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Oh and on emulators: Again - old titles are not relevant but for the smallest minority of noisy internet nerds. Whenever we released something in that direction

Oh and on emulators: Again - old titles are not relevant but for the smallest minority of noisy internet nerds. Whenever we released something in that direction, it got nowhere near the needed reaction from the market to justify its investment. It only appeases the noisy nerd minority. Make no mistakes - many many people working at BigN belong to that minority, especially in the lower ranks. But management needs to make decisions that are profitable - otherwise, there wouldn't be enough runway to make bold bets like WiiU, Switch, Tomodachi Life, Splatoon etc.

Andrex 5y ago
I don't think that necessarily has to be true. When there's marketing and hype, old titles do very well. The Mario 3D collection to name one example.
- deleted 5y ago
  [deleted]
- LukeShu 5y ago
  I think a substantial part of that hype was that it was a limited-time thing. But hey, apparently Nintendo doesn't do scarcity to drive demand, so what do I know?
VMtest 5y ago
And of course sending C&D to fan games' developers is justified Not to mention taking down Steam Deck Nintendo Switch Emulation videos on Youtube Overall great investment
selfmodruntime 5y ago
If that's true, why doesn't Nintendo allow emulators by third party developers on their platform's version of the app store?
- sgift 5y ago
  Because it isn't true. The GP is either intentionally misleading people or they are as out of touch as TV execs were when they proclaimed that streaming will never be more important than TV channels. Also, since Nintendo Switch Online exists, someone at Nintendo seems to disagree with them.
- mattl 5y ago
  Pretty sure they do allow this. I have a couple of Disney titles that are pretty clearly NES/Genesis/Game Boy/Game Gear emulators.
hoseja 5y ago
Love to see the open contempt even Nintendo has for Nintendo fans. Makes me secure in the decision never to partake in any of their childish products.
- alar44 5y ago
  - dang 5y ago
    Attacking other users like this will get you banned here. We already had to warn you about this (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30337583 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30337583). I don't want to ban you, because you've also posted good comments, but can you please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and use HN as intended? That means for thoughtful, curious, respectful conversation.
throwaway608288 5y ago
Maybe the reason only noisy nerds pay for emulation is because for everyone else Nintendo's services are not as convenient as emulation but for free.
- antifa 5y ago
  I think the real reason is that noisy nerds are the most likely to notice Nintendo half-assing it and most likely to remeber the rugpulls that always followed the half-assing. If you need an example of a company that has a solid reputation for whole-assing, keeping rugpulls close to zero, and is convenient, checkout valve and their product called steam.
meibo 5y ago
You’re severely underestimating the amount of people interested in retro gaming. “noisy nerd minority” is pretty offensive - companies way bigger than Nintendo basically rely on nostalgia nowadays. Their online offering is a ripoff and a disgrace to their legacy. Even the Wii U VC was technically and quantitatively superior. Not that I wouldn’t mind paying for it, if their first party titles had networking made with any kind of competence.
- astrange 5y ago
  Are they interested enough in it to do more than buy merch? My impression is people collect way more of that stuff than they actually use, which isn’t a good sign for continuing investment. Nintendo game remakes don’t always do well; the Mario&Luigi developer AlphaDream went out of business after their remakes failed.
- deleted 5y ago
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deleted 5y ago
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developerDan 5y ago
So if they’ve determined old games won’t be profitable, then why do they make it so difficult to access and play games that they haven’t sold for over 20 years? What do they gain from shutting down ROM sites other than the hatred of online communities?

Andrex 5y ago

I don't think that necessarily has to be true. When there's marketing and hype, old titles do very well. The Mario 3D collection to name one example.

deleted 5y ago
[deleted]
LukeShu 5y ago
I think a substantial part of that hype was that it was a limited-time thing. But hey, apparently Nintendo doesn't do scarcity to drive demand, so what do I know?

VMtest 5y ago

And of course sending C&D to fan games' developers is justified Not to mention taking down Steam Deck Nintendo Switch Emulation videos on Youtube Overall great investment

selfmodruntime 5y ago

If that's true, why doesn't Nintendo allow emulators by third party developers on their platform's version of the app store?

sgift 5y ago
Because it isn't true. The GP is either intentionally misleading people or they are as out of touch as TV execs were when they proclaimed that streaming will never be more important than TV channels. Also, since Nintendo Switch Online exists, someone at Nintendo seems to disagree with them.
mattl 5y ago
Pretty sure they do allow this. I have a couple of Disney titles that are pretty clearly NES/Genesis/Game Boy/Game Gear emulators.

hoseja 5y ago

Love to see the open contempt even Nintendo has for Nintendo fans. Makes me secure in the decision never to partake in any of their childish products.

alar44 5y ago
- dang 5y ago
  Attacking other users like this will get you banned here. We already had to warn you about this (https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30337583 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=30337583). I don't want to ban you, because you've also posted good comments, but can you please review https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html https://news.ycombinator.com/newsguidelines.html and use HN as intended? That means for thoughtful, curious, respectful conversation.

throwaway608288 5y ago

Maybe the reason only noisy nerds pay for emulation is because for everyone else Nintendo's services are not as convenient as emulation but for free.

antifa 5y ago
I think the real reason is that noisy nerds are the most likely to notice Nintendo half-assing it and most likely to remeber the rugpulls that always followed the half-assing. If you need an example of a company that has a solid reputation for whole-assing, keeping rugpulls close to zero, and is convenient, checkout valve and their product called steam.

meibo 5y ago

You’re severely underestimating the amount of people interested in retro gaming. “noisy nerd minority” is pretty offensive - companies way bigger than Nintendo basically rely on nostalgia nowadays. Their online offering is a ripoff and a disgrace to their legacy. Even the Wii U VC was technically and quantitatively superior. Not that I wouldn’t mind paying for it, if their first party titles had networking made with any kind of competence.

astrange 5y ago
Are they interested enough in it to do more than buy merch? My impression is people collect way more of that stuff than they actually use, which isn’t a good sign for continuing investment. Nintendo game remakes don’t always do well; the Mario&Luigi developer AlphaDream went out of business after their remakes failed.
deleted 5y ago
[deleted]

deleted 5y ago

[deleted]

developerDan 5y ago

So if they’ve determined old games won’t be profitable, then why do they make it so difficult to access and play games that they haven’t sold for over 20 years? What do they gain from shutting down ROM sites other than the hatred of online communities?