Pricing For Retro Games on the Wii: $5-$10

Dominus Atheos · Post by **Dominus Atheos** » 2006-06-08 01:39am

Wii's classic games to be priced less than US$10

6/7/2006 12:05:49 PM, by Ben Kuchera

Nintendo President Saturo Iwata spoke yesterday at a Japanese marketing event (Japanese source), revealing information about "virtual console" pricing and the Wii's relationship with the DS. Iwata revealed that games for Nintendo's "virtual console" that will allow Wii owners to play old titles on their consoles will be priced at ¥500 and ¥1,000, roughly US$4.50 to US$8.99. For reference, classic retro games for the Nintendo GameBoy sold for upwards of US$35 for some titles, US$19.99 for others. Uptake was understandably low, as gamers were reticent to pay that much for old content.

Retro gaming may prove to be a big boon for Nintendo. Microsoft's Xbox Live Marketplace has already captured the attention of many gamers with games costing 400 to 1,200 Microsoft "points," which translates to US$5 to US$12.50. Nintendo's pricing is roughly competitive with Microsoft's, but the ability to launch with a massive library of retro games could easily overshadow Microsoft's service, which has been anemic in terms of new titles since launch (though we wait in anticipation for Paperboy, Contra, and others). Are gamers more likely to buy Zuma for US$10, or Majora's Mask?

Iwata also talked about ramping up production of the DS Lite from 1.6 million units a month to 2 million. Demand for the system in Japan has been near insatiable, and with a June 11 launch in the United States, the added production will hopefully keep the system on store shelves so it can take advantage of the success of the New Mario Bros. and Brain Age. The system has been a license to print money for Nintendo, with ten games in Japan that have already sold over a million copies.

Iwata talked up the Wii's capabilities in terms of DS connectivity, including the ability to share demos and the fact that the DS could also be used as a touch screen controller for Wii games. He also hinted that future DS games will be able to be played on the Wii, with added or expanded content as a teaser.

Downloading DS demos via the Wii is a nice touch, but not that surprising. Being able to use the DS as a touch screen for the Wii, however, offers up the possibility of being able to use the Wii to play DS games on your television. The GameBoy Player was a successful product for the GameCube, allowing gamers to play their GBA games on their televisions, and if the Wii features such an ability, Nintendo has a better chance of converting DS gamers into Wii owners.

From the picture Iwata is painting, it's clear that the Wii is designed to profit not only from new games sales but also by working closely with the DS, and placing an emphasis on inexpensive classic games purchased online. It's hard to underestimate the worth of Nintendo's back catalogue, and the addition of classic Sega and Turbografx titles adds considerable appeal for gamers who cut their teeth on Nintendo's early consoles.

Unfortunately, we still don't know when the Wii will launch or how much it will cost. Iwata said the launch date and final pricing for the Wii will not be announced until September.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-06-08 02:01am

Whoa. Playing Faxanadu is a cool idea, but for AU$7.50 I'd think twice. Seriously, if they set the price low people will just buy games more often - if they set it too high, people will buy them very infrequently.

wautd · Post by **wautd** » 2006-06-08 02:32am

Make it a buck and I'd be interested

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2006-06-08 02:37am

This is incorrect. I've been following the announcements at the press conference.

If you look up what Mr. Iwata said, he actually said that NEW Virtual Console titles will be available for $5-$10. Completely original titles. Like XBox Live Arcade.

He never spoke of the price of the retro games. It could be less. It could be more. He didn't mention it. Arstechnica misinterpreted the statements.

Just one of many sites I can use for reference:
http://wii.ign.com/articles/711/711629p1.htm

Nintendo president Satoru Iwata outlined a price range for some games on Wii's Virtual Console download service during a marketing conference held in Japan on Wednesday. The company leader said that some Virtual Console games would cost between ¥500 and ¥1,000 yen, or $4.50 and $8.99 USD.

"We'd like people to play new, low-scale games for ¥500 yen or ¥1000 yen," Iwata stated.

These prices apparently encapsulate only titles newly created for the Virtual Console. It is not yet clear if classic NES, S-NES and N64 games will fall under the same price range umbrella.

The bold part is what Iwata actually said. "new, low-scale games". He obviously was not talking about retro games.

Instant Sunrise · Post by **Instant Sunrise** » 2006-06-08 02:44am

That price range is in the same range of XBLA games.

The difference that remeains to be seen is if Nintendo uses a system of abstraction like MS does but with the points system.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2006-06-08 09:21am

So, wait, this means no more free retro downloads? Suddenly my interest has dropped several notches. Plus, at the prices they're offering you may simply be better off hunting down retro consoles yourself and getting the titles at Gamestop or Ebay. If you can actually own the games you download and it's not some fucking subscription service, then I'll be somewhat more interested, but otherwise. . . meh.

Ace Pace · Post by **Ace Pace** » 2006-06-08 09:22am

General Zod wrote:So, wait, this means no more free retro downloads? Suddenly my interest has dropped several notches. Plus, at the prices they're offering you may simply be better off hunting down retro consoles yourself and getting the titles at Gamestop or Ebay. If you can actually own the games you download and it's not some fucking subscription service, then I'll be somewhat more interested, but otherwise. . . meh.

Read PRaxis's post, he's talking about new games on the VC, not retro.

General Zod · Post by **General Zod** » 2006-06-08 09:24am

Ace Pace wrote:
General Zod wrote:So, wait, this means no more free retro downloads? Suddenly my interest has dropped several notches. Plus, at the prices they're offering you may simply be better off hunting down retro consoles yourself and getting the titles at Gamestop or Ebay. If you can actually own the games you download and it's not some fucking subscription service, then I'll be somewhat more interested, but otherwise. . . meh.
Read PRaxis's post, he's talking about new games on the VC, not retro.

Oh. In that case. Nevermind.

GrandMasterTerwynn · Post by **GrandMasterTerwynn** » 2006-06-08 10:51am

General Zod wrote:
Ace Pace wrote:
General Zod wrote:So, wait, this means no more free retro downloads? Suddenly my interest has dropped several notches. Plus, at the prices they're offering you may simply be better off hunting down retro consoles yourself and getting the titles at Gamestop or Ebay. If you can actually own the games you download and it's not some fucking subscription service, then I'll be somewhat more interested, but otherwise. . . meh.
Read PRaxis's post, he's talking about new games on the VC, not retro.
Oh. In that case. Nevermind.

I would dare to say that anybody who seriously thinks that Nintendo will offer the retro titles for gratis probably has a few screws loose. The console itself already looks to cheap enough that they'll be practically giving them away, compared to MS or Sony's offerings. I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo set the price-point for retro-games to be right around the $4.50 mark that's been quoted (maybe less, likely a bit more,) with the new games for the Virtual Console costing up to that $8.99 mark.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2006-06-08 10:55am

I would dare to say that anybody who seriously thinks that Nintendo will offer the retro titles for gratis probably has a few screws loose.

I wouldn't be surprised if they gave free games with commercial titles, like the NES games in AC or Metroid. However, the blatant money-grabbing known as the Classic NES Series suggests the $4.50 may be optimistic

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2006-06-08 10:56am

General Zod wrote:So, wait, this means no more free retro downloads? Suddenly my interest has dropped several notches. Plus, at the prices they're offering you may simply be better off hunting down retro consoles yourself and getting the titles at Gamestop or Ebay. If you can actually own the games you download and it's not some fucking subscription service, then I'll be somewhat more interested, but otherwise. . . meh.

Wow, you haven't paid ANY attention. They were never free. Nintendo said so at GDC 2005.

Anyway, I would actually consider $5 reasonable for retro titles. Not for NES, but SNES and N64. N64 games are actually around $10-$12 at GameStop.

Stark · Post by **Stark** » 2006-06-08 10:59am

I'm down with paying some nominal fee (particularly for absurdly old games like Excitebike) but it doesn't scale, and US$5 is probably too much even for a 64 game in my opinion. New content is a totally different story, of course, but seriously, I have a computer with emulators, and I'm not going to pay US$50 for a few Megaman games.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2006-06-08 12:10pm

See, I don't think the £4-7 range is that bad for this kind of game.

In terms of the amount of play you can get out of them for that seven quid, it's a pretty good investment. It's about the price of a round down at the pub, and that will last you far less time.

Praxis · Post by **Praxis** » 2006-06-08 01:09pm

Same here. While $5 is too much for NES games, I don't find it unreasonable for games I've never played that would give me hours of enjoyment. As long as I'm paying a dollar an hour, and can replay it whenever I want, I'm happy.

I'm sure that games like Mario RPG, the original Paper Mario, Zelda: Majora's Mask, Mario Kart 64, Yoshi's Story, etc will give me hours of enjoyment. It's worth $5 a pop. I've never played any of them.

Qwerty 42 · Post by **Qwerty 42** » 2006-06-08 01:36pm

GrandMasterTerwynn wrote:
General Zod wrote:
Ace Pace wrote: Read PRaxis's post, he's talking about new games on the VC, not retro.
Oh. In that case. Nevermind.
I would dare to say that anybody who seriously thinks that Nintendo will offer the retro titles for gratis probably has a few screws loose. The console itself already looks to cheap enough that they'll be practically giving them away, compared to MS or Sony's offerings. I wouldn't be surprised if Nintendo set the price-point for retro-games to be right around the $4.50 mark that's been quoted (maybe less, likely a bit more,) with the new games for the Virtual Console costing up to that $8.99 mark.

It's never been set to be free, how else do you think they're paying for making online free for first party games?

Lost Soal · Post by **Lost Soal** » 2006-06-08 01:37pm

Stark wrote:I'm down with paying some nominal fee (particularly for absurdly old games like Excitebike) but it doesn't scale, and US$5 is probably too much even for a 64 game in my opinion. New content is a totally different story, of course, but seriously, I have a computer with emulators, and I'm not going to pay US$50 for a few Megaman games.

Whats the market for retro games in shops like over your way? I've seen an N64 game in either Granger or Gamestation, costing ~£60.

If that same game can be bought direct from Nintendo for £4, sounds like a bargain to me.

Master of Ossus · Post by **Master of Ossus** » 2006-06-08 01:50pm

Paying $5 means that I'll only be interested in buying the games that I played and enjoyed in their heydey--Mario's worth the money, for example. Paying a dollar or two per game would interest me in exploring other games that I didn't play, but was told were good.

Molyneux · Post by **Molyneux** » 2006-06-08 03:10pm

For $5 a pop, I'd definitely buy at least a few of the older games. Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past is a certainty, as are some of the other old classics.

Vendetta · Post by **Vendetta** » 2006-06-08 03:31pm

Actually, the Zeldas are the least likely ones to buy, simply because I've already got them.

I might go for Majora's Mask if that's on there in a tightened up Master Quest style release, but LttP I have on the GBA and Ocarina I have on the MQ disc, so I could pop that in.

The really old zeldas are a nice curiosity, but the series really took off properly with LttP.

Nub · Post by **Nub** » 2006-06-08 03:32pm

Better 5 to 10 dollars on the Wii than paying 35 for the Gameboy remake.

But then again, as said above, we really don't know how much the classic games are going to cost.

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2006-06-08 03:33pm

The really old zeldas are a nice curiosity, but the series really took off properly with LttP.

Admit it...you're just aching to play Wand of Gamelon

Instant Sunrise · Post by **Instant Sunrise** » 2006-06-08 04:20pm

Honestly, I would rather find a copy of OoT and play on my real N64, than on VC. However, this only applies to OoT for me.

Ganondorf should have RED blood, dammit. I also preferred the original Fire Temple music, and Gerudo symbol.

Dooey Jo · Post by **Dooey Jo** » 2006-06-08 04:48pm

I have four versions of OoT, I don't need another. Paper Mario 1 and tons of other games I haven't played, however...

Also, I wonder how independent developers are supposed to develop new content for the Virtual Console. Are Nintendo going to release official devkits for the NES, SNES and N64? Because really, the amount of ass that would kick is absolutely enormous

skyman8081 wrote:Ganondorf should have RED blood, dammit. I also preferred the original Fire Temple music, and Gerudo symbol.

I have never seen Ganondorf's red blood. All this time, I've thought that he vomits some green blob and then dies. As if he's trying to achieve the best death ever:
"Blarg! *falls to ground*"

Bounty · Post by **Bounty** » 2006-06-08 04:51pm

I have never seen Ganondorf's red blood.

It's only in the 1.0 version (gold cart). V1.1 had green blood and bugfixes; v1.2 (which I think is the GC version) also replaced several symbols and a piece of music deemed "offensive" by Muslims.

Instant Sunrise · Post by **Instant Sunrise** » 2006-06-08 04:56pm

v1.0 (gold cart) fixed a bug where you could use any item on Epona and red blood.
v1.1 (grey cart) has both red and green blood.
v1.2 (grey cart) has green blood, and replaced the Fire Temple music.

the Gamecube version is based of v1.2, but also replaced the gerudo symbol with something else.