanese I think. Would be cool if you could make games and save them to hard drive to share with people.

I'd have to dig out the issue you speak of, but I'm pretty sure that game was made by someone other than the Big N.

It'd be nice, though, if Nintendo translated titles like Fire Emblem and Famicom Wars and made them available through this service. Regardless, it's quite an enticement in this era of retro obsession.

[goatdan]

The rev uses cube controllers so it shouldnt be a problem, also the memory is sd card based so you can add and remove cards as you please so maybe save ur collection on a 256mb card and take it to a friends.

We don't know either of those things yet. I, for one, would be very surprised if the Revolution used the same controllers as the GameCube. I would expect some sort of built-in wireless upgrade at the least.

[CitizenSnowman]

This is great news! :D

I can't wait to pre-order now LOL

[calthaer]

If I had a "wait-and-see" attitude and wasn't sold before, I certainly am now. This certainly is great news. I wonder if the emulator will have cool features like Kreed's SuperEagle mode and stuff like that?

Earthbound, here I come!

[downfall]

The rev uses cube controllers so it shouldnt be a problem, also the memory is sd card based so you can add and remove cards as you please so maybe save ur collection on a 256mb card and take it to a friends.

We don't know either of those things yet. I, for one, would be very surprised if the Revolution used the same controllers as the GameCube. I would expect some sort of built-in wireless upgrade at the least.

I think what he meant was that Cube controllers are compatible, as has been shown in the photo with the Cube controller/memory card ports, and confirmed by IGN (and I'm sure several other places.)

yuppicide hit on another point I forgot to make - and then GarrettCRW kindly expanded on it. I'd love to see some translated imports that never made it over here. And I'd really love it if third parties jumped on that bandwagon as well.

The other thing I'd purchase in a heartbeat are wireless NES, SNES, and N64 controllers - designed much in the style of the Wavebird.

[Zubiac666]

And I'd really love it if third parties jumped on that bandwagon as well.

The other thing I'd purchase in a heartbeat are wireless NES, SNES, and N64 controllers - designed much in the style of the Wavebird.

you can be sure that some 3rd parties will (for example) include a code in their revolution games which let you download their classics for free.
You know like: "Puchase our Revolution game and get all our classics for free"
just think of all the konami and capcom classics.....oh man :-P

and who cares if no new "classic"-controllers will be released?
We already HAVE the best retro-pad:
http://image.lik-sang.com/images//large/hori-digital-controller-blue.jpg :D
I will use this for the NES and SNES(maybe even GB ?)games.

and I have no problem using the gamecube controller for N64 games.

damn I can't wait nomore

[goatdan]

The rev uses cube controllers so it shouldnt be a problem, also the memory is sd card based so you can add and remove cards as you please so maybe save ur collection on a 256mb card and take it to a friends.

We don't know either of those things yet. I, for one, would be very surprised if the Revolution used the same controllers as the GameCube. I would expect some sort of built-in wireless upgrade at the least.

I think what he meant was that Cube controllers are compatible, as has been shown in the photo with the Cube controller/memory card ports, and confirmed by IGN (and I'm sure several other places.)

Ah, right. Okay. That makes sense.

[petewhitley]

Take this with a grain of salt. Other forums are reporting that Gamesradar misinterpreted what he said in a Gamespot interview, and then posted said story. No real quote can be found of him saying that "all" Nintendo-released classics would be free ...

[goatdan]

Take this with a grain of salt. Other forums are reporting that Gamesradar misinterpreted what he said in a Gamespot interview, and then posted said story. No real quote can be found of him saying that "all" Nintendo-released classics would be free ...

Something tells me that it will be something like "buy a game, get a Nintendo Classic game for free," not "buy a Revolution, get 1000 classic games that we have been still managing to charge $35.00 for remakes of for free." It just didn't seem the Nintendo way.

If it's true though, damn will Nintendo have a hit on their hands in the way of the console itself, but who knows if people will buy any other games for it.

[kainemaxwell]

and who cares if no new "classic"-controllers will be released?
We already HAVE the best retro-pad:
http://image.lik-sang.com/images//large/hori-digital-controller-blue.jpg :D
I will use this for the NES and SNES(maybe even GB ?)games.

and I have no problem using the gamecube controller for N64 games.

damn I can't wait nomore
Who makes those pads? I'd love to get them once i buy a GC!!

[legov8]

You can download those games for free? COOL!

[legov8]

and who cares if no new "classic"-controllers will be released?
We already HAVE the best retro-pad:
http://image.lik-sang.com/images//large/hori-digital-controller-blue.jpg :D
I will use this for the NES and SNES(maybe even GB ?)games.

and I have no problem using the gamecube controller for N64 games.

damn I can't wait nomore
Who makes those pads? I'd love to get them once i buy a GC!!

Those controllers are made by NORI.

[XxMe2NiKxX]

Now I can't decide between Revolution and 360.

Assholes.

[syzygy]

Kaine23 Said:
Who makes those pads? I'd love to get them once i buy a GC!!

This seems to be a pretty good price:

in blue:
http://www.estarland.com/GameCube.product.14442.html

in black:

http://www.estarland.com/GameCube.product.19671.html

Looks like cheap shippiing is $3.00 and regular shipping is $4.00.

[Drexel923]

and who cares if no new "classic"-controllers will be released?
We already HAVE the best retro-pad:
http://image.lik-sang.com/images//large/hori-digital-controller-blue.jpg :D
I will use this for the NES and SNES(maybe even GB ?)games.

and I have no problem using the gamecube controller for N64 games.

damn I can't wait nomore
Who makes those pads? I'd love to get them once i buy a GC!!

Those controllers are made by NORI.

Actually they are made by HORI. ;)

Also, they can be found at Gamecrazy for around $15 new...definitely worth the money.

[tholly]

well, i was gonna skip this one and get it later....but....looks like ill be getting this one close to the release....i know im excited...if this turns out to really happen....good job big N

[goatdan]

Not Nori, but Hori.

Review link:

http://www.the-nextlevel.com/features/hardware/hori-digital-controller/

[Bronty-2]

Hey goat,

I'm with you - sounds a little too good to be true. I could see online versions being free, but savable versions - I dunno. Seems like too big an asset to just give away.

Then again, if they are serious about gaining market share, this is going to give them one hell of a jumpstart.

Either way, I'm pretty sure I'll either buy one myself or buy one as a christmas present for nephews/nieces.

[MegaDrive20XX]

this is brilliant, we're talking all the Super Mario games...all the Zelda...Donkey Kong....yet there is one minor problem

Third-party developers could charge for the privilege to download though. Or, alternatively, they could offer downloadable classics as an incentive to buy their next-gen full price releases. Either way, classic Nintendo titles such as Castlevania and MegaMan may not be immediately accessible.

[Big Papa Husker]

I think I know for a fact which Next Gen system I will be getting for sure... PUT ME DOWN FOR A REVOLUTION!

[grayrobertos]

yeh its confirmed that the revolution uses its own revolutionary pad which is wireless, however it has four gamecube ports and memory card slots for backwards compatablility.

http://cubemedia.ign.com/cube/image/article/615/615030/e3-2005-high-res-revolution-images-20050517100455584.jpg

I was even nice enough to include a picture. Also whats the deal with the HORI pads having a select button? Is this purely asthetic?

[GobopopRevisited]

I was even nice enough to include a picture. Also whats the deal with the HORI pads having a select button? Is this purely asthetic?

...I'm probably wrong, but as it was marketted as a controller for Game Boy Player, I think it reads as the select button on the GBA?

[slip81]

Well if the Nintendo classic games truly are free with no strings attached, I'll be pre ordering a Revolution as soon as I'm able.

[grayrobertos]

yeh thats what it is gobopop nice one

[nesgamer]

WOW.

I will DEFINTELY be purchasing a Revolution now.......hell, I'd buy it even if they NEVER made any actual Revolution games...I'd buy it JUST for the Retro implications...

It's a no-lose proposition now.



:duh: This is so awesome. Now I can't wait for the system to come out!!! Hopefully there will be online play so we all can play each other in some nice head to head combat in MK or something. :D

[Captain Wrong]

Something tells me that it will be something like "buy a game, get a Nintendo Classic game for free," not "buy a Revolution, get 1000 classic games that we have been still managing to charge $35.00 for remakes of for free." It just didn't seem the Nintendo way.

That was exactly my first thought. Yes, I'm a skeptic by nature, but I'm just not seeing Nintendo throwing the vault doors open and saying "have at it" consideing the fact that they've been willing to milk these games for all they're worth up till now.


If it's true though, damn will Nintendo have a hit on their hands in the way of the console itself, but who knows if people will buy any other games for it.

And there's the second part of why this quote may be getting twisted. As we all know, the real profit margin is in the software not the console sales (spare me the "but Nintendo doesn't lose money on their consoles" routine. Heard it already, thanks.) Allowing people free access to the back catalog with no strings attached doesn't exactly give much incentive to purchase additional titles. If this was the case, then why wouldn't Nintendo just make a cheap PC preloaded with MESS or ZSNES or PRoject 64 or anyone of a number of emulators because, let's face it, the ROMS are already out there and have been for a while.

[OdSquad64]

i always figured they would be free, from the first time i read about being able to download them i thought it mentioned something about it being a consumer service included for anyone who bought a revolution.

i've been sold since i first heard about the revolution though, the only question i ever had was what color should i get

[Dobie]

As we all know, the real profit margin is in the software not the console sales (spare me the "but Nintendo doesn't lose money on their consoles" routine. Heard it already, thanks.) Allowing people free access to the back catalog with no strings attached doesn't exactly give much incentive to purchase additional titles.

Perhaps the strategy could be to offer the old games for free as an incentive, so they can build their console install base. Revolution games would then be full price. With a larger install base, third parties would therefore be more inclined to make games for the Revolution. Is third party support not the major weakness in Nintendo's library? It could be a shrewd move on Ninty's part. If this is all true, it could be an ingenious marketing ploy.

[Aussie2B]

Just like I was saying before, this proves that it's only Nintendo-made titles (as opposed to the fanboys who were saying "OMG I can play every NES/SNES/N64 game ever made now!!!1!"), and while it's cool, it's not the greatest thing ever. Most Nintendo-made titles are cheap and common. The only game that I can think of that's especially notable is Earthbound, since it's getting pretty pricey.

I wouldn't count on seeing many, if any, third-party titles. Nintendo is doing this to sell consoles and games; the third-party companies aren't going to offer games for free out of the kindness of their hearts. I don't expect to see many offered for a fee either. I don't know, I just don't get the feeling that many companies would bother to get involved in this. Maybe we'll see some Mega Man, Castlevania, Metal Gear, Final Fantasy, Dragon Warrior, etc., but anything that's slightly obscure and isn't a part of a still-existing mainstream series probably won't be available.

I think getting any Japanese games is a pipe dream as well, considering all the legal issues involving regional distribution.

Nonetheless, it sounds pretty cool, and having the games and service be free could be the one thing that finally gets me into online gaming.

[poopnes]

You know, I hate to burst anybody's bubble, but I highly doubt Nintendo is just going to give away ALL of their old titles for free. The article to me said that the online service was free but didn't specifically say the downloads would be free. Now I'm sure Nintendo would give away some of their titles for free, simply because there are some just not worth paying for. And you know some free classic games are sure to increase hardware sales.

Seriously, think about it, this is Nintendo we're talking about. The same company that just loves to repackage their old games and resale them for $20+. That's some serious profit they are loosing if they give that up. What I'm hoping they do is say "You want every game? Give us $10 a month". Honestly, I'd do that in a heartbeat, and I'm sure there's plenty of fanboys that would too. Paying individually for games is just crazy. You will NEVER own them. Nintendo's already mentioned they'll be using their own DRM (digital rights management).

Finally, Nintendo's software sales would probably fall dramatically. With all that gaming goodness for free you could play for years (probably, well most likely) and never get bored.

Sorry it's just not going to happen. I want it to, but I just don't beleive it. Don't work yourself up and get dissapointed. Nintendo's done that to me too many times. I'm going to buy a Rev at launch, but I'm not expecting alot.

Now for something completely different. I know the Rev will accept SD cards. But does anyone have any speculation that it will also accept MMC cards? Are they totally interchangable? I mean, will any device that accepts SD also accept MMC? The reason I'm asking is that I finally broke down and bought a 512MB MMC card for my N-Gage, and it'd be nice if it had multiple uses. I've thought about asking Matt @ IGN-Cube this, but I'm too lazy (I guess).

[GrandAmChandler]

If there is a lot of free titles like the article interprets, then sign me up. May be a system I actually buy at launch!

The big N can still reign supreme!

[Icarus Moonsight]

There is lots of awesome Nintendo product to be had, much more than Earthbound/Mother. Personally, I can't wait to play Super Metroid on my next-gen console. This is the sort of news that should be making folks around here cry for joy. Until N actually counters the source with a "We never said that." announcement I'll hold back on the skepticism. The only part I'm skeptical about is that N has had so much success in re-releasing past gems that a jump to free distribution seems very out of character and almost desperate. Either the man was misquoted or N is counting on selling a million units on launch day. Even if they are free with a catch, maybe a little string attached I'm completely hyped. I'd gladly play through Revolutions Metroid installment to get access to the past games in the series. In the business world "free" almost never means "no-cost". Maybe N rebuilt their business model, perhaps Sony encroaching into portable gaming has put N on the offensive... finally.

[grayrobertos]

Realisticly Nintendo can't really keep releasing the old nes and snes games anyway. With the focus on the DS maybe there will be some more n64 ports but I really can't see it.

Also I really do think that they are done with porting things for the GBA What eles could they port? There not going to port the obsucure games that got no love. PLus they allready gave us the zelda games for free. Not much difference there. It was insentive to buy a game, now there insentive to buy a console.

I believe it is very probably that all this will happen, but I do believe that nintendo has still not fully decided and realease vauge comments like this in order to test the water, becaise om reality they don't have to of decided anything yet do they?

[petewhitley]

Until N actually counters the source with a "We never said that." announcement I'll hold back on the skepticism.

I think you'd be wiser to hold back on the enthusiasm until an actual quote from anyone associated with Nintendo can be found which points towards this rumour being even half true. The actual quote from the Gamespot interview reads as follows:


GS: Do you plan on having like a per-download pricing model along the lines of the microtransactions that will be used in the next-gen Xbox marketplace?

GH: Well, we can use it in a variety of ways. We've used some of the older games already as little bonuses, either as bonus gifts or hidden in levels of games. Certainly for the first-party titles we'll be making some of those available. We haven't really talked about whether we would sell them. The third parties can make their own decision whether they want to sell them, or maybe they will add it on as sort of a free benefit when you buy a current version of the game.

GS: To continue with what's so revolutionary about the Revolution...

GH: Well, I think certainly being wireless out of the box is revolutionary. People sort of picked on us for not jumping in prematurely into online or Internet gaming, but we just looked at it, the way it was evolving, and just felt that it was not time to jump in. But certainly with the next console it would be, with a couple of important changes like eliminating the access fee so there's not really a monthly subscription, and making use of first-party games, downloadable for free. That to us will be really revolutionary. Right now the estimates are anywhere between six and maybe 10 or 12 percent of console owners are playing online. You know, if you really have people embrace it and enjoy it, we think that should be well over 50 percent. I think I heard Nintendo president Mr. Satoru Iwata, and Nintendo vice president of sales and marketing, Reggie Fils-Aime, say this morning as much as 90 percent is the goal for DS online, which is a great goal, rather than keeping it a niche aspect of gaming, to make it a broad-based application.
(From THIS (http://www.gamespot.com/news/2005/05/26/news_6126595.html) link.)

Note he says "making use of first-party games, downloadable for free." You can see where that could be misinterpreted by over-enthusiastic fans and reporters.

[Ed Oscuro]

Where did it say "all" past titles? Certainly a number of "past-gen, Nintendo-created" games such as the recently mentioned Sim City (NES) will not be appearing. I'm not expecting grails to show up, obviously...Stack Up won't be available, I think that's guaranteed (unless the Revolution controller is actually a R.O.B. and Power Glove all-in-one...)

Well, that's nice, but I can't really say I'd buy a Revolution to play old Nintendo titles.

What I found more interesting was strangely like what Hideo Kojima was saying:


Harrison then explained that getting developers on board is key to the Revolution strategy, and Nintendo is working hard to ensure Revolution is both easy and cheap to develop for.
If you've seen it, Kojima used an analogy of meals to describe the various systems, saying that the PS3 was like a very expensive buffet that you could eat at once a month (or was it once a week?) and that the Revolution would be the great meal you could have at home every night.

[poopnes]

Realisticly Nintendo can't really keep releasing the old nes and snes games anyway. With the focus on the DS maybe there will be some more n64 ports but I really can't see it.

Also I really do think that they are done with porting things for the GBA What eles could they port? There not going to port the obsucure games that got no love. PLus they allready gave us the zelda games for free. Not much difference there. It was insentive to buy a game, now there insentive to buy a console.

I believe it is very probably that all this will happen, but I do believe that nintendo has still not fully decided and realease vauge comments like this in order to test the water, becaise om reality they don't have to of decided anything yet do they?

How many times have they rereleased Super Mario Bros.?

1. NES
2. SNES - All Stars
3. GBC - SMB Deluxe
4. GBA - SMB NES Classic Series

Once every hardware cycle. Now that is the "extremes" of it, but it goes to show that its extremely profitable to do that with some of their games.

Nintendo has plenty more games they could port that would get plenty of love. First game that came to my mind was Earthbound. Fanboys would have a heartattack if they rereleased that. And they still haven't gave us Zelda:LttP (and for that matter any of the GB/C/A) games for free.

[The Great Dane]

Yeah, I'm not sure I completely believe this. I mean, don't get me wrong, I want to believe, I really do. But, it just seems to good to be true, and when things seem to be too good to be true, they usually aren't true. I mean Nintendo is the same company who is selling Super Mario Brothers 1, the same one that you can go to a pawn shop and buy for $1 a lot of times, for the GBA for $20. I just don't see them giving these games away.

Who knows, though :?

Even if this turns out to be not quite true I am still wanting a Revolution more so than the other two systems.

[ubersaurus]

Wouldn't the Zelda collections on gamecube count as free? Technically you had to get a cube (or wind waker) to get them, but then, you're getting a revolution to get these.

[Captain Wrong]

Until N actually counters the source with a "We never said that." announcement I'll hold back on the skepticism.

Wow. It's like Bizarro World critical thinking. LOL

Anyway, I'm suprized no one has mentioned this yet, but if Nintendo was giving away everything for free, what leg would they stand on to go after people dristributing teh r0mzzz??? Just think about it. They've been one of the more active companies in getting the rom sites shut down. Wouldn't that kinda take the wind out of that sail if they did this?

I don't know. All I know is there's going to be a catch to this and if you think otherwise, you are either hopelessly optimistic, not paying attention or a fanboy. It's gonna break my heart to see all the sad puppy dog eyes when the real story comes out, that's for sure.

[Ed Oscuro]

I mean Nintendo is the same company who is selling Super Mario Brothers 1, the same one that you can go to a pawn shop and buy for $1 a lot of times, for the GBA for $20. I just don't see them giving these games away.
It's either, that or give away the system - and with the GC, they're already losing a bit of money on every console sold...Nintendo needs to leverage all their IP this round, looks like.

[The Great Dane]

I mean Nintendo is the same company who is selling Super Mario Brothers 1, the same one that you can go to a pawn shop and buy for $1 a lot of times, for the GBA for $20. I just don't see them giving these games away.
It's either, that or give away the system - and with the GC, they're already losing a bit of money on every console sold...Nintendo needs to leverage all their IP this round, looks like.

Yeah, very true.

[Ed Oscuro]

Hey, who am I to complain? LOL

Nintendo is in a unique position; I wonder how other companies could use their old titles to sell new ones. Maybe a "Buy Super Neo Contra Revolution, get Super C" deal?

[grayrobertos]

It doesnt meen that roms would be ok, as it would be a service to revelution owners.

[RCM]

I've been wondering a few things. Let's say you can DL every Nintendo game for N64, NES, and SNES for free. Does that cover games only published by Nintendo like Banjo Kazooie? How many games did Nintendo release for NES, SNES, and N64 anyway? Also, will America finally get the groovy 64DD titles? Oh yeah, will the titles benefit from any sort of hardware filtering? We'll soon see. Ok, maybe not so soon.

THE ONE, THE ONLY- RCM

[Wavelflack]

I still don't understand why so many people are getting hard-ons about the possibility of playing games that already exist. Free or not, it's still relying on their past successes, not innovation or technology.

Put it this way: This could have easily been acomplished with Gamecube, and still could be.


This whole thing is very reminiscent of Atari during the 5200 and 7800 years:
"Buy Atari 2600! It has Breakout, Missile Command, Space Invaders, Centipede, Joust, etc.!"

"Buy Atari 5200! It has Super Breakout, Missile Command, Space Invaders, Centipede, Joust, etc.!"

"Buy Atari 7800! It has Asteroids, Centipede, Joust! You can even play the OLD Asteroids, Centipede, and Joust!"

(and then there's Jaguar--"Buy Jaguar! You can play Breakout 2000, Missile Command 3D, Defender 2000, etc.)


Are the "fans" that hard up for reasons to be excited that they will base a purchasing decision off the ability to play games that they've had access to for nearly 20 years?

"Well, it also has an "on" button!"

[Ed Oscuro]

I still don't understand why so many people are getting hard-ons about the possibility of playing games that already exist. Free or not, it's still relying on their past successes, not innovation or technology.
My thoughts exactly.

The only thing I'd really like is that it would be legal and I'd have a controller, as opposed to emulation...

[Gamereviewgod]

www.romnation.net

OMG! They're free right now!

What? And I don't have to buy a new system to play the old games!

Wow!

Seriously, I'm still not excited, I don't see why anyone would be, and it all screams of fanboyism. Nintendo is making you purchase a new console, that at the very least is going to hit you for a $150, to play a limited selection of classic games for free that you can buy the original console and games for for less. Or, on that PC you're on right now, you can already play them for free.

What is this hold Nintendo has on you people?

[Drexel923]

www.romnation.net

OMG! They're free right now!

What? And I don't have to buy a new system to play the old games!

Wow!

Seriously, I'm still not excited, I don't see why anyone would be, and it all screams of fanboyism. Nintendo is making you purchase a new console, that at the very least is going to hit you for a $150, to play a limited selection of classic games for free that you can buy the original console and games for for less. Or, on that PC you're on right now, you can already play them for free.

What is this hold Nintendo has on you people?

Yeah your right...people are seriously going to by the Revolution just for this feature. :roll:

This whole thread is BS...all people do is bitch that Nintendo is milking their franchises by releasing old games over and over, and then they come out and say they are giving the stuff to us for free AND PEOPLE STILL COMPLAIN :hmm:

I'm sick of people claiming that Nintendo fanboys are blind...the haters are just the same, if not worse. No matter what Nintendo does they get bashed. This feature is an added bonus to buying the console, just as the PS2 had a DVD player built in (which people praised)...yet this is more relevant to gaming and people brush it off. On top of that, go find the masses of people in the PS3 threads praising the inclusion of backwards compatabiltiy for PS1/PS2...I'd say this is just as impressive.


I still don't understand why so many people are getting hard-ons about the possibility of playing games that already exist. Free or not, it's still relying on their past successes, not innovation or technology.

And I don't understand why your hating on something FREE and a BONUS FOR BUYING THE SYSTEM. If you weren't planing on buying a Revolution anyway then who cares, but for those of us that will buy it, this is a nice thing...something that WE can get excited about.

[Drexel923]

doublepost