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Do the big companies care about the retro market?

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    Do the big companies care about the retro market?

    What do you think Nintendo ( especially ) really make of retro gamers, are they fully aware of this relentless army of charity shop raiding, boot sale prowling, eBay sniping fanatics?

    I used to think they ( the big companies ) weren't bothered a single bit, after all they they'd had their money from Joe Public with the inital sale of either console or game when it was originally on the shelves but I can't help thinking with the advent of the forthcoming Virtua Console download service for the Wii ( and Microsofts own Live service ) that they are trying to cash in on undeniable interest that people of a certain generation show in older games on discontinued consoles.

    Put it this way, my cousin loves all the old games, he's the same age as me, earns the same amount of money as me and as kids we loved all the same games...most notably My Hero on the Sega Master System...we just liked it okay

    When I mentioned to him about getting an original SNES console so I could play the likes of Super Mario World, Zelda and Pilotwings, all he could say was "I wouldn't bother, I'd wait for the Wii"

    I'm caught between two trains of thought, ever the Wii will bring much retro love back into peoples lives who had forgot all about it or it'll potentially ruin the retro market and the need for old consoles will eventually decrease over time.

    After all, what would you rather play...Mario64 on the N64, blurs and all or an enhanced, slightly tweated ( for the better ) version on the Wii. I suppose it comes down to how hardcore a collector you are.

    #2
    Why does everyone keep saying the Wii is going to kill off owning the original console? Not every game will be available due to licensing issues (for a start, Nintendo and RARE no longer own the Goldeneye license, so I can't see how it will ever be made available). Or what about long forgotten companies? Or 3rd parties who won't take part? And regional variations? You don't honestly think we'll suddenly have access to Japanese or American games do you? I have a sneaky feeling that the games made available will be far more limited than most realise, unfortunately (I'd love to be proven wrong with this).

    PC emulation has a higher rate of support than the Wii will have, and that didn't kill off owning the original hardware.

    (for the record, this is only my opinion, and not based on any facts)

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      #3
      After all, what would you rather play...Mario64 on the N64, blurs and all or an enhanced, slightly tweated ( for the better ) version on the Wii.
      N64, blur and all as I like using the original hardware. I play PS games on a PlayStation despite the PS2 being more than capable of the same.

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        #4
        Same here, hence why I was originally looking at buying an imported N64 only the other day but rethought the idea mainly due to the lack of games that I particulary favour compared to a US SNES.

        I, like the majority of folk here, speak from a viewpoint of obtaining the actual console each and every time, even if it's for just one or two classic games. Some people would rather google a certain game title and if possible, download a ROM of it to play on their PC.

        I've never seen the appeal of downloading ROM's of games from the internet and I suppose the Virtual Console & LIVE Arcade service is exactly the same and from a die hard collecting point of view will be equally frowned upon, except for the fact that, well, it's legal and at the moment contained to only a small number of titles.

        That said, I desparately want a Wii

        Oh God, that new name has alot to answer for!
        Last edited by Polygon Window; 13-07-2006, 20:33.

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          #5
          Originally posted by Polygon Window
          I've never seen the appeal of downloading ROM's of games from the internet and I suppose the Virtual Console & LIVE Arcade service is exactly the same and from a die hard collecting point of view will be equally frowned upon, except for the fact that, well, it's legal and at the moment contained to only a small number of titles.
          Well it'll be different in the sense that you are actually playing on a TV, not a monitor. And most people downloading roms are going to be using a keyboard to play, with Wii you do have the virtual console controller.

          I'll only bother to fork out money however, if the price is right, I don't want to be paying ?5 for a game unless it's improved in some way or other from the original. Online Secret of Mana?

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            #6
            Nothing will ever replace the original hardware. Playing a game on the original system feels so much better than emulation. For me I'd rather get out my Mega Drive and plus in Thunder Force 4 than play it on the Saturn Gold Pack even if it is better (no slowdown). There's just something about the original. Plus, all these new retro packs are never 100% perfect. For a start I'(m pretty sure the Wii can't output a low resolution like that of the SFC or MD. So all the games are going to look different for a start. Then you'll only get the same old crap that THEY think you want to play. I can see it now. Mario this and Mario that, Zelda this and that oh and lets throw in Kirby as well. Then for the Sega side it will be Sonic, Streets or rage, Shinobi and so on. Yep, all the common stuff you've seen a million times. No or hardly none of the rare good games will be released because not enough people know about them to make it worth while. The whole retro on line games idea is to appeal to your average Joe who knows sweet F.A.

            That is why the original system will never be replaced. or at least that's what I feel.

            Yakumo

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              #7
              People seem to be forgetting that all the games will be emulated on the Wii. And emulation no matter how good is just missing something from playing all the originals the way they were intended.

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                #8
                A friend of mine who lives in Japan and works as lead artist for one of the big companies, tells me reliably that game manufacturers DO care about the retro scene, the enthusiasts and it's impact on gaming as a whole.

                Of course not all of those companies care about it like we do. Some would rather we were spending our cash on the latest releases. I guess this is logical concern when the game industry is now a big money concern. If profits aren't achieve, backing could slump and we could all end up as retro gamers should Microsoft, Sony and Nintendo decided to shut up shop.

                Some of course realise what we already know. hype about the power of the latest generation of consoles, super realistic graphics and licensed sounds tracks do not a classic title make. Some developers can remember when a game didn't have to rely on a multi million dollar Hollywood movie franchise just to get a spot on the shelf.

                My friend reassures me that the company he works for has a monthly retro budget so that employees can use it as a tool or resource.

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                  #9
                  Originally posted by gossi the dog
                  People seem to be forgetting that all the games will be emulated on the Wii. And emulation no matter how good is just missing something from playing all the originals the way they were intended.
                  Plus it's seldom perfect. I still can't get a NES emulator to work without dreadful screen tearing when games scroll (something to do with screen refresh speeds not being in synch).

                  EDIT:
                  Also...
                  My friend reassures me that the company he works for has a monthly retro budget so that employees can use it as a tool or resource.
                  Really? So they buy retro games to see what happened before? I dunno why, but that really brings a smile to my face.

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                    #10
                    Originally posted by Szczepaniak
                    You don't honestly think we'll suddenly have access to Japanese or American games do you? I have a sneaky feeling that the games made available will be far more limited than most realise, unfortunately (I'd love to be proven wrong with this).
                    I think this will definitely be the case. Originally I was thinking that I'd probably be best going with a PAL machine because of the virtual download and online stuff but I can't really see the UK getting a huge amount of odd PC Engine titles available (if anything it'll be Turbo Graphx stuff) and being able to visit someone else's village in Animal Crossing just doesn't interest me at all. I see the Wii's virtual download service being retro for the masses (like Live Arcade's Frogger, Galaga etc.); Mario, Sonic, Bomberman etc. I can't see us getting Seiken Densetsu 3 or Bakuretsu Muteki Bangaioh. If there is region lockout I'd rather be able to play all the Japanese Wii madness that will appear (as it does on the DS) and not have it online at all. My retro will still come from having the original games on the original consoles.

                    Of course if you can somehow fool the system into logging onto the Japanese download service

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                      #11
                      Originally posted by Kubrick
                      N64, blur and all as I like using the original hardware. I play PS games on a PlayStation despite the PS2 being more than capable of the same.
                      I know this isn't the point of your post, but I'm very interested in the PS3's backward compatibility, since the machine internally scales for 720p/1080i/1080p. The 360 does this for those few compatible games.
                      I think this is one key selling point for people like us.

                      Same if the rumours of Wii being 480p as standard.

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