fujishig

Yeah, I think the NES Tecmo Bowl had all the player names removed, didn't it?

Most of the n64 games I'd like to play that haven't been re released are in licensing limbo like rogue squadron and the wrestling games.

Obi-Wanma

Pretty sure that I just said that, but yes.

fumanstan

How is a potential N64 classic preventing you from just buying the NES Classic again? They seem to be pretty easy to get if you regret giving up yours.

DVDTalker76

Pretty sure he wants to make a choice -

JeffTheAlpaca

I think the original NES Tecmo Bowl had no names since they did not have the rights.

Breakfast with Girls

They are both considered licensing agreements. Also, this is Star Wars, not some THQ wrestling game, where the IP license has lapsed and so a three-way deal must be struck. LucasArts was the publisher for Rogue Squadron and Nintendo was the publisher for Shadows of the Empire. Nintendo's publishing deal no longer applies, so the rights for both would be held by LucasArts, which still exists as a licensor. Long story short: it's just like negotiating an agreement for Castlevania from Konami or Mega Man from Capcom. Nintendo just needs to strike a royalty deal with LucasArts.

It all depends on how much money LucasArts demands.

Breakfast with Girls

The original had real NFL player names but no team names, just cities. Nintendo removed the player names, since EA holds the (exclusive) video game rights to player names and likenesses.

Obi-Wanma

There is no LucasArts. Disney dissolved it. It exists in name only to license out their properties. They can make arrangements with Disney, but my suspicion would be that Disney isn't interested in this and either won't entertain it or will ask for a lot of money. I could be proven wrong though.

Decker

I don't know. All these Sony games got re-licensed and re-bundled pretty recently.

https://store.playstation.com/en-us/...00000000001560

Sonny Corinthos

I don't have room on my TV but for one. I would prefer to have a N64 Classic if it has the right games I enjoyed. If it's going to be another year or so, I would just buy the NES Classic and play it.

Josh-da-man

It might happen, but dealing with licenses can be tricky, especially if its Lucasfilm or sports.

They might want enough money that it would be cost-prohibitive to include those games, like adding an extra twenty bucks to the cost of the unit.

It might happen, but nobody should get their hopes up.

DthRdrX

The second one, Tecmo Super Bowl, is an even better game so if they are going to release one I hope that is it.

Not sure if everyone knows this but for Tecmo Super Bowl fans the game is updated and released in cartridge and Rom form every single year. They add teams, rosters, extra plays, rules, and features when needed (like Penalties, 2 Pt Conversions ... )

fujishig

I don't think they could even keep the name for Tecmo Super Bowl. Maybe they could call it Super Tecmo Bowl or something.

Which version gets updated roms? The PlayStation one?

Sonny Corinthos

The wrestling rights could be tricky. All of the great N64 WWE games were made by THQ, which is no longer I business. Now that 2K has the WWE license, I don't know if they own the rights to all the games THQ made in the past.

Obi-Wanma

The likeness agreements for all of the wresters that appear in the game have expired too. WWE was allowed to use their likenesses only as long as they were under contract. So even if WWE or 2K or AKI (the actual developer, which still exists, THQ was just the publisher) had the rights to the code to license it to Nintendo, you would also have to make new agreements with all of the wrestlers (or their estates), or do new development on the game to use the current WWE roster.

For all those reasons, it will likely never happen.

Breakfast with Girls

"...so the rights for both would be held by LucasArts, which still exists as a licensor."

fujishig

Shameless plug (though I'm in no way affiliated with them)but if you like the old school wrestling games give Firepro a try, there are CAWs for most of the modern day wrestlers with more being created ever day. It's a different system but still old school wrestling game style, and if you want you can just create whatever wcw characters you want if they don't already exist.

Mike86

Yeah, as much as I think the wrestling games are some of the best on N64 there’s just no chance in them being on this. You’d be better off getting an N64 and copies of the cartridges or using an emulator. Licensing would never happen for all the former stars. Plus Benoit was in a bunch of those games and I don’t imagine Nintendo or WWF/E would want his likeness used.

DJariya

An HDMI switch won’t work for you?

kefrank

One of the best things about WWF No Mercy on N64 was the "create a wrestler" feature. They could arguably put that game on the Classic with all of the real wrestler likenesses/names removed and just let people create them manually if they want them.

I made a pretty awesome Bruce Lee on that one.

Decker

With these tiny portable systems, you don't really need one, just swap out whatever system you want into a plug in HDMI cable on the side of your TV.

The Questyen

Here's the list I came up with back in the SNES Classic thread and I still think it's pretty representive of what we'll see (not counting the up in the air quotient of the stuff that got re-released on Rare Replay and Goldeneye):

Super Mario 64
The Legend of Zelda: OoT
The Legend of Zelda: MM
Mario Kart 64
Donkey Kong 64
Starfox 64
Diddy Kong Racing (criminally underrated)
Pokemon Snap
Kirby 64
F-Zero X
Super Smash Bros
Wave Race 64 (not my thing but people like the series)
Paper Mario
Excitebike 64
Turok: Dinosaur Hunter (people love Turok)
Star Wars: Roque Squadron
Ogre Battle 64
Mario Golf
Mario Party (I'm going to assume at least one of 1-3 would be included)
Pokemon Puzzle League
Harvest Moon 64

I'd probably say Yoshi Story gets in over Ogre Battle or Excitebike. And if they're going to put in a snowboarding game it better be Snowboard Kids and not that crappy 1080 Snowboarding game.

DthRdrX

The second NES game. A lot of the files are kept on Tecmobowl.org.

tanman

Thing I hate about this is one; HDMI switches are expensive or really cheap and crappy and then there aren't ones available with a lot of ports. And two, HDMI connectors are notoriously fragile so I don't really want to keep unplugging and plugging in systems when I want to change them out.

Sonny Corinthos

This. Plus my entertainment center is full. I will only have room for one old school console.