7 ms·

Shouldn't Nintendo sell an emulator for a small price? It will likely benefit the eco-system and will impact sales positively.

vel0city 3y ago
How would selling some cheap software to pirate all their games impact sales positively? Sure, they'd sell the emulator cheap and maybe make some money there (and hopefully not have people just pirate that), but then they'd just be enabling people to no longer pay for their $60/ea games which is a major part of what they make money on.
- emodendroket 3y ago
  They could probably bake DRM into the emulator (or... just release the games as PC games, with DRM) but it's not really clear why they wouldn't want to lock people into their ecosystem, especially when, unlike their competitors, they even make a profit on the hardware sales.
nindalf 3y ago
Why emulate? They could simply publish their games natively for PC and iOS/Android if they wanted to. They choose not to do so to control their platform end to end. That control nets them 30% from all other publishers who publish on the Switch, while they pay 0% themselves. The real issue is that they didn't update the Switch hardware for so long that the Steam Deck became a better Switch than the Switch. Maybe they'll fix that with the Switch 2.
- papichulo2023 3y ago
  Prob the source codes of most games being emulated are lost
  - emodendroket 3y ago
    I am almost certain the source code of recently-released Nintendo Switch titles has not been lost.
milkytron 3y ago
They kind of do if you count the classics that they let you play on Switch. Forget what it's called exactly, and I'm not sure if that's emulation or rewrites of older games. I think the key thing with emulation is that it can be supported on various hardware, and then there is also the aspect that downloading ROMs can be done for free.
phantomathkg 3y ago
There are a few switch games are merely like "X in 1" ROM back in the days. Allowing people to buy an emulator cheaply simply destroy Nintendo and those studio profit of re-releasing of a new package of the old IPs.
kimbernator 3y ago
Nothing Nintendo likes more than selling a sub-optimal way to experience their games. You'd be talking about suddenly adding support for every game they've ever made running on a million unique hardware configurations. There is literally only downside for Nintendo's brand in doing such a thing.
- gjsman-1000 3y ago
  It's also worth remembering that "sub-optimal" is completely up to opinion. If Nintendo decided to chase the optimal, we'd have a new Nintendo Switch every year like an iPhone. This would, of course, be a bad idea. "I want 120 FPS. Or it's suboptimal!" "I want an AMOLED, not just OLED. Or it's suboptimal!" "I want keyboard input. Or it's suboptimal!" And on and on. A console generation is 8 years, on average. Nintendo's approaching the end. If we're making fun of Nintendo because a smartphone is more powerful, that's a testament to how fast phones have become, not a testament to Nintendo's sluggishness (as the Tegra X1, at the time, was the fastest mobile graphics chip available. What are they going to do? Call the generation after four years?)
  - kimbernator 3y ago
    "Optimal" in my comment was specifically meant to mean "consistent". Nintendo is never on the forefront of hardware (aside from their creativity in that area), but their product is absolute consistency. Games work very well and always the same for everyone. Emulators are the antithesis of performance consistency. I love them, but there's zero way Nintendo (in its current form) ever officially supports an emulator you run on a typical PC.
    - gjsman-1000 3y ago
      Oh, in that case, no kidding. Even Yuzu has several hundred games it doesn't support. Yuzu also has things that just don't work well for most players. Super Mario Odyssey depends quite a bit on HD Rumble; which a Yuzu player almost certainly won't get unless they use a Switch controller. But why would an emulator user buy one and not use the Xbox controller they have lying around? Yuzu also tends to fuzz the timing for complicated games in weird ways. I saw an emulated copy of Super Mario Bros Wonder someone was playing, and I tried a very hard level (5-out-of-5 difficulty) called Fluff-Puff Peaks Special Climb to the Beat. Super tricky (https://youtu.be/4PcBDeCKa0Q https://youtu.be/4PcBDeCKa0Q). On my Switch, I could beat it on a few tries, consistently. On his emulated version though... I could not beat it. I tried over and over - with a Pro Controller - and could not beat it for over an hour. I pulled out my Switch version, again, a few tries, beat it. I swear Yuzu was subtly, imperceptibly screwing up the timing and physics. It wasn't a slow computer either - 13th Gen i5, RTX 3050. Not the latest thing around, but should be fine for Yuzu.
pelagicAustral 3y ago
They have Nintendo Pass, or Online, something like that, can't really remember the name, it's the same subscription you use for playing online on the Switch, they have NES, SNES and n64 games in there but it is a really small selection and the experience is extremely poor. I remember emulating SNES games on my old Windows 98 rig-from-hell and enjoy a much better experience than with the service they provide. It's a shame really...
- cholantesh 3y ago
  Its distinguishing feature is rewind, which was present in the final build of zsnes, which, to quote Nerrel, is an emulator from the f*cking Clinton presidency.
alephnerd 3y ago
> will impact sales positively Brands have to maintain a consistent niche within their core market. Japan and TW, which are Nintendo HQ's core market, and Nintendo of Korea (which is staffed by Japanese and some Zainichi) view the Switch as a child's toy and something that is supposed to be family friendly. On the other hand, in North America the Switch is increasingly marketed based on Millenial/Gen X nostalgia for the SNES/N64/GameCube/Wii, so the purchasing base is much more adult. For most Japanese companies, there isn't much value in making strategic changes to core corporate operations in order to accommodate western tastes as it can contradict with tastes in the Asian market, and this is why "Nintendo of America" and "Nintendo of Europe" is essentially a separate entity from core Nintendo that mostly works on marketing, localization, publishing, QA, and some backend infra work for Nintendo Online. This is the same story with Sony, Nissan, Toyota, and other Japanese firms as well.

vel0city 3y ago

How would selling some cheap software to pirate all their games impact sales positively? Sure, they'd sell the emulator cheap and maybe make some money there (and hopefully not have people just pirate that), but then they'd just be enabling people to no longer pay for their $60/ea games which is a major part of what they make money on.

emodendroket 3y ago
They could probably bake DRM into the emulator (or... just release the games as PC games, with DRM) but it's not really clear why they wouldn't want to lock people into their ecosystem, especially when, unlike their competitors, they even make a profit on the hardware sales.

nindalf 3y ago

Why emulate? They could simply publish their games natively for PC and iOS/Android if they wanted to. They choose not to do so to control their platform end to end. That control nets them 30% from all other publishers who publish on the Switch, while they pay 0% themselves. The real issue is that they didn't update the Switch hardware for so long that the Steam Deck became a better Switch than the Switch. Maybe they'll fix that with the Switch 2.

papichulo2023 3y ago
Prob the source codes of most games being emulated are lost
- emodendroket 3y ago
  I am almost certain the source code of recently-released Nintendo Switch titles has not been lost.

milkytron 3y ago

They kind of do if you count the classics that they let you play on Switch. Forget what it's called exactly, and I'm not sure if that's emulation or rewrites of older games. I think the key thing with emulation is that it can be supported on various hardware, and then there is also the aspect that downloading ROMs can be done for free.

phantomathkg 3y ago

There are a few switch games are merely like "X in 1" ROM back in the days. Allowing people to buy an emulator cheaply simply destroy Nintendo and those studio profit of re-releasing of a new package of the old IPs.

kimbernator 3y ago

Nothing Nintendo likes more than selling a sub-optimal way to experience their games. You'd be talking about suddenly adding support for every game they've ever made running on a million unique hardware configurations. There is literally only downside for Nintendo's brand in doing such a thing.

gjsman-1000 3y ago
It's also worth remembering that "sub-optimal" is completely up to opinion. If Nintendo decided to chase the optimal, we'd have a new Nintendo Switch every year like an iPhone. This would, of course, be a bad idea. "I want 120 FPS. Or it's suboptimal!" "I want an AMOLED, not just OLED. Or it's suboptimal!" "I want keyboard input. Or it's suboptimal!" And on and on. A console generation is 8 years, on average. Nintendo's approaching the end. If we're making fun of Nintendo because a smartphone is more powerful, that's a testament to how fast phones have become, not a testament to Nintendo's sluggishness (as the Tegra X1, at the time, was the fastest mobile graphics chip available. What are they going to do? Call the generation after four years?)
- kimbernator 3y ago
  "Optimal" in my comment was specifically meant to mean "consistent". Nintendo is never on the forefront of hardware (aside from their creativity in that area), but their product is absolute consistency. Games work very well and always the same for everyone. Emulators are the antithesis of performance consistency. I love them, but there's zero way Nintendo (in its current form) ever officially supports an emulator you run on a typical PC.
  - gjsman-1000 3y ago
    Oh, in that case, no kidding. Even Yuzu has several hundred games it doesn't support. Yuzu also has things that just don't work well for most players. Super Mario Odyssey depends quite a bit on HD Rumble; which a Yuzu player almost certainly won't get unless they use a Switch controller. But why would an emulator user buy one and not use the Xbox controller they have lying around? Yuzu also tends to fuzz the timing for complicated games in weird ways. I saw an emulated copy of Super Mario Bros Wonder someone was playing, and I tried a very hard level (5-out-of-5 difficulty) called Fluff-Puff Peaks Special Climb to the Beat. Super tricky (https://youtu.be/4PcBDeCKa0Q https://youtu.be/4PcBDeCKa0Q). On my Switch, I could beat it on a few tries, consistently. On his emulated version though... I could not beat it. I tried over and over - with a Pro Controller - and could not beat it for over an hour. I pulled out my Switch version, again, a few tries, beat it. I swear Yuzu was subtly, imperceptibly screwing up the timing and physics. It wasn't a slow computer either - 13th Gen i5, RTX 3050. Not the latest thing around, but should be fine for Yuzu.

pelagicAustral 3y ago

They have Nintendo Pass, or Online, something like that, can't really remember the name, it's the same subscription you use for playing online on the Switch, they have NES, SNES and n64 games in there but it is a really small selection and the experience is extremely poor. I remember emulating SNES games on my old Windows 98 rig-from-hell and enjoy a much better experience than with the service they provide. It's a shame really...

cholantesh 3y ago
Its distinguishing feature is rewind, which was present in the final build of zsnes, which, to quote Nerrel, is an emulator from the f*cking Clinton presidency.

alephnerd 3y ago

> will impact sales positively Brands have to maintain a consistent niche within their core market. Japan and TW, which are Nintendo HQ's core market, and Nintendo of Korea (which is staffed by Japanese and some Zainichi) view the Switch as a child's toy and something that is supposed to be family friendly. On the other hand, in North America the Switch is increasingly marketed based on Millenial/Gen X nostalgia for the SNES/N64/GameCube/Wii, so the purchasing base is much more adult. For most Japanese companies, there isn't much value in making strategic changes to core corporate operations in order to accommodate western tastes as it can contradict with tastes in the Asian market, and this is why "Nintendo of America" and "Nintendo of Europe" is essentially a separate entity from core Nintendo that mostly works on marketing, localization, publishing, QA, and some backend infra work for Nintendo Online. This is the same story with Sony, Nissan, Toyota, and other Japanese firms as well.