Reggie Fils-Aime Briefly Addresses Topic Of Carrying Over Online Purchases To Switch

There's gonna be an upgrade fee. If you could download previous purchases free of charge that would have been announced already

Okay. Sounds like there's a lot of "wait and see" stacking up at the moment. I thought we'd have more of these important info at the presentation, I just hope they will come fast.

In any case, I'm enthusiastic.

I haven't downloaded too many VC titles on Wii U/3DS. But I wouldn't be surprised if they still made people pay again, and I would be equally as un-suprised if people bought it again. Ocarina of Time has been on 5 different consoles (Including 3D) and I can imagine people have bought all 5.

Wouldn't say no to not having to pay again obviously

Discount. A lousy one at that too.

Why does Nintendo keep all these important things a secret? It's not like it makes me more curious for the Switch, It's only going to make me more uncertain whether to buy a Switch or not...

If anything, we'll be charged an upgrade fee. Paticularly on the games that will be online enabled. I'm not too fussed about that. But I doubt I'll be paying full price again if they opt to make me do that. I'll just keep my Wii U plugged up in that case.

Reggie sure does sound like a broken record!

Don't necessarily blame him though cause I don't think he has much say over the policies of Nintendo but gets asked all the difficult questions!

Not very reassuring, but they may yet surprise us with an actual good deal (i.e. not My Nintendo's idea of a "good deal").

I don't think I rebought any of my VC titles when I made the move from Wii to the WiiU.

I'm more concerned about the ports.
I wanna be able to play inkings in battle mode without having to repurchase the entire game.

This has been arguably my biggest worry for months on the Switch. They give us the unified account, and no benefit to it. Have to buy games twice, once for each platform on the SAME ACCOUNT. Have to pay again (even with a discount it wasn't good enough) to use them on the WiiU without going into Wii mode. Apparently that new "Nintendo Account" for Switch use, doesn't link to your NNID (not confirmed personally, just reports).

I've always worried that Nintendo will mess up the VC. It took years for the Wii VC to get anywhere decent. The WiiU version has been horrible almost the entire time. The 3DS was terrible, it even went for AN ENTIRE YEAR once without getting a single new VC release. The SNES thing was a nice addition but once again, unified account and you have to rebuy games you've already paid for one the same account?

And of course, getting drip fed crap, no name games every week or two with 1 decent game maybe every 2 months, just no. We need a proper VC, including previous game purchases ported FOR FREE, better support than the WiiU (the SNES for example has some of the best games ever made by wide consensus) and we got a pretty woeful selection. It feels like Nintendo are too lazy to go to many other devs to release their games on the VC.

They are adding in online multiplayer to NES and SNES games from the VC though. Which is promising because of the potential, BUT, I'm also expecting it to mostly be only for 1st party games because of effort. I hope I'm wrong on all of this. Give us free ports of what we've already paid for 1-3 times already with a real selection so you can make easy money and actually give people what they want.

Can't be making too much money, eh Nintendo?

@Tsurii I've been thinking a similar thing too, multiple Directs before launch. Some franchise specific ones like the confirmed Fire Emblem one in a few days but also a general one sometime in February proving the launch window lineup isn't a problem (only launch itself being bad but that's been the case with all consoles for decades).

I can't see how Wii VC purchases will carry over as they were registered with the now defunct club Nintendo account. Wii U might be all right as surely our NNID will carry over to the Switch.

If nothing else, I'm sure we'll see another digital release of Urban Champion. What else could you possibly need?

If they don't do anything about it, no way in hell I'll be buying NES and SNES games again.

Doesn't bode well... If they were going to carry over I think they would have announced it by now.

Plot twist: the privilege of transferring your downloaded titles is reserved for those willing to pay for online.

@Tsurii I hope you're right. Having smaller directs from here to launch would help then clarify questions such as this one. It also keeps the hype train going.

Reggie hears everything

@Wendigo Most likely. Personally I paid £3.49 for Super Mario Bros for Wii in 2007. It'd be nice if I could get it for free on both WiiU(Wii mode) and Switch but that would be 10 years of free transferal of a game.

If they did that forever and weren't getting any additional money from players there'd be little financial incentive for the VC to exist. I don't think people were happy when none of their PS1 classics could transfer to PS4 and I'd dislike for the VC service to be dropped. I'd be ok with an upgrade fee of a similar price to the WiiU's one if it means the games can carry over to the Switch. Having a portable console that can play hundreds of games from NES to Wii and even GBA and DS would be fantastic.

Though we'll see, the Fire Emblem Nintendo direct might have the information.

This drip feed of information isn't working. Nothing they've said since the presentation fills me with confidence (£60 for a game? In today's gaming landscape?!). Just give us the damn facts already. It only makes it seem like they're hiding even more disappointing news. At this point I've decided to get a PS4 and see how Switch is doing in 2018. At least I'll have lots to play and can pick up lots of discounts.

I must have 200 games on Wii U once VC is considered. I'm not too worried about VC as Wii --> Wii U upgrade was fine by me (although having the games at launch would be great).

I am eagerly awaiting news of eShop purchased of retail games. I understand that Nintendo won't necessary be able to honour all games (third party or licensed games) but losing them all would hurt.

I understand the details so far have focused on the new games/system and any talk of VC/Mother 3/fanboy stuff confuses the core message but I really want news soon. Having said that, I've already pre-ordered three of them (one for me, one for my daughter and a spare I'll probably hand over to my sister). My wallet is ready!

For me there are some major concerns- as a Wii U owner, I have spent plenty of money on VC games. I want them to be easily moved over for free. Nintendo owes me that much.

I think there is a major fight in store- the people who normally purchase Nintendo products are it's fans, many of whom will own a Wii U with Splatoon and Mario Kart 8. By not offering backwards compatibility, they are effectively putting up a barrier which will prevent Nintendo's very most hardcore fans from making the 'Switch'. After all, I refuse to buy the same game twice in less than 3 years, and those two games form a major part of the Switch's release schedule for the next year.

If Zelda runs well on Wii U, many hard core fans will resent purchasing an entirely new console and buying the same games twice. Nintendo will need to nail the broader market if Switch is to be a success. Which is a HUGE uphill battle.

How they choose to deal with the VC situation will show how Nintendo will handle its general operations for the Switch. They need to show incentive here.

@Tsurii yea they probably will have more DIRECTs. we already have a Fire Emblem Direct this week.

Also, I have a digital version of Mario Kart 8 on Wii U. Can this be transferred to Switch? Do I get a discount if I want to upgrade to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe? I think I know the answer but it would really be nice...

@Mario_Fart We will know the deal soon enough.

I think Nintendo has played a blinder drip feeding information like this. It keep everyone talking about the switch. My downtime at the moment is spent googling "Switch News" constantly.

So Wired is actually ASKING for an upgrade fee?! WHY?! It should be free!

@HappyMaskedGuy I feel ya. BC is only out for physical games. We don't know about anything else. Its harmful to speculate because anxiety builds and you get no peace. its like a month and a half til launch.

Don't worry, you will be able to play your VC games for an extra monthly fee

Translation: "Stay tuned... we have plenty more confusing and disappointing news between now and launch day."

@JamesR I agree... too much info is bad as not enough info. We just need to hold tight and let them announce how things will be handled.

I have spent over 1000 dollars in VC on the Wii and I have purchased several for a small fee on the WiiU. The 3Ds just straight up Pi$$ed me off with wanting to charge you all over again. It actually made me want ROMs in the past year. I love them. Don't hate on me, but I already purchased most of them several times. If i had a console to rule them all then this would not be an issue.

@Ethan_Bricknell Unfortunately that's not going to happen, it's Splatoon 2, a sequel instead of a port. I could understand the concern better if we were talking Mario Kart 8 Deluxe which is a genuine port + upgrades... but it seems Splatoon 2 is built from the ground up.

As regards to my opinions on this is general.. I think Nintendo may have some good news in stock regarding this. Getting closer to the release Nintendo want to be increasing hype, the same reason they're holding back on the launch lineup. It's deliberate drip-feeding to keep the Switch in the news.

Though Nintendo seem to be under the impression everyone is super happy right now. Not exactly a sound judgement.

What about all those games I have on my 3DS 70 + and my WIIU 20+ excluding VCs. I'm just thinking about this now and it seems like a total scam. Granted, I'm totally still all in for the Switch.

I never transfered my Wii data to Wii U as I couldn't be selective and transfer only VC titles. I like to play games on their original hardware if I can.

I sure hope that with the Nintendo Network ID, they can at least identify our Wii U purchases. Wonder if my signing up to their online service will allow you reduced costs or even free upgrades once they are released.

Or maybe I'm just hoping.

Must admit, as time passes the hype is starting to wane. I can just about stomach the £280 price tag but it's the accessories and my fear of £60 games becoming their norm.

It's a mistake to keep using the "stay tuned" strategy when this is the second Switch reveal detailing more about the console. The eShop has a hell of a lot on discount right now....if it's confirmed that most of the digital library will cross over, they'd likely sell more eShop titles.

Which is why this has me thinking it'll be another upgrade fee. Prospective buyers will "stay tuned" and just skip the Switch launch window. You need to sell the system Reggie.

i think they jsut really want to establish this as something new first, before they open the door to the past. a lot of us want that door open on day one already, but we aren't the mass or casual market they want.

I know this might not be true, but dodging the question like this to me implies it won't be good news.

The happy sunshine part of me imagines that they are holding back for a Direct dedicated entirely to Virtual Console. This would make sense, given that VC literally wasn't even mentioned at the presentation. In that Direct - who knows - they may say that purchases carry over.

But the cynic in me reckons we'll simply get a discount on our existing games.

Either way, they are surely going to announce that games are locked to the account rather than the console hereon.

@FX102A I am certain that £60 games are the new normal. Even ignoring development costs, the pound is so low now that this rise is expected.

Does anyone else remember paying £64.99 for StreetFighter II on the SNES in the early 90s?

What about physical purchases though? Yes I know im asking a lot seeing as how the switch uses cartridges. But if the switch is going to have some sort of system in place where purchases made digitally for wii u software will be able to be downloaded free of charge on the switch (or even heavily discounted) then we really need to know about it. I have games like Xenoblade chronicles X, Super mario 3d world and Tokyo mirrage sessions on physical that i really dont want to leave behind.
That being said, if they are going to enable us to purchase wii u and wii software digitally to the switch, whether paid or carried over from previous purchase, is a very exciting notion. And it would ease any hard feelings many have over the shear lack of software available at launch for the Switch.
Again though the burning question I have is why this hasnt been addressed yet and why we have to "stay tuned for more info". Switch pre orders are running out because the system is out in SIX WEEKS! We are we still in the dark over things like this? We really should be told one way or another whats going to be happening.

I just had a theory on this which, if true is both great news and rather crappy news, but it is a very "Nintendo" thing if they do this: I think we will be able to redownload ANY digital purchase from wii and wii u to the switch. So if we have bought digitally the likes of Mario kart 8, Xenoblade Chronicles X, Bayonetta 2 or Wonderful 101 we will be able to transfer them to the switch...at a price. I think it will be a feature of this paid online service. If this is true I would be very happy to pay for the online service because right now, the service is a joke. A nes or snes game RENTAL?! Wow...just wow.

If they had their poo together and wanted to build confidence in their early adopters they should have come to an answer before today, and it should have been, "Yes. You will be able to move all your VC games from Wii or Wii U to Switch free of charge."

BANG. Everyone happy.

It's not hard, Nintendo.

I, and many others, will be VERY disappointed that we have to buy our games again. Also, I will NOT be shocked at all if Nintendo don't allow us to redownload games we've already bought from them. :/

It's getting hard to stick up for Ninty here. Please, surprise us all and give us the games we already own.

They will charge, it's just a matter of how much. They're still trying to decide what their fans will endure. I'm betting they charge $2-$3 per title depending on platform to "upgrade" to switch. I'm so far past handing Nintendo money again and again that I've concluded that I'm perfectly happy with a good emulator and ROMs. Nintendo will never get another dime out of me for VC titles.

@youhippy you shouldn't have but you did have to port them across and then switch into Wii mode to use them
They remain locked to the console

If people keep buying the same VC titles again on subsequent Nintendo systems then Nintendo will happily take your money. You know that you can just keep your 3DS, Wii or Wii U if you buy a Switch and simply play your VC titles whenever you want without re-purchasing.

I won't be buying a Switch anyway so not an issue for me. Very happy playing all my great Wii U games including free online play.

@AirElephant That isn't legal though. If you don't like what's offered stick to simply just not using the VC.

Don't respond to something that you don't like with a crime. It makes the consumers look scummier than the companies.

"Stay tuned" again. Well I guess Ill better "stay tuned" for year or two, before buying your new console. Just in case.

This will be really important to me. i want a decent eshop and i dont want to have to pay again for my 3ds content. the watch this space quote at least fills me With some hope but they will probably at the most give a discount. nintendo arent exactly known for being genorous

As happy as I am with the hardware and software of the Switch, not being able to transfer your digital goods to it would be completely unjustifiable. Going by what we know so far, at least.

However, the solution to this problem is extremely simple: stop buying Virtual Console games. I know I will, until Nintendo offers a unified account system.

@electrolite77 Pretty much. Reggie is not even a PR guy at this point, he's the whole Damagr Control department.

eShop transfers are probably hopeless. There is no compatibility between the previous hardware and this one. Individual developers would have to at least rebuild and repurpose and it's not going to be worth it in most cases.

VC is something Nintendo can address to some degree but, again, all those third party licenses for games were negotiated for one console at a time and it would need to be done all over again.

A rosy everything will carry over for free or a small fee is not just unlikely...

@darthstuey I'm sure I did do that... But I don't think I ever used my WiiU in Wii mode. Ever. But they're all there. Happily sat idle.

@Marshi
If you have physical games, you keep the Wii U connected to your Tv, or trade in the games to help pay for the new ones. At least, that's what I'm gonna do.

Wow. What news. Barely worth mentioning. Just "We understand your concern". Hooray! He knows we're curious. I guess.

Not expecting great things.

@MarcelRguez "not being able to transfer your digital goods to the Switch is completely unjustifiable"

It's not remotely the same hardware as Wii U or 3DS. 3D programming is different. Most of the games were developed without middleware on Wii and Wii U so as a developer you can't retarget and then adjust to the new platform, it is actually a port which is much more work. Furthermore, it is not a large enough leap in performance to emulate the old hardware (not even close).

So, I don't get this "unjustifiable" thing you are seeing. (Edit: I understood you were only talking VC now) I'd hold on to that Wii U and treat it nice, everybody. It's a much better deal and fortunately it's relatively modern connections HDMI and digital that won't change for a long time unlike the old analog and CRT problems with older hardware.

Maybe going forward the Switch architecture is something that can remain compatible from generation to generation but its name also belies the internals. It is a Switch.

I'm remaining cautiously optimistic about this, I have (some) faith left that they will deliver on these features we all want. I mean, he's said they're listening to the fans a lot more this time, so we'll see...

I will be holding on to my Wii U though, so if purchases don't transfer over at all I'll still be able to play them on there.

@MarcelRguez In context, it seems you are probably talking about VC only, which is really all Reggie addressed. In that case, there are still licensing problems, but I do think Nintendo should do its best to help carry those forward where it makes sense.

My feeling is that the NES mini development wasn't just for the mini, but that the emulator which seems to work well for many games, is a new solution compared to the old VC that will make their life easier bringing at least those games to Switch — not to mention it works better. I'd guess that SNES will be in the same boat. So, in my imagined scenario, there's a much higher chance that people could get those games, especially first party, transferred over in some way.

Maybe a one time purchase for NES "app", and then all the games they have control over the license for come over without issue.

@aaronsullivan I was talking about VC in particular, not about eShop indie titles and the like. Should have specified that, my bad. I wouldn't blame, say, WayForward for not offering cross-buy on Half-Genie Hero if it comes to the Switch, for example.

When it comes to Nintendo's VC, however, I don't feel the need to be that kind. It's bot like it takes them a lot of effort to put those ROMs into their shell emulators, people inject unavailable games onto the 3DS's VC all the time. It's been a thing since the Wii.

EDIT: I've just read your second post. I like the solution you offer, actually. Wasn't there something like that in the works for the Wii? The Virtual Arcade, or something like that? I don't know what became of that.

@aaronsullivan stop talking common sense. Has no place in chat topics 😛

@jaymacx I'm not sure it IS soon enough at this point. In the days since the presentation I've decided to spend my next console money on Sony. The fact that Nintendo won't be upfront about some basic, and long overdue, customer requirements just makes me more convinced they will shoot themselves in the foot again. They could have put lots of fears to rest from the outset but chose not to which hardly instills confidence in this Wii U owner.

I think he's talking about a subscription service - so there won't be a discount just a typical Reggie PR spin "pay this small amount each month and get access to ALL our retro software"

I think the key here is compatibility, I mean if you bought a 3ds or Wii u game that has most of the control features on the touchscreen then they will need to reprogram this so games like this work with the docked mode. This is an awful lot of work to get all vc and digital releases inc third party to work with the switch. I expect that you will be told it's an upgrade fee. It's a long wait till we can convert all titles and or it's not possible to transfer digital titles. Thinking about third party titles who would do the work? Is EA going to create a digital patch for need for speed so it can be transferred and played on the switch. Also will these titles need re-licensing due a new format.

@Ethan_Bricknell you do realize splatoon ain't a port.its called splatoon 2.so why would you get it for free? Lol

@JamesR I'm in the same boat it would be nice to get a reduced price on Mario kart 8 deluxe, but unfortunately I don't have my wii U any more so I will probably miss out if it does happen I just hope not I can't see me buying Mario kart deluxe for the sake off a few characters , a few tracks and a upgraded battle mode. not when paid full price for the digital version and the dlc. its shame really if they do this.

While it would be nice to be able to get them switched over to it (not intended on using that pun), I doubt it. I don't want to have to connect all systems to the Switch to re-download and I definitely don't want to have to pay AGAIN to download them AGAIN. There's no reason for it, but it shows that nintendo (if they do) are nothing but money hungry. Other than that, I won't be getting the Switch at launch (since only Zelda will basically be available at launch). I'll wait until Super Mario Odyssey is available and Mario Kart 8...nintendo had over a year to make the games for it, and I don't get why they won't be available at launch...Mario Kart 8 should at least be available (it's only a few additions) and why show games that aren't even ready yet...show the games that will be available.

I have a psn account I can't download any ps3 game I own even though ps3 is on there via ps nowno ps1 games.as far as ps2 games even one I owned I gotta pay full price.so I don't know why Sony is even in the mix.now Xbox one I got some of my games I owned on the 360 for free. But with Nintendo I only had to pay a $1 to upgrade .y news games,$1.50 for SNES and 2 bucks for n64.yes which I got for free but its nice for that discount.

@Mellor2000 The sooner it's in my hand I can't stop trawling the internet lol

Theres a word for it T E A S E. LOL

@Farmboy74 ummm I transferred my Wii account to the Wii u.so now its linked to my on Nintendo network id.lol not hard.I didn't even have my old Wii and Nintendo still did it.

@JLPick Games don't take a year to make. For the most part, big ones take 3 to four some smaller ones take two years. Only budget titles get done in a year. So, there's that.

@JLPick Mario kart is April.got mine just for Zelda which will do me fine till then.beside when the n64 launched there was only 2 games for the first Month or so.lol

@YoshiTails lol no lol go to Nintendo.com and that will answer your comment lol read son read lol

@Wendigo

Right on the money. You read my mind.

I have about 300 games in my Wii U. This would be a deal breaker for me.

It should be a free transfer of titles to switch,

@JamesR I wonder if people will be willing to stomach a £20 mark-up. If they are hoping to also grab current PS4 & X1 owners I doubt they'll be willing to cough up £60.

@River3636

It kind of pissed me off when Reggie "incredulously" pointed to the thousand-dollar part of the question, as though we Nintendo fans don't spend that much money. For all his listening, he seems to be out of touch with the fanbase.

He also said they were surprised people would pay for eg Mario again (NES mini) so I think they'll think people will pay again again.
Also said of WiiU it'd have an achievements system - I don't think some stamps count.
They'll charge because of the online "upgrade" - that you have to pay a separate subscription for as well. A double charge!

I NEVER re purchase old classic games!! lot of you are zombies who buy the same game over Me over every system drop lol.

I think it's emulation Time after the second time..

There's absolutely no reason why VC games shouldn't be given for free if there's a record of purchase on your Nintendo account in the past. Or maybe I'm just spoiled with the level of legacy support Windows provides.

It puzzles me how the average Nintendofan let himself be milked by this company, year after year, while drinkin liters of kool-aid...

I'm increasingly getting the impression from these quotations that the VC is going to be sitting on the back burner for a while. Understandable, as it never became the money printer the fanboys (and Nintendo themselves back in the Wii days) thought it would.
I still think if sales lag and the mainstream never catches on to the Switch, we'll see it sooner rather than later though.

Nintendo doesn't listen.
Basically it's gonna be a crappy deal.
Im disappointed Nintendo is showing how greedy they are lately. Charging 90 dollars for the dock which is essentially an hdmi out shows it.
If you wanna upgrade your games to the switch versions it will no doubt be a poo deal.
Nintendo is making it very difficult to justify purchasing their products.

Indie guys have been doing some decent cross platform deals with the 3DS and wiiU so I expect they will probably do something like that off their own back. VC games however I think Nintendo will stick some kind of upgrade price like they did with the Wii to wiiU VC. Which is such a shame because there is only so many times you want to pay out for titles you already own. I didn't mind buying the GBA VC games that I had on my 3DS for my wiiU because they had given me them as an Ambassador reward but buying for Wii, upgrading to the wiiU AND then having to upgrade again to the Switch seems too much (unless they double the discount)

It's pretty annoying that there are in face 40-odd days until launch and we still haven't heard anything about VC. I expected them to speak about it a little in the presentation. I'm not sure why they're keeping us waiting on so much with so little time to go before launch. Pretty sure we knew everything this close to the Wii U launch.

@Wendigo I won't complain too much if Switch VC games include online features.

Since it appears they're offering new features for VC on the switch (online play) I expect there will be a small upgrade fee for VC games bought on wiiu/3ds which I think is reasonable.

Does anyone else get the feeling though that the Switch is being primarily marketed to people who skipped the wiiu? With Breath of the Wild the only game I'm interested in so far, I'll stick with my wiiu for another year at least. Besides, as a Canadian, 400$ to make the Switch, with no backwards compatibility, isn't too appealing right now.

I've spent over $10,000 on Wii and WiiU games.
Actually no, I've not. That'd be silly. 😏

@Dr_Lugae Legal or not, I do not see any moral wrongdoing in doing so (provided you have purchased the product/license at least once) as opposed to nickel & diming consumers for the same product over and over again. Vendor/device-locking and DRM are evil and deserve to die.

Very lame if they make us pay another upgrade fee. The only way it's remotely okay is if Switch is truly replacing 3DS and Wii U, that way you only have to buy them once. But then, when the Switch's successor comes out, what do we do? Pay again?

Ah...fortunately, I only have 4 digital dowload games on Wii U : Dr. Luigi, Duck Tale Remastered, VC : Super Mario World and Final Fantasy Tactics Advance. But, I almost never touch them for some reason. Well... not a huge impact for me since I prefer physical games rather than digital download games.

As much as I love Nintendo, even I'm not buying the same games over again. If I wanna play them I'll just Ayers them on the respective console I bought them for.

Oh, btw...
Dear Mr. Reggie. Please be confident and make right decision about VC. These Nintendo customers already pissed off. Thank you.

@Slim1999 I know...same with the 3DS, same with the DS and only 3 for Gamecube (kind of pathetic). Even PS3 and PS4 launched with only a few, which I never get for any companies...if they work on the systems for 2 or more years, you'd think games would be ready for them, and they'd want a decent launch line up. PS2 had a bunch (although none was good)...even Dreamcast had quite a few...Genesis, Super NES, NES...seems the higher we get in the generations, the less we get, and you would think nintendo would want people to buy their system...instead it's only Zelda available and not much else throughout the horizon (at least until the holiday) unless that changes with 3rd parties pushing their games out, but all of it depends on the sales of the system.

Looks like "Stay Tuned" might become the new "Please understand".

@aaronsullivan Kingdom Hearts 3, Zelda Breath Of The Wild, Uncharted 4, Final Fantasy XV, Super Mario Galaxy, Eternal Darkness, Until Dawn, Toe Jam And Earl 3 and there were quite a few other ones, some being cheap games (Mighty No 9) that took well over a year...Kingdom Hearts 3 is still being done, which is pathetic. Most of the time it's due to one bad glitch somewhere in the game or barely any people working on it, but it shouldn't take that long. Considering even the past (8-16bit eras), a big budget game then (and you need to look at the fact that back then, they were big budgets too with the technology)...and they still didn't take that long...companies were able to push them out continuously, where now, even with technology being bigger, they take their good old times. All I was saying is that nintendo has mentioned the fact that they were working on the console a few years ago, and with the bad games pouring out on Wii U (not the best nintendo could do), it made many think they were working on Switch games, and if the system is indeed easy to port to, you'd think nintendo would have things ready...especially since Mario Kart 8 only added a few other things to it...and they could have, even if it was HD remasters of other game series, or re-releases of Wii U games, it still would make the shelves look full, instead of making consumers wait almost until the holiday. Other than Zelda, there's not much else making it look good until the holiday season (If you have a Wii U, who cares about Mario Kart 8, if you don't have a Wii U, it looks good). That's all I was talking about, not trying to put down nintendo, it was a statement to any gaming company anymore.

If you could carry them over free of charge, surely it would have been announced by now? I hope I'm wrong, a lot of games I have on the Wii U are digital.

I could see it now:

"We have our answer. It's 'no'."

Upgrade fee for sure. What I'd most like to see is a similar approach to Mario Kart 8 and it's DLC. No way am I paying full price for the same game again, just for 5 new characters and a fixed Battle Mode. But an upgrade fee of, say, £5? Sure, that's fine.

Big question is will Wii U owners have to pay full price for Splatoon 2, MK8 Deluxe and so on? Because if yes, or if there's a lousy discount, I'm going to wait on the purchase.

I am hoping that you can use your nintendo network ID to carry over purchases. Not sure how that works for wii games (i never migrated my games) but it should help.

As excited as I am about Switch, my expectations on this topic are pretty low. And if it's handled poorly, i may just leave Virtual Console and downloading alone this go 'round, and just stick to physical games..

@blackbox64 OoT for me : N64, Gamecube (Master Quest Disc), 3DS and Wii U. So 4 times yeah. Though 1 was a freebie with Wind Waker, and one was a proper remake, so I only bought the actual original twice in all.

I think all so called vc games should be free to owners of NS regardless if they were purchased in the past. There got to be some motivation for people to buy that thing.

Honestly, I would rather Nintendo just release a Game Card filled with retro classics. A 'NES Classics' with 30-50 games for a set price, same with SNES, N64 etc.

I'm absolutely done with buying these things individually.

God I hope they get this right for once. If they make people pay for these VC once games again, I feel it will be the straw that breaks the camel's back.

It's nice they "understand the concern", but they actually only do anything good about it like ten percent of the time.

@River3636 it's called a psp

@LUIGITORNADO why is there no one in charge at Nintendo who realises this 🤔

Reggie, Donald, what's the difference?

@Mario_Fart I hear ya but sometime I see people put unrealistic demands on Nintendo but turn a blind eye on the competition. Did Sony let you carry all your ps3 purchases over to PS4? Nope. So even if Nintendo lets us do this its more than Sony . ( I have PS4, Xbox One, PC, Wii U).

DAMN NINTENDO! Do a proper announcement! We have 2 reveals, the console launch in six weeks and we know so little about it. Complete line up? No! Specs? NO! Price of the online fee? NO! We know almost nothing and I want to buy at day 1 because I love Nintendo but COME ON!

Nintendo puts a lot more work into QA and coding with their VC offerings - probably a lot more than most gamers care about - so I understand that it's really more of a recoup than a cash grab.
That being said, the lack of a unified account system is ridiculous - I couldn't even get a discount in WiiU without losing my games on Wii.

Personally if I can't get VC working on an cathode ray tube I really don't care very much. I wish it was just an open service like PSN or Netflix where I pay however much and can play on any device that can run the VC. I know I'm an edge case, but it's a proven model going forwards and backwards.

Just tell us now!!!!

Seriously Nintendo, even if you don't offer discounts please don't start Virtual Console from scratch again. We know all you do if run a rom through a converter and upload it anyways.

@Li_Bae He is out of touch on this issue. It made me get a unifying system that stored all my previous games. I am not purchasing Donkey Kong Country 4 times. You can even have an argument about the special fee to download on the previously purchased title on the WiiU.
I am a good customer. Nintendo dropped the ball.

@blackbox64 Yes, I bought it 5 times. I don't care if that makes me stupid. It's my all time favourite game ever.

10% off discounts for everyone!!!

Nintendo is losing me over time. They handle their business model and customer relations and communication terribly. It almost seems as if they're spitballing. Lord help us, they're reminding me of Microsoft.

They make the best first-party games, and never buggy. But they need to wake up. I've used the word before, but I can't believe how tonedeaf they are.

But seriously they have under 2 months to sell this console, keeping secrets now is a bad idea.

@sandman89 That seems to be the problem - they don't have the model in place, and don't have anything to say.

"Hold on, exciting announcements are coming" only plays for so long.

Sounds promising. I wonder if they will utilize MyNintendo coins for transfers.

Fils-Aime: "That's a lot of money."

Thanks, Reggie.

Thus should be clarified day one of the announcement. Reggie is playing games by not being willing to put the info out there

10% discount, now you can play your sNES games on the go!...Oh wait...

I REALLY hope they offer some way to transfer purchases and content...and even offer some sorta disc-upgrade plan for games we bought on WiiU and want to get again now on Switch like Mario Kart 8...that would be a HUGE selling point for existing fans.

But why are they focussing on VC titles?
It would be way more important to be able to carry over the more recent games, the big games. At the very least there should be a big discount.
But I don't expect any of this, simply because overcharging customers seems to be the new Nintendo policy.

@aaronsullovan @Luna_110 I agree with your outlook on this.

There was a discount fee to rework games for Wii U and an incentive program for buying VC games the first year or so. It wouldn't shock me if that happened again. I ended up rebuilding most of my library with the program.

Really, I think there will be another Direct about the online system and the answer will lie there. I get the feeling the subscription will help pay for some of this, too. I know the website said special offers as a feature. I really do hope they invested in emulation this time like @aaronsullivan is suggesting. They need to take advantage of the new architecture and get the online infrastructure right for this console.

I don't find that reassuring at all. If they don't let us carry over eShop purchases...

WiiU at the very least needs to be able to have a system transfer...
My WiiU has downloaded on it:
Legend of Zelda VC
Zelda 2 VC
Zelda A Link to the Past VC
Minish Cap VC
Wind Waker HD
Twilight Princess HD
Skyward Sword VC
Hyrule Warriors
NES Remix 1
NES Remix 2
Mario Kart VC
Mario Kart 8
Metroid Prime trilogy VC
Super Metriod VC
Captain Toad
Splatoon
Mini Mario amiibo challenge
Game & Wario
StarFox Zero
Pikmin 3
Resident Evil Revelations
Xenoblade X
Xenoblade chronicles VC
Ducktales
Assassins creed Black Flag
Splinter Cell Blacklist
Fatal Frame Maiden of Black Water
Darksiders 2
Lost Reavers
Citizens of Earth
Freedom Planet
Affordable space adventures
ittle Dew
Bumpie's Party
Runbow
Swords & Soldiers 2
Shantae Pirate's Curse

With Miiverse allegedly absent from the Switch, there are no specialized pages for VC games to maintain, making the idea of transferring historical purchases easier to undertake for Nintendo. While I won't be getting a Switch at launch, I do eventually want to get one and will be interested in bringing my purchases over from all three consoles.

I bet they have a plan and are just waiting to explain the details. I was worried at first but since MK8 only has the same courses as the Wii U version I bet they are going to offer it as a discount cause there's no way that they wouldn't, no one's gonna want to pay a full 60 dollars again unless they are major Mario Kart enthusiasts.

Either Regis ia a complete idiot or he doesn't want to say what we don't want to hear: "the Switch is such a advanced piece of technology that purchased VC titles can't carry over . We will offer a WiiU to Switch upgrade for 2.99/game. Please understand".

@Gold_Ranger Since you have several third party titles I suggest you start asking the developers what is their stance, specially those that already announced support for the Switch. Just my 2 cents.

I won't be buying VC games ever again if I can't transfer them. I would even pay a transfer fee like on Wii U.

@NintonicGamer I don't think that that makes sense from a bussiness point-of-view. remember that they are trying to expand the Nintendo's console crowd from the Wii U measly 14million to something like half of what the Wii had or at least as many as the PS4 currently has (around 60 million). Of course, they will fail badly.

Still, a nice 15 upgrade fee would be welcome for those that bought Mario Kart 8 with the DLC, 25-30 to those who didn't buy the DLC. Remember that there is new content: racers, modes, vehicles, that cost money to develop.

@Daz-brum It won't happen. Bet dollars to doughnuts.

I've dabbled quite a bit in the eShop for Wii U and 3DS but I stopped a couple years ago simply because I wasn't sure if it would carry over to whatever their next console is.
Well, here it is... can we carry over?
I would've bought so many more VC games if I was assured they'd carry over.

@Lord I think that Wii U games could eventually be played on the TV while the Switch will function as a GamePad. But for the 3DS games (and even the DS released for the Wii U), you would be able to play them on the tablet, by dividing it into two separate screens (about 3.1 inch wide each one, like a normal 3DS or 2DS).

@Lizuka
It's a bit harsh to say they're not getting with the times just because it takes years to build up the VC collection. PS4 has been on the market for years, this is Year 4 in fact, and we got a whopping total of about 10 PS2 games, not a single PS1 game, not a single PSP game, not a single VC game purchased from Vita that has transferred over (because they refuse to release those same VC games because they know they would have to give them away for free). Vita had a nice selection, but like I said none of that has transferred over, not one single game. Xbox has yet to release a single original Xbox game on the service

Getting with the times would mean doing even less and just abandoning VC transfers altogether. That seems to be what everyone else is doing.

@Dr_Lugae
"I paid £3.49 for Super Mario Bros for Wii in 2007. It'd be nice if I could get it for free on both WiiU(Wii mode) and Switch but that would be 10 years of free transferal of a game.

If they did that forever and weren't getting any additional money from players there'd be little financial incentive for the VC to exist"

That's the unfortunate truth of the matter. We see it with the PS4. It's unreasonable to expect them to keep redeveloping emulator engines and porting the same hundreds of games and charge nothing for it. This was Sony's mistake. They overpromised, and now they're in a situation where they can't release those same games because if they don't give them away for free they'd be going back on their word. So they just don't release them.

I simply don't see Wii U or 3DS purchases make the leap simply due to hardware set up. Unless of cause either devs make Switch versions with an upgrade system (and not Shovel Knights weird only buy new stuff) or if the Switch can emulate the U/3DS.

VC on the other hand should be simple enough (outside of licencing) always thought VC should be an 'app' when you buy titles your buying for the app not the console, then you could put the app on what ever they wanted

If they charge again for games weve already bought multiple times it will be taking the mick.

If they don't have some sort of discount for MK8 Deluxe for people who currently own MK8 for Wii U that will be quite upsetting considering you will have to pay another $60 just to get some dlc and revamped battle mode. Maybe $25 tops to upgrade to deluxe wouldn't be so bad and would probably help sell the deluxe game better than it will.

@IronMan28
"The only way it's remotely okay is if Switch is truly replacing 3DS and Wii U, that way you only have to buy them once. But then, when the Switch's successor comes out, what do we do? Pay again?"

Well, yes. What incentive do they have to spend all that effort making new emulators for new architecture and porting VC games over and over and over again if they get absolutely nothing for it?

Even Sony has realized this and hasn't allowed a single VC game from PS3 or Vita to transfer over. And if the so-called "king of crossbuy" won't even let you transfer a single game why do people think they're going to get all their games again from Nintendo?

This unrealistic expectation is one day going to force them to just shut down the VC service once and for all, or only release new VC games that were not released on the previous system so that they are not expected to hand them out for free. This is what happened on PS4, it's going to happen with Nintendo too if people don't start aligning their expectations with reality soon. An ugrade system is a reasonable expectation though.

the only game that will be transferable is urban champion.

I'd be fine with a discount, NES games were 99p, N64 were £1.79, that sort of charge would be fine so long as they're is one coming.

They can make their money on the Gamecube downloads.

@JaxonH I understand your points and appreciate them. However, I will counter with the Big Mac example. In marketing, we say that if a Big Mac cost McDonald's $5 to make, the firm couldn't charge $7 because nobody is willing to pay that price. As far as an upgrade fee, I don't take issue with that too much because it really isn't a simple cut and paste activity to move VC games. However, Nintendo still has to come to terms with the reality that customers won't pay for certain games over and over again unless there are legitimate incentives.

I pre-ordered a Switch, but that doesn't mean I think the VC is going to be perfect and can still appreciate the merits of both sides of the argument about the platform.

That sounds like PR mumbo jumbo for "You will be able to rebuy them all again at a discount when we selectively release each individual title." I've spent so long trying to defend you, Reggie, even in your most indefensible times (eg, "Give us Mother 3!"), but you just sound so ingenuine, here.

@arnoldlayne83 makes me think the same about cod, fifa and madden

@IronMan28
That's fair

If we could transfer all digital purchases from the Wii, WiiU and 3DS over to Switch I'd buy stuff just so I could transfer it over. 😁

Nintendo should just allow free game transfers for previous purchases from last gen hardware to subscribers of their online membership. It'll keep a permanent lasting incentive for subscribers to always renew their memberships.

Non-subscribers should still have an option to upgrade their previous purchases to Switch at an 80% discount.

This'll give Nintendo the incentive it needs to constantly port its backcatalog to new hardware and give fans an incentive to keep investing in accessing their digital game collection on the newest hardware.

Maybe you will be able to borrow the games you already own for a month for free, before having to pay for them.

If I cant transfer or get a discount with smash or Mario Kart, I'm just going to get the Switch much later. I prefer Nintendo over Sony, but I'll just ride out on my ps4 for the rest of the year. Sony has proved to me that with some patience you can get all kinds of steals on their online store.

With My Nintendo disappointment, slow virtual console releases, cross-buys still non-existent, not the best sales, recent so-so releases.... I think I am going to give Nintendo purchases a rest for awhile.

@Pluto14
Nailed it.
I only have two months to save $300-400 dollars for console/game/whatever.

And they can't tell me about VC, how this unwieldy online app really works, etc. etc.? Honestly, I'm straight up disillusioned at this point.

Maybe I'm over-reacting, but I'm not even really angry. It's just a shrug of the shouldesr and meh, I guess I won't scrimp and save. Generally speaking, "disinterested" is the WORST place for the consumer to be if you're Nintendo. (For me it could change quick if I got some Dragon Quest to the West confirmations....)

Nintendo knows it needs to sell the switch to wii u owners first and foremost.. they specifically created the new mynintendo program so that all accounts are linked. If they are tightlipped, then they plan to announce free transfer. why piss off the fan base?... then again Nintendo is Nintendo

@electrolite77 " Again it's about giving their existing loyal supporters a bit of something back. "

That's standard practice in many industries. Nintendo should follow suit, but I don't see that happening. I'm rooting for Switch, but hopefully Nintendo improves things like the VC sooner rather than later.

Given Nintendo's track record and the rather unpromising "monthly rental" of NES and SNES games for the online service, I don't see Nintendo allowing us to redownload what actually amounts to software users already own but Nintendo feels like stuff they're "giving away for free".
I have the Wii version of Super Mario 64, I have the Wii U one and Nintendo would still think I'd be asking for a free game if I were to even dare asking not to pay a second upgrade fee.
At least Reggie shows some amount of awareness for the issue.

Probably like last time where you paid like 1/3 of the asking price as a transfer fee. That's really not asking too much if you cared enough about the stuff in the first place. Better than how Sony would just re-release stuff and charge you full price between PS3 and PS4 (which is why I bought nothing.)

You can play the games you already own for free...if you subscribe to their monthly internet service.

Nice that Reggie acknowledges the issue — but considering that they are already accepting pre-orders and money is already being spent — any last minute additions (like changing their mind about 1-2-Switch being a pack-in, which it obviously was created to be one) would be silly.

At this point, all information about what to expect on day one and for the first few months should be available including notable omissions such as whether Netflix and other services will be available.

If there's more to Switch than we are seeing right now - they should include a notice on their website that clearly states — "Additional features and suprises to be announced soon!"

I do not think it's too late for them to create a pack-in game. Can't do 1-2-Switch now as [weird] people have likely pre-ordered it already.

Personally, I think that 1-2-Switch should have been included with all units and there should be a digital download available for a choice of 1 of 4 games — Mario Maker Switch (yes, I know it doesn't 'exist'), Zelda, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe or Arms.

This could have optionally been a $350 Deluxe version. 2 games for an extra $50? Makes a day one purchase feel a lot better.

If there were upgrade options available — 40% off MK8 Deluxe if you already own MK8 + Both DLC, I'd buy. 20% off if you don't have the DLC - I'd buy. If Zelda was cross-buy, this would be fantastic too — especially if the Switch version had exclusive features.

And ... why wasn't the new Shantae game announced for Switch? If they were looking to pad their release list with obvious games, this one would have been obvious. There's no way that Wayforward aren't going to re-release their library for Switch.

@wickedvillager Since pre-orders are already available for MK8 Deluxe, it's a bit late to offer an upgrade deal.

IMHO, the #1 goal of Nintendo right now should be establishing a massive userbase for Switch. Giving away games, upgrades and all of that would accomplish this - which would help their stock value, which would do more than nickel and diming the gamers by NOT including a title and making everyone feel awkward about their purchasing decisions.

If it's anything other than what they did with the Wii U I'll be shocked. Needless to say I'm not buying Punch Out or Super MARIO Bros 3 for the third time in 4 years. Even if it's only $1-$2.

This should be known now! Only 40 days, come on!

Wow, is it me or have we been here before? Oddly enough, it feels like I'm going through some serious dejavu right about now.

Regarding this, I expect we'll be getting all our downloads free. Say what you want about Nintendo but there are a few times when they realise screwing their own fanbase over is not the smartest move. I'm expecting them to maybe offer all Nintendo games purchased off the e-shop to be completely free of charge to redownload on Switch. But anything 3rd party or Indie will still need to be paid for at full price.

This will keep the fans mostly happy while also keeping 3rd party and Indies very happy too. Anything more or less than this would be a big fat "NO!" from someone - which wouldn't be good at this stage in time.

Because let's face it - they owe their Wii U install base SOMETHING.

presumably after the failure of the Wii U and this being viewed by many as make or break for Nintendo, I'd expect them to have something big up their sleeve on this front.

@JLPick I'm not sure what that list of games was or what you're trying to say. Maybe I wasn't clear enough that most games take much longer than a year to make. Much, much longer. I'm not trying to defend Nintendo on this, just inform you because your previous post posited there should be way more games because they had a whole year to prepare.

You also suggest that technology is better so games should be made faster. This ignores the incredibly inflated demands of modern gaming. It take many more people much more time to make a AAA game because there is so much more content to be created. Early games were done by small teams in a short time because of the limits of the hardware they were working on.

There are always efficiencies to be found in some new content creation tools and game engines but nothing is easy or fast about making video games that sell.

Oh it will most certainly be a discount type of situation as it was before. Hopefully it tracks both 3DS and Wii U because I own different games on each of the systems, though I really feel like it is a tad too expensive to upgrade N64 games. Two bucks is a bit much for a game we already own and Snes isn't much better, I think they should halve the cost of upgrading.

We didn't "start from scratch" with Wii U and 3DS. All our digital downloads were transfered from the Wii/DSi to the respective counterparts.

@Slim1999 @DanteSolablood
Meant inklings in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe - my bad.

I just hope that they release all the previous VC games from day 1, instead of having to wait 5 years to get all the games on the switch VC.

I hope that all purchases are taken over, or at least HEAVILY discounted.

Not just Wii/Wii U VC, but also 3DS. Reggie doesn't mention 3DS, and boy have I spent a lot on on the 3DS VC.

This is a huge concern for me, and I think they need something generous to get the hardcore on board. Ideally it would go back to Wii (to incentivise that larger install-base) but Wii U/3DS is needed at a minimum. Since they seem to be branding this as more of a home console, and the 3DS is still alive this year, I am thinking there will be upgrade/transfer options from Wii U rather than 3DS. A fee would not be a surprise, but really they should have figured licensing out on Wii U and be able to offer VC titles for free to those that have purchased them on prior systems as they are released on Switch.

I know they want to drip feed the info to keep the hype train rolling, but there are key details like this and the online system that they need to address quickly as I have no faith they will get this right after the WiiU. The bad handling of the launch seems to be in keeping with the WiiU launch and then need to get on top of it before they get a repeat, especially with there pricing as every thing seems way to high from console, to games and even the accessories. Seriously full price for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe this should be £30 tops and there should be a discount system for WiiU owners.

@electrolite77 Building up a user base is typically how shareholders are appeased. I think Nintendo's assuming that adding value to older games by implementing online play in NES and SNES games is enough. While it would be enough if they were contingent upon being a member and they included later generations (N64 and GCN online play would be awesome, especially in older Mario Kart titles and the like), I don't think they're making the right move at this moment. However, if enough people buy Switch and pay for the premium service, Nintendo should get the capacity to provide a good rewards program. Time will tell and if Nintendo smartly integrates handheld and console lineups for the Switch, it can justify the gouging at the beginning a bit more if it gives away more as the service matures.

"Stay tuned" is the new "Please understand"

I was thinking about buying Super Mario Kart but if it won't carry over to the Switch, I'll just hook up my SNES...

You know, if Nintendo was making money hand over fist then I'd be upset. But they just aren't. They need the money. Otherwise they will become a third party developer.

You bet I wish they'd let me just pay once and continue to bring it forward. I'm looking forward to seeing what they are going to offer us. I'll whine once there is news to whine about.

I'm honestly not that bothered about being unable to play games that I ALREADY HAVE ON A SEPARATE CONSOLE. This isn't that big of an issue. Sure, I'd love to bring over my 100+ 3DS and Wii U games over onto the Switch, but the Switch is something new. You have the console and the games, it's not too much work to turn on a different console and start playing.