61–70 of 77 posts
Standard Nintendo behavior.
I think they’re trying to prevent people from developing hardware alternatives to Nintendo Switch, next logical step after stable emulators. Which basically proves Nintendo has little to no moat apart from laws preventing their executables from being run elsewhere.
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For a whole lot of software companies, the main competitor is the old version of the software. Same for Nintendo: Newer games might be nicer to look at, but old games are just as much fun. So working older copies of their games do cost them money, and they'd rather see them disappear.
Indeed. This is a bit aprocryphal but I believe to recall reading about them attempting to shut down second-hand video game shops using legal threats somewhere in the 90s?
https://web.archive.org/web/20060515021332/http://www.1up.co...
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And the IP laws as they stand right now can kill off all of that software, especially with aggressive addition of DRM and private stores which police existence of these kind of perservation efforts. Remember that Apple had to be forced to even think about allowing emulators on their platforms by the EU and even then they aggressively block Americans from being able to access them.
> And the IP laws as they stand right now can kill off all of that software Right but laws are only as good as their capability to enforce. If I were to start an emulation project today I would mask my identity and try to do a better job of it than the silk road guy. It's a shame ryujinx and yuzu were functionality killed when Nintendo got to the founding developers. There's contributions from other devs but I guess…
Enforcement of IP restrictions is built into hardware of all new computing platforms. It's easy to enforce them worldwide now - again, see Apple.
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> Nintendo currently rent out NES games as part of Switch online If Nintendo really cared about this they should create their own version of Spotify for legacy video games and charge a monthly subscription fee for the entire library that’s cross platform and mobile friendly. The strength of Nintendo really is their games, not the hardware. I don’t understand why Nintendo is so attached to their hardware in 2024, espe…
I think part of the reason Nintendo (and it's not just Nintendo) is very reserved with their historical library is that they do not want to satisfy the demand for games that way while they're still making new ones. If you can legally play Pokemon GBA or DS games under emulation for a subscription, would that have an effect on demand for buying new Pokemon games, especially for the adult market that has nostalgia for…
I haven’t picked up my Switch since I bought my Steam Deck. That’s not “market power” that’s losing a gamer instead.
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> Nintendo makes a lot of money selling hardware They do, but the majority of their library is not available on current hardware. I think not understanding this as a business decision is a valid opinion.
By restricting access to their classic portfolio, it inflates the value of it so they can periodically release it on new platforms in a time limited fashion. Disney did the same thing with their classic movies during the VHS/DVD era. If they were all available all the time then nobody would even think to watch them. But by creating scarcity and then periodically releasing them in a time limited special edition they c…
One would think so, but there are incredible games in their portfolio that have never seen a single re-release - on any platform. The old Pokemon games are among it, as is A link to the past.
I'm probably the only person on HN who sympathizes with Nintendo. I think the law should be stronger against internet piracy without hurting other freedom. Let's be real. I'm guessing only 1% will rip the ROM off their purchased cartridge and play on an emulator. The 99% will pirate games they never purchased.
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So what you're saying is someone should grab a high-end SBC and 3D printer, and build a hardware alternative to the Nintendo Switch.
There's already a ton of options ranging from extremely powerful + expensive ROG Ally ~$800 to the Steam Deck ~$400 and much smaller/weaker Android and Linux handhelds like Retroid's products from ~$100 - $300. The PC handhelds actually run Switch games better than the Switch does. We're actually at a point where some Switch games will even run on smartphones.
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By restricting access to their classic portfolio, it inflates the value of it so they can periodically release it on new platforms in a time limited fashion. Disney did the same thing with their classic movies during the VHS/DVD era. If they were all available all the time then nobody would even think to watch them. But by creating scarcity and then periodically releasing them in a time limited special edition they c…
> By restricting access to their classic portfolio, it inflates the value of it so they can periodically release it on new platforms in a time limited fashion. One would think so, but there are incredible games in their portfolio that have never seen a single re-release - on any platform. The old Pokemon games are among it, as is A link to the past.
Maybe you're using a different definition of re-release than I am, but I recently played A Link to the Past on the Switch virtual console. I also played the Game Boy Advance re-release of it in the early 2000s. Apparently it's also been released for the Wii, Wii U, New 3DS, and Super NES Classic Edition.
A quick check of Wikipedia shows that in addition to their remakes, Pokemon Red/Blue/Yellow were also released on the 3DS virtual console.
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> By restricting access to their classic portfolio, it inflates the value of it so they can periodically release it on new platforms in a time limited fashion. One would think so, but there are incredible games in their portfolio that have never seen a single re-release - on any platform. The old Pokemon games are among it, as is A link to the past.
> One would think so, but there are incredible games in their portfolio that have never seen a single re-release - on any platform. The old Pokemon games are among it, as is A link to the past. Maybe you're using a different definition of re-release than I am, but I recently played A Link to the Past on the Switch virtual console. I also played the Game Boy Advance re-release of it in the early 2000s. Apparently it's…
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> One would think so, but there are incredible games in their portfolio that have never seen a single re-release - on any platform. The old Pokemon games are among it, as is A link to the past. Maybe you're using a different definition of re-release than I am, but I recently played A Link to the Past on the Switch virtual console. I also played the Game Boy Advance re-release of it in the early 2000s. Apparently it's…
You did? I'm in Germany and I don't see it. Is it the one where you need a subscription?