Topic: It's 2013 and Steam has Big Picture..... Why No PC Nintendo Store or Virtual Console on Steam????? Update 6/4!!!

@skywake Slight correction about Steam. The game has to be playable on the platforms you want it on. Say I have Linux and Windows (or Mac), if the game doesn't work on one I obviously can't play that game on that platform. So for the most part you're correct about being able to play it on other platforms but it has to be a supported platform (and this applies to every single game).

Also, Steam kind of does have it's own retro games. You can find a whole bunch if you search the store.

Well then Nintendo should make their own application like I said in OP. if I register my Wii or prove I own one why can't I play the games on my PC and why won't they allow me to give them more money? Not everyone wants to buy a new Wii U when they didnt do much to launch it, why are you going to then punish me because of it. I didnt do anything wrong? How about they take the stance of wanting to win gamers to their brand instead of punish them for not buying the console. I'd buy enough old games to pay for a console 10xs over when all is said and done. I can understand your stance on steam, but then they should release their own E-Shop. Heck they already have it just make it PC friendly.

@Ernest_The_Crab
Well yeah but I didn't think I needed to point that out. If you were to apply the Steam model to Nintendo platforms I wouldn't be able to play Super Mario World on my 3DS or Bit Trip Runner, the original, on my Wii U. If I had paid for Megaman or Pacman on the Wii VC I would also be able play it on 3DS and Wii U for no extra. Instead they have you buy it twice and upgrade it once........

I guess it's just a pipe dream of mine. A Nintendo Valve partnership would ensure the survival of these companies for decades and it would be so awesome to play a modded super Mario world with an entire new world on a steambox or long time Nintendo users getting access to these creations through the virtual console. Everyone wins!!!!! With sonys new commitment to indie developers, I can see Sony striking first and offering back catalog on the PC. One of these days it's going to happen.

While I don't think either of these companies are in trouble, (especially not valve with steam.... Steam with kickstarter has given the PC a MAJOR boost and can be argued is the most exciting thing in gaming ATM) this would be such a power play and give Nintendo a PC presense and valve help with selling their steam boxes. Having access to steam which also played all my old favorite nintendo games would be so amazing and nintendo users/console owners would benefit by getting all the awesome indie titles. Having great indie titles to play would also go a long way in filling the gaps between Nintendo first party games as well. Gamers win, Nintendo/Valve make tons of money while ensuring they will be around for quite some time. Nintendo would win the console war by a wide margin.

True but its not link to the past, chrono trigger, mega man or donkey kong country. This is all the more reason to strike now, older style games are coming back and being introduced to the younger generation, why not slip some Nintendo games in there to show them WHY they should check these titles out. Then all of a sudden they are asking their parents for a Wii U at Christmas instead of a Failbox one or PS4 because they want to play Mario and Zelda games instead of Call of Duty 26: The Call to Duty.

For the record I'm not trolling or anything. I got my NES in 87 for my 7th birthday and SNES in Dec of 91 (with super Mario world, FF2, Super castlevania) for my 11th birthday and are two of the greatest days of my childhood. Now thats a launch lineup. I love Nintendo and I just feel that putting their old games online is the right move for preservation and will be going that way anyways. All their games are already being stolen online because PEOPLE WANT TO PLAY AND HAVE ACCESS TO THEM so why not accept it and make them available through legal means. And while doing that why not partner with valve and let steam do it who already have established themselves as digital distribution experts with a massive following of PC gamers who are already playing retro style games. You cannot tell me they can't get their older games to run on big picture.

Do you really think that those who have used or are using illegal free emulators are all of the sudden going to suddenly switch to a pay method?

Because Nintendo would lose a reason for consumers to purchase their consoles.

Zazzaro, do you think Sony&Microsoft should also release their games on Steam? Because I don't own these consoles and shouldn't be punished for that (going by your logic).

I think they should create their own online store to make their old catalogs available. I just said steam because its already established which would give tons of PC gamers and old console game players a new way to visit their favorite old titles. It also would give the new generation exposure to these games. The statement "Why cant Metroid Crawl" exclaimed by a stumped gamer who purchased the .99 super metroid speaks volumes. The new gamers need access to these old titles. The interest is there.... Just look at this remodeled SNES from a kotuku article today.

http://kotaku.com/redesigning-the-super-nintendo-for-the-21st...

We should be able to buy SNES games online through Nintendo and play them on a PC or a console like this with a USB. Nintendo is missing a HUGE market here and I know they have the creativity to pull something cool off and don't need steam. I would be first in line to buy a new SNES like this and ready to load a USB with $100 worth of my favorite old titles or be able to just plug in my PC game remote and play them that way. But nope, squandered opportunity. One day I will be playing old console games legally obtained on my PC, it's just a matter of who does it first (Sorry I know I keep posting that but it's true). Just look at all the old platforming games and indie games. Why not remind people WHY indie Devs are making these games. My mind would be blown if one day I go to the steam catalog and see Fez, Super Meat Boy, LIMBO, SUPER MARIO WORLD 2.

I sure hope not.

Steam is a much more draconian DRM than even that of the XBOX ONE and PS4 with their optional anti-used games DRM. Steam doesn't restrict them, it completely blocks them and forbids devs from doing pretty much anything that valve doesn't approve of them doing.

They already have 2 consoles that can do that. They are called Wii ($50 used, $100 new) and Wii U ($300 basic, $350 deluxe). They are far better than a PC that needs an operating system and a minimum system specs to be able to run those games (even the cheapest parts for a PC to play those games would run you $350, the cheapest Windows license is a Windows 8 OEM license that is $100, and a wired Xbox Controller to play the games is $40, so there you are at $490 to just start running, before you buy any games).

I sure hope Nintendo will NEVER publish games on steam. They will lose all my respect and support the day they bow down and kiss valve's feet. They don't need to do that and should never do it.

Steam is a digital distribution service. Name one digital distribution service that lets you sell used games......

yeah, I thought so.

There is absolutly NO reason for Nintendo to sell games on PC. That would be HUGE mistake.

I bought Wii and Wii U so I can play Nintendo Virtual Console games ---> that drives nintendo hardware sales!

Really? You think Sony will eventually sell their old Playstation games on PC, and that Nintendo should to? That sounds like a stupid idea. I can see Microsoft selling old games on PC, since they own the operating system on which most gaming PCs run, and they already have a foot in the gaming market with Games for Windows Live (It's a crippled foot, but a foot nonetheless) and have published stuff to both Windows and XBox before, but Nintendo and Sony would be stupid to sell games on PC, retro or modern. Part of having exclusives is that those exclusives help drive hardware sales. Without exclusives everybody would only have one console, perhaps it would get to the point where only one console exists. But that would be utopian. Even the little exclusives, like VC games, can add to the reasons to buy a console. If Nintendo/Sony sold retro games on PC, there goes a reason to buy the console. When I think about buying retro consoles off of eBay or whatever, I want to make sure there's enough games out there for it that interest me before I shell out money. If I'm thinking about buying a Sega console, I have to factor out the games I can buy on PC or VC, because why pay $30-$50 for a system off of eBay and ~$8 for a game when I can buy the game for just $8 and play it on my PC? Granted, Sega doesn't gain money if I buy somebody's used Dreamcast, so that's not effecting them, but what about Nintendo and Sony, who are still in the hardware business and don't sell games outside of their respective consoles? Believe it or not, I'm sure there are people out there that bought a Wii mainly to build a huge digital library of VC games. If Nintendo started selling old games on PC before the Wii was released, the Wii might have lost sales from those people. I don't know how many, but just because you wouldn't buy a console just to play old games doesn't mean others will. I'm sure when the Wii U gets more consoles on it's VC repertoire, such as the GBA, it might make some sales off of people that want to buy mostly VC games. Heck, look at @sinanziric, he just proved that a mostly-VC-craving audience exists by being part of it.

Also, Nintendo games officially on PC would not decrease the amount of pirates. Most pirates don't pirate retro games because they don't have a system they can legally purchase the games from. They pirate retro games because they want them for free. iTunes sells DRM-free music, but a lot of people that download music download it illegally these days.