Nintendo iQue Set To Go Online

An anonymous reader writes "The Nintendo iQue looks set to go online. The china-market console is based on N64 architecture and the long awaited iQue USB upgrade cable should be available in 2 weeks. The cable will allow users to download new games , enable online play of N64 ported titles , update the console via the internet and it will allow communication with other iQue owners. This move could signal Nintendo's online gaming ambitions for the DS handheld and their next generation home entertainment console."

Why not us?

[Apreche]

I can understand why a product like this is released in China. But why not also release it here? I mean, the only official X games in one stuff we get is Atari stuff. If we want legal NES games we have to go pay $20 for one game for the GBA. Yet china gets multiple N64 games in a single cheap unit? There are bootleg controllers you can buy with every NES ROM ever in a single unit. Nintendo, make an NES controller with every important NES game ever init. Then do the same thing for SNES. People will buy it. Hey, then you can put it online and people can pay 50 cents per rom. If you want to stop piracy/emulation you have to sell it.

Re:Why not us?

[KDR_11k]

I can pretty much gurantee that the majority of slashdotters would boycott Nintendo if this device ever came to the US since its delivery system is geared for an environment where cheap bootlegs represent the majority of games sold: It is completely locked down with DRM and games are only sold "online" (in special stations in stores), delivery is digital and tied to your key (stored on your memorycard). A game can be redownloaded for free if you already bought it for this card and games cost 5$ a piece. Sin

Re:Why not us?

[Guppy06]

(OK, time to do mental back-flips and justify my own double standard...)

The big difference between music and video games in my mind is what you intend to use it on. With music, most people intend to listen to it on a variety of devices in different places, be it a walkman, a car stereo, a home a/v setup or a computer. Being a passive media, people don't like to think about whether they have the right permissions on a file and/or the right proprietary hardware to listen to it where they happen to be.

With

Re:Why not us?

[Zangief]

Well, you can't blame Nintendo. They are trying to sell this device in China, which is the mayor piracy center in the world.

Re:Why not us?

[KevinKnSC]

I'd be happy if they'd release the NES/SNES/N64 ROMS as a [series of] collection[s] for the GameCube. We know it can emulate the NES and probably the SNES as well, and they've been able to make small changes to N64 games to make them playable on the Cube. I think a lot of people would pay for that, and the development costs would be essentially zero.

Re:Why not us?

[ZzzzSleep]

I think that the closest you'll get to that at the moment is Animal Crossing.... :-(

there's a reason i foe'd you

[Acidic_Diarrhea]

Because Nintendo releases those single games on the GBA for $20 in the U.S. and they sell. Those bootleg controllers with all the NES games sell for about $20 and so people would expect about that price point for those types of units - even ones released by Nintendo. So, think about it - release all Nintendo produced games [your idea to release every NES ROM lacks intellectual maturity since you should have realized that Nintendo doesn't own the rights to many, many games released for the NES] and make $20

Re:there's a reason i foe'd you

[MisterSquid]

I just wanted to say that I am HONORED you have picked me as your foe. Now the button next to your name is an appropriate color.

Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Re:there's a reason i foe'd you

[Apreche]

wow. um, you started out ok, but what's with the intelligence insulting? I do realize that Nintendo doesn't own the rights to many of the NES games, and that would prevent them from releasing many of them. However, a slashdot post is not a bill in congress. I don't need to to specify every detail of every little thing. It's just casual conversation.

Consider yourself equally foe'd. I'd love to have a childish insult war with you, because you seem to like that sort of thing, but your slasdhot username says i

Re:Why not us?

[Guppy06]

"But why not also release it here?"

For all we know, there will be an iQue type of service for the DS when it launches. The hardware can handle N64 games and there is supposed to be a heavy online presence for the handheld, so all it would need is a blank cartridge like the iQue has...

Re:No subject can be thought of

[wongn]

Ok. That was a slightly silly commment on my part about the controller size and medium :s. I had failed to dig around and look for more information about it.

"The iQue Player is Nintendo's controller-style console that was released in China at November 21, 2003. The console connects directly to the TV and is based on N64 hardware"

"Games for the iQue Player are not available the traditional way, they have to be downloaded to a 64 Mega Byte Flash Cartridge that is included with the system. In order to dow

Re:No subject can be thought of

[Mekabyte]

The thing is, the controller IS the repackaged N64, accounting for its size. And yes, it uses a Flash card (custom) as its medium. There really isn't a reason to give them a N64 cartridge backwards compatible slot since the Chinese market shouldn't have had direct access to them in the first place and the new games are all Chinese-language localized whereas the old ones would be in Japanese, English, etc. The nice thing about this new service is that it keeps track of which games you have purchased, so when your Flash card becomes full, you don't have to worry about deleting your games to free space because you can just download them again without repaying.

Re:No subject can be thought of

[Guppy06]

That's because nobody believes they actually have the games available for the system (if it even exists). Whoever doubts that Nintendo has games to offer (and good games at that) has been living under a rock since the 1970's.

Re:No subject can be thought of

[KDR_11k]

And then give Chinese customers a much bigger software choice by giving them "backwards" compatibiilty with the original cartridges.

And more importantly, give them compatibility with counterfeit carts. In China few people buy retail since that's way too expensive, counterfeits are much cheaper than the original stuff. Nintendo can sell old games for 5$ a piece and still make a profit since delivery costs next to zero and the development costs have long been paid for, thereby equalling or undercutting the

Re:10 games total?

[Guppy06]

"I know nintendo 3rd party support hasn't been that great lately, but comm'on !"

They're SNES and N64 games (or is it just N64 games?). It's not a matter of seeking developers as much as getting the right to offer third-party games in such a format to a market that is known to be very pirate-friendly. I'd bet the iQue will have to demonstrate how locked-down the device and the network is before they get permission to distribute, say, Gauntlet Legends appear for the device.

Besides, it could be worse: th

So, wait...

[RyoShin]

So a re-worked console from a generation ago released in a country known for it's rampant piracy of video games (both in physical and digital form) gets not only the ability to play both N64 and SNES games, but also has it so that some of those games can play online, all while the current next-gen system in more 'moral' countries has something like 5 games internet ready? Hell, the Gamecube doesn't even come with a browser for online use (does the broadband/modem adapter come with one?)

I call shenanigans.

Goldeneye Online....

[Anonymous Coward]

So would this mean that my dreams of an online N64 version of Goldeneye come true???

Re:Why would this sell?

[Guppy06]

Online Mario Kart goodness.

Funny how...

[pappy97]

Funny how the Chinese get to play classic N64 games online, but Nintendo GameCube online is still a PATHETIC JOKE. Tell me, can you play Madden 2005 ONLINE on Gamecube? Is Madden 2005 even OUT for Gamecube at all? I think Nintendo is trying to do everything they can to make everything BUT Gamecube a big online player.

Isn't this kind of counter productive?

[Asmor]

The iQue was originally created as the ultimate anti-piracy system for a high-piracy markey. Now they're gonna not only let people connect it to their home computers, but let the people download the games on their own. I give it a week. Wait, China. It'll be cracked 10 minutes before it's released. Not saying it's a bad idea, just saying it basically throws out everything the iQue was supposed to be.