Many users on Hacker News expressed surprise and nostalgia regarding Nintendo's handling of its extensive back catalog of games, particularly when compared to the capabilities of the homebrew and emulation community. The discussion revolved around several key themes:
Nintendo's Strategy of Limited Back Catalog Access
A central theme was the perception that Nintendo intentionally limits access to its older games through services like Nintendo Switch Online, rather than offering a comprehensive "virtual console" like it did on previous generations. This approach is seen as a "slow drip feed" designed to maximize revenue and avoid cannibalizing sales of new titles.
- One user, x187463, expressed this sentiment directly: "Maybe it's licensing or something, but the fact that Nintendo doesn't simply have its entire catalogue available via virtual console is a real shame." They further contrasted this with the ease of accessing emulators: "Accessing this takes only a few minutes to accomplish on the high seas, but somehow Nintendo takes years to add a few games to their own service."
- nemomarx elaborated on Nintendo's business strategy: "Nintendo is more likely than most publishers to delay releases to avoid competing with themselves. Their new virtual console strategy is a slow drip feed that won't distract from their main titles or impact sales at all, so a subscription fee."
- thrance echoed this concern, suggesting a deliberate business logic: "Yup, they're sitting on millions of hours of work because of some nefarious business logic. Probably they determined that making old games available would negatively impact the sales of their new products, at least enough to be a problem. Whatever the reason, a shame."
- nemomarx also pointed out the perceived step backward from previous consoles: "What I think they're pointing out is that the Wii, Wii u, and 3ds did have the virtual console and basically the full back catalogue available on it. It took the lifetime of the switch for the new service to get a comparable line up."
Nostalgia and Gamers' Expectations
The discussion highlighted the powerful role of nostalgia in driving demand for older games and how Nintendo's current strategy falls short of fulfilling these expectations, especially when compared to the readily available solutions provided by the emulation community.
- The opening anecdote from x187463 about playing NES games within Animal Crossing serves as a prime example of this nostalgic sentiment and the surprise of discovering older titles within new experiences.
- Another user, 0points, humorously connected this to the early days of emulation: "The nesticle emulator blew my mind as a kid." This comment underscores the long-standing availability and impact of emulators on gamers' experiences.
- kingkawn suggested that the prevalence of free emulation might be impacting Nintendo's perceived profitability: "The emulator community may be why it is not potentially profitable for Nintendo, since most of the nostalgia market has already been served for free."
The Role of Emulation and Homebrew
The capabilities of the homebrew and emulation scene were frequently mentioned as a benchmark against which Nintendo's official offerings are measured. Users noted that the community can achieve what Nintendo takes years to implement, often with greater breadth and fidelity.
- x187463 explicitly praised the community: "The passionate console hacking/reverse engineering community has managed to make near-perfect emulators for everything up to the Wii, and pretty good support for the Switch."
- This was contrasted with Nintendo's slow rollout: "Accessing this takes only a few minutes to accomplish on the high seas, but somehow Nintendo takes years to add a few games to their own service."
- maxlin raised a valid technical consideration regarding emulation: "I do wonder though, how much cases there were those arbitrary compatibility quirks being sacrificed for performance. I could imagine a shoddy job trying to support everything axing performance." This acknowledges the technical challenges involved but doesn't diminish the community's achievements.
Skepticism About Competition Between New and Old Titles
A point of contention and discussion was whether older Nintendo titles would genuinely compete with or cannibalize sales of their newer, flagship games. Many users expressed doubt that games like Super Mario Bros. would significantly detract from sales of Tears of the Kingdom.
- nkrisc questioned the premise: "Is the market for Nintendo games really so small that decades-old titles will meaningfully compete with their current ones? Surely the demand for SMB must be minuscule compared to the demand for their modern games among consumers?" They further questioned the direct sales impact: "Is Breath of the Wild really going to lose sales to Legend of Zelda? Are there really consumers who will only buy one or the other?"
- nemomarx offered a counterpoint, focusing on potential impact beyond direct sales: "Not to NES games, but it might distract from news about it (minor effect on sales) and their emulation catalogue is now up to GameCube games. So the question is whether a five or ten dollar copy of wind Waker could distract from an 80 dollar tears of the kingdom." They also highlighted games that might be more vulnerable: "They also have more marginal games - captain toad or whatever - sold at the same price as their big titles. Those seem pretty vulnerable imo."
Historical Examples of Game Integration and Openness
Some users drew parallels to past instances of older games being included within newer titles and contrasted Nintendo's approach with the more open practices of other game developers.
- HelloUsername noted a similar classic game inclusion: "Sounds similar to Donkey Kong 64 (1999) that had an arcade machine inside a level that let you play the original Donkey Kong (1981)." They also pointed out that Nintendo does offer some classics via Switch Online, though the previous discussion focused on the completeness of the offering.
- AndrewOMartin provided an analogy with id software and Doom: "Id software open sourced the Doom engine, so anyone could play custom levels or enjoy community assets without directly benefiting Id. That's why Doom, and by extension Id software, disappeared so swiftly into obscurity." This is a slightly sarcastic comparison, implying open-sourcing led to obscurity rather than the opposite, but it serves to illustrate a different model of game availability and community engagement.