Does porting games to next gen make last gen consoles/games less desirable?

[marvelvscapcom2]

Hello everyone


As you know, the landscape of gaming during the past 10 years or so has leaned heavily towards remasters and physical ports of not old games from long ago but the very last console's game.  Xbox One has even remade dozens of the 360's games.  And even packaged them in cases that say Xbox One and 360 on them.  Companies so quickly ready to double dip their cookie with full price rereleases that we will all eat up like jolly ranchers because they are so good we need them twice.  And it's becoming so common.    But my big concern is when you take every good game from say Xbox 360 and port it over on the one in physical format, doesn't that make the 360 almost irrelevant or undesirable to buy?   


The prime example is with Hyrule Warriors, Bayonetta, Donkey Kong Country Tropical Freeze, Rayman legends, mario kart 8 and many more being ported to the Switch from Wii U. 


Does this in your opinion hurt the Wii U in both collectibility stand point and legacy standpoint that so many of it's games and most of it's best games are being ported on a better console with better graphics.  Does this in sense make the previous copies worthless or just make the console a waste of time to get considering all it's best games will be on the next console?


It's a double sided coin in a sense because on one end you can introduce epic games to people who have never owned a Wii U and make it so beloved fans can enjoy it on their favorite next gen platform.  But on the other coin it makes those who have a Wii U for collecting purposes have a stack of games that have almost no purpose or those who may have down the road, say 30 years from now wanted to get a Wii U might not because why should they, all the best games are on switch... because they have been ported with better visuals onto the new console.    




Which side do you fall on.  Do you think ports are overdone and hurt the previous gen's legacy or do you think that it's a fun, healthy and overall good thing for devs to do to rerelease the games again.


I know Super Mario All Stars and other games have done ports but most back in the day were comp carts and never just fully released the same game again.   For example Mario 3 never came out for SNES.  SMW never came out for N64.  I mostly think it's because at that time we were a little more strict with what we'd allow as common practice and would have flipped the cap if they copped out and gave us last gens game but now adays it seems like it's accepted.

Where do you stand with ports as a whole but most especially do you think that Wii will have any legacy or collectibility if they keep porting to switch with physical copies at the rate that they are?

[pacgamer89]

I like when they port games to current consoles but i dont think the new ports can take the place of the originals

[bikingjahuty]

I think it definitely makes them less desirable, however if I already own the game on the older console and there really isn't that much of a difference I'm usually okay with just owning the older version and skipping on the newer one. Probably the best example of this I can think of is Ultimate Marvel vs Capcom 3 which I have on the PS3 and from what I've seen the PS4 version is pretty much identical.

[pizzasafari]

Maybe slightly, but the original is still worth owning. The experience of the port will always be different in some way from the original and the original experience is never something that can be replaced, even if it has been objectively improved upon. Its imperfections are a part of what made the game what it was.

[kamikazekeeg]

The games will always have their place in history, nothing will take that from them.  Ports simply enhance what was originally released and share the game with people who maybe didn't play it before.  I don't really see it being a problem that I'm more likely to play the newer version than the old, in fact I'll prefer it unless the original does something better.

[cirno]

Yeah honestly, I've wanted to buy a Wii U but I've found it harder and harder to justify owning one. The ports are justified from a buisness stand point of course and I'm glad more people will get to experience the stuff, but it ends up leaving the poor thing with almost nothing unique to experience on it

[turf]

Yeah honestly, I've wanted to buy a Wii U but I've found it harder and harder to justify owning one. The ports are justified from a buisness stand point of course and I'm glad more people will get to experience the stuff, but it ends up leaving the poor thing with almost nothing unique to experience on it

This.

I'm a big fan of the WiiU.  I had a lot of fun with it and there were some damn good games for the system.  It's hard to tell someone they're missing out though.  If it was a good game, It's coming to the Switch.  There's just not much left that hasn't been ported. New Super Mario U?  Mario Maker? Super Mario 3D World?  They're all good games, but not worth the whole system.

[skirvin]

Before I bought my Switch I was thinking about getting a Wii U but I just decided to get a Switch and hope for more ports. I think some originals are fine and people who are dedicated to that console will of course get them. Myself, I try and go for practicality. I play PS1 games on PS3 for HD and not having to use memory cards and I'm completely fine with all the Wii U ports. I think it can go both ways, some ports are just trash and some are huge improvements.

[sworddude]

Newer is better.

There is not much nostalgia involved into the older last gen consoles.

All last gen consoles are pretty much pc's at this point in time and it will only be less important as time goes by.

Just buy it for the experience not for the sake of owning.

[burningdoom]

Yeah, totally. I want an all-new experience. I already own the originals, most of the time.

HD is nice, but not worth paying full price for the same game again, IMO.

[justin8301]

I've been going through a bit of a downsizing in my collection, one of the things on the chopping block are games that got a re-release in the following generation ie Last of Us, if there are multiple generations separating re-release from its original both are staying, like Crash Bandicoot. The only exception to this is Wii U games, I'm gonna hold on to all those till i see what happens with the market later on.

[hoshichiri]

I think ports are overdone, but it bothers me more as something stifling the production of new games than as a way to de-value old consoles.

I don't think the 360 is in danger of being rendered irrelevant. For such a popular machine, they will never port away the entirety of the system's good exclusives. For niche machines like the Dreamcast, the buffer of age is too great- a port now won't put those who want the proper 'retro' experience.

The Wii U is in an unfortunately unique place. It's successor has been so overwhelmingly successful, it makes a lot of sense for Nintendo to go mad with ports to meet the unexpected demand. Meanwhile, the Wii U's corpse hasn't even had time to go cold, let alone get buried long enough for the nostalgia to protect its lineup. The Wii U's relevance is definitely taking a hit from the Switch ports. Only time will tell if it holds up- see, once systems go retro, the most desirable games change a bit. Removed from current events, games with sub-par graphics can stand out more (since no one who plays retro cares too much about graphics). Genres unpopular in their time can find an audience. Games once hugely popular can fall by the wayside after losing key parts to time (especially multiplayer titles.) Fun-but-flawed niche titles can really find an audience in the retro scene. The big question is, how many of those will Wii U have? I imagine the Wonderful 101 won't get a port- but it's the only one I really feel certain about for that. What's gonna be left, & will it be enough?

[marvelvscapcom2]

I think ports are overdone, but it bothers me more as something stifling the production of new games than as a way to de-value old consoles.

I don't think the 360 is in danger of being rendered irrelevant. For such a popular machine, they will never port away the entirety of the system's good exclusives. For niche machines like the Dreamcast, the buffer of age is too great- a port now won't put those who want the proper 'retro' experience.

The Wii U is in an unfortunately unique place. It's successor has been so overwhelmingly successful, it makes a lot of sense for Nintendo to go mad with ports to meet the unexpected demand. Meanwhile, the Wii U's corpse hasn't even had time to go cold, let alone get buried long enough for the nostalgia to protect its lineup. The Wii U's relevance is definitely taking a hit from the Switch ports. Only time will tell if it holds up- see, once systems go retro, the most desirable games change a bit. Removed from current events, games with sub-par graphics can stand out more (since no one who plays retro cares too much about graphics). Genres unpopular in their time can find an audience. Games once hugely popular can fall by the wayside after losing key parts to time (especially multiplayer titles.) Fun-but-flawed niche titles can really find an audience in the retro scene. The big question is, how many of those will Wii U have? I imagine the Wonderful 101 won't get a port- but it's the only one I really feel certain about for that. What's gonna be left, & will it be enough?

Do you reckon WindWaker HD will get a Switch port? Or Pikmin 3?  I see those as being some keeping Wii U alive so far.  It's really on the ropes though.      

I know so many friends telling me they sold their Wii U collections to fund Switch games and others that don't have either saying they wouldn't bother getting a Wii U because for 100 dollars or so more they can get the next gen console that still has most of it's best games.  It's really hurting it. 

Like you said, Nintendo would almost be dumb not to port all the old games to add library to the more successful console but man is it sad and also a tad of a cop out imo 

[oldgamerz]

Hello everyone
 

Which side do you fall on.  Do you think ports are overdone and hurt the previous gen's legacy or do you think that it's a fun, healthy and overall good thing for devs to do to rerelease the games again.


I know Super Mario All Stars and other games have done ports but most back in the day were comp carts and never just fully released the same game again.   For example Mario 3 never came out for SNES.  SMW never came out for N64.  I mostly think it's because at that time we were a little more strict with what we'd allow as common practice and would have flipped the cap if they copped out and gave us last gens game but now adays it seems like it's accepted.

Where do you stand with ports as a whole but most especially do you think that Wii will have any legacy or collectibility if they keep porting to switch with physical copies at the rate that they are?

I personally think that as far as both newer video games and movies are becoming  more and more difficult to make since most ideas have already been taken

[Cartagia]

Yeah honestly, I've wanted to buy a Wii U but I've found it harder and harder to justify owning one. The ports are justified from a buisness stand point of course and I'm glad more people will get to experience the stuff, but it ends up leaving the poor thing with almost nothing unique to experience on it

This.

I'm a big fan of the WiiU.  I had a lot of fun with it and there were some damn good games for the system.  It's hard to tell someone they're missing out though.  If it was a good game, It's coming to the Switch.  There's just not much left that hasn't been ported. New Super Mario U?  Mario Maker? Super Mario 3D World?  They're all good games, but not worth the whole system.

Agreed.  The Wii U is kind of the fringe case here.  The library was so comparatively small that all of these ports (which I totally get from a business standpoint) are making it even more of a niche system than it was before.  The 360 and PS3 ports aren't affecting those consoles that much because the rest of the non-ported libraries are still pretty massive.