Nintendo has 'No plans' for Virtual Console on Switch

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,679]

What seems to now be tradition with their new found arrogance from their massive success with the Switch, Nintendo is once again shooting themselves in the foot.

A Nintendo spokesperson told Kotaku:

Quote

"There are currently no plans to bring classic games together under the Virtual Console banner as has been done on other Nintendo systems."

Nintendo also has stated that while they may not bring back the virtual console, they may still re-release classic games in a different way.

So basically, to sum up: "F**CK YOU, GIVE ME MONEY. " This is a TERRIBLE decision on Nintendo's part, one of many that they have made with the Switch in the past year. Abandoning the Virtual Console means that Nintendo doesn't have to bother with making our Wii U and 3DS Virtual Console purchases transfer over. This means that when they re-release these games for the 20 billionth time, we will ONCE AGAIN have to rebuy them if we want them on the new system. On top of the overpriced Wii U ports, Nintendo seems to be milking older games for all they are worth now.

There has been some speculation that maybe this is because of the upcoming paid online service that will allow us to play classic games as long as we are subscribed, but for now, that is only NES games and if Nintendo's track record is anything indicative, it will be a slow trickle of content, when they already have a massive amount of content already with the Virtual Console.

As a point of comparison, I want to compare this to how Xbox has handled this. (DO NOT make this into a 'Oh but Xbox sucks!' debate) Xbox has absolutely killed it with backwards compatibility. While it isn't direct 1:1 since not all games work, the bonuses that you get with the over 500 that do is staggering, like recording features, enhanced visuals and so on. Even ignoring that though, Xbox has allowed us to play several ORIGINAL Xbox games that are 15 years old and with a DISK COPY. Yeah, seriously. That is very well done. While these do require an internet connection for the initial download, you can then play them online and off, all with achievements and online services intact, assuming the game has those.

All of that, and Nintendo can't even be bothered to bring the Virtual Console back at all. A feature that was loved by millions of people, just so they can charge us AGAIN AND AGAIN for the same shit we have already bought AGAIN AND AGAIN.

Say what you will about Nintendo, but this is entirely anit-consumer and another sign that they don't know how to think of a bigger picture. There are things I love about the Switch, its core concept of being a portable home console was basically nailed, but there have been so many stupid choices made by Nintendo themselves that it is THEM that is holding the system back. Sounds awfully familiar. Almost like they have done that before.

This along with the overpriced ports, the terrible sounding upcoming online service (You will then have to PAY to use their TERRIBLE phone app for goddamn voice chat), and the near abandonment of media features, I am not sure what to think of the Switch anymore.

[Guest]

At some point I would want a Netflix-style library of older Nintendo games to have access to. They could do something similar to the Sega Channel from back in the 90s and make quite a bit of money off of it.

 

[The Kaeya Simp 13,989]

Fuckin' pissed, considdering that they could put wii u games over to the switch

[The Recherche 29,968]

This just sounds like a way for them to sell the classic edition consoles to me... 

If I were in a position of influence at Nintendo, I would do what @Sunset Rose suggested and create a subscription based Virtual Console service. Of course, copyright issues may make this tricky, and it would be basically impossible to get the full library... but it would still be a much better idea than just throwing the VC away. Even though the VC may have been a bit overpriced at times... it's still better than nothing.

Even the online subscription's NES game rentals (seriously, what the hell?) is only showing signs of NES games. No SNES, N64, GB, GBA... nothing. 

That's just my opinion on this, anyways. 

Edited May 8, 2018 by Recherche

[hopkey123 640]

hm... A bit confused here about the 'No Nintendo games' part.. Because they already said that they'd release The World Ends With You, which is a DS game. They even had trailers for it, too 

[The Recherche 29,968]

2 hours ago, hopkey123 said:

hm... A bit confused here about the 'No Nintendo games' part.. Because they already said that they'd release The World Ends With You, which is a DS game. They even had trailers for it, too 

That was an enhanced port, not necessarily a VC release. 

[Ashen Pathfinder 16,161]

That is SERIOUSLY disappointing. That was easily one of the best features of the original WII that got somewhat carried over to the Wii U. While I can't say if this will bite them in the butt later on, it's still maddening.

[GrimGrimoire 4,973]

Why do people act so surprised? This is Nintendo... they know their classics sell, and they damn well are going to sell them to you.

And again.

And again.

...and again.

22 minutes ago, Sunset Rose said:

At some point I would want a Netflix-style library of older Nintendo games to have access to. They could do something similar to the Sega Channel from back in the 90s and make quite a bit of money off of it.

 

In theory I DO like this idea in some aspects... however, I am a traditionalist, I like to feel like I own something and am not just borrowing it until someone says "give it back!"... when I buy a game I want to be able to play it whenever I want to. Whether that is tomorrow, next week, or 10 years from now. My distaste for those types of services is that the company can do whatever they want to with your library at anytime and Nintendo is a company that is notorious for doing what it wants to and stubbornly ignoring the gaming mass. It would not surprise me one bit if next year they came out with a Switch II that would ignore anything and everything to do with the original as well as any services supporting it.

[Celli 4,338]

Thank God I have other means of playing classic Nintendo games :^)))

[CastletonSnob 3,078]

4 minutes ago, Celli said:

Thank God I have other means of playing classic Nintendo games :^)))

I play them on the original hardware because I'm a purist.

[Celli 4,338]

Just now, VG_Addict said:

I play them on the original hardware because I'm a purist.

I don't because the original consoles are hard to get for cheap.

[Castle Bleck 19,376]

And this, kids, is why we have emulators.

[Celli 4,338]

Just now, A.V. said:

And this, kids, is why we have emulators.

Yes, this.

[KrazyDashie 1,847]

i would wait it out before jumping to conclusions. kind of like Nintendo labo, looked so bad by many for 70$ cardboard, but when it neared its release and they showed what labo actually included and whatnot, it wasn't that bad.

for now its only NES games, a few of them. online comes out in what... 5 or so months? a lot can happen in 5 months, they are probably going to announce more games later on, and who knows, maybe even games for other classic consoles

[Adachi 772]

Saw this coming months ago. Thank Celestia I sold my Switch to a pawn shop and got myself a PS4 Pro. Might get myself a Wii U at some point though. Nintendo did everything right with that console, too bad more people didn't buy it.

[Celli 4,338]

17 minutes ago, Adachi said:

Nintendo did everything right with that console, too bad more people didn't buy it.

No, they didn't. It had the worst third party support, not as many first party, and the marketing was horrible. The Switch has sold nearly 20 million, they've made some rash decisions, but I don't think you're giving it a fair chance.

[Adachi 772]

14 minutes ago, Celli said:

No, they didn't. It had the worst third party support, not as many first party, and the marketing was horrible. The Switch has sold nearly 20 million, they've made some rash decisions, but I don't think you're giving it a fair chance.

A lot of Switch games are actually either PC ports, inferior versions of other console games (WWE 2k18 is horrible on the Switch), or improved ports of Wii U games. Pokken DX, Super Mario Kart 8 DX, Splatoon 2, Breath of the Wild, etc. I feel it was Wii U games coming to Switch, along with the promise of VC support, and the ability to access Nintendo's backlog of classic games for dirt cheap that drew most people to the Switch in the first place, especially BoTW. So I think my argument still has merit. But maybe I'll give it another chance in the future, if they do implement a proper VC, but right now, the Switch isn't bringing all that many unique games to the table that are worth playing IMO. The only games I was really interested in were BoTW, Pokken Tournament DX, and Super Mario Kart 8 DX. Labo looks interesting, but it's more of a toy than a proper game, great for kids though, people can get really creative, so it does serve it's intended purpose. I know there are many games that others may like that are Switch exclusives, but for me personally, there's not much on the Switch that interests me atm, but I will wait and see.

 

Edit: I do believe the Switch might end up becoming gigantic later, same thing happened to the 3DS. Didn't do that well at first, then had a massive explosion in sales and popularity.

Edited May 8, 2018 by Adachi

[Celli 4,338]

@Adachi

Just give it time, before you know it the Switch will be a classic.

[ShadOBabe 19,002]

12 minutes ago, Celli said:

@Adachi

Just give it time, before you know it the Switch will be a classic.

My Switch will be with me until either it dies, or I do. XD

[Celli 4,338]

6 minutes ago, ShadOBabe said:

My Switch will be with me until either it dies, or I do. XD

I'm loving mine despite the few drawbacks

It's no replacement for my PC but I still love it^^

Still hype for Metroid Prime 4 

[Envy 6,180]

So Nintendo releases a console that would drive a lot of people to want to actually purchase VC games more than ever before due to being a hybrid console/handheld and they decide not to do it anymore. What a joke. Nintendo is always such a frustratingly stubborn company. They can take their mediocre paid online service which offers nothing more than the same-old tired NES games that they have oversaturated the market with and shove it.

[Ganondorf8 11,336]

Not much I can say here given what's already been said but I have to admit that this isn't one of Nintendo's better decisions. Granted, I can give them the benefit of the doubt seeing as this online service won't be available for another several moments yet still, I've got to question their integrity here.

[Luigi 7,870]

I'm sure Nintendo has their reasons for this whether they can't deal with it now or they have some other tricks up their sleeves.

Edited May 8, 2018 by Baby Dashie

[Scrubbed user 3,416]

And people will still defend them...

[Celli 4,338]

11 hours ago, Vulon Bii said:

And people will still defend them...

They make dumb decisions but their passion for making games is still great. They're one of the few who care about making fun and quality experiences.