From the pioneers of a huge library of downloadable classics to the worst solution of the big 3. GGs Nintendo.

Getting happier by the minute that the NES/SNES classics are so hackable.

I loved the Virtual console. It was one of the reasons I got into the WiiU. I loved owning the games and being able to actually buy them with minimal hassle from the official source. I'd have probably rebought some of them and surely gotten into newer VC systems like GC on my Switch.

If all I'm getting now are 20 NES games (and really pricey Arcade classics/Neo Geo games), I'm not going to lie, it's going to push me back towards piracy. I wan't convenience and I want the assurance that my games will still be there in 10 years, when Nintendos online service in it's current incarnation will probabably be a thing of the past.
If Nintendo decides to make that hard for me through legal means, I'm going to resort to the more convenient option. I wan't to give you money for your old games Nintendo. Keep them easily accessible.

Now if they really flesh out that online service library, with more systems and releases as well as third party games (if not systems, I guess we can kiss the sega systems goodbye..), I'd be kind of ok, but still not happy with it.
Like I said, I prefer owning my games, compared to renting them.

I have this strong feeling that outside of Mario, Zelda and a few other franchises Virtual Console probably never sold that well which is sad because it gave old games a second chance on the legal market

well there it is.

now i will take advantage of the hacked switch. im done.

I am aware, and quite torn over the issue.  I am trying to cope as I feel like this is what is going to happen.

I was really hoping to have every canon Zelda game on my Switch as it is the first console that could effectively run them all outside of the WiiU (and WiiU is all but abandoned).

Sigh...

The VC was awesome, but the games were quite overpriced. Now by including all the games for free in a low cost online subscription, which let's be honest you'd probably get even without retro games on there, you're basically getting a VC subscription service for free. Considering this I'm surprised they aren't charging more for online. Though maybe since they've always made it free in the past they could be viewing it like online is still free but the new model for VC is what costs $20/year and its just all bundled together. Either way this is a much better deal for gamers than the VC was. I'm especially excited for online play of retro games. As long as they release a few new games per month I think this model beats the VC hands down.

I hope they at least have something planned that'll replace it, because I kinda liked having access to a library of retro titles.

I told you people they had other plans for these games. After NES Mini, the writing was on the wall.

I don't understand why people care about this virtual console. I'm far more excited for new games.

Virtual Console was very good for the time, but the industry has shifted massively in the 12 years since it launched. Publishers who once happily contributed to VC have found their own ways of re-packaging and selling their back catalogues - why would they want to buy into Nintendo's model and relinquish control? With the explosion of indie games and the proliferation of other digital content - subscriptions, DLC, microtransactions - regularly releasing emulated games on the eShop no longer makes much sense. There are hundreds of games on eShop already and the service clearly wasn't built to properly handle that amount of content. It's not inconceivable Nintendo's 'classic selection' might be its own app, separate from the eShop. At the very least I would hope Nintendo turn it into a distinct sub-section of the eShop.

Equally, with their Mini hardware range, Nintendo have clearly changed in the way they want to sell their own back catalogue. Given they've shifted 10 million units of Minis so far, it's likely they've made a couple of hundred million (or more) in profit on that hardware. Consider those sales came in a 15 month period, and look at the money Virtual Console generated in the first 12 months - $33 million in revenue. Some estimates in 2010 put the combined revenue from WiiWare and Virtual Console at $125 million for the year; with Virtual Console generating $66 million of that. Those estimates were never proven, but it's also a suggestion the service, while an easy cash earner, has never been a huge deal for Nintendo. Nintendo's perpetually shifting approach to VC was also never a good sign - they didn't develop a clear long-term plan for the service or for cross-platform access to VC games; and given WiiWare appeared 2 or 3 years into Wii's life, and how slow they were to support indies after that, it's also evident Nintendo didn't foresee how big original digital downloads would become. Virtual Console's high point was the first couple of years, in terms of visibility, rate of releases and expansion of the service - everything after that has been hit and miss and that's because Nintendo didn't have a clear long-term strategy for the service once the industry began to shift towards new, original download titles as a meaningful business.

Ultimately I won't be too disappointed, so long as this NES selection is just the start of the service. I think the loss of a unifying label is a big shame, but it's not entirely Nintendo's fault: other publishers are now probably less willing to play ball given they can sell their old titles in their own way. Equally, the popularity of Nintendo's back catalogue could flatten indies who are already struggling to be seen and heard on eShop. If Classic Game Selection becomes a subscription service which offers dozens of titles from past Nintendo systems - and which allows me to buy titles I want to keep - then it may yet turn out well. The 20 NES titles are hopefully just an initial offering, which will gradually expand to include SNES, N64, the GameBoy/Color/Advance, and perhaps even GameCube and Wii. If that happens, it could yet be a strong service. It's really too soon to tell. Given Nintendo's own Arcade Classics releases on Switch, Sega's Ages programme for Switch, and what other publishers have been doing with retro releases on the system, it's been clear for a while a unified VC was never coming - the heyday of a dozen or so systems from different manufacturers under one banner are long-gone.