Nintendo conducts "Virtual Console" service survey

by James Ransom-Wiley { Jan 10th 2006 at 4:30PM }

Several readers have tipped us off to an online survey, conducted by a marketing company for Nintendo, used to probe gamers for their opinions about the "Virtual Console" service. Keep in mind that the screenshots from the survey are merely mock-ups and do not reflect how the final product will appear. What is important to note, is that the survey focuses on three different pricing models:

"Game purchase. You may be able to buy retro games and save them to the Nintendo Revolution's memory, so they are always available.

Game rental. You may be able to rent games for a specified period.

Game subscription. By paying a monthly subscription fee, you will be able to add a certain number of games to your personal game library each month. You will be able to play all of the games in your library, including those that you added in previous months, as long as you continue your subscription. Note that one subscription option would allow for 'unlimited' access to the Virtual Console library. This means you could play any Virtual Console game as long as you maintained your subscription. "

[Thanks Ben & Chris]

[Step 5: "This game costs ???. Do you wish to purchase?"]

In addition, the survey also lists the following titles (by console), which will likely be available at launch:

NES
• Balloon Fight
• Baseball
• Donkey Kong
• Donkey Kong Jr.
• Dr. Mario
• Duck Hunt
• Excitebike
• Hogan's Alley
• Ice Climber
• Ice Hockey
• Kid Icarus
• Kirby
• Kung Fu
• Mario Bros.
• Mario Open Golf
• Metroid
• Pinball
• Pro Wrestling
• Punch Out
• RC Pro AM
• Soccer
• Super Mario Bros.
• Super Mario Bros. 2
• Super Mario Bros. 3
• Tennis
• Tetris
• Urban Champion
• Volleyball
• Wario's Woods
• Yoshi's Cookies
• Zelda
• Zelda (Adventure of Link)

SNES
• Battle Clash
• Donkey Kong Country
• Donkey Kong Country 2
• Earthbound
• F-Zero
• Illusion of Gaia
• Killer Instinct
• Kirby's Avalanche
• Kirby Dream Course
• Kirby Super Star
• Kirby 3
• Pilot Wings
• Sim City
• Star Fox
• Stunt Race FX
• Super Mario Kart
• Super Mario RPG
• Super Mario World
• Super Metroid
• Super Play Action Football
• Super Scope 6
• Super Soccer
• Super Tennis
• Tetris Attack
• Tetris 2
• Uniracers
• Vegas Stakes
• Wario's Woods
• Yoshi's Hunting
• Yoshi's Island
• Zelda

N64
• 1080
• Blast Corps
• Bomberman 64
• Cruisin' USA
• Goldeneye
• Mario Golf 64
• Mario Party 3
• Mario Tennis 64
• Ogre Battle 64
• Paper Mario
• Pilot Wings 64
• Pokemon Snap
• Sin & Punishment
• Star Fox 64
• Super Mario 64
• Wave Race
• Yoshi's Story
• Zelda

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)

Anon @ Jan 10th 2006 4:38PM

umm... can you say FAKE AS Shizzle.. i mean i could make that crap in powerpoint! its sad to see how many gamers really believe that NINTENDO would stoop down to such a love graphics level is insane... maybe the marketing companie is taking somewhat of a survey not for nintendo but to see how the market will accept nintendos idea of a virtual arcade,.... hummm my 360 needs more games!like sonic!!!!!!!!!

Draco @ Jan 10th 2006 4:45PM

I would like to take the survey :(

I think id prefer the subscription where you can rent all of the games, provided the cost is reasonable, otherwise there will only be a few games i buy (provided they dont do like gameboy and make all the games easier.. i miss my Final Fantasy being remotely difficult, requireing me to level) and FFiv has the "Bomb ring" instead of package that explodes in Mist, comon! let me at least pretend not to know im going to blow something up.

I like he idea of the subscription where you kinda own what you rent, so you never need to rent the same game twice.

AJ @ Jan 10th 2006 4:46PM

Awsome, it looks like you can also use points or something.

TheMatt @ Jan 10th 2006 4:47PM

500 Stars for Super Mario Bros? I'm gonna have to comment *WAY* more often.

DG @ Jan 10th 2006 4:48PM

That's cool and all, but I don't think 512MB is nearly enough memory.

xbox360-forums.com @ Jan 10th 2006 4:50PM

I'll use a 1gb SD card for the revolution. Cheap as chips. Can't wait for this.

brandon @ Jan 10th 2006 4:51PM

Looks like one of those craptacular skins people make for Xport console emulators on the Xbox. Ehh... if Nintendo makes it look like that, I'll still buy... but it's just not a good look.

But the option of buying OR renting... ingenious almost. The subscription could be cool, until you're deleting ones you don't want to play anymore, to make room for a new one just because you have so many games to choose from instead of budgeting and buying only the best games. Renting sounds great though, but it better be cheap!

Joseph @ Jan 10th 2006 4:53PM

I wonder if Donkey Kong Country 3 is missing due to it's recent re-release on gba?

Though, check out the lightgun/superscope games... there must be some sort of lightgun add-on planned already :)

Andrew @ Jan 10th 2006 4:53PM

If the big N takes a cue from Xbox Live Arcade and adds online multiplayer to classics like Goldeneye 64, they'll have a monster hit on their hands. Also, does anyone think that Tetris would be fun to play with the Revolution controller? Just wave it left and right, a twist to rotate the pieces, and then SLAM it down into place. Can't wait for the Revolution.

Snap @ Jan 10th 2006 4:54PM

Welcome to the real XBox Live Marketplace. Go go Nintendo!

"Sin & Punishment"? Check! "Ogre Battle 64"? Check! "Earthbound"? Check! "RC Pro AM"? Check! "Blast Corps"? Check!

Wow. Awesome stuff.

Cyberclaws @ Jan 10th 2006 4:56PM

Actually, 512MB is alot of memory storage for them cartridge games... Really, no bs, it is.

GlitchCog @ Jan 10th 2006 4:58PM

I'm for the subscription service, but there's no way in hell I'm going to spend money RENTING a game I've already bought five times for five different systems.

Blizz419 @ Jan 10th 2006 5:00PM

how can i take this survey, thats the real question

Billius @ Jan 10th 2006 5:02PM

O_O Hawt.

Eric @ Jan 10th 2006 5:04PM

Wasn't Battle Clash on the SNES a Super Scope (light gun) title? I find its inclusion here very interesting...

Ben @ Jan 10th 2006 5:06PM

Just to clarify...the stars are referrence to a point system to purchase the games. The survey asked which methodology would I be more interested in to purchase the games: credits (stars), credit card or debit card.

Hopefully commenting will have nothing to with the credit system :).

Noah @ Jan 10th 2006 5:07PM

I hope it looks allot prettier then that. I know, I know the pictures are "mock-ups", but I'm hoping the final thing doesn't even look close to this.

lestrade @ Jan 10th 2006 5:09PM

Killer Instinct? Sold.

My preference would be, of course, to pay once to own the ROM (and have a reliable way to back it up).

jon @ Jan 10th 2006 5:12PM

#4 I can only pray they do something like that. Goldeneye online without the split screen is something I've wanted since I was 16.

Ryan @ Jan 10th 2006 5:17PM

I'm liking the idea of owning the game, but I would not be adverse to renting as well.

Ben @ Jan 10th 2006 5:18PM

#10 the survey was invite only. Usually it's a bunch crap like what kind of car do I drive or how many types of new appliances have I purchased over the last 12 months. This is the first survey that I was really interested in. It was generated by a company called erewards.

Apoklypse @ Jan 10th 2006 5:19PM

Battle Clash was the Super Scope's Mech Battler sim... lets not forget to mention its far superior follow-up "Metal Combat: Battle Clash 2".

I hope they add that. Mmmm... sacrilicious.

Notable omissions: Super Punch Out (which I actually have as part of Fight Night Rd2), Excitebike64

Odd selections: Goldeneye (don't they no longer have the license?), RC Pro Am (Did Nintendo publish?) and KI (doesn't Rare own the character rights?)

Ace_ofspade @ Jan 10th 2006 5:23PM

Strange, Nintendo has a good idea, and where are all the haters?

fush @ Jan 10th 2006 5:29PM

Anyone who has the entire collection of NES games ever released on their computer can vouch for the small size of them ROMs.

And Super Mario 64 is only 8 MB of storage, so even N64 games, while taking up more room, while still leave enough.

Don't forget that you can also add to this space using SD cards, so it's potentially limitless.

TME @ Jan 10th 2006 5:30PM

The largest N64 game is about 32 MB, that's for the bigger games like Ocarina of Time and games that came out later in the systems life. 512 MB should be enough for about 20 N64 and more than enough SNES and NES games, but if that's not enough there are always memory sticks. Who knows, maybe the games can be compressed to take up less space than they did back then.

volvis @ Jan 10th 2006 5:31PM

Super Mario RPG was never released in Europe... Needless to say, I'm yelling 'dibs' on that. :D

Ooh, Yoshi's Island too!

Shane @ Jan 10th 2006 5:34PM

WOW all those games on that list, I can buy them all? or rent or whatever they decide. thats so freakin awesome, except wait a minute...I already own those in cartridge format. Shouldn't they give it to me for free? Since you know I bought them already? years ago? I mean, their digital delivery system really costs them almost nothing to devlier my game to me, you know, ones that I already own on cartridge, in the flesh! (er plastic). Bah.

Nin10dude @ Jan 10th 2006 5:35PM

EarthBound!! EARTHBOUND!!

I command you all to download it right away.

simon @ Jan 10th 2006 5:36PM

this looks like a fan-made interface/article.

dont believe it, imo.

bd @ Jan 10th 2006 5:44PM

Nintendo better update their classic games if they want a lot more sales than they could have.

I'd love to see every game from the NES and SNES with Revolution quality graphics, and perhaps some online play in titles like Super Mario Kart, Goldeneye, Diddy Kong Racing, Mario Kart 64 and Killer Instinct.

You should be able to buy a game and download it whenever you want in case your flash memory dies or you need a new console or that the next-gen is coming. That or have a subscription, like gametap.

LMAO @ Jan 10th 2006 5:45PM

Wow, didn't Iwata-san said they will be free during his speech at E3 2005? And where's Gamecube, GBA, or DS? I thought it was the Nintendo's WHOLE back catalog (because everything released before the Revolution is considered a back catalog), but of course they don't want to ruin the glory of still profitable platforms, which is lame in the first place because Iwata-san did say, ALL, including Gamecube. Anyway, and why is this better than Live Arcade? Wow, being in the industry for a long time with tons of fans really help huh? If they don't incorporate online play, basically all those games are currently playable on the PC via emulators (which are mostly obtained illegally), so what's the point? Live Arcade has online play at least...

bd @ Jan 10th 2006 5:47PM

"The largest N64 game is about 32 MB, that's for the bigger games like Ocarina of Time and games that came out later in the systems life. 512 MB should be enough for about 20 N64 and more than enough SNES and NES games, but if that's not enough there are always memory sticks. Who knows, maybe the games can be compressed to take up less space than they did back then."

That would mean that the games aren't updated, which would suck.

Dave Marsee @ Jan 10th 2006 5:49PM

Gimme! Gimme!

This has got to be the best news I've seen all day.

Danny Boy @ Jan 10th 2006 5:49PM

This is Why I love Nintendo, They are the Best!

All the Games I missed out on (Mainly because they wern't released in Europe) I can just get for My Revo, Happy Days!

MrTroy @ Jan 10th 2006 6:06PM

Wow you mean we might be able to get Super Mario RPG for less than $60!? That's great!

But I'll be damned if I pay more than $1 for the original Super Mario Brothers. I mean honestly.

snarfoogle @ Jan 10th 2006 6:07PM

#25

Never.

Anyway, I hope they DON'T use a subscription system. I just want a couple games paid for once and done with. I also second the idea of certain games with updated functionality. Goldeneye online AND revmote nunchuk aiming? Welcome to heaven.

Embassy @ Jan 10th 2006 6:13PM

sounds like xbox live arcade...good idea...hopefully sony learns a thing or 2 from these 2 companies...

Borat @ Jan 10th 2006 6:14PM

One thing to notice is that all of these games were published by Nintendo, and I have a feeling we may not see third-party games like Chrono Trigger.

Still, it would be awesome if we could play the multiplayer games online.

Dan Choi @ Jan 10th 2006 6:15PM

"5. Looks like one of those craptacular skins people make for Xport console emulators on the Xbox. Ehh... if Nintendo makes it look like that, I'll still buy... but it's just not a good look.

But the option of buying OR renting... ingenious almost...."

Brandon, I have to agree about the current design, but keep in mind that nothing there's final (at least, not yet). Renting is an intriguing option, however, especially if it takes the place of limited demos and such. (What? I can't try it for an hour? Well, I guess I'll rent it and beat it in two then!) Hmm...

Vagabond Artist @ Jan 10th 2006 6:16PM

AWESOME!

theres no way that those are final screens.

As a graphic designer I can say those are atrocious

(and also quick roughs to give an idea of navigation)

notable omissions:

TINSTAR- snes

MARIO vs. DONKEY KONG- gba

MARIOKART64- n64

switchblade @ Jan 10th 2006 6:26PM

Ok, for all of those poeople who are saying that 512MB of memory is too small, you may be forgetting how small these files actually are. By averaging the size of 621 NES games, the average file size is 206KB, and by averaging the size of 740 SNES games, the average size is 1.5MB.

Now, lets section off 200 MB of that for game saves and stuff. Letsa ssume a blanket price of $5 per game. To fill the rest of that, you would probaly spend close to, if not over $1000, depending on your NES/SNES/N64 distribution. If your spending that much money on the virtual console games, it can be assumed that you are pretty hardcore, and wouldent mind putting down $60 for a 1GB SD Card.

So, I think, overall, that 512MB is a good middleground between the casuals who may only have a select few games and those that may have a couple hundred games.

Neko Tsukimi @ Jan 10th 2006 6:28PM

Everyone needs to keep in mind that this is only a mockup possibly created in maybe 5 minutes by some randomer working with the Revolution trying to just get the base system working for preliminary testing so they could be putting practically anything they want on here. This doesn't even look good enough for the 90s (more like a powerpoint presentation) so of course, I'm taking this with the biggest grain of salt ever while I'm looking forward to even the smallest bit of truth in this :D

I want to see this survey though... I surprisingly did not get an e-mail for it and I get practically all of Nintendo's surveys...

rubaiyat @ Jan 10th 2006 7:03PM

#28

Unless you are willing to pay at LEAST $20 for the games to be updated to Rev levels, you don't really have reason to be bummed.

I mean...do you think artistically converting and programming all those sprites and low res polygons to high res polygons is free just cause Nintendo has easy access to those games?

humbird0 @ Jan 10th 2006 7:20PM

What about games that weren't released in the US?

Such as Starfox 2?

Conn @ Jan 10th 2006 7:38PM

Those shots look horrible- I hoep they're just concepts :(

But U'd rather have an actual PURCHASE- less money, less effort. If I want to play Earthbound, I won't have to keep paying and paying.

cole @ Jan 10th 2006 7:42PM

Besides the fact that my 14 year old brother could probably make a nicer looking interface... I'm sorry but even as a mock up, on a professional level, I think this would be unecceptable... I wonder if the professional artist working for Nintendo would really find it nessisary to pull photos off the web via google image search to use in there presentation...

http://www.ebgames.com/ebx_assets/product_images/520320.jpg

Maybe thats just a stock Nintendo photo, but like I said it looks like a 13 year old did this.

Naz @ Jan 10th 2006 8:00PM

Actually, the largest game on the N64 was 64MB, and that was Resident Evil 2.

...but yea, aside from that, everything else was no more than 32MB. 512MB is way more than enough to house a bunch of the classics.

And oh man, if Goldeneye had online and/or revmote support? That would be a serious trojan horse on their side. Is it a smart move? Hell yes. Will they actually do it? Let's hope so.

CG @ Jan 10th 2006 8:46PM

There's no way they're going to update old games, graphics-wise. I don't see a point for them to. If anything, they'll add online support for multiplayer and that's it.

Do you understand what it would take to create old games with next-gen graphics? That's basically redoing the whole thing. If that happens, you're going to have to pay the price of a next-gen game. Remember Resident Evil for GC? Same deal.

Plus, retro gaming is a pretty big market. Everyone's going to want to play the classic games that they got rid of or never got a chance to play.

Sign me up (but hopefully not for a subscription service).

Qwert @ Jan 10th 2006 9:42PM

Remember that it says in there that these are LAUNCH GAMES, im preety sure they will keep adding more games periodically. Also, i really hope they make some classic games with online multiplayer; that would be sick, imagine playing ice hockey online :P

Garold @ Jan 10th 2006 9:43PM

I'm a hardcore fanboy, but frankly... I'm a little dissapointed. A lot of really awesome games (N64 in particular) are missing. For instance...

Banjo-Kazooie/Banjo Tooie

Mario Party 1 and 2

Donkey Kong 64

Majora's Mask

Kirby 64

These are some plainly obvious omissions. I know there are some issues there with Rare, but come on! Gotta have DK64!! By the way, it wasn't a very popular game, but I'd definitely like to see NBA Hangtime on there.

Also, I think it'd be cool if they released some new games this way too. Not normal full-size games, just smaller ones. For instance, I'd like to see a downloadable version of Pac-Man Vs. that's compatible with either a GBA (via one of the GameCube ports) or a DS (wirelessly). Or if we could download free demos/trailers for Revolution games...

As for the payment options... I don't think there are enough games here to warrant a subscription. I'd want to pay per game, with five bucks as an absolute maximum (unless they were significantly enhanced). Also, I'd want to keep the games in an online account, so we could delete them and download them again later.