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!

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I wouldn't do it. But I loooove some cartridges. (I haven't rebought anything on the VC that I own "hardcopy")

I was actually about to just play some Kid Icarus. Haha, "funny" story; I was playing last night, and I got up to 2-1 after restarting 1-1 to farm for some cash. Made it through "easy" enough, and right around the time I was about to stop for my final password of the night..my game glitched out!! NO. NO! So now I gotta go do that re-crap all over again.

I guess from now on I'll get the FIRST password that is available to me.

I'M FINISHED!

unless the game is an absolute must buy for me, and I don't have it on Wii already, then, yeah, I would get it.. but I would rather have games from the handeld devices (all the ones I missed) first.

Maybe Nintendo will make an update for xfering games over - I hope my VC games on Wii can beam over to Wii U. Only time will tell.

ps: i'm still secretly mad at you for even suggesting xeno to a handheld - you sir, are just one twisted 3DS

@Mr_Mustache

I thought about not re-buying stuff that I have a hardcopy of, but as far as NES games go, hardcopies are pretty much useless to me. My NES stopped working YEARS ago. I suppose I could buy a "new" NES, but... eh. A $5 download is so much faster and easier. And cheaper.

@Smerd

It's not a secret if you tell me....!

@GameDadGrant

yeah i know.... but knowing is half the battle and you need to be prepared for our TvsC/MK7 dual..

But.... I have to go play Tales of the Abyss now..

S

@Smerd

*duel

And yeah, when you're ready to play, let me know. It'll be on, like Donkey Kong!

I have no qualms with rebuying games for the most part. I really appreciate that Sony lets me play my PSP games (some of them) on my Vita and my PS1 Classics on my PSP (none on the Vita yet). I see the Wii and 3DS as two separate systems, so I really don't mind buying the same games for them. Would I prefer to just buy it once and have it on both systems? Yes. But as it stands, it doesn't really bother me.

Having said that, Nintendo better have a way of transferring VC games over to the Wii U, because having to buy my entire library of VC games over again on a system that has already promised backwards compatibility with Wii games would be preposterous.

I think that Wii VC games should be transferable to the 3DS at no extra cost. Not copied though, because then you could abuse that if it could be on more than one system at a time. But, the reality is that most people probably are willing to pay for portable versions of games they already own, and Nintendo knows this, so they are going to charge for them.

One more thing to consider: It costs money to make these games playable on the 3DS. I don't know how much, but since the 3DS screen's resolution is different from the NES, it must be converted. I don't know how much work that requires, but it isn't like flipping a switch and it's there. So, you're paying for a conversion.

Personally, it doesn't affect me, since I prefer physical copies and have bought only one VC game. I already have all the good NES games anyway, and I don't really play portables on the go.

If Zelda or Zelda II had not been free I probably would have bought them anyways since I am strangely compelled to own every available version of the games I can get my grubby paws on.

I'm not buying them on 3DS until that's sorted out. I'll play anything I get for free though. Hopefully Wii -> Wii U will not create a divide or I might cease VC purchases.

No, you shouldn't pay to play it on your 3DS. If I own a game on the Wii's virtual console, then I should be able to play it on my handheld for free.

Its your money and you have every right to do with it how you please, but people listen, do not rebuy the games for both cause if they end up selling well on both, then Nintendo will see no reason to change. And this is pure bullshit. \\

With games getting cheaper all the time, people should demand that once they download a game on one of NIntendo's VC it should be free on the other. Esp. these games that are like over 20 years old. I am pretty sure this is how Sony is setting up their console and handheld. If you own it on the PS3 then you can download it from the sony store for you vita for free.

If Nintendo really wants to keep it's customer's happy, and esp. with how competitive the videogame market is these days, Nintendo should not be charging twice. All my games are registered with club Nintendo, so don't tell me that Nintendo couldn't offer promo codes to download these games that I already own on the Wii for my 3DS. Hell, I might even go as far as paying like one dollar to have a game I already own, esp. if it does cost Nintendo extra money to convert the game to the 3DS, then I could understand compensating them a little for it.

And just cause the game was free with Animal Crossing doesn't mean squat. You are only saying that to justify it in your own head to pay another $5 for the game. Again its your money, but I feel it would be sending the wrong message to Nintendo to do whatever they please.


Edit: I just went back and read all the replies in this thread and it looks like more people than not don't mind paying to have the same game on both the console and the handheld. That does surprise me. Come on guys, NIntendo has made enough money off of these games from back in the day. Like I said, if you all happily hand over your money to own the same game on the console and the handheld.things will never change. Again though, I guess you are free to do whatever you want with the money you worked hard to put in your pockets. Even though you paid Nintendo back in the day for the carts and paid then to have the game on the VC, go ahead and hand over more money for the handheld version.

Hell, I am just as big of a Nintendo fan as any of you, probably moreso, but when it comes to these digital copies, which in the long run probably only costs Nintendo pennies, Im not buying duplicates of the same game.

I don't have to do anything! I barely bought any NES games on Wii to begin with, and I'm definitely not rebuying them on 3DS.

I'm not much of a portable gamer, so if I want to play an old NES game I'd rather do it on a big screen TV with a more comfortable controller. So no, I wouldn't re-buy games on the 3DS that I already own elsewhere.

There should be no reason to try and justify why they're making us re-buy these games. The only reason is that they've yet to come up with an adequate system that lets us do so. They could save themselves so much trouble if they let us create a unified account system (which Nintendo Network seems to let us do when it goes live... right?) and then link our systems/account together.

But even if they do come up with a better system... will they let us transfer our games at all? I mean you have people buying these games multiple times so Nintendo clearly profits from this too. Or are they losing sales from people who don't purchase anything due to their crappy system they have in place?

On the one hand, I'm getting tired of the amount of entitlement that some gamers are feeling this way. Nintendo, Steam, Bioware...these companies don't owe you something.

On the OTHER hand, as a customer, I think it's super lame to have to pay another $5 for Super Mario Bros. if I already have it on the Wii. It's not a cartridge...they're selling us 1's and 0's basically. Every company does it a different way. Valve certainly doesn't care. If you move from PC to the Mac, any game that is cross platform is instantly accessible. Does it possibly hurt extra sales? Maybe. Does it remove a barrier for purchase for a lot of people? Maybe?

I would certainly be more excited about buying things digital through Nintendo if I knew that they'd be accessible elsewhere or that they wouldn't be locked down to a specific console. As far as I'm concerned, cool features like that only make me (as a consumer) more excited to get into the shop and buy things.

I'll say what I always say: I way, wayyyy more upset at these NES roms clogging up the eShop release schedule than I am about Nintendo charging for them.

One classic release a week is already pathetic. When that classic release is something we already got on the NES, then it's as if we had gotten none that week, as far as I'm concerned.

Nintendo can charge whatever the hell they want for them, though. I don't love their old NES games enough to want to buy them again, so I don't.

@Guillaume Yeah, Nintendo can put all the NES games on the 3DS they want. I'm not going to buy them and I'd rather play them on the Wii anyway, so it doesn't matter whether or not they charge VC owners again. BUT, if the NES release concentration means Wario Land 1, Mega Man III/IV/V, Oracle of Ages/Seasons, and so forth are going to be pushed back in the release list, then I'm kind of pissed.

I won't buy NES games ever again. I was happy to do it on the Wii Virtual Console, but at this point they should carry over.

Quick question for the room: How many people bought Zelda Ocarina of Time 3D and/or Star Fox 64 3D? Do you think those games should have been free or discounted if you owned those games on the N64 or VC? Yes, they offer updated graphics and a few new features, but they also cost eight times as much as the NES eShop games do.

@Mop it up

I bought neither, for the same reason I skip these NES games: I own them in some form already. I also skipped the 3DS Classics such as Kirby's Adventure.

I DID buy Rayman 2... I had never played it before.

The price of VC or eShop games or even full priced ports or remakes has never been the issue for me. I just want "fresh" classic gaming experiences.

The enhancements make it a fair option, especially considering that there wasn't really anything else to play on the system at the time... and I now consider the 3DS versions of both games to be definitive.