Prototype via Nintendo

The Video Game History Foundation, a nonprofit organization devoted to preserving various aspects of video game history, defendant Nintendo of behavior "actively subversive" to video game history on Thursday, and called on the company to improve access to its legacy library. This statement comes two days after the developer announced information technology would shutter the 3DS and Wii U's digital shops in March 2023.

An analysis performed by VGC estimated that shops' impending closures will strength up to 1,000 digital-merely titles to no longer exist accessible through official means. While the foundation sympathized with Nintendo's business organization reasons for shutting down the shops, it criticized the company for non providing a legal way to play these soon-to-be-lost games. "What we don't sympathize is what path Nintendo expects its fans to take, should they wish to play these games in the future," wrote the foundation.

The nonprofit went on to claim that Nintendo "actively funds lobbying" meant to prevent legitimate institutions, such as libraries, from providing access to its legacy titles. "Preventing institutional piece of work to preserve these titles on meridian of [shutting down its digital shops] is actively destructive to video game history," the foundation said. "We encourage […] Nintendo to […] work with existing institutions to find a solution."

Post-obit the announcement of the shops' closures, Nintendo briefly discussed the topic of preservation in a now-deleted Q&A segment that firmly communicated that the company would not offer classic content in whatever other way beyond the NES, SNES, and N64 libraries included in its Nintendo Switch Online membership plans. Fans and industry professionals alike were none-too-pleased by this answer, likely prompting Nintendo to remove the segment from its Q&A altogether. However, Video Game History Foundation co-director Frank Cifaldi screenshotted the controversial statement and shared it on Twitter for posterity'south sake.

Nintendo has a knack for not bringing many of its classic titles onto modern systems. Because the price of both legacy games and consoles have skyrocketed due to a money-hungry resale market place, playing a classic game similar the original Super Smash Bros. on an actual Nintendo 64 tin can cost you lot several hundred dollars if buying from a reseller; at that place is no official manner to purchase legacy consoles or original copies of older games from Nintendo.

Naturally, this high toll has pushed many in the direction of using emulators to play ROMs of Nintendo games. While this method is free and much more accessible to a mass audience, it exists in a legal grey area and could be considered piracy. Because of this, Nintendo has a track record of pursuing legal action against ROM-hosting sites.

Preservationists have oft expressed concern over Nintendo's seemingly agog want to take downwards ROM-hosting websites, while simultaneously non offering official means to play its games that would be lost to fourth dimension, if not for such sites.