Bandai Namco Files Trademarks For Classic Famicom And NES Titles

Meh.

Bring SNES, then we’ll talk.

If these are the big NES games Nintendo adds to Switch Online in 2019, then man...they somehow found a way to take an underwhelming prospect and make it even more underwhelming than it was before.

😪 Bring on the games from the Nintendo 64, the SNES, the GameBoy Advance, the GameCube...

As if this isn't already enough. Go 16-Bit or go away. These aren't even arcade games either.

Given how slowly Nintendo drip feed us these games I don't really see a future where we end up with a decent library for NSO. Why not instead go with something akin to Gamepass? Charge about £4.99 a month but have access to all NES, SNES, N64 and GameCube games by Nintendo immediately, then the higher price will offer more encouragement to other publishers to add their games whilst offering good value to us the player

Battle City, the best tank game until World of Tanks! Sign me up.
I am also fond of Warpman, even though I know it's a mediocre game.

Nope. Just another compilation or crappy plug n play.

I believe the 1991 arcade sequel to Battle City - Tank Force - is already on Switch in the Namco Museum collection.

SNES!! Give us the SNES games!!! Id pay a full year if we could play the SNSE games

I like obscure games. Bring them to me. Free if possible, though.

Now there's lovely, isn't it?

@carlos82

And the paltry amount of games they do give us are hampered by terrible overlays and no control customisation. As someone that doesn't play any switch games online it's a truly terrible service.

What about games like gunsmoke, contra, metal gear, castlevanias, strider, rygar, pay the money for licences - Disney Capcom games, Star Wars, turtles arcade, Batman etc. Come on Nintendo if you’re adamant you’re only sticking to nes games make the good games happen. I appreciate there will be licensing issues with some games but Nintendo is a massive multinational company with the funds and contacts to make it happen.

When is Konami with Castlevania and Contra? C’mon man. Those are the games people want to play from the NES library.

Like most other people I want SNES games.

Off topic powers, GO!

"Nintendo of America's President Reggie Fils-Aime has previously said the full library of NES games haven't even made available yet and the company would remain focused on that generation for now, in terms of legacy content. "

Reggie, you're a cool guy, and honestly I think you are a good businessman overall. But this is a poor choice.

Unless Nintendo has been wildly misleading us for years, they should have the resources to do do more than this, either themselves or contracting another studio they trust. And are able to do it without harming their ability to produce new content.

The arguments I have heard against VC/Legacy content on Switch:
Licensing issues - just be honest and point out that you don't have the rights to release every game.
Self-competition - this fear that having Super Mario 64 on the system is gonna make people less interested in buying Mario Odyessy - I just don't believe. If younger gamers may be curious about playing older entries in a series they have come to like, and older gamers may be reminded by the newer game of nostalgia and in both cases buy both. The games wouldn't be anywhere near the same price bracket, and I just can't understand the idea that someone would not buy a new game because they can buy and older one.

The one area I somewhat understand is the fear that retro titles will compete with "Nindies" and hurt Nintendo's growing Nindie base. That I do think is a legitimate fear to an extent but not one I think justifies the decision. It is true, I might not be as interested in buying Wargroove if I could pick up Advance Wars 1+2 on Switch but is that really such a downside for Nintendo? Sure it might make some indie devs upset but so be it. More power to the consumer to chose is always the better choice in my mind.

And honestly I'd buy both Advance Wars and Wargroove.

Dunno any of these games, but I've been positively surprised by some NSO games (TwinBee, Lolo) so far, so color me mildly intrigued

(also: new here, hi every1 )

I unsubscribed NSO a couple of months ago, the NES games were ridiculous offer, and i didin't play online enough to justify the price

"The full library of NES games haven't even made available yet..."

A quick Google search tells me that 714 games were officially released for the NES worldwide. After the initial batch, NSO has been releasing 3 games per month, not counting SP versions. Assuming Nintendo plans to release the "full library" (they don't), then some basic math shows that it will take 19-20 years to make it available. We may be waiting a while. But hey, it's Nintendo, they haven't even announced January's lineup.

@bwellington I guess they save announcing the next batch for the Direct that's without a doubt due sometime this month, maybe as soon as this thursday

@Adol_Xin Yeah, they've had January Directs for the last few years now. I'm really pretty optimistic, not as cynical as I might have come off, lol. I'd love to see something big announced soon on the post-NES front. I have fond memories of these games, but I really want some SNES games on my Switch.

@Heavyarms55

"Reggie, you're a cool guy, and honestly I think you are a good businessman overall. But this is a poor choice."

I honestly think he's just a PR person for Nintendo American. Nintendo of Japan makes all the decisions and he has to try to make them sound good to consumers whether they work well with our culture or not. I think that's why he's always acting surprised when people ask him about things like he didn't know people were interested in that. Because his orders from Japan is that it's not coming. So he tries to soften the blow rather than take up the cause. Because he likes his 6 figure job and all. I just can't honestly believe he is that detached from the fans desires.

"Unless Nintendo has been wildly misleading us for years, they should have the resources to do do more than this, either themselves or contracting another studio they trust. And are able to do it without harming their ability to produce new content."

This really does drive me crazy with Nintendo. Like the Switch, they come out the gates with Zelda/Mario, amazing games. But year 2 was basically Smash and year 3 is Metroid Prime 4. I get it, the Switch is cool hardware and people are excited about playing games on the go, but I hate dealing with the inevitable droughts Nintendo always has.

@Heavyarms55 A point against dumping them all that you missed is that a massive dump of games all at once devalues them, as a game and as a marketing tool for a continuous slow drip effect.

I still like the Wii U better at this point so far and one of the main reasons is that it gives owners access to much more classic games than the Switch does.

@cleveland124 Oh I am sure the big shots at Nintendo headquarters in Kyoto make all the top decisions and sign off on anything their regional branch offices do. But I seriously doubt that Reggie is just a figurehead. He is to Nintendo of Japan what a state governor is to Washington DC.

"This really does drive me crazy with Nintendo. Like the Switch, they come out the gates with Zelda/Mario, amazing games. But year 2 was basically Smash and year 3 is Metroid Prime 4. I get it, the Switch is cool hardware and people are excited about playing games on the go, but I hate dealing with the inevitable droughts Nintendo always has."

Year 2 was a lot more than Smash. Yes Smash was the big one, and in the first year we had 3 big ones (BotW, Odyessy, and Splatoon 2. Arguably more counting the likes of Xenoblade, MK8DX, and arms) but this year the Switch had a LOT of fantastic mid-level and smaller titles as well as ports. And like or not, LG Pikachu and Eevee still sold millions of copies. I'd hardly call that a drought. And year three quite likely has several major hitters with the real new Pokemon, Animal Crossing, Fire Emblem, as well as Metroid Prime 4. Daemon X Machina might also end up modestly successful.

@gcunit You are right and I agree, Nintendo shouldn't just dump the entire library overnight. But they aren't even drip feeding legacy content. It is more like condensation on a cool glass in a very slightly humid room. After a long wait there is a little tiny bit there... If Nintendo goes at the rate it has been, we wont see Gamecube titles until like 2025... Assuming that they are indeed sticking with NES this year and SNES the following 2 years, N64 in 2023-2024 and then GC in 2025 and 2026... Hell by that point the Switch will be like the 3DS is now, painfully out of date...

So, slightly off topic, but nothing yet on the next batch of NES games, or how they will be released going forward, eh?

@Heavyarms55

Overall the lineup hasn't been terrible. But as a multi console gamer, the mid/lower games are everywhere and not a reason to buy a Switch in my opinion.

You are right about the terrible pace of VC content. Initially Wii had a pace of 3-5 games a week with multiple platforms supported. That would probably be appropriate today. But I think Nintendo will eventually spin off their retro catalog from Nintendo Online. For as bad as the value is now, an online retro catalog of 300+ games for $20/year would be crazy too good to be true value.

@cleveland124 Sure, I doubt someone is gonna buy a Switch for Fire Emblem Warriors and Kirby Star Allies. But for FE Warriors, KSA, Doom, LA Noire, DBZ Xenoverse and Fighters, Fate Extella, Okami HD, Valkaria Chronicles 4, Stardew Valley, Night in the Woods, Shatae and the Pirate's Curse, and 1/2 Genie Hero, DK Country Returns Tropical Freeze, Captian Toad, Octopath Traveller and many many more small and mid size, high quality well reviewed games like these, on a device distinctly functionally different than others on offer, it's a different story.

And as to NSO, if it ever does get to that point, it will indeed be an insane value. Even having just a selection of 10-15 good games from each system spanning NES up through Gamecube would be an insane value. At that point Nintendo could easily triple the yearly price and it would still be a great value (not that I want them to, of course, lol)

Personally if they do go full NSO route, I think they should offer packages. If you only want, say, N64 games, you could pay the current price, get online, plus the N64 games. If you want 2 systems worth of games, bump it up 30 a year. 3 system, 35, and so on, up to maybe, everything, and a package deal for the whole service, covering potentially several hundred games across many systems.

Now I know how Mitsurugi in Soul Calibur 2 feels. You already told them you had enough yet they still give you the same crap.

@BensonUii eyy! same here!!! I was actually playing it yesterday on my old console with him... we couldnt even complete level 18... this should include online for sure, will be a blast...

Rock 'n Ball is a license variant, in that Family Pinball added some Namco characters that weren't in RnB. (as the NES version was published by a different company)

If they plan to add the entire library of the NES they may want to pick up the pace! Or I will be an old man by the time it is done. I want Zelda 2 and Super Mario Bros 2 specifically along with Startropics amd countless others.

@cleveland124. 2019 has far more than just Metroid Prime, what about Luigi's Mansion and Animal Crossing? Or the next actual mainline Pokemon games? Those are equally as important if you ask me.

My only complaint with the NES games is that there's no manual to reference for a particular game. I had to futz around in the Adventures of Lolo like pushing buttons before I figured out what was going on. xD

Namco has been peddling another round of the MyArcade devices as a handheld or mini arcade cabinet. Maybe these are up next.