We Don’t Need Virtual Console On Nintendo Switch


A Nintendo Spokesperson statement given to Kotaku.

When it comes to a virtual console, Nintendo is both the best and worst at it. For other companies, usually, when you buy their game digitally, it’ll carry over across platforms if it’s available. The best example, off the top of my head, is when The Unfinished Swan was brought to the PS4. Those who owned it on PS3 got it for free. Some companies had even made it so that if you buy one version, you get it free across other platforms. For example, if you bought a game on PS3 you also got a Vita version and/or a PS4 version at no additional cost. This is an example of providing the consumer with more than what is expected; it’s a nice incentive and reward for consumers.

Nintendo has had some of the best games released on their consoles over the years. When it comes to putting those classics on their latest hardware, they are great at it.

Nintendo Wii and Wii U have had some of the greatest games brought to it, such as the Earthbound series, and some of the third-party classics that defined their platform, such as the magnificent Castlevania series. That’s not even counting their more popular and successful games. When it comes to pricing, they price them well the first time. Its when the latest hardware comes out and the next iteration of the eshop and virtual console arrive where issues appear; It’s where Nintendo suffers.

There should be no reason why, if you bought it on previous hardware, you should have to pay for those games again. They should carry over, but they don’t. With Wii U, they almost had it figured out. If you purchased a game already on Wii, you paid a small upgrade fee of like a dollar. However, if you wanted a portable copy on 3DS, you had to pay full price.

Some companies tie purchases to account but, for whatever reason, Nintendo either refuses or cannot do that. All this brings me to is the comments made by Nintendo saying that the virtual console would not be returning.

This has caused some outrage, but I think this is a blessing in disguise. I have been a big advocate since the success of the Mega Man collection to have more compilation collections. Especially on Switch. We know some older games are coming back to the console’s eshop but, for the most part, older games are not returning. I think this is the perfect opportunity to have collections make a resurgence. The one company to begin this and to have success with it, is Capcom. The Mega Man collections sold great (despite not being the best way to do collections with their unnecessary downloading of half the games) and the recently released Street Fighter 30th Anniversary Collection, which has reviewed well.

A hint at things to come?

These collections will do a lot of things that benefit consumers and players. First of all, if you buy the cartridge you get a physical copy of these classics for nearly forever. A lot of games get taken off digital distribution once contracts and licensing deals expire, a perfect example are the wonderfully ported and updated Marvel Vs. Capcom games released back on the PS3 and Xbox 360. Those games can no longer be played if you do not already own them, they aren’t available for purchase anymore.

Second of all, specifically with Switch, you technically have two versions. If they do a Super Mario Bros collection, you won’t have to buy a home console and portable version of Super Mario Bros 3 like you would have had to with the 3DS and Wii U. You buy this one collection and you can play it literally anywhere. One of the biggest positives to having collections, (Capcom will be an exception because, well, Capcom makes a lot of questionable decisions,) is not having to worry about storage management.

Games are getting larger and SD cards can get expensive, especially multiple ones. The Switch doesn’t offer much in terms of onboard space and, so, having these physical collections removes the burden of having to worry about managing downloads. Especially in the era where we release incomplete games that need several multi-gigabyte patches or games that are larger than the stock cartridge size.

Collections used to be more frequent back before digital distribution and a lot of care was put into them. This generation, I believe, is the best one to bring these back. Capcom’s sales figures show that they are profitable and there are rumors at E3 that Konami may be bringing a collection of their own to Nintendo’s hybrid console. Here are some collections I would like to see: Metal Gear Solid Collection (With the Twin Snakes), Castlevania Collection, NES Collection (Multiple and all home consoles from Nintendo), Sonic Collection, Sega Collection, and Platinum Games Collection.

Comment down below what you guys would like to see if compilation collections made a return. Also, what do you think? Do you want something like this? Don’t you? Let’s all talk about this! Also, remember to stick with The Loot Gaming for all your gaming news and reviews! Especially during E3!

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