Should Nintendo re-release the SNES?

[Damien Lee]

Both the NES & SNES are legendary old school consoles that set the gaming world on fire. I'm more of a 16-bit fan as this one of the most exciting times during the history of the gaming industry. The console war between Nintendo and Sega was insane and incredibly memorable. These days things have become boring, with Sony & Microsoft releasing near-similar consoles with little to differentiate the two. Only Nintendo is trying to be unique and stand out from the crowd.

But Nintendo also boasts a legacy that their rivals don't have. Some of the best games and consoles ever conceived. Wouldn't it be great, especially today with the retro-craze if Nintendo re-released their old consoles. I would especially love to see SNES re-released with many of the classics on cartridge. Many retro sellers are ripping people off and charging crazy prices for the classics, it's time Nintendo stepped it and reclaimed the market.

Do you think Nintendo should pursue such a path?

 

[CemeteryGates23]

Well, I don't see it being a very interesting piece of business; indeed I feel like it's more of a niche.

I still have all of my old consoles, but I don't have the cables for the NES or SNES. The N64 I still do play fairly often. But to be honest, I've buying some of the available SNES games on the Wii U's eShop and playing them. They're very expensive (or at least I think so) and yet they seem to be selling without need to physically manufacture cartridges, ship them worldwide, etc... You know, all the costs that physical copies require. In that sense, unless the market is actually much bigger than I imagine, I don't think any large corporation would easily divert resources to pursue a small niche.

But yeah, I'd love to be able to buy old-school stuff! I was pretty disillusioned at picking up Pokémon Silver, Red and Golden Sun 2 at a GameStop on a trip to the US a few years ago only to go back home to immediately try them on and realizing they didn't have batteries and were therefore worthless purchases...

 

[Shimus]

Unfortunately, I think Gates nailed it. It's not very good business; just a niche.

And I'm part of that 'niche' who says yes, yes, please remake it.

(And PS: GameStop is evil - don't shop there! )

 

[aboleth_lich]

Re-releasing classic games from past Nintendo consoles, for play on modern consoles? Absolutely! Past releases of (slightly updated) classic collections like Super Mario All-Stars and the Final Fantasy Collection are perfect examples of how well such re-releases can sell. More recently, the sales of such classics (updated or not) has shifted to online downloads through the official eShops associated with the modern consoles--and also performed quite well. In fact, I suspect that, given the lower costs, such online sales will remain the primary way that video game companies like Nintendo re-release their classics.

But re-releasing the classic Nintendo consoles themselves? Most retro gamers would be satisfied playing the aforementioned re-releases on more modern consoles. However, the sale of third part retro clone consoles like FC Twin and Hyperkin Retro 3 (not to mention the sales of used copies of the original, official deals) demonstrates that there is indeed a market for people who want to buy a console that'll actually play the actual classic, decades-old-now cartridges from back-in-the-day. But is that market large enough to justify Nintendo releasing the original consoles in strictly business terms? Unlikely, outside of a very limited special order release to test those waters and cut into the sales of the aforementioned third party clone consoles. (And I extend that opinion to official releases of controllers for modern consoles that specifically emulate classic console controllers.)

 

[Shimus]

Antique video game systems are our habits, just like Antique's Roadshow was for ADULTS lol!

Our version of history needing to saved is quite a bit different, but the video games legacy must be preserved.

 

[Damien Lee]

Yes, it would be great if us old school gamers could still purchase brand new 'antique' consoles. However, your feedback is loud and clear that it wouldn't be a viable business opportunity for Nintendo. While retro gaming may be enjoying significant popularity lately, it is still a small niche in the grand scheme of things. As long as they can still release those classic games on newer consoles, we shouldn't have much to complain about.

 

[Shimus]

It's easy (and not a Niche) to put backwards compatibility on your systems, allowing for reverted gameplay to older generational consoles (like the SNES on the WII, etc) - each system (Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo) should ALWAYS (without being asked or demanded to) allow you to play your older games you still own/have purchased. IF you follow a franchise, and they release new gen consoles they just should come equipped with the right abilities to play older games. IT should not be something initiated post fact, like the way MicroSoft used it as a "Big announcement" at E3. A big announcement would have been more related customer service, less problems with Xbox Live, etc.

 

[CemeteryGates23]

It's easy (and not a Niche) to put backwards compatibility on your systems, allowing for reverted gameplay to older generational consoles (like the SNES on the WII, etc) - each system (Xbox, PlayStation, or Nintendo) should ALWAYS (without being asked or demanded to) allow you to play your older games you still own/have purchased. IF you follow a franchise, and they release new gen consoles they just should come equipped with the right abilities to play older games. IT should not be something initiated post fact, like the way MicroSoft used it as a "Big announcement" at E3. A big announcement would have been more related customer service, less problems with Xbox Live, etc.

I agree with the idea or sentiment behind your post, wholeheartedly.
But I believe the CEO of Sony claimed they wouldn't do the same precisely because it was "complicated to implement," so perhaps it's not as easy as we imagine. Maybe older games on PC are difficult to get running for similar reasons.
However, I emphasize that I agree that the work to achieve that should be done whenever they release a new console...
But of course sales revenue from re-releasing games is tempting to greedy mega-corporations, isn't it?

 

[Shimus]

Of course it is. Milking franchises is what they do best, after all!

Haha.

 

[joshposh]

I think it is a bad business decision to release it again. If I'm not mistaken, money in the home video games business is made through the licensing and sales of the games, and not the console itself. So releasing a old system that has no publishers making new games that is technologically outdated is a waste of resources.

But I am all for backward compatibility with the newer consoles. If not that then at least release a game or disc with a huge library of classic games.

 

[Lisa Davis]

Well, I saw this thread and I have been told they are re-releasing a sort of version of the original NES. It's tiny and has some games pre-loaded to the console. I think it's a great idea that will make a great Christmas or birthday gift for 80's kids. I found the article about it just now and apparently there are 30 pre-loaded games. They picked some good ones, but there are still some on there that I feel they should of included. Here's the article:

http://www.knowyourmobile.com/devices/nintendo-classic/23694/nintendo-classic-nes-edition-games-price-and-release-date-details

I think it is also a cool feature that the console will truly be miniature in size. Don't we all have enough electronics

 

[grahamf]

I am hoping that people buy enough NES Classics to warrant a SNES Classic, then a N64 Classic hopefully after that.

 

[Segata]

I think they could license it out and have SNES and NES made. The only problem would be the sound on the SNES. Sony holds the patent. Why GBA sound was much worse. I think Nintendo and SEGA could do fairly well if they tried to manufacture or license out old console hardware. N64 and Saturn are out as those had a weird architecture.

 

[rz3300]

Well I cannot really say that I have an answer for this, just because I am not at all familiar with what a re-release would entail. I have to say, though, now I am very curious about it and I might have to go and do a little more research into the subject to find out. I am guessing that it would be pretty profitable for the company, but I could be wrong. Thanks for sparking my interest, though, and I plan to find out soon enough.

 

[YoshiBoy]

I'd rather just keep downloading the roms and playing SNES games on my computer. I went into a game store that actually sold old consoles, and they had a N64 in there for $200 dollars. There was also a SNES that was $300 plus. The games were going for more than $40 dollars a pop because they were so rare.

I didn't like those prices, but I understood why. One day, if you onn a SNES in really good condition, you might be able to sell it for $15,000 dollars if you hold on to it for a couple of more years.

 

[grahamf]

I think they could license it out and have SNES and NES made. The only problem would be the sound on the SNES. Sony holds the patent. Why GBA sound was much worse. I think Nintendo and SEGA could do fairly well if they tried to manufacture or license out old console hardware. N64 and Saturn are out as those had a weird architecture.

Nintendo has been able to re-release SNES games on the Wii and Wii U, so it should be possible to avoid infringing Sony's patents.

I doubt Nintendo will just use a miniaturized version of the old chips. They just can't get the parts, and it might be trickier adding the multiple save states. I think they will just have a little ARM cpu with an emulator.