Nintendo Switch Vs. Virtual Console part 2: Platform Breakdown

Last post I took a look at the entirety of the Nintendo switch’s retro library and how it stacks up to the Wii, Wii U, and 3DS offerings. While the virtual console had a lot more to offer than the Nintendo Switch Online Apps, including all of the seperate standalone and compilation releases on switch shows that it actually does have more to offer in terms of total number of titles than any system to date. So why does it feel lacking to so many people? To understand that, we’ll have to look at how the specific titles on offer have changed since the Wii U virtual console days in terms of both their original platforms and publishers. Let’s start with the original platform spread:

Titles By Original Platform

A couple things to note: some titles are in fact being double counted here, unlike the “unique titles” chart from before. If a game released on Super Nintendo, Genesis, and the Arcade (as Street Fighter II), then each of those totals was increased by one. A large reason for lumping many titles into the “other” category was the difficulty of tracking all the multiplatform games. For switch, “Other” is primarily Xbox, Xbox 360, Playstation, Playstation 2, and Playstation 3 titles, many of which were multi-platform releases. Though it also includes Sega Master System, Dreamcast, PC, PSP, Vita, Commodore 64, and MSX2. Most of those only have a few titles, so they wouldn’t show much on the chart individually.

The switch does very well when it comes to earlier console games. As of writing this list, the SNES selection has actually surpassed (in number if not in quality) even the wii virtual console! The newly announced lineup of N64 games will nearly match the virtual console selection, and since it includes some never-on-virtual-console games like Winback and Banjo Kazooie, will likely surpass it as more get added. Notice too the large number of Atari 2600 and 5200 games that came via the Atari Flashback collection, something that was not so available on the Wii, Wii U, or 3DS. Even the NES library is close to the Wii VC level and may very well surpass it by the end of the Switch’s life. One exception is the Turbografx-16, which was very present on the Wii and returned on Wii U only to all but disappear on switch. The reason for this is of course the Turbografx mini system, which puts Konami in direct competition with the switch in this area. Another is the handhelds from this earlier era, which saw a good deal of support on the 3DS and only the 3DS. The virtual console there was certainly tailored to the handheld quality of that system. Switch has yet to get any such support from nintendo on that front, with the few gameboy games coming over mostly being included in collections from Square (SaGa, Secret of Mana) and Konami (Contra, Castlevania).

One thing becomes immediately obvious: the Switch has little or no support for many platforms that were on Virtual console in the past, primarily nintendo’s handheld systems. I’ve arranged the platforms in roughly chronological order to make this even more clear. This is the heart of complaints about the virtual console being the better option. Virtual Console had game boy advance games, while the switch does not. If you are looking to relive your memories of your favorite games and those happen to be things like Golden Sun or Wario Land, the switch is not the place to do it, at least right now. I want to point out that this is a perfectly valid criticism. That’s why I took the time to break down my list this way.

The later platforms such as the GBA and DS were seeing the most support on the Wii U virtual console. While I don’t think it’s the correct conclusion to draw, I could see a marketing executive looking at data like this and concluding that, since the Wii U did not sell well, re-releasing GBA and DS games is not something consumers want. Could Nintendo’s reluctance to bring these games over to switch be due to the Wii U’s failure? A similar conclusion following the lackluster sales of the Playstation mini may have led Sony to the same conclusion regarding the importance of their legacy content.

Titles By Original Platform, Continued

I don’t believe this cutoff around the end of the 16-bit era is arbitrary. It may be caused by technical limitations. The N64 in particular has proven difficult to emulate effectively. But I think there is another explanation. There are many people who see N64 and beyond as something other than truly “retro.” What few games the switch has available from this later era are usually “remasters”; particularly the xbox and playstation titles that make up the “other” category. There seems to be an assumption that consumers will only buy these games if they are touched up or modernized i some way. Which of course takes more resources to do, leaving a lot of potential ports on the cutting room floor. There may be an assumption that only much older fans wanting to relive the 8-bit and 16-bit eras are interested in the idea of “retro” games at all. Of course, one look at the current price of Gamecube games today would show that there is in fact demand for these games, most of which have never been re-released. But that may be dismissed as the hobby of collectors who make up only a small portion of the market. Yet the addition of N64 to the service may be a turning point. Some of the confirmed games coming to NSO were not available on virtual console before, so the switch may have the largest collection of n64 re-releases yet. Could we see gamecube next? Or, since sega is participating now, Saturn and Dreamcast?

Here’s hoping this is just the beginning

I do believe this gives some insight into the history of virtual console and NSO and hope that it reframes the conversation to help us put into words why the current offering seems lackluster to some people. But we’re not through yet! Next post, I’ll be looking at a similar breakdown of the list, this time by publisher.