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Nintendo Revolution: Download the Old-School Classics!


MarcusLeCoy

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Not too much more info that what we've already seen/figured, but still pretty cool to get at least some news about rev brewing.

 

Looks pretty cool, it'll be a nice opportunity to play old NES games without freezing ect. and it'll also be good for buying old games without having to get them on E-Bay or something.

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Well, its all internal and hypothetical, but -

 

They are all nintendo published games aren't they? Can't see any 3rd party games there. I hope they manage to get some 3rd party people involved.

 

Its interestig to see goldeneye there though... I've always been confused about the state of the old n64 Rare games now microsoft owns them... i wonder if this means they would be able to make a port for the DS, and if so.. WHY THE HECK HAVEN'T THEY DONE IT YET?

No perfect dark or Conker though...

 

I guess those <500> stars might mean you could download them with points? Because the hypothetical prices they mention are insane... $2.99 for snes titles!! $19.99 for n64???

NES and SNES titles should be free (or maybe $0.50 for 3rd party games). n64 games should be no more than $2.99.

 

But if it was me I'd make it all done with loyalty points or something... then give codes for free points with every purchase (games, accessories, consoles etc..) and also give them as prizes for online gaming achievements.

 

If they have an infrastructure like that (which is basically LIVE Arcade, but with a bigger back catalogue) they should take a leaf out of LIVE's book and allow people to create low cost independent games and publish them cheaply on their online system. After all, nintendo is always going on about encouraging innovation...

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  • 2 weeks later...

With any list of games posted, even an official one will only be a slice of the games that could be available for the service. Third party developers/companies will also have the ability to sell their games on NIntendo's online network which'll mean that the actual list will be much larger than people will realise.

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Completely OT, but my famicom gameboy micro arrived this morning! It looks soo cool!

Well, i guess it has something to do with nintendo and old games..

 

Thats a thought, I dunno how they'd do it, but given their obsession with linking the portables with the home consoles, and having a library of old nes/snes/n64 games on tap, it would rock if they could link the two up so that you could upload and play nes/snes or even n64 games on your gba/ds.

 

Be a nightmare to sort out (and i know you can already do it with enulators and roms), But they could make it easy and legal. Maybe a "virtual console" cart that you could plug into your handheld and would talk with the Revolution (using some form of DRM i guess) and allow you to copy any game you have played onto it??

 

Extrapolating further into my own little fantasy: they already have music and movie players for the handhelds like PlayYan, so they could even go the whole iTunes route and use the Revolution as a virtual store for music and video content to play on GBAs, Micros, DSs and any future handhelds.

That would give them a major advantage over MS, and maybe even Sony.

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Yeah, there was rumours of an announcement last week, but it never happened.

I nearly bought one this week after deciding not to wait for the redesign - but went for the Micro instead. I'm still thinking of getting a DS, but the only one i don't dislike the look of is the white one, and i'd have to import that which adds to the price. Grrr.

 

Take the micro design and split it into a clamshell (obviously a little bigger) and you'd have a much cooler looking system. Add in support for faceplates (which would help protect it, maybe even the touch screen). Above all, make the top and bottom match (like the sp, or almost any other clamshell designed device) and not look like they don't fit together well.

 

Ideally add a widescreen, but i don't see that happening due to cost and compatibility. I still reckon you could dump the speakers though and have everyone just use headphones. Then you could make the top screen widescreen for video playback, and it would work fine in 4:3 for gameplay.

 

Then make a special Virtual Console/Gameboy Player cart, with a cable of wireless adapter to connect to the Revolution and a built in 1gb memory. Sorted.

 

The more i think about it the more i think a Rev->GB/DS movie download service would be a great idea for nintendo. After all, don't they already sell Gameboy Video Carts in japan, and have a move/mp3 cart? So it isn't that much of a leap!

 

As long as the cart could overcome piracy issues, they'd be one of the few people with a portable user base to rival iPods. They might need to think of a way to allow non-Revolution users to get content too... but it would be one heck of a way to flog Revolutions.

 

Still, nintendo is suffering for having stayed out of the online world so long, and their initial forrays into online stuff aren't looking especially promising. they work fine, but are hardly as polished as the competition. So they'll probably let this opportunity get past them like all the others.

 

(My prediction - Sony plays up the PSP/PS3 link possibilities. MS uses xbox live to connect to mp3 players, then pmps, then brings out its own xbox portable pmp. nintendo watches.) :(

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The micro doesn't play DS games though, so I don't see it being better in the least. Plus, it's too damned small! The DS's buttons are small enough for me. I don't give a care what the system looks like, as long as it's games are good (and it seems that's just starting to happen).

 

If they do redesign it, I'll probably get it and sell mine to my sister (who put a "hole" in the touch screen playing that dumb dog game :rolleyes: ).

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@ toms: You've got some outdated information and some misconceptions happening there.

 

Firstly, Nintendo has already stated that a redesign for the DS won't come till much further down the track. Nintendo of Japan at the moment is trying to recover after they sold out of NDSs, they've started importing US DSs to compensate. Realistically a redesign will most likely be available in early 2007 rather than 2006. Remember the Revolution is being launched this year. I do agree that any redesign will resember the Micro and Revolution though :D

 

A lot of people have already been discussing the idea of being able to download GB/GBC/GBA games through the virtual console option of the Revolution and rumour has it that Nintendo may be able to do it. Rumour also has it that the virtual console system of the Revolution may also be able to emulate Sega and SNK consoles... they're rumours of course. I'd like to see it all happen but *shrugs*

 

Movie downloads on the other hand would definately not happen. It's too multimedia and the Revolution isn't being designed that way. As Nintendo has already stated a million times they're commited to creating a dedicated gaming console so any extras like that aren't in their line of sight in terms of goals. The PlaYan device is a limited experiment in my view and the Pokemon episode carts is Nintendo attempt to make an extra buck, but in the end they won't be important enough to be an element added to the Revolution.

 

Nintendo was the first to bother to try to go online, the problem they found was that it was extremely difficult to take games online. Microsoft had the ability because they had a unified online network long before the Xbox was thought up. Sony's online network is pretty crap IMO and not worth mentioning. If Nintendo did go online they would've ended up with a network not unlike what Sony has. And it would've cost them more than if they had taken a step back and waited till they had everything figured out.

 

I don't know where you're getting all the gloominess from at the moment since Nintendo's WiFi Connection is doing very well, the DS's small lineup of online enabled games is really kicking ass at the moment and this is only the beginning. It's free, and people are embracing it. It's true that WiFi Connection isn't like Xbox Live, that's the idea, it's a different kind of online gaming experience. It's obvious that most seasoned online players wouldn't like the way Nintendo has set up their system, but I don't hear normal folks complaining.

 

WiFi Connection still has a long way to go, but it's free it's improving and it will become even more popular once the Revolution comes around.

 

PSP/PS3 link possibilities? Just like the GBA/GCN link possibilities? Nintendo isn't just watching, they're taking an active role to bring something new to the table.... remember XD And they're not standing my idly with their online plan, they're also doing a lot in that area too, more than Sony is in fact. Nintendo does have a long road ahead of it, but I find that some people make it sound as if Nintendo is gonna drop out all of a sudden.

 

Nintendo is on the right track because Nintendo is on a different track.

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The micro doesn't play DS games though, so I don't see it being better in the least. Plus, it's too damned small! The DS's buttons are small enough for me. I don't give a care what the system looks like, as long as it's games are good (and it seems that's just starting to happen).

 

I never said the Micro is better... but it is more handy, cheaper and cooler looking. Imay well get a DS if i can get one cheap, as the games do look awesome... but the fact it looks so bulky and ugly sure isn't making it tempting.

I don't get how the guys that designed the cool looking GCN, SP and Micro came up with such a fuggly console!

I'll likely still pick one up on ebay for the games, but if it looked nice it'd be a must buy.

 

A lot of people have already been discussing the idea of being able to download GB/GBC/GBA games through the virtual console option of the Revolution and rumour has it that Nintendo may be able to do it. Rumour also has it that the virtual console system of the Revolution may also be able to emulate Sega and SNK consoles... they're rumours of course.

 

Downloadable GBA games would rock, and be a very sensible idea if they could manange it. It would still require a "Virtual Console Cart" if they were to allow you to transfer them to the handheld... though i guess they might just make them playable on the Revolution like the others.

Moving things (wirelessly) to the handhelds would be no walk-in-the-park, technology wise... but it would be very awesome if it worked, and would fit their "link up" strategy.

 

I see no reason (other than legal) why they couldn't get it to emulate any of those other systems. I'd assume that it runs different emulators for each type of game anyway.. and emulators have been written for those systems for almost every platform available.. and by people in their spare time without inside knowledge of the system. Heck, MS even managed to get the 360 to emulate an xbox.

 

The problem with their "we are about games only" policy is that it will kill them in the long term. Even moreso in the handheld market than the home market.

 

Convergence is a major word in handheld gadgets... and althogh at the moment the tech isn't good enough to pull it off... give it 10 years and ipods, movie players, phones, cameras and games consoles are all going to be in one device.

Now Sony and MS are starting to compete with Apple in the portable music field, they are both not going to want to be left behind in portable video. And the fact that both the PS3 & 360 have media player capabilities, and the PSP does to indicates the way the field will go. That and the fact phones are getting better and better game engines.

At the moment the tech is too expensive, and that makes the PSP out of reach for a lot of nintendo's audience. But in maybe 5 years you will be able to buy something that does everything the PSP does for around $100.. and then nintendo is going to have a hard time selling its handhelds on games alone.

 

The thing that confuses me about nintendo is that their entire business model for games is based on constant innovation. But then they seem to miss out on all these great opportunities for innovation in other areas.

There are over 100million gameboy owners out there. Get them to see your handheld as more than just a games console and you will have a hell of a head start against mobile phones, multimedia devices, and whatever devices sony and ms come up with. MS have already made it so that play-for-sure PMPs can connect to the 360, can't be long before they link it to their upcoming online media store.

 

Either that or i guess nintendo could license their handheld platforms/chips to mobile phone manufacturers...

 

Sometimes you have to forget your long held policies and grab opportunities when they pop up, cos they won't be around for long... and others will grab them away from you.

 

Heck - if i was more of an entrepreneur i'd do a deal with nintendo to provide content over their network.. if they don't want to do it themselves.

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I never said the Micro is better... but it is more handy, cheaper and cooler looking. Imay well get a DS if i can get one cheap, as the games do look awesome... but the fact it looks so bulky and ugly sure isn't making it tempting.

I don't get how the guys that designed the cool looking GCN, SP and Micro came up with such a fuggly console!

I'll likely still pick one up on ebay for the games, but if it looked nice it'd be a must buy.

 

But with a DS, you wouldn't need a Micro. I personally think most consoles and handhelds are ugly as hell. The PSP and X360 are the only exceptions.

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@ toms:

 

I think they were trying to prove that the look of the console doesn't make a difference as to how many are sold. Besides, when you play all those DS games you stop worrying about how the system looks and what people will think of you holding that system and focus more on the games XD

 

Here's how I see it working... You download a game to your Revolution, say a SNES game and you then transfer it into your DS. This will require no carts for the simple fact that the game will be stored in the systems RAM. All Nintendo has to do then is sell a GBA cart to save your save data to. And once you're done with the game you're playing and have saved it, you turn your DS off and the RAM is cleared. However you still have a copy of that game on your Revolution you can transfer to your DS any time. And this IS possible, with the single cart multiplayer ability the DS has I have been given an entire full version of Advance Wars DS that lasted as long as the host DS was still transmitting. But the entire game was there in my DSs RAM.

 

Nintendo COULD offer Sega and SNK emulators, of course they wouldn't go ahead with such things unless they had full cooperation with the respective companies, of course. It's been stated that it IS possible for other console to be emulated on the Revolution. Oh and it's also possible to be able to grab oldskool games from new games. What I mean is if you buy a copy of Metroid Prime 3, a Revolution game, it could come with Super Metroid. So whenever you want to play Super Metroid you put in the MP3 disc and the Revolution will copy Super Metroid into its RAM and you're set to play. Free legacy game with the purchase of selected Revolution games XD How cool would that be.

 

Another thing to think about with Nintendo "games-only" strategy is, is it affordable for the company and the people to create such products? The lack of HD, the lack of all the extra multimedia goodies is gonna make the Revolution the cheapest console on the market and instead of being a "me too" company Nintendo is doing something different for their console. They're maximising their chances that if someone gets either a PS3 or Xbox360, they may consider also purchasing a Revolution down the track. The idea of someone getting both a PS3 and Xbox360 seems a lot more silly since both console basically do the same thing. I do agree that in the future some time Nintendo will have to focus more on a value for money system that can do "everything" but I don't think that moment is now. After all it's been said the the Xbox360 isn't actually that great a multimedia system and has to make a lot of improvements. Same with the PSP. Why would Nintendo want to invest money in that sort of thing when it's not that great to begin with at the moment?

 

The reason why it's more important for Sony and Microsoft to make these multimedia type machines is because Sony and Microsoft make other products that will benefit from this "console war." What will Nintendo benefit from creating a multimedia system? Nothing. Nintendo doesn't make TVs, Nintendo doesn't make digital camera's or any other kind of multimedia device like that.

 

Look at the PS3... Sony wants you to buy a PS3, why? So you can buy a Sony HDTV, so you can then buy a Sony DV-cam, so you can buy a PSP and invest in Bluray and UMDs and Sony's flash media format, etc, etc ,etc...

 

Now look at the Revolution. Nintendo wants you to buy Revolution games, Nintendo wants you to keep buying GameCube games, Nintendo wants you to buy legacy games you might want to play again or haven't played but want to. Nintendo also wants you to buy a DS...

 

Nintendo is grabbing opportunities, they've grabbed a big one with the Revolution, the problem with the opportunities you want them to grab is that they're already being done. The PS3 and Xbox360 have already filled in that gap for consumers. Now Nintendo is filling in another gap, one that Sony and Microsoft didn't even think of investing their money in.

 

They're not ignoring all these possible innovations, they're just being selective about which ones they choose. After all not many people know this but Ocarina of Time could've come with some voice control options but were cut out early in production because although it was a very cool idea and worked well, it just wasn't a good idea to add such a thing to the game which was trying to focus on other types of gameplay.

 

 

Everything you're suggesting sounds exactly like what Sony and Microsoft are doing... it's not a good idea for Nintendo to follow someone else, otehrwise we wouldn't have the DS or the Revolution which are very unique compared to the two clones, PS3 and Xbox360.

 

 

UPDATE

 

Wow, my information wasn't wrong about a number Nintendo reps saying that there won't be a redesign for the DS any time soon. However that doesn't mean that Satoru Iwata can't just up and say "here it is"

 

Behold the Nintendo DS redesign dubbed the "Nintendo DS Lite"

 

060126.jpg

 

http://www.joystiq.com/2006/01/26/nintendo-announces-ds-lite/

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/n10/news/060126.html

 

From what I hear it has all of the features a regular DS has but is smaller, lighter and has brighter and sharper screens which the GBMicro and new GBA SPs have.

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New Nintendo DS Lite announced for March (in japan).

I'm now really happy i didn't bother importing a white one! :D

 

http://www.nintendo-europe.com/NOE/en/GB/news/article.do?elementId=6NbdmCRtzfSgNPnp2PG7SbvGlJcoH_Rk

 

(looks like lik-sang got the date wrong by 10 days!! oops!)

[edit: grrr,you posted at the same time i was doing it! serves me right for thinking i might beat LynkF at any nintendo news! :D ]

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Everything you're suggesting sounds exactly like what Sony and Microsoft are doing... it's not a good idea for Nintendo to follow someone else, otehrwise we wouldn't have the DS or the Revolution which are very unique compared to the two clones, PS3 and Xbox360.

 

Except Sony and MS don't have 100 million or so existing handhelds already uut in the market. Even if that figure includes old gameboys there has to be 50million GBA or better systems out there, and that is a hell of an opportunity!

 

The only problem with keeping it in memory would be that the whole advantage would be that you could load up a game (or whatever) at homeand take it with you, If you couldn't turn off the handheld then it would kind of defeat the object.

 

If nintendo could figure a way to bring out a cheap £30 ($50ish?) gba cart that worked in all those consoles, had ~256/512mb memory, and could store (but not transfer out) content (games, movies, whatever) then that would be a pretty attractive option for those owners who already have some form of nintendo handheld. Pay $100s for a PSP, or pay $50.

 

Still, I have no deep understanding of the plans N might have or the industry, i just think it would be an awesome idea if it could work.

There are rumours of a new gameboy at E3, so whatever they have planned for that might change everything...

 

DS Lite

Its not quite as big an advance as i was hoping.. not THAT much smaller, and still worryingly thick, but from an industrial design point of view it is so much more stylish and sexier than the old DS.

 

While the games ARE the important thing, looks are also very important in today's society. Especially as gamers get older and more style concious.

You only have to look at the success (and premium prices) of iPods, iPod Nanos, Sony Vaios, Apple laptops, those new sony mp3 players, sony digital cameras, LCD tvs etc.. to see that if sonething looks stylish people will generate a bigger demand for it, and even be willing to pay more for something that may not actually DO anything better than an uglier alternative. Apple figured this out a while back.

 

A few years ago you could get away with ugly/average if you had the functionality.. not anymore.

 

DS games look great, and i was about to buy one anyway, but i'm much happier now i can get one of these (in a month or two) and have something easier to carry and that I won't be ashamed to pull out in public.. ;)

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That's the redesign? I say big whoop. I don't mind carrying my DS around. It's not like it weighs that much as to it pulling down my pants if I were not to wear a belt or something. And it fits in my cargo pants pockets just fine. Brighter screen sounds to be the only interesting part. And I bet it'll come out with a whole bunch of new colors, but aethstetic values mean little to me.

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It means a lot to me (i'm so vain! *sigh*).

Its a bigger difference than i though, as 1up listed the thickness wrong. :rolleyes:

Basically 2/3rds the size and weight.. which will make it a lot more easily portable.

And having just got my Micro I gotta say that the screen IS amazing.. so that will be cool too. I'm seriously considering preordering one from japan.. so for me at least it's gone from a "would like" to a "must have".

 

(If i doo get one I bet Nintendo announces a new gameboy at e3 that blows it out of the water! :shrug: )

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@ toms: I think you've gotten confused with my bad sentance structuring n stuff XD I mean that going the multimedia way is what Sony and Microsoft are going for which is something Nintendo should avoid, at least for now. Nintendo is doing the right thing by evolving videogames rather than just adding more to it.

 

My suggestion for the DS/Revolution connection was separate from the whole Nintendo and multimedia thing and I agreed with you that it's a good idea, one that I would like to see happen, though the way in which its implemented is very important in terms of security. Nintendo as we all know tries very hard to stop people from ripping off their games and the way you suggested makes it easier for people to do this...

 

If Nintendo could create a cart that could stop people from ripping off games like that then they would be the hero's of the world in the fight against piracy XD

 

Also I don't think a new GB would be announced at E3 2006 for the simple fact that it will be dominated by the Revolution.

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True. But then again, piracy is pretty easy with the GBA already... but it involves expensive carts and complex hookups to you pc. If they made a memory cart that made it tricky, even if not impossible, and if we were only talking $0.99 episodes or SNES/NES/GBA games then i'd think the rewards for people paying to get them would outweigh the small losses for people pirating them.

 

I just reckon that, maybe if i was going on a trip, it would be really cool to load up my GBA/DS with a few episodes of anime and a few snes games for the journey. Technically I can do that already if I buy expensive flash carts and go through all the hassle involved.. but if there was a cheap, easy, legal way to do it then a lot of people might take advantage of it. Anime in particular is a gigantic library of stuff they could flog to their audience.. a lot of whom would already be interesting.

 

E3 is going to be fun this year, thats for sure.

 

[edit]Hey lynk, you mauy have already seen these, but i happened to run into a discussion on slashdot (and related one on gamesutra) about microsfot maybe releasing a 3rd portable.

http://games.slashdot.org/article.pl?sid=06/01/26/1625211&from=rss

http://www.gamasutra.com/features/20060118/hong_01.shtml

 

Most interesting was:

Last week Gamasutra asked our professional audience, “What hardware capabilities and software would be needed for a third company to create a competitive rival to the Nintendo DS and Sony PSP, and which companies might be capable of doing so? Should they try?”

 

Of the features many felt a third gaming handheld would need to be competitive, the most notable was digital distribution of games, something not even considered for most existing handheld systems, which helps explain which companies many felt were capable of creating such a system. Of the cited companies who might possibly compete in this area, Apple and Microsoft were by far the most mentioned, with many readers citing Xbox Live and iTunes as superior distribution mediums.

I think nintendo are gonna have to be careful here. Cos if microsoft leverages xbox live as a game download medium they could find their legs cut out from under them. Forgetting video and music for a while, its important they don't get left behind on the digital downloads front.

 

though if MS does come out with a portable, its almost certain to play movies & music too. And it will be interesting if apple also throws it's hat into the ring by extending ipods and itunes to include games. Plus phones that do music, cideo and games. Its gonna be a very crowded market soon...

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I know that people can ripoff GBA games, I just don't think Nintendo would choose an option that makes it any easier for people to do so.

 

And yeah I've heard. It's more of a concern for the PSP more than it is for the DS/GBA though since Microsoft will directly challenge Sony's multimedia stance.

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