While The Verge acknowledges that it was great that Nintendo announced that it was bringing its array of Nintendo 64 and Nintendo DS to the Wii U, the publication still thinks that Nintendo should adopt a Netflix model for its Virtual Console offerings. The Verge believes that the company should offer Nintendo fans unlimited retro downloads for a flat subscription fee. Whether this is something Nintendo may introduce with its next platform the NX remains to be seen. Would you pay a monthly subscription fee for unlimited Virtual Console games?
But, given that the company has proven itself to be open to new business ideas with its DeNA mobile gaming partnership, I think there’s another way that the company should take a second step into the 2010s: adopt the Netflix model, and offer unlimited retro downloads for a subscription fee.
Personally, I would rather purchase the game as I would have full control over it. With a subscription base, most likely I would need an internet connection to start the game perhaps…That’s just me.
Right I agree with you Impact Gaming. (I typed your intials but it didn’t seem very politically correct.. lol) I would like to have my games downloaded to my hard drive so at least there is a small sense of ownership. I don’t like the idea of not owning my games..
I absolutely hate the digital age..
lol i know about the initials. I stopped saying my initials on my channel as it’s racist lol but yeh i agree with ownership of digital content!
Um… it would be similar to PSN free games. You simply download the game whenever you want, and can play it as long as you have your subscription, when the subscription expires, you can have it manually renew on its own, and you connect to the internet to extend the gameplay time, or you connect to the internet to repurchase a new subscription, resetting the expiration date of the game. I don’t see why you’d need an internet connection to start the game each and every time… you’re not streaming the game, you’re having access to any game for download play. I love this idea and would actually find myself playing VC games unlike I do now.
There could also be a “buy now” option so you can keep the game for a small additional charge. Honestly… people bashing this idea oppose ANYTHING modern, get with the times you fanboys.
automatically renew on its own*
Seems like modernity denies consumers ownership (@ least of their copy), is rife w/ the ‘paradox of choice’, demands more monthly/yearly bills, & reduces the incentives to maintain polish before a product’s release. Sure, there are positives, but the negatives are unavoidable, a bit cheap (as in ‘inferior quality’), & Orwellian.
Our bank accounts & purchases are more & more @ the mercy of corporations: constant fees, policy changes, redtape, & whether those companies will still be around or who buys or merges w/ them. W/ physical, 1-time purchases, I can still play Super NES, PS1, GCN, & Wii games. Eventually, the machines will break down & be discontinued (*sheds a tear for Saturn*), but that won’t be for a while, & usually I’ll have moved on. But companies can bankrupt or discontinue services.
Will PS5 & Xnext be dongles? What would happen if Sony went bankrupt? What would happen if another company, maybe EA bought the Xbox brand? If you didn’t like what was going on, would you be able to break free from their grip? What would you be able to take w/ you?
What if you had to rent those dongles, like some internet providers do for routers? Even if you could buy 1, would it remain useable if its corporate supporters stopped support?
Netflix’s offerings change due to licensing contracts, popularity, & space, so it’s not like what you want is always available. & if people didn’t want to pay an extra $60-50 (subtracting the price of a traditional controller) for Wii U’s Gamepad (which was a 1-time fee & was offset by a pack-in game), then why pay monthly (even in small incraments) for things you won’t ever play? Sure, a subscription is inexpensive (depending), but that’s 1 more bill (unless you cut your cable or satellite). The fee can go up, & eventually it might be too expensive for you, so all the eggs in that 1 basket might need to be left alone.
But w/ a physical copy, say, a DVD, you can watch something a decade-old for no more than the price of the electricity it uses. Or pay $5 for a new movie, speding that much on a movie in 3 months, no contract obligation to pay more & @ a certain deadline.
The cloud is another modern trap. Except there, you store your personal belongings to be cared for by corporations. If you stop paying, I guess they’ll give your stuff back (they could’ve made copies, though, if you’re important enough & they’re corrupt enough). But your personal stuff is @ the mercy of corporate espionage, power outtages [even in another State or country), hackers, political agendas, & whether you can access wifi or can afford a data plan (yet another bill).
While all my music is digital (though I still have & can play my CDs, even cassettes), I have my files on hard drive, AND USB & SD. On my phone, I can have all my music (& pics, etc.) w/ me on SD. & if I want to move my entire collection to another phone, I have no corporate middleman, monthly fee, or time-consuming process to deal w/; I simply move the SD card. I can encrypt the SD card, & it’s highly likely I’m the only 1 w/ access to my property.
I guess “progress” means being indebted to corporations.
Oh, & consumers can’t resell digital. Nor could they reap the benefits of a rare game, or even a displayable collection.
But let’s add more monthly/yearly gaming fees to:
-Mortgage (unless you own your home), or rent.
-Utilities
-Car payments (unless you own your car).
-Car insurance (if you own a car & obey this international law).
-Health insurance (social or private).
-Property tax
-Income tax
-Phone bill
-Internet bill (unless bundled in 1 fee w/ the same provider, IF a bundle is provided in your area)
-Netflix/Satellite/Cable (unless you only watch on rabbit ears [which is better in many ways]).
I guess 1 could argue you really just rent groceries.
Ah, life. Freedom. & bills, bills, bills.
“What a strange creature is man, that he would choose to cage himself so willingly.”~Athena, Appleseed The Movie
Bashing? Fanboys? Wow, can’t believe people still talk like that. I did not bash the idea, I give an opinion. And I do use PSN myself
>>>And there is the proof, they want Nintendo to make the final step into forming the triplet empires a long with the Sonyans and Xbots so that the diversity and true gaming starts to become a distant memory while only serving the shallow and corrupt, High Command should not listen to these Xbots>>>
No. That’s a bad idea. A very bad idea.
NO,JUST NO!!!!!!!!!!!! THIS IDEA WOULD BE A DISASTER!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
But how do you FEEL about it?
MMAAAADDDDD
Hmmm… I think the idea has some really good merits, though not having access without internet connectivity would be a bit of a drawback, depending on the situation. It would free up a lot of space on your hard drive though.
That said, I really think Nintendo needs to change their pricing model. The fact that I have to pay $2 after paying $15 for Mario 64 on the Wii, to play it on my Wii U, with Wii U controllers, is stupid. I really doubt it cost Nintendo that much money to come up with the interface and software to allow for this transition. They really need to drop their game prices further. It’s ridiculous that we’re still paying $5 for NES titles.. That’s PURE profit for Nintendo, they would be just fine making $2 instead of $5.
Should be $2 NES/GB, $5 SNES/GBA $8 N64/DS
This would be fucking amazing as fuck holy shit
Yeah and end up as fucked as PSNow with its ripoff rental pricing.
Amazing, I’ll come back in a hundred years.
Maybe we’ll have a couple more VC games by then…
And maybe Sonic would better again…
Hell no.
Sega Channel
Personally I would not pay a monthly fee, I prefer to buy and own my games. Anyway, now I can choose if and when I want to spend money on a game. It seems strange to me to suggest a specific business model just because it happens to be successful for some. To be honest, I don’t get anyone paying for Netflix, anything you would care to watch can be downloaded for free.
Good point, or watch it online for free or rent the movie knowing only you are going to watch it one time…
But hey, Netflix is better and fucking cheaper than lame ass cable.
Netflix never has the latest TV episodes though. They pay more attention to movies.
And what exactly is good on TV anymore? Besides, Netflix has its own exclusive shows that are good like House of Cards (love Kevin Spacey) and King Julien.
I don’t know. I haven’t regularly watched TV in years.
Exactly. Fuck TV now. YouTube and Netflix is ALL of the entertainment everyone needs these days.
orange is the new black. Yet dumb Netflix only puts 12 Episodes a season. Too dumb to not think of 30 or 40 episodes while the seasons were in R&D. I guess Netflix and Nintendo do have something in common.
Netflix is for movies. Hulu is for TV.
Looking at your piss poorly chosen name, I’m gonna follow that advice since nothing you just said made any sense of difference.
You’re kinda contradicting yourself, though. You say there’s no point in paying for Netflix because you can watch any movie online for free… But what’s the point in paying for VC games then? You can easily download any of those VC games on your computer as well and play them on super userfriendly emulators, even with gaming controllers. Or, that’s what I hear, at least. ;)
But yea, my point is, saying that paying for Netflix is pointless is the same thing as saying that paying for VC is pointless, because those old games are about as easy to access as movies are.
yeah and maybe just not do that
I would rather have a better online experience from Nintendo, knowing that they could but they won’t & free. I rather not pay for 2 subscription. I already paying for one (Xbox Live). I just want a better online from Nintendo.
WTF even listens to Verge who loves to talk a lot of dumb shit that doesn’t work nor make sense?
no, i wouldn’t pay for a subsciption for vc games. I have most of the vc games already that I like and that are available, and on top of that the vc library is just not big enough for a subscription imo. Plus I have a lot of games in my backlog that I still want to play. It would be of no benefit to me, plus I like to own my games.
If they did a subscription fee and it allowed me access to ANYTHING on the Wii U eSHop… then hell ya I’d do it!!! But if it were just for a couple retro games, I would rather pick and choose the ones I want and own them outright.
Accessing anything? Including full games? I don’t really think that’s a good idea because some people would just play all the games they can with their subscription and never actually buy any games.
If things can be added and removed from the library at any time the way Netflix titles are, then no thank you. I want to own games, not rent them until Nintendo decides my time is up.
to be honest I don’t care if Nintendo go with that business model. They already decided to go mobile in order to get more money and try to please the stock markets and so called business experts who live in that today society.
Most people I know already had the roms they downloaded 10 years ago (NES, SNES, N64, Master system, Megadrive, Neo-geo and others) and play on PC.
At the minute games cube games are really sought after in UK. even some N64 games are like gold at the minute, I saw Golden eyes selling for £30 and people were fight for it….. My point is that some people think that Nintendo going down the hill and try to grab what they can before it’s too late or invest for the future.