Nintendo closes the store and reveals a short memory of the game industry – 22/02/2022 – Mercado

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Nintendo announced last Tuesday (15) that it will deactivate its virtual stores for Wii U and 3DS consoles in March 2023. According to the statement, as of May 23, it will not be possible to make purchases with a credit card in these stores.

The Japanese company justified the measure as “part of the normal life cycle of any product because it is less used by consumers.” In fact, from a purely commercial point of view, the decision seems logical.

The Wii U is one of Nintendo’s biggest failures. 13.56 million units of the console have been sold since its launch in 2012 (its successor, the Switch, sold 8 times as much in half the time) and since 2020 no games have been released for it.

3DS mode is a little better. The portable console was launched in 2011 and has sold 75.9 million units, and the portable console has received new games until last year. However, since the Switch hit the market in 2017, the number of releases has dropped dramatically.

On the other hand, the closure of the store is worrying researchers in the history of video games and collectors, because this decision could make hundreds of games disappear forever.

Secondly Clear Videogame Website ChronicleMore than a thousand exclusive 3DS or Wii U games that were released only in the digital version will be out of the market. This is the case of games like “Dr Luigi”, “Pokémon Rumble U” for the Wii U, “Pokémon Picross” for the 3DS, and others.

In addition, even physical versions of games are not safe because the natural deterioration of discs, electronic components of consoles, and cartridges can render them unusable in 15 or 20 years.

One solution that has been pointed out to this problem is that major video game companies are investing in emulators for older consoles. These computer programs allow games to be played on platforms other than the ones for which they were originally developed.

For example, said Phil Spencer, CEO of Microsoft’s gaming division In an interview with Axios Who sees these programs as a good way for the industry to better preserve its past.

“My hope (and I think I should view it that way from now on) is that we as an industry are working on some form of legal emulation that allows modern hardware to run any old game (within reason),” he said.

The word “cute” is important in an executive sentence. Offline console emulators are already widely used, but are seen as a form of piracy by the video game industry for violating intellectual property and copyright laws.

According to Washington MailEven requests for exceptions from these laws by researchers and academics interested in studying the history of video games have met with strong opposition from the ESA (Association of Entertainment Software), an organization representing major video game distributors and developers in the United States.

As a paid member of the ESA, Nintendo funds lobbyists to prevent even libraries from granting legal access to games. [de consoles que saíram de linha]. Not providing commercial access is understandable, but, in addition, preventing the institutional work to preserve these titles is destroying the history of video games,” as highlighted on social media, the Video Game History Foundation, a non-profit entity dedicated to preserving On the history of video games after the announcement of the Japanese company.

In the current situation, if the video game industry itself does not give real importance to preserving its products, more and more games will be forgotten and erased from history.

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Game tip, new or old, for you to test

Super Mario Globalism
(Super Nintendo)

Since we’re talking about classic games… that were released in 1990, “Super Mario World” was the best-selling title of Super Nintendo and considered one of the best platform games ever. In addition to his limitless influence on the industry, he remains up-to-date and entertaining to this day. It can be played on Switch and is one of 50 Super Nintendo emulator games available to Nintendo Switch Online subscribers.

Update

News, launches, business and what else matters

• Former CD Projekt RED employees who were involved in developing games like “The Withcher 3” and “Cyberpunk 2077” banded together to form a new studio called Rebel Wolves. According to Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, who was responsible for the project and was the director of “The Witcher 3”, the new studio in Warsaw (Poland) is already working on a new RPG.
• Wired Productions, developer of Martha Is Dead, stated on Twitter that the title will contain censored parts in its PlayStation 4 and 5 version. The game has been described as a dark psychological thriller set in World War II Italy, and contains sensitive scenes. The PC and Xbox console versions will be released without modification.
• Nintendo has announced that “The Legend of Zelda: Majora’s Mask,” a game for the Nintendo 64 released in 2000, will arrive next Friday (25th) on the Switch Online subscription service. To access the address, it is necessary to subscribe to the extended version of the service.
• A day after its release, on February 11, the free-to-play RPG “Lost Ark” from Smilegate and distributed by Amazon, reached a peak of 1.32 million concurrent users on Steam, surpassing top game brands such as “Counter Strike: Global Offensive” and “Dota”. 2″ and “Cyberpunk 2077”. The title is second only to “PUBG: Battlegrounds”, which holds the record of 3.25 million concurrent players on the platform.

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Games coming out in the next few days and promotions that are worth it

February 22

• Destiny 2: The Witch Queen: 119.99 BRL (PC, PS 4/5, Xbox One/X/S)

February 24

• Martha is dead BRL 51.29 (PC), BRL 149.50 (PS 4/5), price not disclosed (Xbox One/X/S)
• “Never Alone: ​​Arctic Collection”: BRL 76.45 (Switch)

February 25

• Elden Ring: R$ 249.90 (PC) and R$ 299.90 (PS 4/5 and Xbox One/X/S)
• Network of Legends: R$249.90 (PC), R$299 (Xbox One/X/S), R$299.90 (PS 4/5)