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Discussion Do you think it's possible for Nintendo to ever rerelease the Mario and Zelda CD-i games?

GamerJM

GamerJM

Chain Chomp
Memes aside, I've always been annoyed with how inaccessible these games are through legal means. Like or not, they're a part of gaming history, and IMO they deserve to be preserved. Some day I'll probably buy a CD-i and copies of these for way too much money just out of pure curiosity.

Do you think there's ever any chance Nintendo will see the value in these games from a historical preservationist perspective, and release them on some compilation? Maybe after the current leadership passes away, and the company's attitude towards this sort of thing changes?
 
They're not really part of history beyond being a joke about how badly licensing can go wrong, and you don't need to play them to get that.

Even if Nintendo could rerelease them, there's literally no chance they would ever want to.
 
For historical purposes I hope so, but I've seen all the Zeldas on GDQs...I'm good if they don't lol.
 
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nintendo keeps all the source code for their games but you know the code for these games is hidden away in an undisclosed location, guarded by heavily armed men of dubious morality.
 
It's possible, sure, but chances are near zero, along with games like Mario's Time Machine and Mario Is Missing.
 
The question would rather be if they are really interested in bringing those games.

At least, what the game's promotional material suggests is that the rights belong to Nintendo even though they are licensed to an external party.

D04eFDRWoAAA93Z.jpg
 
Some of those pre-rendered backgrounds in Zelda's Adventure look pretty sick tbh
 
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Lamp Oil. Rope. Bombs? You want it? It's yours my friend, as long as you have enough rubies!



Think the only option if you want to play it is via emulation. Nintendo want this part of history buried lol.
 
They really should; not entirely sure how they could monetize that, of course.. but part of a big fat collection alongside with games that people actually like, it's the best solution.

Also, I'm on the opinion that Hotel Mario isn't that bad. It's just badly programming, but the concept could be a fun Mario Party mini-game.

Donkusei said:
No, it doesn't really exist for them. And I understand that.
Click to expand...
Age of Calamity...
images


Breath of the Wild...

images


And of course, this tweet wasn't that long ago ~
 
Replaying Minish Cap I just noticed the barman in Hyrule asks "I wonder what's for dinner?" as well lol.
 
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Maybe in about 20 years, when the generation behind original Zeldas stops working there. I can see some newer progressive leadership being interested in achival of a silly thing (and, of course, making money off of new stuff), but not current Nintendo
 
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CyberWolfJV said:
They really should; not entirely sure how they could monetize that, of course.. but part of a big fat collection alongside with games that people actually like, it's the best solution.

Also, I'm on the opinion that Hotel Mario isn't that bad. It's just badly programming, but the concept could be a fun Mario Party mini-game.


Age of Calamity...
images


Breath of the Wild...

images


And of course, this tweet wasn't that long ago ~
Click to expand...

MP does have a similar minigame where you enter doors to try and go down a building
 
I'm pretty sure those games are owned by Philips, so even if Nintendo wanted to re-release them on their own they can't.
I maybe wrong though.

Personally I believe that every game good or bad should be preserved, including those.
 
NCL are happy to delete these games from history, they do not want to associate themselves with it.

It's really really telling that of all the fan projects that have been done, the Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamelon HD Remaster projects (the most obvious and egregious examples of copyright infringement that I can think of) haven't even seen the slightest of attempts from Nintendo to shut them down.
 
Enpsty said:
I'm pretty sure those games are owned by Philips, so even if Nintendo wanted to re-release them on their own they can't.
I maybe wrong though.

Personally I believe that every game good or bad should be preserved, including those.
Click to expand...
I’m 99% sure that’s a work for hire situation, though, creating something for Nintendo’s owned IP as a contracted studio

that’s like saying Nintendo doesn’t own Luigi’s Mansion 3, which it absolutely does

I could be wrong because I mostly know laws as they apply to music and design
 
Suswave said:
I’m 99% sure that’s a work for hire situation, though, creating something for Nintendo’s owned IP as a contracted studio

that’s like saying Nintendo doesn’t own Luigi’s Mansion 3, which it absolutely does

I could be wrong because I mostly know laws as they apply to music and design
Click to expand...
Afaik this is not the same situation. Nintendo didn't hire Philips to create those games. They had to give them their IP after the cd add-on deal fell off. Basically Philips could make some games with Nintendo IPs since they didn't make the cd console.
Wikipedia for example lists Philips Interactive Media as the publisher not Nintendo.
 
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Ojoloco said:
The question would rather be if they are really interested in bringing those games.

At least, what the game's promotional material suggests is that the rights belong to Nintendo even though they are licensed to an external party.

D04eFDRWoAAA93Z.jpg
Click to expand...
I think that's just in reference to the Link and Zelda trademark. The actual games have a "(c) Philips Interactive Media of America, Inc & Nintendo" trademark.

They probably could sort the legal situation out if they wanted(*), I doubt Philips cares much, but ...

why?

There's no reason to spent effort into the rereleases of games that only ever did harm to your brand. That don't have any redeeming qualities. That weren't even developed by your team. There are hundreds of better avenues to spend those resources on.


(*) That is, if CD-i games didn't use some licensed middleware or video codecs that are in legal limbo...
 
wrowa said:
I think that's just in reference to the Link and Zelda trademark. The actual games have a "(c) Philips Interactive Media of America, Inc & Nintendo" trademark.

They probably could sort the legal situation out if they wanted(*), I doubt Philips cares much, but ...

why?

There's no reason to spent effort into the rereleases of games that only ever did harm to your brand. That don't have any redeeming qualities. That weren't even developed by your team.
Click to expand...
The soundtrack of Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamelon though... Imagine having them in Smash in a Zelda stage? 🤤
 
Even if they can, how would they release them in a way they'd see as beneficial? I get the game preservation angle (and I don't disagree) but I doubt Nintendo see things the same way.

Like... the only way I could ever see it happening is as a bonus or unlockable in a LoZ game or collection, where they can play it for memes.
 
Zellia said:
Even if they can, how would they release them in a way they'd see as beneficial? I get the game preservation angle (and I don't disagree) but I doubt Nintendo see things the same way.

Like... the only way I could ever see it happening is as a bonus or unlockable in a LoZ game or collection, where they can play it for memes.
Click to expand...

Next Nintendo Direct opens:

"Today we have a new update for Switch Online subscriptions, that you might not be expecting! (Nintendo fans everywhere: oh shit, Mother 3 or GameCube games, here we go!)
Okay, hear me out here, we have this new tier, it's called "Premium". And here are the games..."
reveals the 3 CDi Zelda games and Hotel Mario.

The internet will explode from the hype.
 
Aside from the existence of any legal entanglements, the answer is actually really rather simple.

The games are discoverable hidden within the Roivas estate. After playing a couple of them, Alex will ponder whether there truly is a grand millenia-spanning eldritch conspiracy, as these could conceivably be what caused her grandfather's untimely demise.

Upon completion of the last one, she will forcibly clutch at her temples and shout "This. Can't. BE. HAPPENING!"

This will not be advertised. Players will merely be led to believe they are going mad.
 
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Philips is still trying to recoup the money they spent on the games by selling their Hue lighting lineup at outrageous prices.
 
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Even if they wanted to, which they likely don't, I don't think they legally can.
 
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Even if they can they won't lol, they probably view that saga as a blot on their history and would rather forget it ever happened
 
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considering the Mario movie managed to get away with referencing the The Super Mario Bros. Super Show in promotional material, there's probably unironically going to be a legit reference to Hotel Mario in the actual film.
regardless, the unofficial remasters of the Zelda CD-i games will probably suffice for now.
xaszatm said:
They should along with a remake of I. M. Meen!
Click to expand...
this will probably happen for real within a decade or so.
the legal situation is that it seems to be owned by book publisher Simon & Schuster, as they briefly had a game publishing division.
they certainly aren't using it now, so someone could probably buy up the rights from them.
 
Even when it comes to "non-Nintendo Nintendo games", I think things like Hudson's 1980s games like Super Mario Bros. Special are a more interesting target. It's hard to see current Nintendo being very interested in any of this, but maybe if a Digital Eclipse made a very good pitch.
 
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GamerJM said:
Memes aside, I've always been annoyed with how inaccessible these games are through legal means. Like or not, they're a part of gaming history, and IMO they deserve to be preserved. Some day I'll probably buy a CD-i and copies of these for way too much money just out of pure curiosity.

Do you think there's ever any chance Nintendo will see the value in these games from a historical preservationist perspective, and release them on some compilation? Maybe after the current leadership passes away, and the company's attitude towards this sort of thing changes?
Click to expand...
is there anything in there worth saving?
  • stories?
  • characters?
  • gameplay mechanisms?
  • etc.
could/should they be remade?
 
I don’t like saying never when it comes to Nintendo, but this is one if those times I feel very comfortable saying it will never happen.
 
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ekurisona said:
is there anything in there worth saving?
  • stories?
  • characters?
  • gameplay mechanisms?
  • etc.
could/should they be remade?
Click to expand...




BassForever said:
A smash stage made with the cdi zelda art style where what is or isn't a platform is extremely nebulous.
Click to expand...
The paintings are unironically pretty, imo; they really just didn't know how to proper convey space in an action platformer (or program the collisions). The CD-I video output also didn't make them any better, since those are made in a very small resolution and when blown up they look super blurry
linkfacesofevil_5.jpg
 
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The remasters are fine enough for preservation. They fix the glaring problems of the originals being that the CD-I hardware couldn't run well at all.
 
CyberWolfJV said:
They really should; not entirely sure how they could monetize that, of course.. but part of a big fat collection alongside with games that people actually like, it's the best solution.

Also, I'm on the opinion that Hotel Mario isn't that bad. It's just badly programming, but the concept could be a fun Mario Party mini-game.


Age of Calamity...
images


Breath of the Wild...

images


And of course, this tweet wasn't that long ago ~
Click to expand...

They're old enough and distant enough that modern Nintendo has no issue with cheeky references, but to re-release them as commercial products, even in a compilation that fully acknowledges how bad they all are? Absolutely no way. Even in a case that such a release were to happen, it would naturally garner terrible reviews because the games are all terrible, and only people that know the games for the memes would actually care. (And not even all of them would care enough to spend money on them.)
 
Hailinel said:
They're old enough and distant enough that modern Nintendo has no issue with cheeky references, but to re-release them as commercial products, even in a compilation that fully acknowledges how bad they all are? Absolutely no way. Even in a case that such a release were to happen, it would naturally garner terrible reviews because the games are all terrible, and only people that know the games for the memes would actually care. (And not even all of them would care enough to spend money on them.)
Click to expand...
I'm sure reviews would be accordingly low, but sales-wise? especially if it's in a fat collection with plenty of actual good games that people like? I don't know..

I mean, we're talking hypothetically here, in a world where Nintendo did stuff like Capcom and Konami does.. but Capcom had no problem (they had guts even!) to release the latter half of the Mega Man X series in one package;

Heck, even the Steam rereleases of the Bubsy games sold enough to fund a brand new title ;P

But I'll take the compromise to have Morshu as a merchant in a modern Zelda game at this point!
 
CyberWolfJV said:
I'm sure reviews would be accordingly low, but sales-wise? especially if it's in a fat collection with plenty of actual good games that people like? I don't know..

I mean, we're talking hypothetically here, in a world where Nintendo did stuff like Capcom and Konami does.. but Capcom had no problem (they had guts even!) to release the latter half of the Mega Man X series in one package;

Heck, even the Steam rereleases of the Bubsy games sold enough to fund a brand new title ;P

But I'll take the compromise to have Morshu as a merchant in a modern Zelda game at this point!
Click to expand...
I mean, realistically, Nintendo would never bundle Wand of Gamelon with any of their own Zelda games. They don't want anyone to be confused or somehow mislead anyone into believing that the CD-i Zeldas are games Nintendo is in any way proud of or considered official.
 
Hailinel said:
I mean, realistically, Nintendo would never bundle Wand of Gamelon with any of their own Zelda games. They don't want anyone to be confused or somehow mislead anyone into believing that the CD-i Zeldas are games Nintendo is in any way proud of or considered official.
Click to expand...
They also won't be acknowledging anytime soon the PC Mario games (that Martinet first voiced Mario before SM64), or the games Hudson made for Japanese computers back in the day with multiple Nintendo IPs; that at least the CD-I games aren't that "special"

And even the full Nintendo productions like the Tingle games or Stellaview titles are hard enough to get even a nod on a current game, or a mention in an encyclopedia.. let alone being rereleased; and that's have nothing to do with quality (or lack of) to be ashamed or proud of :/
 
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If you really wanted to play them, I heard some crazy idiot remade The Faces of Evil and Wand of Gamelon in GameMaker Studio 2 while using the original assets. It took him like four years, all for a silly joke for his friends. He probably could have done anything better with his time, but hey, maybe not? Definitely not, it changed his life.
 
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