Revolution to emulate Genesis and TurboGrafx

Well, as predicted, Iwata-san didn't announce a price, date, or even officially name the Revolution at his keynote speech at GDC this year, but they did announce one very interesting tidbit. Remember how the Revolution is going to play games from and emulate every Nintendo home console to date, starting with the NES? Well, that's not all: they're also including emulation for the Sega Genesis and Turbo Grafx. Seriously, who would have thought back in the 80s such bitter rivals would eventually become so subsumed to the N as to become a retro software package? So if y'all been missing Bonk or Sonic and haven't been up to the eBay hunt (or garage sale circuit) to get your fix, just hold out. Who knows, hold out long enough and maybe, just maybe, we'll get some Saturn, 3DO, and Jaguar support, too.

[Via Joystiq]

[shelly @ Mar 24th 2006 11:00AM]

Ever try calling the help line on the back of your SNES.
If you haven't yet..
Do.

You will be interested you hear what/who is on the other line.

[NT @ Mar 24th 2006 11:00AM]

dear diary...jackpot

[daschupa @ Mar 24th 2006 11:03AM]

Come on neo geo support, coooooome onnnnnn!!!!

[Black Guy @ Mar 24th 2006 11:05AM]

This is what MS should be doing w/ Xbox Live instead of releaseing all those gay ass puzzle games and sorry titles from 30 years ago.

[NNTPgrip @ Mar 24th 2006 11:06AM]

More and more everyday I am thinking that Nintendo will get my business again, and my power bill/hatred of fan noise/financial priorities will not allow for me to upgrade my PS2 and XBOX to their successors. (Although give me an 360 where the main chip is at 65nm or smaller, giving both a reducion in power and heat, couple that with a smaller power supply that doesn't have to be out in the open, like a "Service Pack 1" for the dashboard to clear up bugs, and some more compatability updates to cover the rest of the Team Ninja stuff + a price reduction - and I'm there - give me 2nd Gen PS3 and a price reduction and I'll be there too sight-unseen)

Now if what they have here is sanctioned emulators, offering rom downloads, BUT ALSO allowing for the playing of roms off of any removable media or network shares. I WILL pre-order and stand in line to get mine on day one. (Haven't done that since I was 16 for N64)

[Josh Wardell @ Mar 24th 2006 11:07AM]

I can't wait. I just hope they play downloadable ROMs, or sell a 500-in-one cart for cheap.

[dalton @ Mar 24th 2006 11:08AM]

I would kill for Dreamcast emulation... hello Virtua Tennis and Soul Caliber!

[Ryan Waddell @ Mar 24th 2006 11:09AM]

Funnily enough, the XBox can already do this. Ok, it might not be technically *legal*, but let it not be said that the Revolution is the first to do it! :)

[Justin @ Mar 24th 2006 11:10AM]

Call me hardcore, but I'd rather own the real things.

[former Sega employee @ Mar 24th 2006 11:12AM]

No you won't be able to play your own roms via memory unit or any other source, only games paid for and downloaded to cache memory via Nintendo online. Once you shut off your Revolution you will lose any image, requiring you to purchase it again.

[Revels @ Mar 24th 2006 11:13AM]

Do you REALLY think you'll be able to play your own dubiously aquired roms on the system? Seriously?

[Kamalot @ Mar 24th 2006 11:17AM]

Wow wow wow!

SEGA!

This is fabulous news. It is like Nintendo is legitimizing the last 20 years of video games. Much like you can pick up a classic movie on DVD to enjoy the oldies, you can now do the same with video games. A great video game, like a great movie, may be old and not as flashy as modern creations, but timeless is always timeless.

[DG @ Mar 24th 2006 11:18AM]

I'd would really enjoy Saturn emulation. That's probably asking for way too much (paricularly for such a small audience), but man, that would be terrific.

[former Sega employee @ Mar 24th 2006 11:21AM]

dalton wrote: 6. I would kill for Dreamcast emulation... hello Virtua Tennis and Soul Caliber!


Why not just pick up a Sega Dreamcast? You can find them on eBay for as low as $15.00 usd.

[Kamalot @ Mar 24th 2006 11:22AM]

Sega employee: I believe the ROMs will be stored on the Revolution's 512mb is internal memory. You won't have to buy the ROM again. In fact, you can archive it to an SD card for safe storage.

SD cards are cheap too.

[obby @ Mar 24th 2006 11:23AM]

As fun as retro gaming is, this smacks of desparation from Ninty to me. I mean, if we all really wanted to play all these 'great' old games developers wouldn't be trying to make new games at all.

Nope, this looks like Nintendo knows its out of the gaming races.

How long before we can only get Nintendo games from Argos, all on one retro controller that you plug into the TV?

I love Nintendo (I bought a 'cube only this week), but I think unless the Revolution is completely mindblowing this could be their last 'proper' console.

[keith coutinho @ Mar 24th 2006 11:23AM]

"No you won't be able to play your own roms via memory unit or any other source, only games paid for and downloaded to cache memory via Nintendo online. Once you shut off your Revolution you will lose any image, requiring you to purchase it again."


if this is true, i think an XBOX software modded, with emulators, media player etc is better than this.

can ppl get console emulators on the 360 yet?

[former Sega employee @ Mar 24th 2006 11:24AM]

As of right now, this is a Japan only project. There are intelligence properties that have not been resolved for the U.S.

[DarkMavis @ Mar 24th 2006 11:29AM]

@ NT - LOL

On another note, I'd like to see some Sega Master System games included as well. Some of my fonder memories come from trying to complete Kenseiden.

[x2y @ Mar 24th 2006 11:32AM]

This is a great move by Nintendo, Grabing the 80s kids minds/heart with the toys (games) they played eariler in life. While bringing new customers with a excellent control mechanism. Bonk, Sonic, Mario together thas awesome. The Rev should be able to Emulate Sega Saturn.
Dam I'm going to preorder mine tomarrow at Gamecrazy.
Already own a 360, waiting on Gears of Wars and Halo3, but dam only Geometry Wars has me playing the system at all.......

[ECM @ Mar 24th 2006 11:40AM]

15: Desperation? You do realize those little game joystick thingees sell tons of units, right? Sounds like smart business to me if you have a monstrous back-catalogue of titles to draw from. You also realize that Nintendo and co. HAVE been re-releasing their old games for years, right? I guess they're all "desperate" too...*rolls eyes*

[William @ Mar 24th 2006 11:40AM]

Turn the Revolution controller on its side and you get an NES controller. With the Game Cube controller ports on the system companies can make off-brand controllers to play emulated games. Possibilities are endless, same with Nintendo's innovation. Anyone heard any more about the Revolution being able to hook up and played using a computer monitor?

[Princess Zelda @ Mar 24th 2006 11:45AM]

This is going to be a lot of fun. I never owned a Sega Genesis and am looking forward to play some Golden Axe and other great games I missed out on. I did have a Turbo Grafx 16 but could afford only a few games being able to play Hudsons soft games again is great.

My kids are so lucky, cheap fun games downloadable in seconds. I don't mind paying for the old games, I'll play them more if I have to pay for them. Plus Nintendo makes great games if I can support them I should. It's not like it's going to break my budget to pay for the Virtual Console games I'll be buying.

[Loban @ Mar 24th 2006 11:46AM]

Emulation of retro games is a HUGE deal. Anyone who's ever used a emulator on a PC knows this. This could be huge for Nintendo, especially if they manage to get other companies on board. I can't wait to play Sonic on my Revolution.

[ty @ Mar 24th 2006 11:49AM]

It would be completely awsome if Nintendo released wireless versions of the old skool NES and SNES pads .. i would totally freak out.

[Ed @ Mar 24th 2006 11:53AM]

i think the key business here is a subscription model. for 9.99/month you can play all the emulator games. at that point hacking the system to add roms is pointless.

(i have no insider info or anything, just though of it from reading the post & comments)

[djphatjive @ Mar 24th 2006 11:55AM]

Who cares. I have a friend that has every game systems known to man and arcade game rom on his 300 gig HD. From Atari all the way up to PS2. Oh and Handheld also. He launches them from GBPVR on his tv and plays them. Think of that, I think its something like 100,000 games or something. Lol

ITS CRAZYYYY!!!

[Jason Lynx @ Mar 24th 2006 12:07PM]

Not impressed.

[Adam @ Mar 24th 2006 12:16PM]

I love how people are like "Oh this is stupid, you can just emulate it on your xbox/computer." Honestly, how many people do this? Not many. This brings the old systems back to people who don't know that emulators exist, or where to find roms, or even how to use a PC (let along mod an xbox). Which, lets be honest, is most people.

I know for a fact that my father (50 yrs old) would love to play the old games, but put him infront of an IE browser and say "find marble madness and play it" he would give up after 10 minutes, but he would pay 2 bucks to get it without hassle.

Its the same idea behind iTunes, make something easy and fast, people will pay for it. I know I can find the song in MP3, but, hell, I don't really feel like dealing with finding it.

[DjHyjak @ Mar 24th 2006 12:30PM]

Ive asked this when they said they would offer Nentindos old cataloge, But does this mean all the games that were playable on the genisis or the first party games that sega already owns. i think alot of companies would be mad if nintendo and sega were giving away thier properties.

[trev @ Mar 24th 2006 12:37PM]

What about Neo Geo emulation too? Metal Slug and Samuri Showdown anyone?

=D

[Dman @ Mar 24th 2006 12:50PM]

"Not impressed."

And you never will be.

[L. Gordon @ Mar 24th 2006 1:06PM]

Any word on how much the downloading of these roms is going to cost? $5 to $10 a game seems my guess, but that will add up pretty fast.

[former Sega employee @ Mar 24th 2006 1:10PM]

"Its the same idea behind iTunes, make something easy and fast, people will pay for it. I know I can find the song in MP3, but, hell, I don't really feel like dealing with finding it."

I disagree. That's why recent studies of teenagers show 92% don't pay for music, but download free music.

Adults just don't have time for these things, namely games and have to concentrate on making money to support their teenagers college tuition.

[WGIII @ Mar 24th 2006 1:15PM]

I see no need for this, as I already can play all these retro games on my PSP thru emulation and a 2gb ms. On the go gaming at it's best.

And besides the ms cost, the rest is free.

[Bob @ Mar 24th 2006 1:20PM]

Bonk! Bloody Wolf! Neutopia!

Awesome, Awesomer and Awesomest!

[play free games @ Mar 24th 2006 1:25PM]

Smart move by Nintendo on this one. While many people have tried emulation on their pc's, Nintendo should make the process for consoles very easy and streamlined so everyone can try it and use it. I also want Neo-Geo emulation!

[Bill Gates @ Mar 24th 2006 1:25PM]

Doh!

[croger1998 @ Mar 24th 2006 1:30PM]

I know once the new Nintendo Revolution comes out, I am getting one. Nintendo has made a very smart move with this new platform. The fact you will be able to download old games and play them wins me over as I am a die hard fan of all the old nintendo games. I am also looking forward to the new controllers as well. The controller (remote) will take some getting used to, but I believe it is a move in the right direction for Nintendo. I predict that the nintendo revolution will outsell the PS3 and XBOX 360 in number of units sold, just based on the fact of the ability to play older games. Anyone want to make a wager on that?

[Balls @ Mar 24th 2006 1:41PM]

Okay, if true, Nintendo has just sold me on the Revo.

True, you can do it on the Xbox, not legally of course, and you can do it on the PC as well, however, this is the first time its (in theory) going to be legal.

I don't see it as being a desperation move on Ninty's part. It's smart I think. They're trying to reach a broader audience with the Revo, but offering old school games might be enough to catch the attention of the older gamers that grew up on NES,SNES, and the Genesis, who are targeted by the 360 and PS3.

As for the GAY Xbox live comment #4, XBL will soon have SF2. It's not much, but its a start.

[Jedda @ Mar 24th 2006 1:50PM]

What if a system like this had access to these downloaded games. Essentially it would be a portable virtual console. That would be sweet!

http://www.engadget.com/2005/05/05/portable-nintendo-gamecube/

[miguel @ Mar 24th 2006 2:00PM]

I already have 2 PSPs and and xbox360 (both disappointments) and orginally had no intention of getting a Revolution. The more I read, however, the more it sounds like the real winner of next-gen console war will be the Nintendo.

[NNTPgrip @ Mar 24th 2006 2:04PM]

Would be kick ass if somehow (since this emulation is coming from the actual game manufacturers), AND most of these games are sidescrollers, hacks could be placed into the I guess you would call them "system maps" to enable widescreen (at least for some games) Imagine Super Mario All-Stars in a "Supereagle-like" mode, anti-aliased to hell and back, and 16:9 allowing you to see just that much more of the map forward and back while running though the level. Best Marios EVAR...

[Paul @ Mar 24th 2006 2:06PM]

"25. It would be completely awsome if Nintendo released wireless versions of the old skool NES and SNES pads .. i would totally freak out."

http://www.nintendoland.com/graphics/rest/double_play_1.jpg
http://www.nintendocity.com/pictures/box_scans/nes/wireless_controller_back.jpg



Where were you 15 years ago?

[bigmouthstrikesagain @ Mar 24th 2006 2:11PM]

dude, Saturn had some great games... NiGHTS, Radiant Silvergun, the first (and best) Layer Section and a million and one 2-d space shooters, Sengoku Blade, Cotton 2, Bulk Slash, GunGriffon series... plus all the Capcom fighters and loads of NeoGeo ports that were as good and often better than the originals, Metal Slug, Waku Waku 7, Twinklestar Sprites... after all it was a popular system in Japan, just not here... or Europe... or probably anywhere else.

I could take or leave stuff like Virtua Cop, but that, Sega Rally, Daytona or Fighters Megamix with better resolution would be nice.

I;ve had every major system since the Genesis (except for N64, TurboGrafx and teh Xboxen) and probably still have more Saturn games than anything else.

Dreamcast emulation would be nice too.

Revolution is looking better and better, I was sold on it last year.

[Thill @ Mar 24th 2006 2:17PM]

While I think this is interesting news, and many people will be happy about it, I am not that excited to play old games..

Let me start by saying that I have owned almost every gaming machine since the Atari 2600, but too be honest I have moved on. The future of gaming for me is now, on my Xbox 360 (and possibly PS3 in Nov) and my 56" DLP TV in HD. The fact that Nintendo is not going to support HD, was very dissapointing.

Going from standard definition to high definition is the equivalant of going from tape cassette to compact disc to me. I would much rather play Call of Duty 2 on Xbox Live on my 56" HD TV and rockin surround sound system, than an 8bit video game with mono sound. Yeah the games are still fun, but why live in the past?

Anyway, I am sure I will get beatup by all the Nintendo fanboys for saying this, but I am excited about the next generation of gaming, not games from four console generations ago....

[numbah40one @ Mar 24th 2006 2:27PM]

To all you fools out there who say "who cares? I can do this already with " about all this Virtual Console stuff... that's great. You're a frackin' technical genius.

The rest of us (approximately 95%+ of us) either don't have the technical know-how or the wish to spend so much time setting up and finding emulators/ROMS on the net. Add to that the vast differences in various people's PC specs... it can be a maddening experience getting certain store-bought PC games to get up and running. Configuring emulators, files, ROMs, and what not just takes a fun experience and turns it into a chore for the vast majority of us. Oh, and a lot of us HATE playing console games on a PC.

Nintendo's service will not fail. It may not be all that original (360), but the ease and availability of content makes this a very sound business move/model.

[Schnazer @ Mar 24th 2006 2:31PM]

Is this really such exciting news? Well, for Nintendo fanboys/girls ;-) It seems to me that ROMs (especially Nintendo's) are available everywhere you turn... from the PC and modded Xbox, to the GBA/DS. As for backwards compatibility, it's pretty much expected nowadays (pay attention Xbox team!). Pretty soon every console and handheld will be able to play every type of game ever devised (maybe even legit!)! While this is still really cool news, I'm more excited about the PSP being able to play ROMs of PSone games this fall :-D But that's just me!

[silks @ Mar 24th 2006 2:32PM]

This is hardly desperation on Nintendo's part. It's brilliant business. They literally have thousands of games sitting on the shelf, why not make money off of them? It's a proven fact that people will pay a lot of money for retro games if given the right "packaging" (look at the success of Nintendo's NES Classics series for the GameBoy), so they'd be idiots not to have a massive retro library for Revolution.

As for the "Anybody can get ROMs for free" argument, come on. To play them on your PSP you have to buy the PSP ($250) plus at least a 1GB Memory Stick ($100) to make it worthwhile. And then you have to figure out how to do it. Doesn't sound free to me. And how much does a PC cost? Hundreds if not thousands of dollars, plus an internet connection is required to get the ROMs...that doesn't sound free either. On top of that you have the research time required to figure out how to get the ROMs and get MAME working, which only the hardcore are going to bother to do.

You can't compare gettings ROMs to getting MP3s either - MP3s are much more widely available, and you don't have to do anything but drag-and-drop them into Windows Media Player or your iPod to play them. As long as you can save a file to your hard drive, you can play it. You don't have to be technically savvy in the least.

Suddenly the Revolution, with its rumoured $199 price tag and the ability to download retro games (and save them to memory permanently...no, they will not be erased when you turn off the system) for cheap at the touch of a button doesn't seem too bad. The rumour is that you'll be able to get unlimited access to the entire game catalog for $14.99/month (which will probably be $9.99/month when it's all said and done), right in line with what you'd pay for a service like Netflix. And IMHO, you get a hell of a lot more entertainment value for that money than with Netflix.

[henry @ Mar 24th 2006 3:07PM]

#46

I agree with you that old games might be fun but they look tired compared to many newer games. I like the xbox360 approach better. New updated versions of old
classics.

The omission of HD for Revolution might turn out to be a costly mistake for Nintendo. Might look really old in a years time. HD TV's are getting more and more common. It will also hamper crossplatform games for them. New games will come on 360/PC/PS3 and Revolution will be left out.