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Engadget: The SNES Classic is probably the last retro [home] console Nintendo will ma

Hermii

Member
I dele like early 3D games are way more dated than the classics on nes/ snes. There has been much more evolution in the 3D space since the n64 days than the 2d space since snes.
 

ggx2ac

Member
Ended up putting this is the OP since people are still making lists.

RJrFzHh_d.jpg

From: http://m.neogaf.com/showthread.php?t=963700
 

jwhit28

Member
That is just too much money to leave on the table. The N64 outsold the SNES in the US. Even without Rare, you have highly regarded games from Capcom and Konami. Even just using the N64 games from Wii U Virutal Console, I think it would sell enough to be worthwhile.

N64 games on Wii U:
  • Super Mario 64
  • Donkey Kong 64
  • Paper Mario
  • Zelda Ocarina of Time
  • Zelda Majora's Mask
  • Mario Tennis
  • Mario Golf
  • Mariokart 64
  • Sin & Punishment
  • Kirby Crystal Shards
  • Yoshi's Story
  • Wave Race 64
  • Excitebike 64
  • 1080
  • Mario Party 2
  • Pokemon Snap
  • FZero X
  • Starfox 64
  • Ogre Battle 64
  • Harvest Moon 64
  • Bomberman 64

Throw in a Resident Evil, Megaman Legends, Castlevania, and Goemon and that's a solid list that would get some complaints but is still worth $100 easy if it includes 2 good N64 controllers.
 

bryanee

Member
That is just too much money to leave on the table. The N64 outsold the SNES in the US. Even without Rare, you have highly regarded games from Capcom and Konami. Even just using the N64 games from Wii U Virutal Console, I think it would sell enough to be worthwhile.

N64 games on Wii U:
  • Super Mario 64
  • Donkey Kong 64
  • Paper Mario
  • Zelda Ocarina of Time
  • Zelda Majora's Mask
  • Mario Tennis
  • Mario Golf
  • Mariokart 64
  • Sin & Punishment
  • Kirby Crystal Shards
  • Yoshi's Story
  • Wave Race 64
  • Excitebike 64
  • 1080
  • Mario Party 2
  • Pokemon Snap
  • FZero X
  • Starfox 64
  • Ogre Battle 64
  • Harvest Moon 64
  • Bomberman 64

Throw in a Resident Evil, Megaman Legends, Castlevania, and Goemon and that's a solid list that would get some complaints but is still worth $100 easy if it includes 2 good N64 controllers.

Pretty much.

It'll still sell out regardless. Its not like Nintendo make tens of millions of these things as proven with whats happening right now. They'll do it and they will do it in small amounts just like they have done with the NES and SNES and they will all sell out.
 

VPhys

Member
The biggest issue for me would be those 3D games have not aged gracefully at all. Perhaps with some emulation they could bump up the resolution and get the games to run at 60fps.
 
So I think we can agree the library isn't much of an issue then.
Maybe the controller (though the analog stick in the old controllers is a non issue since they can just fix that)
They can fill it with first party titles with a select few 3rd party ones.

Games like Rayman 64 should be easy to license and it's a great entry in the genre that was so popular back then.
The biggest issue for me would be those 3D games have not aged gracefully at all. Perhaps with some emulation they could bump up the resolution and get the games to run at 60fps.
Mario 64 and OoT still look and play pretty well on VC.
 
They should do a Game Boy Classic that plays all three Game Boy version games and has a cartridge slot. Handheld or HDMI, whatever.

I'd fight for that.
 

Malice215

Member
I think Nintendo will reproduce the NES/SNES Classic in the future. I don't see any handheld classics or a N64 Classic because the nostalgia factor isn't there, the cost is going to be too prohibitive, the lack of Rare games, and the games people listed either haven't aged well or have better versions on other platforms. Just put those games on the Switch and call it a day.
 

BDGAME

Member
Imagine thinking Rare Replay will be a hindrance.
If Nintendo get the ok from MS to put Rare games on, the only issue is going to be the licensing cost. People won't care about Rare Replay, and a lot will never even have heard of it.

Even if not, getting the requisite number of quality games is not even an issue (the only problem would be consumer assumption that they would be there, especially for goldeneye), and arguing in terms of genre is ludicrous. Yes, there are barely any RPGs of substantial length, but the NES classic didn't have issues selling with just StarTropics and Final Fantasy. Drop in Paper Mario and Ogre Battle which are both great games, and other genres are pretty rounded, the N64 has great platformers, racing games, sports games, FPS games and a healthy supply of oddball stuff.

First party candidates:

Super Mario 64
Ocarina of Time
Majora's Mask
1080° Snowboarding
Wave Race 64
Animal Crossing (in Japanese market)
Star Fox 64
Yoshi's Story
Pokemon Snap
Pokemon Puzzle League
Super Smash Brothers
Paper Mario
Mario Party 1/2/3
Kirby 64: The Crystal Shards
Mario Kart 64
Excitebike 64
F-Zero X
Pilotwings 64
Sin and Punishment
Mario Golf
Mario Tennis
Donkey Kong 64

Notice they could equal the SNES Classic tally with first party IP alone.

Third party candidates:

Mischief Makers (do treasure or nintendo own the IP to this?)
Hybrid Heaven
Ogre Battle 64
Tetrisphere
Body Harvest
Turok
Turok 2
Fighters Destiny
WWF No Mercy
WCW/nWo Revenge
Quake II
Snowboard Kids
Snowboard Kids 2
Mega Man 64
ISS 2000
Goemon's Great Adventure
Mystical Ninja Starring Goemon
Star Wars Episode I: Racer
Star Wars: Rogue Squadron

Rare games:

Banjo Kazooie/Tooie
Diddy Kong Racing
Blast Corps
GoldenEye 007 (the most complicated)
Perfect Dark
Jet Force Gemini
Conker's Bad Fur Day
Killer Instinct Gold



Problem with that is Sony would make bugger all money off it as they barely own any super popular PSX IP. I think Gran Turismo, Ape Escape & Wipeout would be the biggest ones they actually own.


Nice post. And you forgot games like Beatle Adventure Racing and San Francisco Rush, both excellent games.

International Super star soccer 64 is one of my most played games of the kind.

For who like NBA Jam, the sequel (NBA Hang times) is amazing

Other good game is Gauntlet Legends. A very fun game for 4 people.

So, without Rare there is more than enough games to a good collection and nostalgia.

Nintendo, Bring a N64 mini next year, please!
 

ShirAhava

Plays with kids toys, in the adult gaming world
one aspect where Sony might not have the same impact is with the controllers

maxresdefault.jpg


While PS controllers have evolved, they mostly have the same layout. This is obviously not true with the NES/SNES and all other Nintendo consoles

This is missing a controller

PS1_Dual_Analog_with_Box.jpg
 
You're dreaming

I mean, literally, yeah. I just plucked a number out of the air because I'm spitballing a completely fictional scenario. Albeit a scenario I think would appeal to a larger number of consumers than an N64 Classic, whose nostalgic pull is not as strong as I think it's currently being estimated.

(I'm also pretty skeptical of the notion there's an N64 in ever college dorm room, as stated upthread. I graduated high school in 96 so I was the first group of college students who would have been able to shove it in a dorm room, and aside from me having one, it didn't happen all that much.)

Basically: I threw out a fictional PSMini as a competitor to the N64 Mini because I feel like in order for these machines to secure a solid foothold in the market, you need a pretty strong sense of nostalgia to bank on. And that era, that generation: N64 was a slip-up. With time a lot of those games, and the console in general, have come to be seen in somewhat kinder light, but on a larger scale, I think outside of the impact of Mario 64, Ocarina, and Goldeneye as games, the console itself is wanting for more mainstream nostalgia.

I feel like if you stuck a palm sized 64 on a shelf with two of THOSE controllers packed in, and a list of 15-20 games, and charged $100 for the opportunity to take it home? You'd have a handful of diehards thinking "this is a pretty good deal" and a lot of people giving it a pass.

(as to the profitability of Sony's dream machine that I literally brainfarted into existence last night - I'm sure Sony could figure a way to cut licensing deals for older games that wouldn't seriously dent their profit margin on an emulation box that has 30+ PS1 games on it. But that's tangential to the comparison I was trying to make)
 

DeathoftheEndless

Crashing this plane... with no survivors!
I think they could do it, but there are a few barriers. They'd have to make way more controllers since the system supported up to four. The controllers would ideally come with a non-ridged joystick, especially since Mario Party would be an included game. And overall I think the N64-era graphics and framerates are a tougher sell.
 

GulAtiCa

Member
If we ever do get a N64 Classics (which, I believe we will). I hope we somehow get some of the Star Wars games on it. Rouge 1 & Shadow of the Empire are an absolute must!
 
only a Gameboy Mini or a Gameboy Micro reissue would make sense, imo it makes no sense releasing Classic versions of any other home consoles as none of them are anywhere near close to what the NES and SNES means and meant to most of the people, and that's what make these cool and cheap revisions a reality, sales.
 

mr jones

Ethnicity is not a race!
Pretty much no interest in a Nintendo 64 mini.

They would have to do essentially remakes of all of the games like Rare did with Perfect Dark. I'd need it to be 1080p, 60 frames per second on all the games. Maybe even hi-res textures for everything. THAT would be unique to the console, since emulation for the N64 has been pretty bad.

Nintendo 64 games aged poorly. There's very very few that I can go back to.

It would only need to be 12-14 games:

Donkey Kong 64
Excitebike 64
Kirby 64
Mario Golf
Mario Tennis
Pokemon Puzzle League
Starfox 64
Super Mario 64
Super Mario Party
Super Smash Bros.
TLOZ: Majora's Mask
TLOZ: Ocarina of Time

The biggest game would be GoldenEye. Getting that as a remastered exclusive would be huge. That might be worth the licensing headaches.
 
only a Gameboy Mini or a Gameboy Micro reissue would make sense, imo it makes no sense releasing Classic versions of any other home consoles as none of them are anywhere near close to what the NES and SNES means and meant to most of the people, and that's what make these cool and cheap revisions a reality, sales.

Yeah, I feel like the next best bet isn't an N64 Mini - it's a GameBoy portable emulation box.

basically, this:

426405581_6f5a57da2e.jpg


But with like, 30 or 40 of the best Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and GBA games pre-loaded on it.
 

Lettuce

Member
The real issue with an N64 mini is that to really make it worthwhile, you'd have to sell it with 4 controllers.

Why!?, did they sell the original N64 with 4 controllers??. They just sell the pads on there own like they did for the NES classic.
 
N64 emulation is pretty bad, both official and unofficial. Unless Nintendo can get a decent one working for once I don't trust them to do a 64 Mini justice. The controllers needs some better analog sticks too. Plus, it needs those Rare games.
 
That's fine by me, give me a Game Boy Classic instead.

That's what I say, although I would tweak it a bit to specifically call for a Game Boy Advance Classic.

There aren't a lot of N64 games that I'd want to go back and play again today anyway. Those early ventures into 3D were really neat and impressive in their time, but they have aged very poorly compared to the 2D excellence that was produced the generation before.

However, there are plenty of GBA games that played excellently when they came out in the early 2000's and would still hold up today. Maybe they could create a switch-like device that allows you to take the GBA Classic on the go as well as plug it into your TV via HDMI. Off the top of my head I'd want one of the Castlevania games, the Metroid games, Zelda: Minish Cap, Mario & Luigi Superstar Saga, Golden Sun, Final Fantasy Tactics Advance, Mario vs. Donkey Kong, WarioWare and plenty more.
 
GB CLASSIC, GBC classics, GBA classics.


That's 3 years worth of hardware.


Then they will skip to DS classics and Wii Classic lol
 

Oersted

Member
Headline is really fucking bad. He is simply arguing against N64 and didn't take Game Boys into consideration.

Edit:

And yeah, down the line will be Wii
 

a916

Member
Unfortunately I agree... would love to have it for a collection but I see it the same way.

With the SNES out of the way, PSX is firmly my most wanted "classic mini edition".
 

jstripes

Banned
I agree with the article, and yes, the controllers are the biggest sticking point. They're much more complex, and expensive to produce, than the NES and SNES controllers, and their bulkiness would be problematic for shipping and distribution of the system.
 

ZeoVGM

Banned
Also I'd guess the N64 Classic would only have 15+1 to 20+1 games.

+1 being Animal Crossing for N64 (unreleased in the west, would be pretty huge)

Like I mentioned above, they wouldn't do this.

- Nintendo would likely worry about it releasing so close to Animal Crossing Switch, as both are games you would be expected to play for a long time.

- They would need to translate the entire game for America.

- Also, it basically was released in the west. Animal Crossing for GameCube is an enhanced port of the N64 game. That would simply be a lesser version of the GameCube game, which itself hasn't aged very well thanks to the upgrades Nintendo has made to the series.
 

atr0cious

Member
The only reason I'd want an N64 classic is for ease of playing the AKI wrestling games, which probably won't be up for consideration due to licensing.
 

Fredrik

Member
I agree, I don't see N64 Classic really being a thing. It was a great console, and I loved the shit out of mine, but I just don't see it.

Now, Sony making a mini Playstation that had like 50 classic PS1 games on it with two original controllers packed in? Maybe even working memory card slots so if you still had old cards/saves you could shove em into a slot and pick up where you left off 20+ years ago or whatever? THAT I would see flying off shelves.

But the N64 was just an ungainly thing that it's hard to have the sort of clean, universal nostalgia for along those lines.
The best games were third party and the graphics hasn't aged well on PS1 so I think it would be about the same as N64. Honestly, I doubt that any of the first gen 3D consoles would hit the nostalgia nerve as hard as NES/SNES classic mini.
 
Engadget isn't the first outlet to say that they don't believe an N64 Classic will ever exist, but I think those people are grossly underestimating the appeal of the N64 (much of that appeal being the local co-op play a lot of N64 games had). Something that people forget is that these classic consoles from Nintendo are actually more meant for lapsed gamers than those of us who still play games. Yeah, not having access to Rare games and licensed games makes this trickier but there are totally 20-30 good to great N64 games that you could put on this thing:

-Super Mario 64
-Ocarina of Time (w/Master Quest)
-Majora's Mask
-Mario Kart 64
-Super Smash Bros
-Kirby 64
-Yoshi's Story (I actually think this game was always terrible but it would definitely be on there)
-F-Zero X (w/64DD Expansion... yeah that's right)
-Star Fox 64
-Wave Race 64
-ExciteBike 64
-1080 Snowboarding
-Pilot Wings 64
-Sin & Punishment
-Mario Golf
-Mario Tennis
-Donkey Kong 64 (this game is trash but it would be on there... and at least would have another source to play the good version of the original DK)
-Dr. Mario 64
-Pokemon Puzzle League
-Pokemon Snap
-Paper Mario

With the exception of two games I think the above games are great. Also the above games I think would be locks for and N64 Classic. Other games that I think would be possible (reasonable/safe) choices:
-A Mario Party game
-Rayman 2
-Mega Man 64
-Legend of the Mystical Ninja 64 (maybe the sequel as well)
-Crusin' USA
-Cruisn' The World
-Cruisin' Exotica
-Bomberman 64
-Mischief Makers
-Ogre Battle 64 (including this would stick with the theme of the NES & SNES Classic systems having at least one RPG)

Games that seem way less likely but still have an outside chance of being included with an N64 Classic:
-Tetris 64 (Japan only)
-Wetris
-Tetrisphere
-Star Wars: Rogue Squadron
-Star Wars Episode 1 Pod Racer
-Star Wars Episode 1 Battle of Naboo (I could very much see Nintendo doing the work to get 1 or 2 Star Wars games on this thing but who knows)
-Diddy Kong Racing (they did the work to remove Banjo and Conkers from the game when they put it out on the DS... maybe they could do that here with the N64 version? The long term benefit in them doing this is that they would be able to resell this game down the road if they wanted to)
-Animal Crossing (Japan only)
-Doshin the Giant (weirdly, I could see this game being on there. Maybe only in Japan but I could see them putting it on there worldwide)

Games that would never be on there:
-Any Rare game that I didn't list above
-Probably anything from a US company
-Piggy backing off of the above thing, anything from Midway that isn't licensed or M-rated (I didn't list a specific game mostly because Nintendo hasn't really worked with any western developers with this classic consoles). Wanted to mention Midway because I think their N64 output often goes grossly underappreciated.
-Anything licensed that isn't Star Wars
-AKI wrestling games (WCW, WWF, Virtual Pro Wrestling; I feel like there's actually probably way fewer legal issues here then people think but probably enough legal issues for Nintendo to not want to do the footwork here)

Also, I don't think they would be as much of a stickler for accuracy with the controller. It'll have the the same design, button layout, button colors, button sizes but it will have a modern analogue stick and it will not have a memory card slot. It also won't have rumble in any way (or maybe it will. That's kind of a toss up for me).
 
Now, Sony making a mini Playstation that had like 50 classic PS1 games on it with two original controllers packed in? Maybe even working memory card slots so if you still had old cards/saves you could shove em into a slot and pick up where you left off 20+ years ago or whatever? THAT I would see flying off shelves.

Lawd...

That would be amazing. And a clever move by Sony.
 

mcrommert

Banned
one aspect where Sony might not have the same impact is with the controllers

maxresdefault.jpg


While PS controllers have evolved, they mostly have the same layout. This is obviously not true with the NES/SNES and all other Nintendo consoles

Hence why later Playstation controllers are trash... The iconic design of the first controller was more important than redesigning the controller to properly work with dual joysticks

Even Nintendo has been better about it
 

MisterHero

Super Member
Nintendo can release a standalone box (or new Switch dock?) that plays games from every platform. The major appeal of the Classics line is the 1:1 controllers and they can reproduce the N64 controller without releasing a limited N64 box.

It'd need a big hard drive for Wii games though. Wii U games can just be ported to Switch

the most worthy games should just be remade in HD with Online play though
 

VPhys

Member
So I think we can agree the library isn't much of an issue then.
Maybe the controller (though the analog stick in the old controllers is a non issue since they can just fix that)
They can fill it with first party titles with a select few 3rd party ones.

Games like Rayman 64 should be easy to license and it's a great entry in the genre that was so popular back then.

Mario 64 and OoT still look and play pretty well on VC.



I will admit n64 games look better than Playstation games and would be more palatable. Playstation is perhaps the worst, the games look horrid by todays standards. Pixelated mess.


3D games really started coming into their own with the Dreamcast.
 

Pancake Mix

Copied someone else's pancake recipe
Fully expecting an N64 classic.

Super Mario 64
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time + Master Quest
The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask
Mario Kart 64
Mario Party 2 and/or 3 (since 1 has problems)
Super Smash Bros.
Kirby 64
Sin & Punishment
Excitebike 64
1080 Snowboarding
Star Fox 64
Pokemon Stadium (technically the second one) and/or Pokemon Stadium 2 (technically the third)
Wave Race 64
Paper Mario
Animal Forest in Japan
Pilotwings 64
Dr. Mario 64

Just for starters.


And there will be at least one game by Rare: Donkey Kong 64
Maybe Diddy Kong Racing will get the characters Rare owns licensed also. After all, the game Rare owns in DK64 wasn't a problem for VC release so I have little doubt Microsoft would be okay with it.
 

Caffeine

Member
didnt they say the nes classic hardware was as powerful as a dreamcast or something, i wonder if snes classic is still using that. I could see a n64 classic. not all games even had more than 2 players tbh. and if u want to play 3-4 players you would have to buy extra controllers.

they will probably do a gameboy/color/advance classic.

I wouldnt expect Gamecube on.
 

Pancake Mix

Copied someone else's pancake recipe
I wouldnt expect Gamecube on.

That's an open question.

The games are quite a bit bigger so it would need more storage, and the system-on-chip would definitely need to be more powerful than what they likely procured for the NES and SNES Classics, and N64 for that matter.

There was also some weird lawsuit issue with analogue triggers:

Nintendo Loses Controller Lawsuit

This is the real reason why the got rid of them starting with the Classic Controller Pro in 2009 (original Classic Controller had them).

But otherwise it's doable and I could kind of see a GC Classic, not as certain about it as I am that there will be an N64 one though.
 
That's an open question.

The games are quite a bit bigger so it would need more storage, and the system-on-chip would definitely need to be more powerful than what they likely procured for the NES and SNES Classics, and N64 for that matter.

There was also some weird lawsuit issue with analogue triggers:

Nintendo Loses Controller Lawsuit

This is the real reason why the got rid of them starting with the Classic Controller Pro in 2009 (original Classic Controller had them).

But otherwise it's doable and I could kind of see a GC Classic, not as certain about it as I am that there will be an N64 one though.

That was the reason then, but it's no longer relevant.

https://www.engadget.com/2010/04/13/nintendo-wins-appeal-in-anascape-suit/

Nintendo don't give up or settle with patent fights.
 

Anth0ny

Member
I feel like GameCube gen and on fall into the "we can remaster these and sell them on current gen consoles" territory. So I wouldn't expect a GameCube classic. N64, GB, GBC and GBA are in the cards, though.
 

jufonuk

not tag worthy
While the N64 had some genre defining titles. 3D games age worse than 2D. Doubt it will have much of an appeal. Not unless they can sharpen the image quality.

Not saying I wouldn't want the classic line to continue.
Mini 64 mini cubes would be awesome but I think 2D will have the more retro appeal.

Look how well the best old school 2D games have aged compared to 3D though.
 

Eila

Member
They can get 20-25 games easily, even if it's frontloaded with 1st party.
Mario 64
Mario Kart 64
Paper Mario
Mario Party 2
Smash
OoT
Majora's Mask
Wave Race 64
F-Zero
Star Fox 64
Kirby
Pokemon Snap
Yoshi's Story
Excitebike
Sin and Punishment
Mischief Makers
Harvest Moon
Hybrid Heaven
Turok 2
Bomberman 64
Mystical Ninja
Mortal Kombat Trilogy
 
Reading the reactions on this thread, I must be too old or something because I don't have nearly the nostalgic attachment to the N64 as I do the NES or SNES (or for that matter, even the SMS or Genesis or friggin T-16). The controller/controls have aged horribly and retro 3D visuals don't have the nostalgic appeal that retro pixel art does... IMO, etc etc.

That all being said: make few enough units and it'll sell out. If Nintendo figures they can make some money off selling a million of them Xmas 2018 or 2019, they might do it and on that level it could be "successful".
 
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