What are your thoughts on the Classic Console approach?

More than likely because of the TV. Make sure it’s in game mode, so you don’t end up with any post processing like that interpolation junk.

What model are you using?

I love these things, at least the Nintendo ones and theoretically the mini Playstation.

I love having the cute hardware by the living room TV, and an easy setup for modern TVs. Great way to casually play with adult friends that might not get sitting in front of a 20inch PVM, and they’re really great ways to introduce younger family to classics, too. The 20-30ish game library will always miss some of your absolutes but it’s probably better than the full romset paradox of choice.

I think it’s a profitable but still respectful way to treat the classics if done with the proper care.

It’s somewhat like buying CDs of records or tapes that you already owned!.. and at the same time you know the first press vinyl without all the deluxe tracks still sounds the best to you the same way you know RGB 240p on a CRT is the truth.

It’s likely the TV. The classic only outputs at 720p so your tv may lag when it scales up from there.

I guess. It was not my unit or at my place, and i didnt want to be “that guy” that starts going into settings and fiddling etc, but glad to hear its not a hardware issue at least!

The rumour mill is saying that we’ll see the ‘Nintendo 64 Classic’ announcement at the end of the Smash-direct today…

I love the NES and SNES minis and they actually really got me back into retro gaming. I hacked them to get all the good games on them, and while they arn’t perfect, they still play really well compared to some of the other systems like those AtGames systems. I think most people who arn’t hardcore collectors won’t notice much lag (depending if they know to set their tv in Game Mode). I’ve since started picking up carts and some OG systems but I think for the majority, the Nintendo minis are well done and help promote classic gaming that most of us grew up with and love so much.

They’ve been really great to get my 2 young boys into retro games. They love both the NES and SNES classics, even though they have a Switch and 2DSs.

Warms my heart when I see them choose to play a classic game over a new one. Reminds me that the love for those classics is alive and well! :slight_smile:

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i dig it - most folks don’t wanna hear about CRT’s, upscalers or the price of retro games these days. they wanna dive in for short bursts of nostalgia, with something easily hooked up to their HDTV via HDMI. this is that.

i do think nintendo stepped it up by releasing the rest of Star Fox 2 with their last joint, and would love to see more incentives like that…hell, i’d be happy if the playstation classic brought half as many easter eggs as the old PS underground discs did.

honestly, this will be all be worth it if it just keeps sega from working with @#$%in ATgames

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The worry there is that the well is already poisoned and nobody will buy it. So then Sega will never move beyond the same 25 Mega Drive games they’ve been spamming on everything for 15 years now…

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This is very true. Most people are just not willing to pay the high price (in money, time and energy) that old games command if you want to go all in. The classic consoles offer a middle ground for gamers that make a bolder statement than downloading a game on a VC service, and allow gamers who grew up with these titles to feed their nostalgia with a physical representation of what they love(d).

That said, the obvious route from here is a PSTV type console in different flavors. A $99 box that came pre-loaded with 15-30 titles, but offered access to a section of the online store of the major console for that company. For example, a PS1 classic with the currently announced games, but could also go online and offer access to any PS1 Classic on PSN. Seems like a no-brainer to me.

I also feel like this would make it more lucrative for console makers to put these classic consoles out and to keep improving them.

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I think the general public is just not discerning enough to make the distinction that the AT Games stuff was as bad as we all know it is. I think also that Sega will make a point of advertising it as a better machine than what was available before.

I just really hope that they do move beyond the same 25 games though.

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This is absolutely what Sony should have done. A bespoke online storefront with all the same PS1 ROMs already on PSN. And a standard memory card format for storage size of the consumer’s choosing.

If they wanted to 1UP Nintendo, they definitely should’ve put wireless LAN in there and a store to buy the games you want. Let people buy the size of memory card they want to use but make sure there’s enough in the box for like 10 or 20 games. Most would’ve been covered by that.

Really though, the best possible option would be to have this in whatever current console any of them are selling. The Wii/Wii U are made all the better because of Virtual Console. For me that was an obvious selling point. I just think it’s so scary to third parties and that’s why it’s gone away with the Switch. They don’t want to compete against Nintendo’s back catalog so Nintendo threw everyone a bone with the Classic machines.

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Let people buy the size of memory card they want to use but make sure there’s enough in the box for like 10 or 20 games. Most would’ve been covered by that.

Plot Twist: Only Vita Memory Cards work.

Otherwise I completely agree. I love the idea of a $99 PS1 Classic that has access to all the PS1 games on PSN (A PS2 would be even better, with both libraries open), but I think the exact same functionality and selection should be on PS4/5/Etc. Maybe throw one or two timed exclusives on the classic to entice people to buy them initially.

I just think it’s so scary to third parties and that’s why it’s gone away with the Switch. They don’t want to compete against Nintendo’s back catalog so Nintendo threw everyone a bone with the Classic machines.

I find this line of thinking interesting, what has led you to this conclusion? I don’t see any downside personally for Konami or Capcom to allow a ROM to be posted on VC for a cut of the take.

Honestly I think you guys are making it too complicated (classic ps1). When you start adding extras and memory cards you get further and further away from one of the main appeals of these things to the masses, or rather what I see as a main appeal. How it is just plug it in and go. Here are the games you get with no worry or choice involved in more, as little thinking involved as possible. Even if they come with a standard assortment with the option for those added features the option being available can be a distraction.

Since I’m more on the enthusiast side of things I hope for things like it being jailbroken and being able to load it up with whatever I actually want, but still don’t think that works as a selling point for the vast majority of people that buy the classic systems. Having nostalgia in a box that you just plug into your TV without ever having to load anything or switch stuff around and play the games games you remember without any glaring quality problems definitely has an appeal. And it is what I think Nintendo hit on with theirs. They picked the “right” games, made it as simple as possible, and made sure it didn’t run like hot garbage.

Did Sony do the same thing? Don’t know. There are so many game choices they could have gone with that it would have been really hard to hit the right marks. I have faith in the emulation since their POPS has been pretty on point and the system itself looks like it should. I just hope that it is crackable and there will be some way to make a version of the Dual Shock to work with it. That would make it a success to me, but again who knows if it will make it a market success.

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I definitely agree with the plug and play aspect of games being something that has been regrettably lost (although I am a huge fan of suspend modes in consoles these days).

But for a console like the Classics we have seen so far, which already boot to a menu, just add a PSN icon to the corner, and allow more games to be loaded. Nothing really changes if you just want to ignore the online games available.

And has Sony announced that they will not be releasing a DS1 for the Classic? It’d be crazy for them not to offer it as an option.

Every dollar you spend on a classic game is one you didn’t spend on the game they’re spending tens of millions making right now. In addition to that, there is a non-trivial cost to them putting Game X onto a Virtual Console-like service, at least to them. Sure, it seems like it should be “Slap that ROM up there!” but that’s not how it works in real life for big companies.

It’s all about the money though. They’re scared because they want to sell new games, and the people working there only want to make new games. Everyone has to be focused on the new games. Nintendo are the only ones who can truly afford to pay close attention to their back catalog because their entire company philosophy is conservative and they know their history is part of their present and their future.

Most of these third parties especially see their past as a boat anchor. You can tell by how they treat it. Sony is just a little bit better about that. Microsoft is more like a third party with that philosophy. Like, one of the best things about Halo was the System Link capability and four-player split screen. They had to go and remake the game with only two-player split and gum up everything else instead of just giving us the originals with a little graphical upgrade. That type of thing is everywhere outside of Nintendo. They just don’t get it.

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Standard VC pricing means 3rd parties can’t set their own prices for retro games. And it also means people will complain when retro inspired indie games release for higher prices than standard VC games with similar graphical styles.

I actually prefer the compilation and standalone release approaches to retro games we are seeing on the switch.

The NES online VC style games we are getting aren’t as good of an approach in my book.

Virtual Console was amazing on Wii, but I think it’s too restrictive in today’s environment where multi platform releases (even for retro games/compilations) is the new norm for 3rd parties. Think about it, most of those compilations should be platform agnostic. Why should 3rd parties let Nintendo determine what the correct price for such releases should be with their standard pricing schemes?

Yes, Switch will have the most loyal audience, but $5 for an NES game just wouldn’t fly on Steam for example. And through this method, we are also seeing far more retro ports on Switch (especially arcade ports) than we ever got on Wii.

It’s just Nintendo, themselves, that need to adapt.

That said, I think the Classic Consoles are amazing for what you get. And it’s how I think we are going to provide games to hospitals when the time comes to start using our funds for charitable purpose in the coming year. It’s the perfect plug and play way for kids to enjoy old games.

Why is $5 for an NES game considered so high? I have never understood that. Indies ask for $20 for similar games and often get that price. Look at something like Shovel Knight for example? Just because someone made it today or thirty years ago doesn’t make it any less of a game.

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$5 was considered high vs pirating the game and using a PC emulator for Wii VC. I’d expect a siilar situation to exist for any other console.