Nintendo Virtual Console and Backwards compatibility
Virtual Console
Nintendo has announced that Revolution will have the ability to play many or all Nintendo-produced Nintendo 64, SNES/Super Famicom, and NES/Famicom games; the software may be recompiled or emulated but will be offered via the Nintendo online download service. Satoru Iwata refers to this feature as the “Virtual Console”. According to a Japanese press release, “all downloaded games will be stored on the 512 [MiB] flash memory built into the system.” To prevent illegal copying, downloaded games will feature a proprietary DRM system.
Nintendo announced that the downloadable games may be redesigned, recompiled, or emulated. It was also said that although the gameplay would stay the same, it would be possible “that with Revolution, we may be able to see the old games with new looks.” This may be compared to the 1993 SNES release Super Mario All-Stars, a single cartridge containing several classic Super Mario Bros games with updated graphics. Some 3D games may “look sharper when played on Revolution.” However, Jim Merrick, a European Nintendo president, claimed N64 games played on Revolution will have a better frame rate, but that there would not generally be any other significant graphical improvements. If the technical aspects of Revolution also go well, “[Nintendo is] discussing the possibility of having older games like Mario Party playable online.” Also said by Merrick, there’s a possibility for users to download games from others regions, a feature important to European gamers who could download (for example) Super Mario RPG from an American server.
Although no specifics have yet been released, there will be fees associated with the “virtual console” feature. Nintendo has suggested that they may give some of the downloadable games away with Nintendo products or through other special offers. It is also unknown what specific titles will be available or whether third-party developers will release their older games for the Revolution, although it has been said that Nintendo is in talks with these developers for this purpose. Yuji Naka, the designer of Sonic the Hedgehog at Sega, said in an interview with Famitsu, “It’s also great that we’ll be able to play Famicom and other games via download. I hope Sega games will be playable as well.” He also said similar in a recent interview with Nintendo Power. Currently, Nintendo could release more than 200 potential titles (and if, like it has been rumoured, the Revolution is indeed compatible with the Game Boy Player accessory, then over 90 percent of Nintendo’s back catalogue could be playable on the system (excluding Virtual Boy software).
Some see Nintendo trying to pattern the most successful strategy used by the music industry against illegal music downloads. Since computers have been powerful enough to emulate past-generation home consoles and the Internet provided an easy, fast, and widely accessible distribution path for ROM images (a file which contains the data for a game which can then be played via an emulator), illegal ROM downloading has been common among a segment of fans of old games. The music industry’s most successful method of reducing illegal music downloading has apparently been to offer consumers a way to download music legally for a small cost, as in the case of Apple, selling music in their iTunes music store for a general price of $1.00 USD. If Nintendo is successful at utilizing this model, they may be able to reduce illegal ROM downloading and open up a new revenue stream. This backward-compatibility feature also stands as a new unique selling point against the Revolution’s competitors.
The unveiling of the new controller has also shed some light on the functionality of the backwards compatibility; specifically, when held sideways, the controller resembles the NES controller; on the left is a D-Pad, in the middle are Select and Start Buttons, and there are two buttons on the end serving as “A” and “B” buttons.
Nintendo recently filed a patent on the interface of the virtual console, suggesting that it will be a full emulator, as opposed to using re-written games, and that it may be possible to have extra features such as new characters added to the game.
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Backwards compatibility
The Nintendo Revolution has reportedly been designed to be compatible with Nintendo GameCube software and most peripherals. Standing vertically, the top of Revolution has four GameCube controller ports that will allow the system to be compatible with ordinary GameCube controllers, Nintendo’s wireless Wavebird controller, the DK Bongos, the Nintendo GameCube Game Boy Advance cable, and the Dance Dance Revolution Mario Mix dance pads. It also features two memory card slots that should be fully compatible with all generations of GameCube memory cards (”Memory Card 59″, “Memory Card 251″, and “Memory Card 1019″) and the Nintendo GameCube Microphone. The Nintendo Revolution is designed to accept the tiny Nintendo GameCube discs through the same slot-loading disc drive that will accept standard-sized Revolution game discs and DVD movies; this is a first for slot-loading disc drives, which typically only accept discs of one standard size. Nintendo is no stranger to backwards compatibility, as the Game Boy Advance can play older Game Boy Color and original Game Boy games, and the DS can play Game Boy Advance games. However, it is unclear if it will have the high-speed port required for use with the Game Boy Player accessory, but it is unlikely because of the difference in the Revolution’s and the GameCube’s size (a rectangle against an almost quadratic footprint with different measures). Wii FAQ| wii games and developer support| our partnersCopyright 2007 | Content modified from Wikipedia