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Nintendo May Start Selling 'Computer Software' (arstechnica.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the rumors-and-speculation dept.

An anonymous reader quotes a report from Ars Technica: Nintendo's most recent fiscal-year disclosure made headlines for announcing a release window for the new "Nintendo NX" console and yet another Zelda game delay, but it also included news of serious corporate restructuring. The short version: Nintendo will soon involve a supervisory committee in making top-level executive decisions. A Tuesday announcement included the company's amended articles of incorporation, expected to be approved by shareholders this June, and it included three new entries in its "business engagement" list: restaurants, medical and health devices, and "computer software." The choice of adding "computer software" to that list, on the other hand, seems particularly curious -- especially since Nintendo's existing list of engaged businesses includes terms that sound very much like computer software, particularly the broad term of "contents such as games, images, and music." That list also revised an entry that used to say that the company would license the "use or reproduction of copyrighted works" and "trademarks." Now, Nintendo will license its "intellectual property rights." That shift to the term "intellectual property" includes copyrighted works and trademarks in an umbrella that also may include such Nintendo-owned concepts as patents.

74 comments

  1. One hell of an enduring, adaptive company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Founded in 1889 and still kicking.

    1. Re: One hell of an enduring, adaptive company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      And not founded in Hiroshima or Nagasaki, apparently.

    2. Re: One hell of an enduring, adaptive company by Anubis+IV · · Score: 1

      Yeah, because they sure wouldn't be around today had they been founded in one of the cities that was nuked over 50 years later. Nope. Definitely wouldn't have operations anywhere else after 50 years...

    3. Re: One hell of an enduring, adaptive company by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      If Cupertino got nuked do you think Apple would stay in business?

  2. Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Now someone take Metroid and make a Windows/Linux, VR-enabled version for computers.

    You know, the real gaming systems?

    I'm not including OS X in the list because Apple keeps only using the intel built-in GPU instead of adding a proper, half-decent GPU that's good enough for gaming.

    1. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

      Well their CPUs throttle so bad what do you think a decent GPU would do? Complete meltdown? Spectacular fireball?

    2. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Are you bashing consoles or PCs? Your first 2 points describe the console experience, then you seem to hate mice? I'm sorry it's to hard for you to get a Bluetooth dongle for a controller but you are not locked into using a mouse. So I guess that's another point for PCs.
      And as for the group that gamers look up to... There is no such thing, gamers hate everything, that's why they game.

    3. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Standardized hardware means *not* playing to the lowest common denominator. PC gaming *is* more expensive, it's tolerated because PC's have other uses (like bragging on-line and hentai). And, finally, designing a game to use a controller is not the same as band-aiding a game to use a controller. There is a lot more to play out there than games with a gun bobbing around in your PoV.

    4. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

      Funny.
      More expensive must be some slang term to you that just means whatever you need it to mean to make a point for you.
      Meanwhile I've spent under $1200 to game on PC for over 15 years. Adding up the price of just the Xboxes that came out in that time is more. Same with Playstations. Consoles are a hassle, you upgrade by buying a whole new system and you lose your games when the old one breaks. If my computer breaks, I replace one part not the whole thing.
      And, the games I play with a controller on PC support controllers natively. And the games that don't are better with a mouse. Come up with a complaint that hasn't been solved for a decade.
      All those complaints you have aren't about PC being a bad platform, it's just that you play shit games from shit companies who can't be bothered to make controllers work for instance.

    5. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This argument makes no sense. Establishing a common hardware setup that everybody can target is the definition of "common denominator", though not necessarily the lowest when the system comes out. PC gaming is also not more expensive to reach the console experience. How expensive is a PC that you would have anyway for any of the tasks you would like to do (homework, coding, graphic design, audio engineering, creating presentations, serving files or media)? How much more expensive is a PC that brings that up to console gaming parity? Certainly less than the cost of the console you are trying to reach parity with.

      Further, FPSes aren't the only games that are better on PC (I don't even agree with that statement). You're forgetting MOBAs and RTSes. Those games are impossible to play on console, whereas I think Halo and Call of Duty are quite enjoyable on console. Most FPSes are about the physical skill of aiming for competitive players; moving that over to aiming with joysticks doesn't change that. RTSes are different. The most competitive players don't win by APM, they win by strategy. In other words, the extra precision and control you get with a mouse helps unlock the highest levels of strategy.

    6. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Keyboard and mouse is much more versatile than any other type of control and superior for many game genres. FPS/TPS, RTS/TBS, RPG, adventure, stealth, tactical, puzzle and flight/space combat (a la Freelancer control scheme) are all better with keyboard and mouse. Anything else can easily be played on PC with a game pad, flight stick, flight yoke, steering wheel, etc. and the choice of brand, model and style of peripheral is unmatched.

      PCs are modular, allowing one to mix and match, build and upgrade as the user sees fit. PCs also allow one to do much more than simply play games or watch videos. I see no reason why I would have both a computer and a console when my computer can do everything.

    7. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      > Meanwhile I've spent under $1200 to game on PC for over 15 years. Adding up the price of just the Xboxes that came out in that time is more.

      That's disingenuous You're clearly not spending $1200 on bleeding edge hardware over a period of 15 years, so it's not fair to act like consoles are only sold at their original price for their lifetimes.

      > Consoles are a hassle, you upgrade by buying a whole new system and you lose your games when the old one breaks. If my computer breaks, I replace one part not the whole thing.

      Heh. I've never had to replace a console, but the PC components I have replaced often cost more than the consoles. I've replaced controllers before, the PC ones were no cheaper and they were of lower quality. As for being a hassle, puh-lease. Consoles are practically appliances. About as hassle free as you can get. Don't believe me? Go to a flea market and purchase a Super Nintendo, then purchase a PC there. See which one you can start gaming on first.

      In fact the push to make consoles more PC-like is what's making them annoying. DRM, lack of ability to loan the disc to a friend, having to call a call-center to unlock a game, software updates, you name it. I'll be nice and support your point by mentioning that game modding is unrivaled in PC land, and that's a big fat no no in console-land.

      > And, the games I play with a controller on PC support controllers natively.

      By natively you mean the joystick buttons are mapped to keys on the keyboard. Not the same thing. Just for fun, go look up flight simulator controls on Amazon. Note the attention to detail and the prices. I'm throwing you a bone here by mentioning how PC has a huge edge over consoles in this niche, but I'm fine with that because it illustrates just how important design to a controller is. You can play the games with a gamepad or even a mouse and keyboard, but you're not getting the same experience by a long shot. PC gamers forget this because they can still muddle through with what they've got. Many of the classic games of history would never have gotten off the ground on PC simply because of the lack of a gamepad control.

      >All those complaints you have aren't about PC being a bad platform...

      The price, the hassle, the less-risky games, those aren't the complaints of a bad platform, really? Oh, wait, no, your theory is that in my quest to find games I like I went out of my way to avoid the really popular games and instead focused my attention exclusively on games that were clearly making me unhappy. Nice argument.

    8. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1. Who said console makers are the source of the latest and greatest? I never had to buy current generation hardware, ever.
      2. I had 3 NESes. Cuz they broke. And like I said, why spend money on things I don't need? Namely several hundred dollar PC components. I never spent more than $90 on a video card until last year. PC controllers? I use a PS3 controller so I can't say. Consoles are so convenient as to be like an appliance? Maybe an NES, but new consoles need updates all the time.
      3. WTF do I care about flight sims? And no, they don't just map keys. The PS3 controller is supported in many PC games along with Xbox controllers. Console gamers don't get the experience of being a mage in a huge world with 50 skills at your fingertips with no menus just hit ff1-f12 or 1-0 or hold ctrl or alt or shift for even more.
      4: LOL u mad? All those points are bunk so, yeah really. My theory? You just act like you hate games all on your own and that's my fault?

    9. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Consoles haven't been bleeding edge for over a decade. At least two generations. Compare measurable quality factors (fps, resolution, gfx badeenies). His statement is plausible.

    10. Re:Good by grumbel · · Score: 1

      Seen John Carmack's recent tweet?

      With Minecraft out the door, I think my next VR software fantasy would be Nintendo letting me take a swing at porting a GC /Wii/3DS Mario.

    11. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      ... that *need* to connect to the internet before they will work; and for which download GB of data to work

      if you are on dialup or a data limited plan you are screwed

    12. Re: Good by tom229 · · Score: 1

      How about Windows 10? That's a pretty damn good and topical complaint. Also I highly doubt you've only spent $1200 on a gaming PC in 15 years, unless you're completely happy with 10fps. I'm in the position right now where games like Witcher 3 simply don't run on my GTX 570 (5 years old), and my i5 proc is getting a little long in the tooth with paying 1080 video while gaming. To upgrade both to mid-range specs would cost at least $600. So I bought a ps4 instead. In no small part due to a new program at ebgames that lets you try a game for 7 days and bring it back no questions asked. This only applies to console games.

      So with the ever increasing cost of computer hardware, and the frequency with which AAA games suck, there's a lot of reason to buy a console.

      --
      If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
    13. Re: Good by tom229 · · Score: 1

      How expensive is a PC that you would have anyway for any of the tasks you would like to do [...] How much more expensive is a PC that brings that up to console gaming parity? Certainly less than the cost of the console you are trying to reach parity with.

      You had to have known this was a huge stretch when you were typing it, but figured maybe you could sneak the logic by. The fact is, in 99.9999% of cases you're wrong. A ps4 is $400. That's less than the cost of a GTX 970 already, not to mention the bigger power supply, more ram, bigger hard drive, better processor, larger case for air circulation, and full ATX form motherboard you'll need. Most people can solve their day to day computing needs with a $250 Chromebook.

      --
      If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
    14. Re: Good by evilRhino · · Score: 1

      Standardized hardware means *not* playing to the lowest common denominator.

      Quite the opposite in fact. Buying a console locks you in to whatever hardware the game corporation decides is good enough for the mass market.

      PC gaming *is* more expensive, it's tolerated because PC's have other uses (like bragging on-line and hentai).

      Again, this is by choice. Instead of being locked in to whatever hardware the game corporation picks for the current generation, you can buy better parts. If you are on a budget, you can get used parts for cheaper than consoles and still be able to play modern games at console level quality.

      And, finally, designing a game to use a controller is not the same as band-aiding a game to use a controller. There is a lot more to play out there than games with a gun bobbing around in your PoV.

      Again, as a PC gamer you have a choice in which type of control you want to use rather than being locked to whichever designs have been licensed out by the game corporation. There are plenty of games that can't be played well with a controller, like Civ V for example.

    15. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      1. Then you don't get to $1200 by adding up XBOXs.

      2. Yeah, the consoles got their annoying need for updates by becoming more like a PC.

      3. Of course you don't care about Flight Sims, you wouldn't want to be educated on a topic for fear of being wrong about anything. Heh. Again, support for controllers doesn't mean made for controllers. You'd think PC Gamers, the first to complain about lack of mouse controls on a console, would understand this. I guess I have an advantage having actually done a great deal of both.

      4. Not particularly, no. Given the silliness of your rebuttals II don't think you read my post .

    16. Re:Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      When a 300$ console or laptop can beat a 3000$ desktop in gaming performance, you can make the claim of "real gaming"

      The fact of the matter is that each generation of console hardware correlates with only a two-fold increase in CPU power until the PS4/Xbox One, where it then goes backwards. Right now a 600$ iPad or iPhone is more powerful than a PS3 or Xbox 360 on it's launch date. But amazingly a 600$ laptop is not.

      Hence the problem with defining a game system. The "VR" hardware is the only case where you need to drop a tonne of money on hardware to get a poor experience. A Occulus, SteamVR, PS4 VR, or whatever they want to call these things, gives you a really poor experience. A 4K game, also gives you a very poor experience. One might make the argument that the point that games started to reverse course and become worse than their predecessors was with the advent of 1080p60 HD games, because these games while they certainly look pretty, they aren't any more fun and aren't any less expensive than the previous 720p30 games of the Xbox360 and PS3.

      Nintendo knows this. This is why it seems like every console they've released is one generation behind. That's on purpose. Has any Nintendo hardware ever had a high defect rate like the Xbox360? No. Have any been especially noisy? No. How frequently have you had to replace controllers or batteries?

      So this "computer software" reorganization likely means that Nintendo is going to license the "virtual console" and finally put a stake through the heart of pirates putting console emulators on Google Play.

    17. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      A gtx 970 is less than $400. Also it's very much overkill for "console parity". So your example is pretty flawed.

      Next is most people need a computer/laptop, and gaming machines can easily be both so now you're looking at a $650 laptop Vs. a ps4+chromebook (Example $600 laptop)

      Next is game cost and backwards compatibility, for $100 you can get 10 amazing games on steam (not newest releases obviously). What can you get with $100 on the ps4?

    18. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Boy you guys have serious reading comprehension problems. He's saying that his $1200 claim doesn't take into account that console prices drop over time just like computer parts do. The bleeding edge remark was about his computer budget clearly being in the low-range while comparing it to the cost of buying consoles on launch day. It is a dishonest comparison.

    19. Re: Good by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      What can you get with $100 on the ps4?
      Reply to This Share

      Several free games a month for two years.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    20. Re: Good by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which vanish the instant you stop subscribing to PlayStation Plus because you are only renting them.

    21. Re: Good by MobileTatsu-NJG · · Score: 1

      Your position with Steam isn't that much better. When it falls you will lose your games. At least with PSN you know it's a rental.

      --

      "I like to lick butts!" by MobileTatsu-NJG (#32700246) (Score:5, Informative)

    22. Re: Good by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

      How about Windows 10? That's a pretty damn good and topical complaint. Also I highly doubt you've only spent $1200 on a gaming PC in 15 years, unless you're completely happy with 10fps. I'm in the position right now where games like Witcher 3 simply don't run on my GTX 570 (5 years old), and my i5 proc is getting a little long in the tooth with paying 1080 video while gaming. To upgrade both to mid-range specs would cost at least $600. So I bought a ps4 instead. In no small part due to a new program at ebgames that lets you try a game for 7 days and bring it back no questions asked. This only applies to console games.

      So with the ever increasing cost of computer hardware, and the frequency with which AAA games suck, there's a lot of reason to buy a console.

      Agreed. PC hardware isn't even that expensive for what you get, but you have to get something midrange - years ago, low end was faster than 5-year-old stuff and thus was an upgrade, even for games. Not so anymore. Then there is no non-gaming incentive whatsoever, your outdated PC is good enough for video editing.

        My PC is crappier, but even then it's like we have what used to be unobtainable hardware such as a high end Silicon Graphics station (or a big multi-user Sun machine). You need enough RAM then you can do what you want to do.
      Even the I/O capacity is many gigabytes per second if you can afford to fill the PC with adequate drives and interface cards (up from a shared 133MB/s just over a decade ago)

      Yet the games are addicted to very fast CPU (we're still waiting for AMD to come back as a second source supplier in that context) and really, $600 for games? Most of us would be better served by upgrades such as adding a 4TB RAID1, a backup drive, bluetooth on the desktop, 5GHz wifi, a new keyboard, a 10x faster (on writes) USB flash drive or SD etc. and of course more RAM.
      Most monitors are crap and need to be replaced with not-crap (even e.g. a Sony HDTV a buddy has, by 1990s standards it would be crap. Most LCD technology isn't really fit for screens bigger than 15" or 17", if that)
      All that does nothing for game performance.

  3. Ridiculous... by pushing-robot · · Score: 4, Funny

    What will they release next, a family computer?

    --
    How can I believe you when you tell me what I don't want to hear?
    1. Re:Ridiculous... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You got a better idea?

      "Oh, look at me. I'm a teenage girl and my hobbies include long, sullen silences and making mean comments."

      So what's it going to be, huh?

    2. Re:Ridiculous... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      "you've got me in a box here"

    3. Re:Ridiculous... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Interesting

      With the success of things like Hearthstone it's more likely you'll see a cross-platform pokemon CCG or something along those lines. Think outside of Mario/Zelda/Pokemon for merchandise and collectibles as well, look how successful Skylanders was (so much so it shocked it's own creators) by simply making the collectable experience more interactive for kids.

      Nintendo wants to stay relevant. They're facing increased console competition, outside competition (console and console game sales continue to decline) and ever increasing console requirements (for resolution and FPS, trending open world gaming, and up and incoming VR). Is it any wonder they're looking to branch out?

    4. Re:Ridiculous... by TimMD909 · · Score: 1

      You got a better idea?

      "Oh, look at me. I'm a teenage girl and my hobbies include long, sullen silences and making mean comments."

      So what's it going to be, huh?

      You're still upset that Bella dumped you; aren't you, Jacob?

    5. Re:Ridiculous... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      WOOSH!!

    6. Re:Ridiculous... by Torodung · · Score: 1

      No. A SUPER DUPER DX Family Computer. I can't wait for Super Duper DX Metroid to come out.

    7. Re:Ridiculous... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Bring on the PC ports for games.. and while we're at it, the "WiiPC" and "WiiTV".. something I think they should have done a long time ago. They could have made a dual board PC that played Wii games and ran Windows (or something else, even simultaneously now, the tech is there; they could have bought Tivo and done the same thing with the consoles, throw in a Tivo and play games while TV is recording or playing back on another device... the one device to rule the living room.. Microsoft and Sony are struggling there, Valve will never get there.. it could have been the family and casual (which is a far bigger market than the 'gamer' market) friendly Wii.

    8. Re:Ridiculous... by blankinthefill · · Score: 4, Insightful

      You laugh, but I have five words for you: Pokemon MMO Game. You think Warcraft had an inbuilt fanbase? A decent Pokemon MMO would blow WoW's opening year out of the water, and a GOOD Pokemon MMO would dethrone WoW as the most successful MMO of all time, easily. And of the many many games out there, the Pokemon universe and game play translates the very best to an MMO.

    9. Re:Ridiculous... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      there's like 10 pokemon mmo's already one of which looks like official.

      but you know whats different vs WoW? wow players had the luxury of not having to go to school.

      it's all just a load of bullcrap though, they just announce that they do things they have been doing for 30 years. licensing, having arcade games produced by outside people, licensing games out to be made by other people and publishing games from other people. Nintendo has been doing these exact things for 30 years.

      however, they have not to my memory screwed over people so royally with delaying a zelda game over the entire lifespan of a console!

    10. Re:Ridiculous... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      I'm not entirely sure there are THAT many hardcore pokemon players that would also play it online, BUT it would definitely be a fountain of cash to Nintendo. And it wouldn't even kill the cash cow of offline pokemon games that they currently have - especially if there were achievements and bonuses built into the offline games on the 3DS/NX/whatever that would translate directly over to additional bonuses/prises in the MMO.

      I wouldn't play it myself (not that big a pokemon fan honestly) but I honestly believe it'd sell big for Nintendo all by itself.

    11. Re:Ridiculous... by johannesg · · Score: 1

      the Pokemon universe and game play translates the very best to an MMO.

      And as you know, they wanna be the very best, like no one ever was.

    12. Re:Ridiculous... by Black+LED · · Score: 1

      They should call it the Super-Duper Famicom.

    13. Re:Ridiculous... by Narcocide · · Score: 1

      however, they have not to my memory screwed over people so royally with delaying a zelda game over the entire lifespan of a console!

      Can't tell if this is supposed to be a overly vague failed attempt at sarcasm, or if you weren't actually aware that Twilight Princess was supposed to come out on the GameCube.

    14. Re:Ridiculous... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      You forgot the NEW. Everything coming from Nintendo has the NEW now. So a NEW SUPER DUPER DX Family Computer with a copy of the New Super Duper DX Metroid for you.

    15. Re:Ridiculous... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      New Super Duper Ultra Virtual Micro 3DS Family Computer Cube Boy 64 SP U.

    16. Re:Ridiculous... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      To be fair though, the GameCube did have the Wind Waker, so it did have a Zelda game. Honestly I don't understand what has gone wrong with the Wii U on Nintendo's end but the news that Zelda will be a cross-generation game pretty much sealed the deal for me after I learned there would also be no Metroid title. The Wii U will be the first major Nintendo console that I don't buy.

      Everybody has their own preferences, don't get me wrong. I'm sure Mario Kart and Super Smash Brothers or even Pikmin are big enough titles for some people to justify the console. For me though, the value just isn't there.

    17. Re:Ridiculous... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      https://youtu.be/YnbkmCEIVlk

    18. Re:Ridiculous... by RavenLrD20k · · Score: 1

      ...Twilight Princess was supposed to come out on the GameCube.

      It did.

      They did a simultaneous release on the GameCube and the Wii at the Wii's launch in 2006. I have both versions. Also, the GameCube already had a Zelda title. The Wii also has its exclusive title The Wii-U, however, has yet to publish a single original Zelda game; although it has HD remakes of the 2 GameCube titles with a few gameplay enhancements added (extra hard mode, amiibo features that work with the Zelda characters from the Smash Bros. line, new exclusive dungeons, etc). This makes it the first time that Nintendo has just about skipped releasing an original Zelda title on an entire console platform.

      At this point, I'm figuring that the next Zelda will be a dual-release on the Wii-U and Nin-NX. It would most likely be a near 1:1 release where both versions of the game are relatively equal, but I'm somewhat hoping that they do something like they did with Pokemon where individually they are both complete games on their own but they can be combined in some way (password token, system link, etc) where events that occur on one platform can affect elements on the other and expand the story line further. Something similar to what they did with the Oracle games.

    19. Re:Ridiculous... by tom229 · · Score: 1

      Do yourself a favor and watch Deadpool. Thank me later.

      --
      If it ain't broke, don't fix it.
    20. Re:Ridiculous... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Don't joke, I don't have the time for such a thing to exist...

    21. Re:Ridiculous... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Maybe they can whip out a decent desktop OS? ;-)

  4. They've been doing this for a while by HalAtWork · · Score: 1

    Mario is Missing, Mario's Print Shop, etc... Nintendo's done this off and on in the past for spinoffs, never their core games. Same with mobile right now.

    --
    Twinstiq, game news
    1. Re:They've been doing this for a while by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Let's not forget about those Pokemon activity discs - the early furry indoctrinations

  5. Nintendo Brand equivalent of Steam or Origin. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    That would be one steam equivalent I wouldn't actually mind if it meant that I could finally play Zelda and Mario on the PC with a controller rather than having to buy an entire console or worrying about losing the ability to play them after the console is discontinued and my system dies.

    1. Re:Nintendo Brand equivalent of Steam or Origin. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      It's Nintendo. You'll always be able to play Nintendo classics on the latest Nintendo console ... after you re-buy them.

      What, you don't want to pay another $10 to play a game you already bought three times? Well, sucks to be you. You should have thought of that before your existing Wii died.

      Does anyone know if Nintendo finally lets you move Nintendo accounts to new consoles so you can keep your existing game library if you have to buy a new one? Last I checked they didn't but the new Nintendo Account thing manages to make the situation only even more confusing.

    2. Re:Nintendo Brand equivalent of Steam or Origin. by Narcocide · · Score: 1

      Does anyone know if Nintendo finally lets you move Nintendo accounts to new consoles so you can keep your existing game library if you have to buy a new one?

      This has always been a service they provided, however due to the DRM implementation on the Wii, you have to ship them your old one to get the purchased games moved to a replacement.

    3. Re:Nintendo Brand equivalent of Steam or Origin. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      This has always been a service they provided, however due to the DRM implementation on the Wii, you have to ship them your old one to get the purchased games moved to a replacement.

      So if someone steals your Wii, then what? Are you just screwed?

    4. Re:Nintendo Brand equivalent of Steam or Origin. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Which is kinda sad when you can Mod the Wii with just an SD Memory Card and time and then you can install our games directly to the system with the WAD files without anyone and they run perfectly fine.

      And no, I am not joking, Wii install packages are in files with a .wad extension.

  6. Nintendo's business plan: kill cash cows w/ Wii U by xxxJonBoyxxx · · Score: 2

    >> People love Starfox 64

    Great, let's remake the exact same story for the Wii U so it's boring but now we'll incorporate the touchscreen to make it nearly impossible to play and kill off the franchise!

    >> People love Zelda

    Ain't nobody got time for that. Let's skip a generation and see if people will forget about Link!

  7. Nothing to see here by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    This is likely just their legal department making sure their cutesy little Android app doesn't get them in any legal hot water. That said I'd likely pony up some cash for both new and classic Nintendo content on PC if they had a Steam-like storefront (or better yet just Nintendo content on Steam).

  8. Been saying this since the wii. by GoodNewsJimDotCom · · Score: 1

    Nintendo had to go the road of gimmicks to sell gaming systems since they no longer have the horsepower of xbox,pc,playstation. They should take their nintendo ip, and make sequels for pc, android and ipad... What would be super cool is if nintendo helped apple make an official joystick for the ipad... Then we could make games with great controls for mobile.

    --
    God spoke to me
  9. The joke is that was the NES's name by Sycraft-fu · · Score: 1

    In Japan it was the Famicom, short for Family Computer.

  10. When did they move to India? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Thanks for letting me know they moved to India, was not aware of this fact...why else would they want to produce software!

  11. You'll have to pull out the software by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1

    Blow on it and then reinsert it to get it to work, occasionally

  12. Computer software eh? by Z80a · · Score: 2

    "Nintendo announces today the release of Nintendo Office"

  13. Pokemon on Steam? by bzn · · Score: 1

    Fuck. Yeah.

    1. Re:Pokemon on Steam? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

      Release all the old titles on Steam prior to Wii, they'd make a mint!

  14. Pokemon Rising by Sorcerebro · · Score: 1

    It even has a moving backstory with leftist values, where the pokemon slaves rise up against their human masters.
    FREEEEDDDOOOOMMMM!!! *pika*

  15. Do gamepad-friendly PC games support split screen? by tepples · · Score: 1

    Again, as a PC gamer you have a choice in which type of control you want to use rather than being locked to whichever designs have been licensed out by the game corporation.

    But will a PC game that supports a USB gamepad and co-op multiplayer usually let you plug in two to four of them and split your (possibly 4K) screen? Or do they require a separate computer and a separate copy of the game for each player?

  16. Homeowner's/renter's insurance by tepples · · Score: 1

    You should have insured your Wii console for the cost of the console plus the cost of the licenses of the games node-locked to that console.

  17. Fictional Character Teaches Typing by tepples · · Score: 1

    Nintendo did license Mario to Interplay so that it could compete in the "Fictional Character Teaches Typing" genre with with Brøderbund's Mavis Beacon games.

  18. Re:Nintendo's business plan: kill cash cows w/ Wii by harrkev · · Score: 1

    For the record, I would happily spend more money on Zelda and Mario, except that the guys at Nintendo are a bunch of dicks.

    I understand that Nintendo is worried about piracy, and rightly so, but their stance is one that I just cannot stand any more. Ever since the original Wii, they have tied downloadable content to a particular MACHINE instead of a particular account. If my machine gets lost or destroyed (which actually happened to me), all that DLC is gone forever. Sorry, but I can do better than that. If you absolutely have to include DRM, Steam at least does it right by not being dicks about it.

    If Nintendo ever decides to tie purchases to an account, I will immediately run out and buy a bunch of their stuff again. Until then, no more Nintendo for me.

    --
    "-1 Troll" is the apparently the same as "-1 I disagree with you."
  19. Re:Nintendo's business plan: kill cash cows w/ Wii by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

    Eh, Star Fox 64 sucked because it was all too easy. Beating the game in one sitting on the first try, without really dying even once and it took way less than an hour.. WTF ???
    The Game Cube game was better, though combats were unchallenging. It was also not a Star Fox game at all, since you played a guy on the ground armed with a staff. Different game with Star Fox characters stuck in it after it was developed. I miss it : the Game Cube was killed quite early, most successful consoles have a lifespan a bit below or above a decade.

  20. Re:Nintendo's business plan: kill cash cows w/ Wii by Blaskowicz · · Score: 1

    Game loss sucks but tying games to the hardware has its advantages. It's how game or media ownership worked before Steam DRM and Apple/Google store etc. : games were in a shoe box or on a shelf, and thus not tied to a physical person with debit card, account, email, password and so on.
    With a family game collection, why should it belong to only one person? Why your brother should be able to steal the whole collection and leave you with an empty console, what if there's a divorce and one of the parents asserts control of the account..
    Perhaps there should be a physical item that holds the credential, which you can make one backup of.

    If the account owner is lost or destroyed the games may be lost forever too. Offending analogy, but what if grandma dies and someone from the government comes in and burns all her books, tears the photos down, takes all cassettes away.. That sucks donkey (kong) dick.

  21. medical and health devices by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 0

    Dr Mario Portable.