A Nintendo community
by the fans!
           
  Forum main
 + 
NES games on 3DS. How do you feel about having to re-buy them? [roundtable]
 
Hey-oh there, Negative World.

So, I've got a question for y'all. As we all know, 3DS's Virtual Console has not only classic portable games for download, but now also NES games as well. And while I'm pretty sure the topic of having to re-buy digital copies of Virtual Console games we already own on Wii has come up before in various threads, I don't think there's a thread strictly dedicated to it. I wanted to get your thoughts on the subject, how you feel overall about it, and whether or not you've downloaded any NES games yet, or plan to in the future. (Ambassador games don't count, since we got 'em all "for free" anyway)

I bring this up mostly because of the recent (re)launch of Punch-Out!! on Virtual Console. I enjoy this old classic quite a bit. But I've already downloaded it on Wii - I was a little disappointed that to play it on my 3DS, I'd have to buy it on 3DS.

Well, "a little disappointed" maybe isn't the right term. I was actually kind of upset about it. Like seriously, Nintendo? What is this garbage? You really expect me to purchase a game I already own? Why can't I just transfer my Wii VC library to my 3DS library? Is it really that hard? Sony allows Playstation 3 users to transfer their PSOne games to their PSP (and now Vita) and back again at no charge. Why can't you be the same?!? This is ridiculous.

But then I also considered something else. Nintendo has actually given me this game (Punch-Out!!) for free before; it was an unlockable in the Gamecube version of Animal Crossing. Maybe throwing Nintendo an extra $5 isn't all that bad - I mean, they let me play it for "free" before, maybe I can kind of "pay them back" this way? And hey. It's only $5. It's not like it's gonna break me. Right?

Hrm. I guess if I followed that line of logic I could justify the re-purchase in my mind. But c'mon, it's the principal of the thing. Right? And so what, Nintendo gave me a "free" version of the game last gen, does that really give them a free pass at my wallet THIS gen? What have they given me for free this time around?

Ok, well, I guess we can count the pre-loaded games that come standard on every 3DS. The StreetPass Mii Plaza's Puzzle Swap and Find Mii/Find Mii 2 are very fun and very social games that are really addicting. And there's actually a surprising amount of stuff to play with those AR cards. Even Face Raiders is more fun than I care to admit. So there are those. And I suppose we could also count the Pokédex 3D? It's not really a game, but kind of a cool app for Pokéfans. Oh! And we can't forget they gave us 3D Classics: Excitebike for free, too. And The Legend of Zelda: 4 Swords Anniversary Edition - despite the fact they could have charged us all $10 and we all likely would have bought it. .....aaaaaaaaaand I guess we can even count the redeemable codes from Club Nintendo that allow us to download games for "free" from the Wii's downloadable service, as well as the 3DS's. (yeah, they are free. Unless you're going out buying games *just* to earn Club Nintendo Coins, you're just getting rewards for buying stuff you would have bought anyway) And speaking of redeemable codes, I should also mention Nintendo's giving me 3D Classics: Kid Icarus for free next week too. Simply because I pre-ordered Kid Icarus: Uprising - again, something I was going to do anyway. So yeah, there's another free game, and it's not even a simple ROM dump.

And that's all without taking into account the 20 Ambassador games. Hm. Looking at it this way, the $5 for Punch-Out!! doesn't seem all that bad. Right? Or... maybe not?

I dunno. It's kind of a strange situation to be in, personally. I can find ways to make it "OK" in my mind to buy Punch-Out!! on 3DS - even though it's not a 3D Classic entry, which is baffling in and of itself. How is THIS game not in 3D, yet freakin' Urban Champion is? That makes no sense whatsoever. But is thinking this way making me some kind of irrational Nintendo fanboy/apologist? I don't really know.

So anyway, what are your thoughts, Negative World? Are you going to buy NES games on 3DS? Are you upset that you can't transfer your Wii Virtual Console games to it?

tl;dr version: Just answer the question in the subject title!

URL to share (right click and copy)
03/18/12, 04:45    Edited: 03/19/12, 05:31
 
Why not sign up for a (free) account?
   
 
@Shadowlink

Nintendo. I'm not particularly hard up for playing old games right now and if I decide to it will be through an emulator and ROM.
04/26/16, 03:18   
@Stephen

So you justify emulation on the basis that you can't play on *multiple* consoles.

There's entitlement for you. In my day we were happy just being able to play a game on a console at all.
04/26/16, 03:24   
@Shadowlink

What Nintendo is offering isn't worthy of my money. It's as simple as that.

That's not entitlement.
04/26/16, 03:30   
Edited: 04/26/16, 03:30
@Stephen

Clearly it is if you 're willing to play those games via emulation.
04/26/16, 03:32   
I love re-buying games. It makes me feel good as a person. A large percentage of my self-worth is tied directly to how much money I give Nintendo.
04/26/16, 04:29   
@Shadowlink

It's not though. Just because I think the games are worth playing doesn't mean I agree that the price and terms they are asking are fair.
04/26/16, 04:37   
@Stephen

The terms are pretty reasonable.

You want to play Game X on platform Y? Pay a small inexpensive fee. (Perhaps the price of a takeaway lunch?)

Nothing wrong with that. Pretty much how the entire industry works in general. (Discounting free to play.)

Of course if you start thinking that on *top* of simply buying the game to play (a simple transaction), that you're somehow also owed extra copies of the game on other platforms for free...Because um, reasons? It's easy for them to do and you deserve free stuff I guess?

Well you may have just a wee bit of an entitlement mentality. Especially if you let the extra perks override the initial simple question of 'Do I want to play this game or not?'.

@Koovaps

No-one has to rebuy *anything* at the moment, we're simply discussing the merits of buying *anything* at all.
04/26/16, 04:54   
Edited: 04/26/16, 04:56
@Shadowlink

Yeah, I can dig that. I guess I'm still of the mentality that I buy games specifically for particular platforms, and that's it. I've never expected anything beyond that like many people seem to. And if you don't get that, just find it on the Internet and take it. I look forward to getting a New 3DS so I can get most of those sweet SNES games.
04/26/16, 05:31   
@Shadowlink

If they're not selling me a license to play the game on multiple platforms then it loses a tremendous amount of value right out of the gate. PSN just had a sale and games like Tomb Raider definitive edition, Killzone Shadowfall, LBP3 were $8 or less. Those are current gen games which will work on any PS4 I sign in to and yet Nintendo can't be asked to offer the same for a 20 year old game being sold for the same price? No thanks. I'll give my money to companies who try to earn my dollar by offering me the best product they can. Nintendo's VC doesn't deserve it.
04/26/16, 07:21   
That's ridiculous. The ability to play on a *second console* has no relation to whether or not you want to play that game. The value lies in the game itself.

No, I haven't played any of the VC games I've downloaded on another Wii/WiiU system. Has that stopped me from playing and enjoying the game in any fashion? Not at all. Like @Koovaps says, we buy these things with the intent to play there, on that system we bought them on. Expecting more beyond that, and more importantly ,making that the centre issue when deciding to purchase or not is just silly.

You can't play it on multiple consoles, so you refuse to play it at all. Well done. that makes complete sense.
04/26/16, 07:59   
@Shadowlink

That's not good enough or they're charging too much for what they are offering.

There is better value out there. For games that aren't 20 years old.
04/26/16, 08:51   
@Stephen

What is the purpose of purchasing a game?

To play it.

Can you play it when you purchase it?

Yes.

Conclusion: It's good enough.


But as I've noted before, sentiments like yours are the noisy minority, so that's something.
04/26/16, 09:25   
@Shadowlink

Lol so as long as a game is playable when you purchase it its a good enough value?

Microtransactions?
DRM?
On disc DLC?

Entitlements right?

And price too, I suppose price is irrelevant. Why not $30 per game? Why not $60? I mean hey you're still getting a working game after all. Stop being so entitled, give them your money and do so with a smile on your face.

And I'm the minority? Because last I remember checking the VC had prettyyyyy awful attach ratios for the hardware. Not to mention it's bandwagon fallacy from the beginning lol.

Not to mention all of this is just my opinion.

Keep swinging junior.
04/26/16, 10:47   
@Stephen

Nice diversions. Too bad none of those things apply to the situation we're discussing. Whose swinging and missing now?

And I'm the minority? Because last I remember checking the VC had prettyyyyy awful attach ratios for the hardware.

Oh by all means. Enlighten me as to your source. Then please post the same attach rate data for the other consoles so we can make a meaningful comparison.


As for my conclusion that you are in the minority, that's based on your singularly insane 'cut off your nose to spite your face' mentality. Whereby you deliberately choose not to purchase a game you want to play *at all*, simply because you can't play it on multiple consoles.

You remember your 'Mustache ratio'? People who want to play all these third party games but refuse to actually get the consoles they come out on?

That's you. Someone who claims to want to play all these VC games, but won't actually buy them to play, because of reasons unrelated to the game itself. And I have literally seen no-one else that espouses your view. Even DH for all his complaints about lack of crossplay ultimately succumbs to a simple truism- He wants to play the game, so he buys it.

Seriously, look at this logically. Which group of people do you honestly expect to be larger.?

The people who want to play a game, but refuse to buy it? (i.e., you)
The people who want to play a game, and then of course, purchase it.
04/26/16, 11:04   
Edited: 04/26/16, 11:05
@Shadowlink

Maybe you missed the part where I said it was a bandwagon fallacy to begin with, and further that it was just my opinion.

So just to clarify, you're backing down from your 'exchange money for game = always fair' stance? Because it was just so nuanced that I thought that you'd have ridden it out to the end.

And again, if I want to play these games I will. I'm missing out on nothing. Nintendo is missing out on a paying customer because of their archaic policies.
04/26/16, 11:20   
@Stephen

I'm not defending your ridiculous interpretation of my stance if that's what you're asking.

And Nintendo is missing out on a (pitiful) amount of cash because of your entitlement mentality, not because of their policies- Which by any sane measurement are perfectly acceptable.
04/26/16, 11:31   
I'd love to play Mario World on the go...but I'm sure as hell not paying $16 to be able to play the same game across two devices. An account system would very easily allow them to make gamers not have to do that. I mean, they already can do that as evidenced by the upgrade structure on Wii U. The question would be - is it a little two faced for them to take that approach on one platform but not another? Nintendo has already set a standard to 'upgrade' your game to a new device, so is it necessarily entitled for a gamer to expect that same approach to be taken on another new device?
04/26/16, 19:57   
@PogueSquadron

I don't know about NES and Game Boy emulation but according to an indie 3DS developer, emulating the SNES on New 3DS is kind of a feat. The regular 3DS certainly couldn't have handled it.

If Nintendo feels the labor that went into its 3DS emulators is worth making people pay full price, and don't think the lost consumer goodwill is a big deal, then that's their decision.

I don't see it as hypocritical: it was probably much simpler to update those Wii emulators for Wii U.

Meanwhile, like ShadowLink, I haven't rebought a SNES game on 3DS, though I might if at some point I need portable DKC2 in my life.
04/26/16, 20:42   
The only SNES/NES VC games I own on 3DS are the ambassador games.
04/26/16, 21:14   
Edited: 04/26/16, 21:15
I have never bought a VC game that I own in some other form, though I did get a few from Club Nintendo. I had nothing better to spend my final coin pile on.
04/26/16, 21:24   
  Forum main
 +