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JoRu said: In terms of the technology used, true. But Nintendo was the ones who showed the market possibilities when you make motion the centerpiece of the entire hardware rather than an accessory like EyeToy or a Guitar Hero-instrument. Yes, Nintendo made motion controls mainstream, Kudos for that. Sure, emulation has been possible a long time, but from a market standpoint; utilizing digital distribution to sell those old games again was a great idea courtesy of Nintendo. Instead of just making hardware backwards compatible to make transitions between consoles smoother you essentially put old games back on the market (= $$$), making money not just from added value to the hardware but actually having previously unavailable content (legally) made easily available on your new platform. Sony and Microsoft would've probably done it eventually, but not that quickly and perhaps not that successfully.
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Before digital distribution, the classics were monetized in compilations (since retail distribution was too costly for single classic games). Many of that compilations are available since the Nineties: Atari Masterpieces / Action Packs, Activision Anthology, Midway Arcade's Greatest Hits, Sonic Collection, Lost Treasures of Infocom, Interplay Anthology Collection...
Steam established digital distribution many years before the Virtual Console startet. Microsoft followed with the first XBLA games 2005 (they had no own classics, so they had to offer other small download titles) and game demos. Digital distribution of classics and other games would have happened on Sony and Microsoft platforms not later, if Nintendo had not made its move. The infrastructure was there and selling software additionally to offering free demos was a logical step.
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