Screenshots, deets on Revolution's "Virtual Console"?

IGN got their hands on what's supposedly a leaked survey done by Zanthus for Nintendo of America concerning the Revolution's promised/anticipated "Virtual Console" feature, and it contains what could be several tantalizing indicators about the look, content, and pricing structure of this upcoming service. Screencaps and "research stimuli" (that's what eggheads call "questions") from the survey seem to show almost a hundred classic titles available for download from the original NES, SNES, and N64 library (no GameCube downloads, 'cause the Revolution will play those discs natively) priced from $2.99 for Contra to $19.99 for Contra 64, for instance. Also available would be a subscription service, it seems, priced at $14.99 a month for all-you-can-eat. Remember that this was all done hush-hush, so even if legit it might mean absolutely nothing about anything related to the possible Revolution feature tentatively known as the Virtual Console.

[TonyTK @ Jan 12th 2006 6:18PM]

I would not pay 19.99 for a N64 game with the exception of Mario64. 2.99 for a NES seems like a good deal for me as does the 14.99 monthly service.



I'm more interested in seeing the next gen games that will be made for the Revolution.

[idesign @ Jan 12th 2006 6:26PM]

$9.99 would have been the sweet spot... oh well. Now i guess the question is could I hook up an external drive with all the ROMS i've downloaded for free?

[Bob Dole @ Jan 12th 2006 6:28PM]

that is awesome . . . . ugly as sin . . . but awesome none the less.

Hopefully the prices aren't that high tho :-/ Don't think I could justify spending more than, say, $12 bucks on an N64 game.

[QBOX2006 @ Jan 12th 2006 6:29PM]

Wow. I've played N64 games that have better menu's than that.

[Jeff @ Jan 12th 2006 6:32PM]

In case you were wondering how the revolution controller will work...



http://video.google.com/videoplay?docid=2063821498385606325&q=nintendo+revolution

[MaC01 @ Jan 12th 2006 6:33PM]

hmmm, i really hope they redesign that interface, dont get me wrong, i love Nintendo, so i really really hope thats a prototype! but it is a good idea though, and i hope those prices are correct or close, that would really help Nintendo gain some custemors!

[macstibs @ Jan 12th 2006 6:44PM]

Looks like VZW's new crap-ass GUI they're using on all the new phones... but cooler and actually fun!



(Mostly I'm in a "gripe about VZW" kinda mood)

[streetstealth @ Jan 12th 2006 6:59PM]

Calling them "screencaps" is a stretch.



Don't worry, guys--that horrifyingly ugly, Photoshop-kid-meets-American-Gladiators "interface" isn't Nintendo's work at all. Note the part in the article where they say that a marketing firm actually put all this together, just under Nintendo's direction--what you're seeing was put together by Powerpoint suits, not graphic designers, and certainly not Nintendo graphic designers.

[Maxwell @ Jan 12th 2006 7:01PM]

That. Looks. Turd.



Also overpriced. I can download stuff for free, there has to be an incentive, make it cheap enough for me to download it from them rather than putting the effort into doing it myself.

[ken fager @ Jan 12th 2006 7:30PM]

This isn't the interface. Before Medal of Honor for PS2 was played by one of these test groups I spent two weeks at Spark Unlimited. They videotaped me playing the game and were interested on my thoughts about level design/interface/bugs, et al. What was eventually the final product was not the same alpha builds I played. This isn't all too uncommon. Nintendo will spiffy up this mock-up for sure. Don't go all fanboy until the console is released.

[pud-box 360 @ Jan 12th 2006 10:41PM]

Am I the only one who thinks that the video game industry is in a sad state if they are using nostalgic values to promote new consoles? I mean, I LOVE the classic NES/SNES and especially N64 games and consoles. However, making me *pretend* that I am back in college, skipping class and playing 4 player Bond for N64 will not make me want to buy the revolution ... (the novelty will run out quite quickly) ...

[chudoo @ Jan 12th 2006 11:42PM]

It is widely suspected that Nintendo is drawing much inspiration from Apple's iTunes Music Store and will more than likely sell their games for "trivial" amounts.



I find it incredibly hard to believe that any game would sell for more than $10. Even selling a popular N64 game for $5 would bring massive amounts of new revenue to Nintendo...nearly all *profit*...btw...



Remember that these games have long since recouped their production costs, and are they are not being manufactured

nor sold anymore.



Essentially, they are the valuable antiques in Nintendo's attic.

and to quote John Conner from T2...

"Easy money"





**Off Topic....

iTMS's pricing is hardly original though..

Dollar Store owners have long known that people will often buy much more than they had originally intended because the items are of such negligible cost. As Apple has found, the "dollar gimmick" works well in driving sales and still allows for nice profit margins...Nintendo could stand to make even more considering that their products require nearly no additional production costs. Their products could simply be pulled from their dusty archives and thrust back onto the market as surefire money making machines once again. Nintendo, the only profitable console maker, is very clever!

[JamesP @ Jan 13th 2006 12:39AM]

excellent video, am defo warming to the rev now, but wont you get sore arms playing with it for an extended time?

[Rob @ Jan 13th 2006 7:35AM]

That can't be the true style of the menus. Surely nintendo would design it with some aspect of the revolution design in mind.

[WizarDru @ Jan 13th 2006 7:53AM]

I knew from the moment I saw the screen cap, even with the news story, that this wasn't from Nintendo. They are masters of making attractive and simple interfaces, and this just doesn't look like something they'd design.



I expect that the prices for these games will probably fall into some nebulous zone between a cheap rental and a cheap purchase. I'm still reminded that many people purchased the classic NES games for the GBA for $20 a pop. I wasn't one of them, but I suspect there are many who would. And quite a few people bought the Super Mario releases on the GBA, which have mostly been marginal updatings of the original NES releases...and those at $25-35 a pop. However, in those cases, you get to retain the physical media...here, even when you 'buy' the game, you don't get to really keep it...so I suspect that will factor into the price.

[lupinstel @ Jan 13th 2006 8:34AM]

The GUI looks like the menu from a $2 Wal-mart bargain bin DVD.

[Phil @ Jan 13th 2006 8:47AM]

Those aren't screenshots, they're mockups. Vital difference. My guess is Nintendo just gave them some specs of what they needed on each screen and these research guys got some of their marketing guys (everyone has marketing guys, these days) to do their thing and make some mockups.

[Ken @ Jan 13th 2006 8:57AM]

As long as I can buy Duck Hunt to donwload Then I will be buying the Revolution!

[geltoob @ Jan 13th 2006 10:11AM]

Those screenshots are 16x9, isn't the Revolution supposed to be standard definition only? And if so, is it going to support 16x9 standard def tvs? That would be weird.

[Samuel Lago @ Jan 13th 2006 10:19AM]

100 titles, is that it?! One doesn't reign as THE supreme monopoly in the games market no matter how early in its evolution with a mere 100 titles! what about all the others, every single game should be up, even the shitty Barbie ones.

[Nate MC @ Jan 13th 2006 3:53PM]

Well thats all I needed to hear. Forget the revolution, I'm building a mame box.

[anonymous @ Jan 13th 2006 5:44PM]

after reading nintendo's new patent about the Virtual Service, I thought I saw a part of it that suggested that the games you download from the Virtual might have a transfer capablitity that would allow you to play your games on the DS. I could be wrong about what they were trying put across though