What would happen if Nintendo released the next Zelda on a pre-GameCube console?

[gbpxl]

Really this question is for any major company still producing consoles and any series but Im using a well known example.

Say Nintendo announced that the sequel to Breath of the Wild would be an EXCLUSIVE to the Nintendo 64.

1) How much would the game cost?

2) Would stores carry it? And if so, which ones? What section would they carry it in since its divided between Switch, X1, and PS4 right now.

3) What would consumer reaction be?

4) Would the prices of used N64s skyrocket?

5) Would Nintendo start manufacturing N64 consoles in order to meet demand?

6) How fast would it sell out?

7) Critics' reactions?

8) Reactions of young fans of the series who may have only played Zelda on newer consoles?

9) Would it be pirated? Would people put this game on their Ever Drives like they do with everything else?

10) Would other companies follow suit?

11) Would there be renewed interest in N64 games in general (moreso than now)?

12) What kind of warranty would there be?

13) Could/would it lead to a future where new games are produced on old hardware and compete against the Switch?

I know there's a snowballs chance in Hell of this happening but itd be interesting to see what would happen. Id love an N64 sequel to Majora's Mask or OoT

[Aussie2B]

I would imagine consumer/critic/fan/etc. reaction would be "That's fucking stupid." It would be heavily pirated because most people wouldn't care to track down old, used hardware to play a new game, let alone a new game that's severely limited by its hardware compared to modern hardware, though some would take interest, and prices of N64 stuff probably would go up in general. Price would be impacted by whatever it'd cost to open facilities that could manufacture official N64 carts again. The warranty would be limited considering Nintendo can't guarantee hardware that's 20+ years old won't somehow fry the new carts. If Nintendo made new systems, they'd be some sort of simplified clone. Nintendo probably has enough clout to get stores to carry it, and they'd probably be sold as some sort of novelty. I don't think it would change the future of gaming or influence other companies to any significant degree. There's a niche market for mini versions of retro consoles, homebrews, and what have you, but most gamers want games to take advantage of powerful, modern hardware, and most game developers want the fewer restrictions of modern hardware too. I mean, there's a reason why the N64 was made to begin with, instead of just endlessly releasing games on SNES or NES. A big part of why Ocarina of Time and Majora's Mask were successful is because they were pushing the limits of what home console hardware could do at the time and gave players experiences unlike what they ever had before.

[gbpxl]

They kinda have never stopped releasing SNES games endlessly. The last American SNES game came out 2 years after its successor. And the last Japanese SNES game came out 2 years after its successor's successor. And there have been lots of games released for the system as homebrews, hacks, and now even licensed re-prints. The only thing that stopped is the games showing up in brick and mortar stores as well as the official Nintendo license.

I just think there is a vast audience for new (good) N64 titles. I think a lot of people who are really into the Switch would line up outside stores for a new N64 Zelda/Mario/Metroid game. I probably would

[jb143]

The closest (official) thing you're going to get to something like that is unreleased games, like with Starfox 2 . Or maybe someone along the lines of a Super Fighter Team getting rights to games and then releasing them on older consoles.

[Gameguy]

I doubt this will ever happen, they're still in the hardware business so they want people to keep buying their new hardware. I doubt they even still have development hardware around for new games to still be programmed efficiently, or at least that their current programmers won't know how to code for such old hardware in enough numbers for development to be efficient.

You would expect them to start manufacturing N64 consoles again? That's basically what Sega did with the 32X and Saturn, dividing their userbase, and it didn't work out well for them.

[gbpxl]

I doubt this will ever happen, they're still in the hardware business so they want people to keep buying their new hardware. I doubt they even still have development hardware around for new games to still be programmed efficiently, or at least that their current programmers won't know how to code for such old hardware in enough numbers for development to be efficient.

You would expect them to start manufacturing N64 consoles again? That's basically what Sega did with the 32X and Saturn, dividing their userbase, and it didn't work out well for them.

The 32X was also a mushroom that was hard to assemble, required additional outlet space. a better comparison would be the Dreamcast competing against the Master System. Which is plausible especially considering Brazil kept getting SMS games for quite some time.

[Edmond Dantes]

Really this question is for any major company still producing consoles and any series but Im using a well known example.

Say Nintendo announced that the sequel to Breath of the Wild would be an EXCLUSIVE to the Nintendo 64.

You mean they didn't in your timeline? In mine it was massively panned for only having five shrines.

1) How much would the game cost?

$200 plus tax, tho the re-release on Dreamcast was only $50. The Neo-Geo version caused rioting in the streets.

2) Would stores carry it? And if so, which ones? What section would they carry it in since its divided between Switch, X1, and PS4 right now.

Amazon exclusive.

3) What would consumer reaction be?

PEOPLE DIED.

4) Would the prices of used N64s skyrocket?

I was able to put my kids through college with a spare N64...

5) Would Nintendo start manufacturing N64 consoles in order to meet demand?

Nope.

6) How fast would it sell out?

Six hours after it was announced. I had to live with just youtube videos.

7) Critics' reactions?

ONLY FIVE SHRINES.

8) Reactions of young fans of the series who may have only played Zelda on newer consoles?

ZORAS NOT SEXY ENOUGH.

9) Would it be pirated? Would people put this game on their Ever Drives like they do with everything else?

You pretty much had to.

10) Would other companies follow suit?

It wound up being the thing that made Sega decide to get back into consoles and the Dreamcast 2 thoroughly trounced the Switch in 2023.

11) Would there be renewed interest in N64 games in general (moreso than now)?

People wound up remembering how good Goldeneye was so much that Eon Films preferred to build a Pierce Brosnan robot and have that be the next James Bond rather than keep the Daniel Craig train going.

12) What kind of warranty would there be?

Game manufacturers now have to warn people about the nanites....

13) Could/would it lead to a future where new games are produced on old hardware and compete against the Switch?

That doesn't already happen in your world?

I know there's a snowballs chance in Hell of this happening but itd be interesting to see what would happen. Id love an N64 sequel to Majora's Mask or OoT

Wait, you never played the third N64 game, which took the infamously odd choice of being based on the Zelda animated series from the 1980s? Best game in the whole series, that one.

[Suddenly reality begins to bend around Edmond and he hits the "post" button before the Mandella Effect erases everything]

[Aussie2B]

Most successful systems have some really late releases that come out past the hardware's successor. But the rate of releases past that point is drastically lower, as are the sales, and it's only profitable on an official scale for so long (and is why those late releases are often low-budget releases too). By the time homebrews and other releases that aren't fully licensed come along, it's even more niche, with even lower sales.

I mean, even with as huge as the Fire Emblem series has always been in Japan, the third Super Famicom Fire Emblem, which was a very late release, was produced in small quantities and saw low sales, a stark difference from the first Super Famicom Fire Emblem, which came out when the system was still very alive and active and sold like gangbusters, staying at the top of the sales charts in Japan for like half a year or some such.