160°

Dear Nintendo: Please Step Up Your Virtual Console Game

Nintendo make their fair share of questionable decisions; there's no denying that. Moving the latest Legend of Zelda's release date to 2017, completely botching the motion controls for Red Steel, taking Fox McCloud out of his Arwing and giving him a pet dinosaur, and *gulp* the virtual boy are just a few examples of Nintendo dropping the ball. Luckily, it would seem that Nintendo fans are a forgiving bunch, given that we come back time and again to buy variation after variation of the same games we've been playing our whole lives. Don't fix it if it ain't broken. But one cardinal sin from Nintendo goes far past the point of forgiveness.

Read Full Story >>
powerupgaming.co.uk
Owenza2919d ago

Front Mission, with full English translation. I loved this little tactical mech game, but can't read Japanese much at all. Cannon Fodder would transition over very well too, I think, especially with the touch screen.

rjason122918d ago

Red steel? That's a Ubisoft game. I seriously agree on the virtual console front, they should release 3-4 titles a week

mrjam02918d ago

Dear Nintendo. Stop charging us repeatedly for games. Thank you.

Harrylikesgames2918d ago

I'd be all over the virtual console scene on my 3ds if the prices weren't so high

RosweeSon2917d ago

Yeah I don't understand why SNES games are £7.19 on 3ds yet get it on Wii U it's £5.49? Con as for this whole buying games again your not forced to repurchase the games again and are they full price no not even close VC games are £4-8 each these games were £40 a pop back in the day the fact I can no play them on the go or have save states or many other improvements I'd happily buy some of these games again not all sure but when they are the timeless classics being released... Sold.

wonderfulmonkeyman2917d ago

Everyone would love them to release 3 or 4 games a week on the VC.
But no one takes the cost that would require, in both man-hours needed to properly set them up and money through deals for older third party games let alone configuring their own, into account.

If Nintendo could find a way to make it happen, though, then I'd love to see Seiken Densetsu 3 get an English translation and put into the Eshop.
That'd be a day 1 purchase for me; the only way to play it in English right now is through a [admittedly VERY extensive and well-done] fan translated ROM, but I'd love to own it in English legitimately and would gladly pay a solid $20 or $30 bucks for it.

Zeldafan642917d ago

I'd like all the 3ds rpgs on the wii u virtual console.

Dunban672917d ago

Nintendo seems to have forgotten that it takes money (investment) to make money. They seem to think people should just buy whatever they can cheaply putout 1st in droves then maybe they will throw them a bone- there is a reason why Nintendo has lost serious market share and revenue (in a rising market) every year since 2008/9

wonderfulmonkeyman2917d ago (Edited 2917d ago )

They're already investing tons of cash in many ventures.
Upcoming theme park plans, merchandising, toys and clothing brands, hell they're even gonna start doing movies on their own soon.
That on top of games means their money is quite spread out; they need to prioritize things into what they feel will be the best investments.
Obviously a VC on a system that too few people are buying, isn't the best investment to make right now.

The NX might be different, but if it isn't, then it's understandable considering all the other things they're paying for in contrast to so many other companies out there.
Gathering the people to find, arrange, and convert all the data that would go into 3 or 4 whole new VC games per week would not be as cheap of a venture as people want to assume; it's not as simple as "snap our fingers and it's done!", especially when taking licensing rights with third parties into account.

Again, I'd love to see myself be proven wrong on this one, but at this point I just don't think it's a plausible investment.
Hell, not even Sony manages that sort of feat as far as I'm aware, and they're the market leader with plenty of PS4 cash to burn. [It's a shame they're losing some of it on that horrible Ghostbusters 2016 film, though.-_-;;]

Oh, and as to market share and revenue; market share I can agree with, on the console side [though I don't agree that VC is the cause.], but Nintendo's not the only one that's made less and less money off of their home consoles since a few gens ago.

Dunban672917d ago

Wonderfulmonkeyman: Nintendo was PAINFULLY slow getting meaningful VC games on the Wii U from the beginning- THey released a console that by their won admission lacked enough software and they acknowledged they were having a hard time making HD games- that being the situation and the lack of 3rd party games, one would think Nintendo would try to make up for it in other ways like the VC - It is up to Nintendo to make their console appealing to the marketplace-

wonderfulmonkeyman2917d ago

" It is up to Nintendo to make their console appealing to the marketplace"

By that logic, third parties have no chance of carrying the NX.

Dunban672917d ago

wonderfulmonkeyman It is up to Nintendo to make their console appealing to the marketplace- If that means getting healthy support from 3rd parties then Nintendo needs to make their console appealing to them- that can be done in many different ways - 3rd parties will support a Nintendo console if it makes business sense for them to do so-- It s just simple business. If Nintendo wants or feel like they need more 3rd party support than they had with the Wii U they will have to make it more of a priority-

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 2917d ago
Lukejrl2917d ago

The emulation scene is exactly why nintendo can't sell the VC. People know there is no excuse for not having more games on there if a guy in his garage can put out an emulator that is pretty accurate and very playable. I get nintendo wants to make money but they are too greedy.

Show all comments (26)
130°

Square Enix Is Going Multiplatform; The Layoffs & Its Past Don't Inspire Confidence

After its latest games didn't meet sales targets, Square Enix is going multiplatform but the company's track record isn't convincing.

Scissorman12h ago

Square Enix been multiplatform for decades, a few exclusively-deals doesn't make them any less multiplatform.

fr0sty12h ago

Nor is selling their games on a console with only 25 million install base going to bring their sales to where they hope they will be... Unless they somehow manage to dumb down FF7 trilogy to work on switch, they aren't going to have much luck. They already released it on PC, after all.

anast30m ago

Where are you getting that number?

SegaSaturn66912h ago

It kind of does, giving preference to a certain platform by timed exclusivity. Console ports generally feel superior. Legend of mana PC port extremely broken

neutralgamer199211h ago

Sega

It doesn’t when square themselves didn’t want to fund the development of remake. It’s only after the success of the 1st they realized their mistake but now contract is signed. If it wasn’t for Sony there would be no FF7 remakes. Same goes for silent hill 2 with Konami. They don’t want to fund AAA budget. Companies like PlayStation and Nintendo get blamed when in reality they are saving some of these franchises

Remember sega didn’t want to fund bayonetta and epic games didn’t want to fund another gears of war. It’s easy to blame console makers but they are the ones taking the risk and paying huge upfront costs without seeing the final product. FF7 remake trilogy won’t be coming to Xbox now or in the future. PlayStation and PC is what square signed up for. Sony paid them more than they would make from Xbox sales.

ravens5211h ago

I just wonder when everyone is going to demand that the Square Enix exclusives with Nintendo come to PS and Xbox. Or it's just the PS exclusives that matter lol

phoenixwing11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

I'd love for the nintendo exclusives to come to pc or ps5. They'd actually be playable then.

neutralgamer199211h ago

Raven

Exactly and that’s where square enix does more exclusive than any other platform. Gaming is square has always been very unrealistic with their sales expectations. Remember when tomb raider reboot sold 7.5 million and square said it wasn’t enough. They need to spend less on development and have more realistic expectations from sales.

And those thinking games being not on Xbox makes a difference don’t understand we have a decade plus of data showing square enix games having less than 20% of their multiplatform sales on Xbox (final fantasy series) and Nintendo consoles aren’t strong enough to run any current games. Nintendo switch should be as strong as Xbox one x atleast but we all know that’s most likely won’t happen

RoadRacer10h ago

@raven

thing is, as neutral said in their comm, the switch isn't strong enough to run flagship SE games
i think what SE does is, it makes unique games for switch only so that it has something for that console too. Thats where all the "underlined sans" rpgs go to mostly

maybe things will change when Swtich 2 drops cuz that's gonna be as strong as ps4 afaik from the rumors flying around

TheGamingHounds11h ago

@Scissorman

Your point is valid enough but when the icon of this company is limited to one console in timed-exclusivity, it means the company has crossed the line. By some degree at least

All things aside, Square itself stated "aggressive multiplatform strategies" so we all know what it's talking about

Scissorman8h ago(Edited 8h ago)

Then the headline should read "Square To Drop Exclusively Deals in Pursuit of A Sweeping Multiplatform Strategy". I don't recall this argument when Square Enix released Bravely Default, Octopath Traveler, and Triangle Strategy on one platform. And even if FF is the icon, not all of its titles have gone to one platform. We're talking about three games, one of which is already on PC. Did Square suddenly go 'multiplatform' after it released subsequent Tomb Raider sequels on more than just the Xbox? It's just a silly way of putting it.

+ Show (1) more replyLast reply 30m ago
TheGamingHounds11h ago(Edited 11h ago)

SE needs to go all in optimization. Broken PC ports won't help its case, especially with big releases like mainline Final Fantasy

Asterphoenix10h ago

It's actually simple. What doesn't inspire confidence is Square allocating their budgets on the wrong projects such as Forspoken, Avengers, Babylons Fall and Foamstars.

Square has always been multiplatform since PS3/360 days which 80 % of their games are. People kick up a fuss over PS exclusivity but not Nintendo which has more exclusive projects console exclusive from Square.

FF16 has done ok but not enough to fix the blunders that the past mistakes Square has made with some of their projects. FF7 Rebirth is unclear we'll see a PC release for sure so it's hard to say so far not as good as they would of liked.

Then again unrealistic expectations. If it weren't for Sony these games would at least had another 2 years development time. So some people need to be realistic in that regard.

Scissorman8h ago(Edited 8h ago)

It's the blunders that set those expectations so high. If you remove those from the equation, I bet the sales numbers would be more than stellar. Square believes it's okay to release a pile of risky, middling, garbage because the big boys will ultimately subsidize the cost. Don't worry if Forspoken sells poorly, FF16 will surely sell 10 million copies to balance that right out. Oh wait, it only sold like 4 million. Well that's a disaster. Meanwhile games that sell 2 million units with comparable budgets are deemed successful.

thorstein2h ago

I would also add that FFXVI, which I loved has a hint to one of their biggest problems: the number 16.

It's a great franchise, but that's all they've become known for. Dragon Quest is my favorite all time series but it's like they don't know what to do outside of those two IPs.

Valve never makes trilogies. The idea is that they don't want to become stagnant. Gabe Newell hates the number 3.

I can't imagine their talent wouldn't want to try a new RPG.

RoadRacer10h ago

Square Enix just really need to revise its expectations. Maybe consider a change in strategy on dev end as well. Multiplat will help for sure but only good games that are marketed well will sell

Show all comments (18)
70°

How the names Arrowhead Game Studios and Helldivers 2 came to be

Arrowhead Game Studios CEO Johan Pilestedt explains how the studio name comes from a name translation, plus the background on the game title “Helldivers.”

Read Full Story >>
blog.playstation.com
100°

Rockstar Games Founder's New Studio Is Working On AAA Open World Action Adventure Game

Rockstar Games founder Dan Houser's new studio, Absurd Ventures, is currently working on a AAA open world action adventure game.

Read Full Story >>
twistedvoxel.com
porkChop1d 15h ago

I'm really curious to see what he's going to do. It seems like a GTA-style game, but I wonder how it'll differentiate itself.

shinoff21831d 2h ago

That was my first thought. Please no

Goodguy011d 3h ago (Edited 1d 3h ago )

A new studio making a AAA game. Yea, that'll go well. I still think new studios should only make small games for a few years to build up teamwork and trust within.

shinoff21831d 2h ago

That's a good point but if they have the talent it may not be needed

Mr_cheese1d 1h ago

And the industry experience like this guy clearly does

anast1d ago

If it weren't one of the founder's of one of the most prolific open-world game studios, I would agree.

EazyC21h ago

That is an interesting point. They should gun for something akin to a great PS3 game imo. The resource cost of say RDR 2 would only EVER be possible by a monolithic titan of an organisation. It would be crazy to even try and compete straight away.