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Oct 28, 2017
5,050
I need Mario 64 and OOT on the go, and 3DS versions dont satisfy my amateur speedruning needs. Is it so hard to let me keep the old roms I purchased on the WiiU?

Ultimately, Nintendo is going to Nintendo. It's a large part of why I can't be bothered with their products these days, and favor PC and Xbox instead. BC is important to me, and these two platforms get it right
 
Jun 2, 2019
4,947
Ultimately, Nintendo is going to Nintendo. It's a large part of why I can't be bothered with their products these days, and favor PC and Xbox instead. BC is important to me, and these two platforms get it right

Well you know, Switch is the first Nintendo console to break their BC streak so idk what you mean with that reductive "Nintendo is going to Nintendo"
 

kuroneko0509

Member
Oct 25, 2017
2,378
And let's be real here, Nintendo has always been profitable, even in their worst-performing years.
nope
4d1887ea4e.png
 
Oct 28, 2017
5,050
Well you know, Switch is the first Nintendo console to break their BC streak so idk what you mean with that reductive "Nintendo is going to Nintendo"

I mean exactly that. I've grown too curmudgeonly for system gimmicks, Nintendo premiums, weird controllers, lackluster online, and their IPs just dont appeal to me as much as they once did. I dont need a handheld system, so I play elsewhere. BC is just part of that picture.
 

Spine Crawler

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
10,228
id argue that switch has been an indie heaven because nintendo did not flood the market with nes and snes games. there are only finite dollars to spend and as people buy VC games they would ignore new games.
 

NekoNeko

Banned
Oct 26, 2017
18,447
I don't think i dislike anything more than fans who think they know the business despite never working in the business.
 

rochellepaws

Member
Oct 25, 2017
3,452
Ireland
I haven't watched the whole video so I'm not sure if he addresses it but isn't the answer obvious to Arlo's question for why Nintendo would prefer to have classic games behind a subscription rather than people buying them outright?
They're thinking long term and want to prevent permanent ownership of classics particularly if they plan to offer BC for the Switch successor, this way you aren't buying Super Mario World once and keeping it for a lifetime through multiple future systems. Companies also generally prefer steady, reliable streams of income rather than massive sales spikes that fade away.
 

VariantX

Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,890
Columbia, SC
I haven't watched the whole video so I'm not sure if he addresses it but isn't the answer obvious to Arlo's question for why Nintendo would prefer to have classic games behind a subscription rather than people buying them outright?
They're thinking long term and want to prevent permanent ownership of classics particularly if they plan to offer BC for the Switch successor, this way you aren't buying Super Mario World once and keeping it for a lifetime through multiple future systems. Companies also generally prefer steady, reliable streams of income rather than massive sales spikes that fade away.

And likely strategically dropping shit to address release gaps or using it as a method to bring market awareness to a franchise. Its annoying AF to me, but I get it. Just wish it wasnt so infrequent though.
 

SeeingeyeDug

Member
Oct 28, 2017
3,004
Everyone has moved away from VC style releases in favor of new releases of those games instead.

who's "everyone". Outside of games like MCC which relies heavily on multiplayer, it seems like Microsoft is simply making their old catalog playable and instantly upgraded in graphics with their push for backward compatibility. I get that's impossible for the company that used so many differing media types, but they could do better.
 

Nanashrew

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
6,328
I wonder why suddenly now everyone is saying VC games sold bad. When the Switch was announced almost no one said that and there were multiple discussions about GameCube and other systems coming to VC.

A subscription based system is nice but since you don't own anything there is a good chance you won't be able to play those games 10 years from today.

I understand VC games started selling worse and worse because they released the same games every single time. How many versions of Ocarina does someone need? They were also priced strange and of course companies like Square and Capcom started their collection.

There are however still many Nintendo gems hidden in the Nintendo vault that will probably stay there unfortunately
Lots of VC games did poorly as not many are going to go out and buy obscure stuff. It was especially bad the second go around with the Wii U where people didn't want to have to repurchase their games again, even with the small upgrade fee. Nintendo poured a majority of their library into Wii U VC by the end of life that I remember someone actually made a list back on the old site that there were not that many more games they could even release as they were scraping the bottom of the barrel for some of the platforms on VC. And for 3rd parties on VC, there were hardly any, this was the beginning of the shift for 3rd parties making their own classics collections that we're still seeing now.
who's "everyone". Outside of games like MCC which relies heavily on multiplayer, it seems like Microsoft is simply making their old catalog playable and instantly upgraded in graphics with their push for backward compatibility. I get that's impossible for the company that used so many differing media types, but they could do better.
Microsoft's method is also incredibly unique because Microsoft was smart to adopt the standardized ID methods that movie and music CDs/DVDs/Blu-Ray use to identify things. So all it takes is working on the software side and getting license to use on the new system and then having the disc so it can get the proper ID to authorize a virtual copy of the game free of charge. All intents and purposes, Microsoft future proofed their stuff. Their method is like a hybrid of BC and VC since they give you the option to purchase them digitally if you don't have the disc. Also a really nice thing about Microsoft's method that I really, really like is that when my brother buys a 360 game digitally for his Xbox One, that game will also be playable on his account on my 360 (we share our systems). Microsoft just has the account system nailed in how things should work and I fully expect all the BC they've done will be easily transferred over to the next system.

Sony's in the same boat as Nintendo though regarding VC. Sony's pursuing subscription service as a way to play their classics as they simply stopped their PS Classics stuff before it even got started on PS4. The shocking thing about Sony's method with PS Classics though was that nothing you owned on PS3 carried over for PS4. So if you had that classic game on PS3, you had to pay full price again for the PS4 version. Unlike Nintendo, they had a proper account system on PS3 so this really shouldn't have happened. At the very least a small upgrade fee should have been a thing considering how much time obviously went into upgrading those games for trophy support.

As for Nintendo, well, we all know the story, and Nintendo is the most criticized company for their VC content or lack there of. Even investors have called them out for their drip feed pace and lack of additional system, and have commented that they have a vast library of games that is hardly available and that they should be more available. I definitely agree they should do better.
 
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immortal-joe

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,422
No it damn well doesn't. Nintendo's legacy is defined by having brand equity that powers it through an insane amount of strategic blunders, inability / refusal to keep up with tech, historically misguided hardware, and a metric fuckton of misfires that would sink the majority of companies out there.
 
Oct 28, 2019
442
Just speaking for myself, but I went ahead and unsubscribed from Arlo recently because I feel like he does himself no favors when he plays armchair Nintendo CEO, which he seems to have been doing much more of lately.

It's not that Nintendo should be immune to criticism or that he's not entitled to his opinion, I just don't find this to be his strength or something that's enjoyable to listen to. While his takes on games can be enjoyable, when he starts getting into "Nintendo should" strategy talk, I just find it very surface-level, not terribly informed and kind of ignorant of the market data a company of Nintendo's size and legacy surely has. It comes off a little like Nintendo business fan fiction, if that makes any sense.

So totally fine for him to spout off as a fan, but I reckon lots of folks aren't into him leaning into this stuff, because it's not really his wheelhouse.



Yeah, this puts it pretty succinctly.



Nevermind, it must be this. 😑
Finally someone who answered my question. I understand why you feel the way you do. Usually the most complaints pop up when he does videos with this type of subject. At best he is a fan doing speculation videos and I feel he always prefaces his points by saying in his opinion or that he's not a business man.
 

cbrotherson

Freelance Games & Comic Book Writer
Verified
Oct 26, 2017
492
Birmingham
Just speaking for myself, but I went ahead and unsubscribed from Arlo recently because I feel like he does himself no favors when he plays armchair Nintendo CEO, which he seems to have been doing much more of lately.

It's not that Nintendo should be immune to criticism or that he's not entitled to his opinion, I just don't find this to be his strength or something that's enjoyable to listen to. While his takes on games can be enjoyable, when he starts getting into "Nintendo should" strategy talk, I just find it very surface-level, not terribly informed and kind of ignorant of the market data a company of Nintendo's size and legacy surely has. It comes off a little like Nintendo business fan fiction, if that makes any sense.

So totally fine for him to spout off as a fan, but I reckon lots of folks aren't into him leaning into this stuff, because it's not really his wheelhouse.

This is pretty much a mirror of me.

I unsubbed not too long after E3, although was still getting alerts, so thought to give it one last shot, but the "why do they do this, I don't know these franchises or characters, they should be doing this" tack pretty much sealed the nail in the coffin.

I love an informed, well considered critique of business decisions, especially as I've been lucky enough to have seen the inner workings of the industry for a long time - so it grates when, instead of trying to work out (or investigate) why decisions have been made, we get a shallow perspective that's tantamount to whining at times. There's always room for opinion, but stepping outside of your own experiences and perspectives when offering that opinion can lead to far more interesting content.
 

Deleted member 3017

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
17,653
Neither of those companies has the cache or nostalgia of Nintendo but whatever.
There's a good reason for that: Nintendo knows how to manage its IP long term.


If that was entirely true they would have anticipated the success of the NES Mini.
Retailers choose how much product to order. Nintendo is far from the only party to screw up the initial launch of the NES Classic.
 

Łazy

Member
Nov 1, 2017
5,249
Good video, I think he makes a lot of good points.
Actually no.
He makes a lot of completely nonsensical points actually.

He's mixing everything together.
Talks about VC only to do a comparison with Shadow of the Colossus after. and that's one of many examples of how he's completely lost inbetween his need for old games and reality.

What about "I need Pikmin 1 before playing 4".
In a world where Xenoblade 2 does 1M+ with 1 not available on Switch and X lost on the Wii U (as on many, many example) he seems to just take his own craving for some general rule that couldn't be farther from the truth.

(Not to say nothing at all is true in what he says, but overall it's all over the place)
 

mrfusticle

Member
Oct 30, 2017
1,548
Arlo turned me off by seemingly flaunting his ignorance of Terry Bogard and dropping chestnuts like "THEY ANNOUNCED MORE DLC JUST TO DAMPEN THE DISAPPOINTMENT OF TERRY BOGARD".

I mean, I agree but I think video game "connoiseurs" like us have a pretty high bar for gaming knowledge.. I found couple of the superfan type YouTube channels coverage of the Smash directs to be cringingly painful as they clearly didn't know who Simon or Richter or the Fatal Fury dudes* were... It was like "YES .. RICHTER!!" only once his name appeared on the screen... At least Arlo is honest in that respect, if a trifle smug in his ignorance.

Nakoruru should've been the Smash pick don't @ me