Nintendo Revolution's classic Nintendo games will be free
by Ben Zackheim 
{ Jun 3rd 2005 at 2:48PM }
Wow. Good move. When we spoke with Nintendo about the price of their classic "emulated" games on the Revolution,
they were coy and left the pricing up to our imaginations. I assumed they'd follow the GBA model — 10-12 bucks for a
classic would be fair. But George Harrison of Nintendo just sprung a surprise. Classic Nintendo titles will be free.
Buy the console, take it home, plug it in and start playing your old faves. They'll have to be careful not to offer too
much out of the gate. After all, you want people to spend money on the software. But as far as exciting services to
offer with their new hardware, it's hard to come up with a better idea.
[thanks Dom!]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
robotplague @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
do you have any other links to other sources reporting this as well? if this is true that would be incredibly awesome.
CHILL @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Yeah I have to agree that this is a very smart move by Nintendo. With not much of a great motivation to go out and get the Revolution, this provides a decent reason to pick it up as a secondary console.
Eran Hawke @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Damn Nintendo for screwing us over agai...
...wait a second.
Woot!
James @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
I'd be careful, this maybe premature, or it may be a misunderstanding. There's no direct quote from him. The only official statements Nintendo made regarding this is that the only service will be free.
Hopefully, it is true though.
Pappy @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
ugh... I hate how internet rumors start.
This was simply Gamesradar reading the (several-day-old) Gamespot interview and miscomprehending the quote. Harrison did *not* say the games would be free, he said the ability to get online would be free, and they were still deciding whether to charge for the games or not.
OtakuCODE @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
The real question is, will it provide even half of the features that PC-based emulators do? Instant save and load states anywhere in the game? Cheat code discovery? Internet-wide multiplayer? Movie recording?
Bp @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Nintendo is comming out last of all three systems, and will replace my 360 and ps3 with no problem.
Zachary @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
This is too good to be true. I mean I hope it is, but I just can't believe it.
Trevor @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
#5, are you on crack? Revolution replacing the 360 and ps3 !?! Only if you're an eight year old boy who can't get enough of Mario. No GTA, no Halo, but you do get Mario Party 72.
GamerHeaven @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Just to back up James, Nintendo have not confirmed a full catalogue of games, this source is a little misleading, here's the actual "announcement":
GS: Do you plan on having like a per-download pricing model along the lines of the microtransactions that will be used in the next-gen Xbox marketplace?
GH: Well, we can use it in a variety of ways. We've used some of the older games already as little bonuses, either as bonus gifts or hidden in levels of games. Certainly for the first-party titles we'll be making some of those available. We haven't really talked about whether we would sell them. The third parties can make their own decision whether they want to sell them, or maybe they will add it on as sort of a free benefit when you buy a current version of the game.
..........
I made the same mistake the first time I read this as well, but what this means is that as of just now some of the games will be free (which is still awesome), they could make them all free, yes, but the final decision on how many/what games is still being considered.
Bascically games like Donkey Kong (Animal Crossing) and Metroid (from Prime) that have all ready been free will be free on the Rev, as will many others, but I suspect NES games free, SNES games as "presents" (for buying games etc) and N64 games will be a few bucks a pop.
Whatever they do it'll be good to have free games, and even if there is a charge for some it's an awesome feature. And it'll be cool if many 3rd party devs offer free/cheap old games - retro FF action sounds good to me.
Matthew @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Holy smoke. If it's free, I'll be even more excited. I'll buy a Revolution just for this feature. And download Super Mario Brothers 1 right away. :)
Hug-me @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
perfect dark
mario 64
secret of mana
killer instinct (snes)
just a few of my favourite games
happy memories...
:)
Brinstar @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Well-played, Nintendo, well-played.
This is so exciting. There were so many games for the NES and SNES (especially the SNES) that I never got a chance to play because I was too poor because my parents wouldn't buy me games when I reached a certain age.
Twist @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
I this is even slightly true and they offer a semi-decent library of free classic games then I will get a Revolution for sure (perhaps before the PS3 if they release near the same time and the Revolution is way cheaper). I have trouble believing it though. I could see them offering a small amount of free classic game downloads with every console. Perhaps some kind of promotional pack-in type thing.
Seth L @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
This sounds like a brilliant idea to me.
It will likely only eat into GBA sales of old NES games very little, as people will still want the portability, and it's immune to the 'my hardware is bigger' debate.
On the other hand, I can't see myself playing the (potential) free games that much, unless they get the rights to their old Capcom library.
Eric Pobirs @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
#9
There is a big difference between 'hidden bonus feature' and 'free.' If I have to buy a current game to get an antique, then the antique was not free.
There are going to be conditions and limitations. Just giving away their back catalogue with the hardware purchase is a serious way to throw money down a drain giving free candy to people who'll just play the old stuff. I could even pay for the hardware just by selling off all of the first party Nintendo stuff I have in storage. This is a business. Giving stuff away makes that stuff worthless in the future and too much of Nintendo's value would be lost. There will be a cost, just as the pre-order bonus for Zelda:WW came at the cost of a full price preorder instead of waiting a while for the price to come down.
randy @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
people need to stop reporting this. games radar misunderstood gamespot's interview with george harrison. He didn't say it would be free.
Dylan @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
I wish they were all free because i'm dying to get Paper Mario (N64)But the thing is how do you download them??????????????????????????????????
dr.n00bfragger @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
i wish this was true but it is hard to believe that it is.
Carlson @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Pappy, I know you're just Geez in disguise. Don't hide from us.
Brandon @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Goldeneye 4 player battle
end of story.
BlackYoshi @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Said OtakuCode:
The real question is, will it provide even half of the features that PC-based emulators do? Instant save and load states anywhere in the game? Cheat code discovery? Internet-wide multiplayer? Movie recording?
Oh, so it will be inferior because you won't be able to use instant save and load states in order to circumvent the difficulty of the game, just in case you suck? SO basically, it will suck because you can't cheat? Though I'm sure for the games that had no saves on NES, they will have options to save on the Revolution versions.
charlie @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
OMG. I'm so excited. I'm no nintendo fanboy or anything. In total, I've owned an NES, Gameboy, N64, and GBA... but my NES broke, so my fav game of all time (Mario Bros. 3) and one of my top 10 (original Mario Bros.) have gone unplayed... now I'll be able to play all these games, plus others like Tecmo Bowl, Ninja Gaiden, and the Original Metroid!
IMO, they shouldnt include the games for free. That would take away from their other software sales, and so to compromise they'd have to limit which titles are available. Instead, they should make the ENTIRE LIBRARY available from launch, and charge $.50 to $5 for each download, depending on the market for each particular game. The same should be done for SNES and N64 games. I missed the SNES generation, that should be fun.
LOL, Nintendo, you'll make a lot of money if you play this right and give the consumer what they want- access to your amazing library of classic titles, even if we have to pay. I haven't decided whether I'll be buying an Xbox360 or PS3 yet (I currently own an xbox, I like the games available for it more than the ones for PS2), and I'll buy one of them, but as long as you don't screw this up, I'm definately buying a Revolution.
32_Footsteps @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Here's a hypothetical situation. Let's say that the general consensus for Revolution downloads is 99 cents per ROM. Would you pay it? Would you pay it if it was 2 bucks? 5 bucks?
Also something I've been wondering - would Nintendo push to have a region lock for these ROMs? I don't think it would be worth their while, and think of how many previously unreleased games could finally be legally available here (Mother, Dragon Quest 5 and 6, Seiken Dentetsu 3...). I know lots of people that would be all about downloading games that were previously Japanese-exclusive, even with an active language barrier.
My only wish? Please, please let there be a Revolution ROM for Ogre Battle: March of the Black Queen.
Sergio @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
No matter what the haters may say, this is pure genius from Nintendo, even if (and I think they will) charge something. Sure you might be able to mod your Xbox or download an emulator to your PC, but how many casual gamers do? How many parents would let their kids do that?
A lot of people still buy these classic games on eBay, so it would behoove other publishers to release their classic games online as well. I can look at my shelf and see all of the Dragon Warrior games for the NES, Contra, as well as a few more SNES classics that I bought online. There is a market for this stuff.
Since all three systems will be online, I wonder if Sega Sammy Holdings will eventually do something similar with their library. Hell, someone needs to license the old Turbo Grafx-16 games and do this too. I need a Military Madness fix.
DamnShame @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Im not buying a next gen console to play old ass games. Hopefully this thing is a real Revolution. This classic library stuff sounds like a gimick.
c?eese? @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Maybe this is a marketing scheme from them... start rumors and see how we react! :O
Everyone just don't say anything negative!
Zeo @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
HE DID NOT SAY THE GAMES WOULD BE FREE.
Way to go again Joystiq.
GamerHeaven @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
#16.
If you consider those conditions as not being free then fair play, however I would consider them free and I know a vast sector of the gaming community/public would agree.
Did I buy Metroid Prime for the original Metroid, no, I bought it as it's a gaming masterpiece widely regarded as one of the finest games since OOT or FFVII. The bonus of Metroid was free and a nice extra.
Did I buy Animal Crossing for Donkey Kong (etc), no. I bought it as it was a unique and innovative title. Having free NES games was a nice little bonus that cost me nothing.
Will I buy Mario 128 (or w/e) for free bonus downloads of Super Mario Bros/world, no. I'll buy it as it'll surely be a damn good platformer, and bonus games will be a nice free extra.
I do agree there will be some conditions on some titles (just read my previous comment on possible structuring), but the simple fact is any bonus is free and more so there will be many completely free games under no conditioning.
The Deuce @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Ah brother, here we go again. People, you should have learned this the hard way by now: always assume that everything new reported by the British gaming media was pulled out of their arse, unless proven otherwise. How many times have we been burned by rumours started by gamesradar, gameindustry.biz, and the rest of them by now?
NergiZed @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Wow that's sweetnezx! But I doubt it, although I would glady pay anything under ten bucks for an N64 game, don't hafta go to the game store, :P. Plus free online gaming! (like xbox live cept it's free) Super Smash Bros. Revolution's gonna be the launch title and is gonna be online! that's the main reason I'm getteing the Revo.
Sean @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
The games are probably going to offered through a pay service and the titles will most likely limited to first-party titles only. As this is only one gamers speculation, I think, nevertheless, it will be a good feature and I commend Nintendo on this one. Go Nintendo!
Patrick Ross @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Hey there. This is Pat Ross from Nintendojo. We have reported this story as a rumor. It is not to be taken seriously. There is no source posted and the speculation thus far is that this story is based on a quote in a Gamespot Q&A with Harrison; if there is any veracity to that speculation, then the quote is taken out of context. Please refer to Nintendojo for more details. http://www.nintendojo.com
Sean @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
You have made a LOT of Nintendo games. I think that you guys can make alot of money if you can pull this off. I am sure that you guys are going to have alot of entertainment for these kids so that way they wont say "MOM! I WANT TO GO TO THE ICE CREAM STORE!!" You go Nintendo!
Zeo @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Nice job Nintendojo, promoting that crappy site through this blog. :P
CHECK OUR SITE FOR ALL THE DETAILS I JUST SAID HERE.
PulpAffliction @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Even if you have to pay for it (.50 - $5.00 prefferably)I hope they do a free "game of the week" type rental thing... that would be delicious!
Spoonage @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
If any pricing scheme were to come about, I would rather see an XBOX Live style subscription. Note, I don't have XBOX Live, nor an XBOX so I can't comment on the quality/features, however I can see the model working. Pay $29.99 or whatever for a year to have access to the entire library of Nintendo. Nice way to make some bucks, while also having an all you can eat (psuedo-free) implication. The whole thing is relatively free money either way.
The real problem may be convincing third party developers to give their titles up for said model. I don't know what the current state of affairs is between Nintendo and third parties that made stuff for the NES, so that could be weird. They didn't seem to have a problem getting Castlevania for GBA, but what of companies that left the field? Acclaim, Sunsoft, et al. Someone probably owns the IP somewhere, but have fun figuring that out. Obviously we won't be seeing things like Bible Adventures in the catalog. However, what of games like Tengen Tetris? It was on the market for a while and is arguably superior in every way to Nintendo's later release of the same. I'd say we won't be seeing that either.
I think it should be an all or nothing pursuit in any case. If they're pay, make 'em all pay in some fashion. If not, make em all free. I don't want to suddenly have to pay $5 bucks because I want to play Battletoads just because Nintendo didn't push the right buttons to get it from Rare or whoever owns the rights.
mike @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
The games WILL be free.. what they said was the third party titles won't NECESSARILY be free.
Nintendo profits from the hardware.. so there's no reason why, say, Square Enix would just give away FF3(6).. third party titles may cost money.. Nintendo's are free.. get it?
Chester001 @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Well, there where alot of great first party games from nintendo, so i dont see how not having 3rd party games not free would be a big let down, and nintendo sayed they where also planning to give away free games sometimes, as promotions for thoer games, ike this may be one "Buy Final Fantasy: Crystal Chronicals and get 2 final fantasy games for free" and inside the box they would give us a code that we enter when we download it. Just thouight of thats what they ment buy it. And as for "why not just use a computer emulater?" Cause this right here is legal.
BigStiq @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
uhh...?
I think Iwata had something to say about articles like this...Check it out
http://1up.com/do/newsStory?cId=3141272
opium addicted chinaman @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
since they are "giving" us the old games, why dont they make a few patches so that we could maybe play Perfect Dark (n64) online and raise our rankes!!!
opium addicted chinaman @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
oow ooow oow maybe they can make some mmorpg's for they late great revolution!!!
opium addicted chinaman @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
maybe ffchrytal chronicles online patches patches patches multi player no more gba tonnels (charpo)
Ben smith @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
Nintendo rules even if they arent free xbox and ps3 Stand no chance!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
moogle301 @ Dec 18th 2005 8:45PM
i am soooo gonna download secret of mana and crono trigger and earthbound and a few mario games for memories but mostly looking forward to the first 2
and just think - online play perhaps 3 player som online - even if not I have 3 gamecube controllers which should plug in and people will remember SOM!!!!!!! again and crono trigger rules
happy happy music yay and 3 player non repetative rpging
and nice 2d graphics soms made me feel so happy - they so colourful!