The Nintendo Revolution - A Retrogaming Powerhouse
In case you weren’t paying attention to some of the big E3 news (I realize some retrogamers may not care), the big three have announced and revealed their plans for the next generation of game consoles. Before I continue, here’s a quick list of links to the next-gen announcements:
Those that have been reading my ramblings for a while may know that I am a strong supporter of backwards compatibility. I feel that it the best way to help preserve both popular and obscure gaming titles that might otherwise pass away from the common gamer.
I was hoping that Microsoft would support their Xbox games on their new console. Unfortunately, the XBox 360 will only support a few bestsellers (aka Halo) through emulation, but not all titles. I have to say I’m disappointed, but it’s better than nothing.
Sony did a great job offering backwards compatability of PSOne games on the PS2, and their commitment to supporting their old titles holds true with the PS3. The Playstation 3 will support the healthy libraries from both the Playstation and Playstation 2 in addition to Playstation 3 titles. Very cool indeed.
However, the Nintendo Revolution offers a scheme that tops them all. Not only will the Revolution support Gamecube and Revolution games, but it will also feature a dedicated chipset that will emulate every game that has graced a Nintendo console. That’s right — every NES, SNES, and N64 game will also be playable on the Nintendo Revolution.
The success of this undertaking hinges on Nintendo’s business model for distributing these games. Apparently, game ROMs will be able to be downloaded from Nintendo via an Internet connection onto the Revolution’s 512MB of onboard memory. However no prices have been disclosed, nor have details on what specific games will be availible and which won’t. I assume there will be some licensing to be worked out with 3rd party developers (like with Square for games like Final Fantasy and Chrono Trigger). I imagine it being like the iTunes Music Store. We’ll just have to see how it all pans out.
A lot of people don’t like this idea because they don’t want to have to pay for the same games they already own all over again. My theory is that they don’t have to. Nobody is forcing them to buy the games again. If they want to drag out their original consoles, hook them up to the TV just to play them again, they can be my guest. But if you want the convenience of playing them on a modern console that’s already set up and has wireless, ergonomic contollers, then you can pay Nintendo a little money for the research and development costs that they have invested in to bring this technology to your livingroom in a legal and convenient manner.
As for me, I don’t mind paying additional money for older games that I enjoy as long as it is a competive price and I have some freedom. My only concern is the limitation of the 512MB of memory for these games (especially when you get to N64 games), but we’ll get to that discussion in a few days.
Anyway, I’ll be talking more about the Revolution and it’s retrogaming possibilities for months to come, so keep an eye on my site. I’m very excited — can you tell?
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