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[Anthony Soprano]

If they want to sell us the same old shit every gen, why not repackage them physically, make new carts, make USB cart loaders (cross compatible with modern systems like Switch and PC), offer an official emulator and have DRM in the emulator and USB cart loader? They could even have patches that tack onto the rom and download electronically for enhancements and netplay.

Surely the profit margins on these flying off the shelf would trump a subscription service offering the same 10 roms every gen. Would acquiring small rom chips be expensive (due to nobody broadly manufacturing them) or inexpensive (because the storage space is so small in capacity) by today's standards?

 

[rubik's dude]

Isn't that what LRG is for? This is the kind of shit only collectors and resellers buy. The average consumer doesn't care.

 

[diffusionx]

If they want to sell us the same old shit every gen, why not repackage them physically, make new carts, make USB cart loaders (cross compatible with modern systems like Switch and PC), offer an official emulator and have DRM in the emulator and USB cart loader? They could even have patches that tack onto the rom and download electronically for enhancements and netplay.

Surely the profit margins on these flying off the shelf would trump a subscription service offering the same 10 roms every gen. Would acquiring small rom chips be expensive (due to nobody broadly manufacturing them) or inexpensive (because the storage space is so small in capacity) by today's standards?

the profit margins of these would be far lower than the subscription service.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Much better to sell you incomplete, mtx infested 80 dollar games where no QA has been done for prior to release

 

[Plies]

the profit margins of these would be far lower than the subscription service.

Package it as a premium edition and overprice it.
It's so simple, almond. You so almondy.

Call me, almond!

 

[diffusionx]

Package it as a premium edition and overprice it.
It's so simple, almond. You so almondy.

Call me, almond!

as someone else said, that is LRG's business model

i dont know no almond

 

[Rat Rage]

No joke, I'm kinda stunned by the quality of OP's question - it's a really good question. I so wish there was an alternative to Limited Run Games...

 

[Sakura]

I do think a cartridge loader for a PC could be a cool idea. You could release PC games as physical cartridges so the cartridge is the DRM. The cartridge loader could hook up into a PCIe slot or something. They'd be more expensive than digital, sure, but they also wouldn't have to pay 30% to Valve, or any platform holder for that matter.

 

[El Muerto]

What you're describing is basically the Evercade system. They're all licensed carts that can be updated. There's a handheld and a home console, both use the same carts.

 

[jshackles]

Surely the profit margins on these flying off the shelf would trump a subscription service offering the same 10 roms every gen. Would acquiring small rom chips be expensive (due to nobody broadly manufacturing them) or inexpensive (because the storage space is so small in capacity) by today's standards?

So to recap, you think people would buy an adapter for current gen consoles, that would let them play previous gen / retro consoles, but it would include DRM - and the sale of that hardware (and the ability for companies that still had licenses to reprint their games) would be more lucrative than charging people a subscription?

I want whatever OP is smoking

 

[Futaleufu]

Because the average/casual gamer looks at 16 bit games the same way we look at Atari 2600 games.

 

[ReBurn]

I like how Atari is issuing carts that run on real hardware for some home brew games and updates of some of their classics. I ordered the Pac Man double feature cart that has an updated 7800 version of the game as well as the sucky 2600 original that I played to death back in the day. I wish companies like Sega and Nintendo would create retro remakes of consoles like Atari's plus line and reissue carts for some of their most popular games. I would buy that in a heartbeat.

Now that Atari has invested in Intellivision I'm really hoping for an Intellivision+ console and a Night Stalker cart reissue.

 

[ReBurn]

Because the average/casual gamer looks at 16 bit games the same way we look at Atari 2600 games.

With loving fondness? That's how I look at Atari 2600 games. Some of the best days of my life.

 

[Anthony Soprano]

So to recap, you think people would buy an adapter for current gen consoles, that would let them play previous gen / retro consoles, but it would include DRM - and the sale of that hardware (and the ability for companies that still had licenses to reprint their games) would be more lucrative than charging people a subscription?

I want whatever OP is smoking

Yes, because Nintendo fans will buy anything. Say the adapter costs Nintendo three bucks, they sell it for sixty because they are Nintendo. This wouldn't even disrupt NSO if they required NSO for netplay baked into a first party emulator for PC with Discord rich presence and invites.

But as an aside, maybe the DRM could be bypassed using third-party tools and you would get new cartridges that could play on old systems. Plus, people would finally be able to back up their original carts or play them directly using unofficial emulators. The main thing I could see as an issue of this is carts and pin connectors getting dirty and load delay on startup due to needing to load the entire ROM from the cart into your RAM, which I think was a slow read and limitation on a lot of the modern FPGA cartridge systems?

 

[Futaleufu]

With loving fondness? That's how I look at Atari 2600 games. Some of the best days of my life.

I've been playing videogames for 40 years, I have a hard time finding fun in 2600 games. Atari 8 bit computers are my limit.

 

[ReBurn]

I've been playing videogames for 40 years, I have a hard time finding fun in 2600 games. Atari 8 bit computers are my limit.

I've been playing them for longer than that. Since before VCS and Intellivision were state of the art. There were amazing games on those early systems and genres were created there. Sometimes all it takes is a joystick and a single button to spark a sense of wonder.

 

[HerjansEagleFeeder]

Yes, because Nintendo fans will buy anything.

But then you could just sell them leftover cardbox from your Chinese factories, paint it a little and tell people to fold it into some addon for your console and.. wait

 

[MrA]

Atari does ,ninja golf and fatal run for the 7800 have been reprinted

I've been playing videogames for 40 years, I have a hard time finding fun in 2600 games. Atari 8 bit computers are my limit.

Stay frosty 2 is absolutely fantastic,
Loads of good homebrew for it
Sure most original 2600 games are bad, or there are better ways to play them (asteroids, joust, mario bros, i.e. the good ports of good arcade games)
But a few do have unique features like space invaders crazy variations and multiplayer or super charger frogger featuring the entire original soundtrack
Plus quite a few of the late releases are good
Hero, secret quest, save Mary, Solaris, radar lock, pacman Jr and a few others are good for an occasional high score run

I've been playing them for longer than that. Since before VCS and Intellivision were state of the art. There were amazing games on those early systems and genres were created there. Sometimes all it takes is a joystick and a single button to spark a sense of wonder.

Let's be real dude , sure some electro mechanical games are really cool and pinball is fun and yes pong ,stunt cycle and a few other dedicated consoles are ok but the channel f is mediocre and the studio 2 are bad

 

[yurinka]

Licensing and profitability.

 

[ReBurn]

Let's be real dude , sure some electro mechanical games are really cool and pinball is fun and yes pong ,stunt cycle and a few other dedicated consoles are ok but the channel f is mediocre and the studio 2 are bad

I've never played Channel F or Studio 2, so I'll have to take your word for it.

I never said that every early console or game is great. I was initially responding to the assertion that somehow Atari 2600 is something generally looked down upon and I don't see it that way. That console and its games laid the foundation for the games we play today. Sure, they were simplistic. They were also bound by the capabilities of the time. But 2600 games like Adventure on level 3 with a randomized kingdom and Missile Command on A difficulty at higher levels still offer a tough challenge that a lot of folks today would struggle with. Those games could be every bit as engaging as modern games.

 

[phant0m]

I have the gold GBA cart of Shantae Risky's Revolution that just came out. It took almost 2 years for delivery from the time I ordered.

 

[Toots]

Well Ton' you know that cocksuckin' piece of sh*t distributor praying on nostalgiac goomahs - I can't even say its name - murdered this type of business.

 

[MrA]

I've never played Channel F or Studio 2, so I'll have to take your word for it.

I never said that every early console or game is great. I was initially responding to the assertion that somehow Atari 2600 is something generally looked down upon and I don't see it that way. That console and its games laid the foundation for the games we play today. Sure, they were simplistic. They were also bound by the capabilities of the time. But 2600 games like Adventure on level 3 with a randomized kingdom and Missile Command on A difficulty at higher levels still offer a tough challenge that a lot of folks today would struggle with. Those games could be every bit as engaging as modern games.

I just like bringing up he studio 2 and channel f because I know most people aren't even aware they exist, though they aren't even the most obscure early console, the unisonic champion , video brain, and apf m1000/mp1000 make those 2 look positively mainstream