Nintendo's next step. Thoughts?

[Raverrevolution]

So I've been seeing trending topics on the upcoming Nintendo NX having cartridges today and I thought of the best idea ever for what Nintendo's next step should be.  Inspired by another thread in these forums personally I think this would turn the gaming world inside out.

The Nintendo NX should be a console which combines retro with new age.  They should make the console something almost like a Retron 5, but sleeker and more official.  Go back to old school gaming, but make it so the hardware is strong and competes with newer systems as well.

Then Nintendo should do two things, release new aged games via downloads or small sd cards (competing with PS4, Xbox One) and start making old cartridges again with expansions on old NES/Famicom games.  How awesome would it be to have this console and being able to play Zelda 1 on it with an old NES controller, but yet being able to go to the store and buy a Zelda 1B cartridge that plays exactly like 1, but with new dungeons and bosses.  

Say they came out with Punch Out 2 that has graphics and plays exactly like the original Punch Out, except this time Mike Tyson is the champion of the minor circuit and his picture and boxing record are updated and he'll say new things.  Hell, they could even expand more and make it so the console downloads new circuits and characters to go through as a patch.

They could also expand on Pokemon to infinite possibilities.  

Oh, and they need to bring back the Nintendo seal of quality and forget the shovelware.

I guess I'm just stuck in the nostalgia of Nintendo's golden age here.  I feel like everyone out there is with me though and I also feel like lately retro gaming has exploded to massive proportions.  Nintendo should take advantage of the situation.  They should make 2 worlds coexist.

Thoughts?

[zmaster18]

I think expansions of retro games would awesome! I think the whole eShop and Virtual Console in general should be improved.

First of all, we need cross-buy for VC games. I don't want to buy multiple copies of the same game!

Next, we need a subscription service. Pay $10 a month and you get 3 free NES/SNES/GB games. Playstation has a similar service and it's a great value. Most people just pirate retro games, so Nintendo really needs to offer a good value or else no one is going to buy their games. I really like the Pokemon GB games on 3DS have wireless functions. It's great how they updated them! Street Fighter 2 on Wii VC even had online multiplayer. That's awesome and well worth the price because it has exclusive features.

[P]

start making old cartridges again with expansions on old NES/Famicom games.

There's often talk about Nintendo should make new Famicom games etc, on forums like these, but I doubt it would be really profitable to make new real authentic Famicom games. It's probably not easy to find new programmers that can handle 8-bit systems in assembly. I guess they could go the Rockman 9/10 route and make a new game that simulates old hardware in looks and sound. But even those games weren't cheap to produce apparently.

Virtual Console games doesn't seem to be that profitable, but I agree that they should offer better deals on them. One reason why I don't buy VC games much is because I have the hardware already and can play the real deal for a better price (in most cases, games like Recca is much cheaper on VC of course).

[L___E___T]

 



Not sure where that speculation has come from but Nintendo NX will surely not have cartridges - they're too much of a money sink compared to discs, and even more so compared to digital downloads.  

Also, Nintendo would have to sell the majority of those online, considering that retailers have fallen out of favour.  They couldn't afford to go the cartridge route, it's archaic now.

We've seen with NES Remix and similar that they do value the older games and see the audience for those, so I hope they do more.  But it's always going to be a footnote and not the focus.

Nintendo already do this retro / modern crossover to be fair with the Virtual Console and they make a big, big deal out of nostalgia and leverage that to great effect (just look at smash levels).

However I get that this isn't in the way you/we'd ideally like it, with cartridges and such.  But come on, you've gotta be realistic and realise that is essentially a pipe dream... 

[Raverrevolution]

Personally I see nothing wrong with reintroducing cartridges and I'll explain why. 

While this may sound like a contradiction to everything I said, essentially these days in modern video game systems we do not need removable media.  Everything could technically work via Microsoft's image of downloading everything.  Blu Ray games only exist due to the outcry of the public wanting it.  Ok, now taken that into consideration Blu Ray drives cost money and are completely unnecessary.  Removable media should solely exist for nostalgia. 

I would think that ditching disc drives in favor of a download platform with additional retro cartridge ports for NES games wouldn't cost that much more.  If anything parts have gotten so cheap that we have profitable NES homebrew mass produced games.

Nintendo could do this.  They could release Mario Kart 9 for example through the download only service and also release a limited amount of Legend if Zelda 1 expansion cartridges.  You can preorder the carts on their website so they can only produce enough for people who want to buy it.  If you don't buy carts then you can always use the console to play your old NES games on your HDTV with the cart slot.  Hell they wouldn't even need to shut down the virtual console stuff for people who want to download and play, you just wont get the box and instruction booklet.

All of this would fix and improve so much;

A)it would satisfy the newer generation of gamers with new games on a new console competing with other new consoles.

B)it would satisfy the retro gaming community in offering a solution to play old hardware on newer TVs, as well as adding more to collectors, and to retro gamers by expanding fan favorites.

C)it would satisfy many 3rd party developers.  Could you imagine Konami releasing Metal Gear 3, Capcom releasing Megaman 11 on a cart the way it was meant, and anyone else not defunct.

But yeah, it is a pipe dream, but oddly I really don't think it would be that bad of an idea.  I think it would excite everyone and I think if they would make everything with quality and love then Nintendo would have a massive hit.
Post Merge: May 13, 2016, 07:58:46 am
Ha, here's another thought.

Instead of putting individual cartridges back into production they could make something like an Everdrive. 

You go to the store, and buy one, then you insert it into the NX's NES slot.  You then log into the virtual console store and buy games.  They then download onto your console and into the Everdrive-like cart.  That cart can then be used as is or in an actual NES if you have one.

[L___E___T]

 



Don't get me wrong I really like the idea - but cartridges are basically unaffordable for businesses now.  The parts cost is mega high (was even true in N64 days), the stock risk is great and the manufacturing slow, it's just not viable.  I'm still amazed at what 3DS and Vita cartridges cost, and there's barely any size to them.  

What that would mean is resupporting the NES basically...  Sure they could technically do it, but they'd rather make something new and what not.  

3rd party developers would hate it though trust me, they paid so much for manufacturing carts back then and the Seal of Quality thing was very unpopular and seen as a money grab.  

Pre-order wise, that's exactly the route they take though - Manuel and I were discussing that RE: the SFC 3DS just the other day.  

Not pooping on the idea, I would love to see this more than anything!  I honestly think it'll be geared around the 3DS though, I keep hoping to hear some insider news, but I genuinely haven't.  

[fcgamer]

I have some obscure gaming machines out of China, which use cartridges.  The games are not of an extremely high quality level and are derivative, but still, pretty neat to see carts.

[L___E___T]

 



I have some kind of Wii clone that supposedly plays 16 bit versions of Wii sports etc.  never worked of course, and I bought it new!

[P]

Not sure where that speculation has come from but Nintendo NX will surely not have cartridges

It comes from that patent document that described a Nintendo product that has some kind of cartridge slot.

[L___E___T]

 



3DS games slot

[P]

Makes sense.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

I don't see this retro and modern combination happening, but I do see my largely ignored proposal from a few years ago: integration between console and portable.

You can take it with you!                            <-they're all walking

[zmaster18]

Here's my proposal: make the new console the same specs as current gen so that Nintendo isn't just considered a 'secondary console'. The Wii and Wii U were always seen as secondary to most people's main console, the Xbox/Playstation. People play their big AAA games on those consoles and play a couple of Nintendo exclusives a few times a year on Wii or Wii U.

The NX should be a powerful console that plays everything so that consumers don't need to buy a secondary console. If NX also has all the best exclusives, all multiplatform games, and a wide variety of game genres and controller options then NX could be successful.

The Wii U could have done this, but Nintendo effed up real bad. If the Gamepad was optional for the Wii U, the specs were better, and the Wii U name was changed, it could have been a really good console. Nintendo could have also started their mobile game strategy a little earlier to keep up with the times.

[Raverrevolution]

I was thinking that too.  Nintendo needs step up their specs.  Sadly though they need more of a plan, because as you can recall in the sixth generation of consoles with the Gamecube they did just that and still ended up in second or third to the PS2.

Friggen Nintendo!!  They're awesome and boneheaded at the same time.

The crappy thing is that gaming as it is will sort of head into what the Virtual Boy would have become if it was successful.  No one can deny it, but the next logical step in any sort of video entertainment is being able to see things in 3D.  Sure it's not for everyone, but we now have the technology at a cheap enough price tag to pull it off.

Maybe L__E__T was right in that the NX will have a 3DS slot.  Watch Nintendo start teaming up with TV manufacturers to make TVs display 3D without glasses the way the 3DS does so that you could play the games on your TV to grease the wheels on the technology paving the way.  Then they could accomplish what Jedi QuestMaster said as well.

[Jedi Master Baiter]

The crappy thing is that gaming as it is will sort of head into what the Virtual Boy would have become if it was successful.  No one can deny it, but the next logical step in any sort of video entertainment is being able to see things in 3D.

Pish posh! There are so many innovating ideas in video games that have barely been scraped at. Look no further than at current arcade technology--oh, wait.