Is the Nintendo Wii a Retro Console?

How natural, planned, and forced obsolescence affect gamers like you.

Since the dawn of consumer electronics, there has existed a sort of natural life cycle of electronic goods driven almost exclusively by the consumer market. The life cycle looks like this:

  1. Debut – The product is introduced.
  2. Discount – The product is discounted but still sold in stores.
  3. Discontinuation – The product is discontinued and begins showing up on the used market.
  4. Devaluation – The product is considered of little or no value on the used market.
  5. Deity – The product is “resurrected” and becomes desirable again because of either rarity or community support.

When computers, video games, and media players relied exclusively on physical media to operate, electronics could be restored to their former glory to operate as they once did with no loss of function. Today’s electronics are increasingly more and more dependent on internet based services and less on physical media. This means consumers who want to play their old systems may not be able to in the future. Those who want to experience these systems after the manufacturers stop supporting the online component will never get to.

There is no better example of this than Nintendo. On January 31, 2019 Nintendo shut down the Wii Shop after a little over 12 years of service. The Wii U was introduced in November of 2012 and its store is due to be deactivated in March of 2023 after being in service for a little over 10 years. While these systems still have a wide selection of physical media to choose from, downloading new titles – even from third parties – is completely off the table.

The discontinuation of the Wii Shop means people who want to use the Wii would have to install community-supported things like the home brew channel to restore online functionality to the Wii.

While these systems are still largely dependent on physical media, the disabling of the digital store made the system far less useful and far less valuable on the used console market.

Is that why is Nintendo doing this? Though the argument could be made that Nintendo has an obligation to support its product as long as there are users, they are certainly under no obligation to support deprecated consoles in perpetuity. There is also a profit motive to force users to move to their newer products and supporting older systems could be a money-losing proposition.

However, Sony disagrees. After many complaints from users, Sony has committed to supporting its users by taking steps to ensure functionality on the PlayStation 3 well into the future.

That begs the question of whether Nintendo has the kind of committed user base Sony does. Was it strictly a numbers calculation to close the store? Did the user base fall to a point that it no longer made sense to support these systems? If any of this is true, this is a classic example of forced obsolescence where a company makes a decision to discontinue a product or product support based on market or outside forces.

A prime example of this is Microsoft and Windows XP. Windows XP was such a widely used piece of software that millions of devices relied on it to function. As Microsoft didn’t have a suitable replacement at the time they wanted to discontinue XP they pushed the service end date back several times. To date, in 2022, some embedded versions of Windows XP are still supported by Microsoft even as their consumer and business desktop versions have seen their support discontinued.

Forced obsolescence is different from the more familiar term: planned obsolescence. Instead of making the decision based on market forces or other outside factors, planned obsolescence is on the product roadmap from the beginning. As the name suggests, the product discontinuation is planned.

If this was a case of planned obsolescence, one needs to examine why Nintendo is reducing the support interval for these services from product to product in a time when digital purchases are the rule rather than the exception.

Ultimately, it really doesn’t matter whether Nintendo was forced or planned the Wii Shop support discontinuation. It is just as much about control over their product as it is anything else.

So has Nintendo upended the natural obsolescence cycle? Natural obsolescence has a timeline that those who grew up in the last millennium are all too familiar with.

Take the Commodore 64, a personal computer released in 1982 for $595. Competition soon drove the price down to $250 by early 1983. By the late 80’s, as the Commodore 64 was replaced by the Commodore 128 and then the Amiga, the once popular Commodore 64 computers were now starting a new life on the used market. By the time Commodore ceased production in 1993, demand for the systems cratered and they could be had for pennies on the dollar.

During its life, there was an active community of enthusiasts and hobbyists that continued to support the Commodore 64. Similar communities surround most old electronics. In the last 10 years, the community has grown as people become nostalgic for systems they used in their youth. This increases demand for surviving systems and drives the price up. Other parties see the market potential and replicate systems built with new technology. Despite having over 17 million units on the planet at one point in time, the systems will eventually begin to fail and become rare, driving the price to a premium despite the grassroots preservation efforts.

We are not quite at the final stage where the Commodore 64 is a rare piece but they are getting harder and more expensive to obtain.

This happens at a different pace for different systems in different places. The Atari 2600, for example, are easy and cheap to get a hold of despite being just as beloved and even older than the Commodore 64. The Atari is in the same developmental phase as the Commodore with clones and community support, however, in the natural obsolescence timeline, given the inexpensive price of the systems, one would not be blamed for thinking that it seems to be stuck in the devaluation phase.

So, where is the Wii on this scale? The system has been deprecated and is not an in-demand system currently. They can be found, in abundance, in nearly every pawn and thrift store for a fraction of the new price. In fact, a Wii can be had for about the same price as an Atari. It seems to be in about the same place the Commodore was in the 90’s and 2000’s.

The Commodore 64 and Atari 2600 has something that the Wii does not: nostalgia. There is no widespread nostalgia for these systems and, therefore, no widespread demand for these systems. The Wii is firmly in the devaluation phase and in that regard, Nintendo doesn’t seem to have disrupted natural obsolescence at all. Yet.

How long it will remain in this phase remains to be seen. It will all be up to hobbyists and the home brew community to find a higher purpose that could elevate it to desirability again.

What does this mean for the average gamer? Natural obsolescence is driven exclusively by the consumer. It ebbs and flows with supply and demand from the users themselves. The more scary prospect is the planned and forced obsolescence that Nintendo in particular seem to be driving toward. With digital purchases and online accounts relying on revocable support from manufacturers, there could be a day – very soon – that your beloved gaming system will be come a very expensive paper weight.

Commodore C64 Retro Gaming Resources

So, you got a Commodore 64 or bought a C64 Mini and don’t know what to do with it? This list is not comprehensive, but it should get you started. For simplicity sake, we have linked directly to the site or store itself. Websites are dynamic, however, and the links could change. Let us know if that happens.

We are reasonably certain that the links provided are not only safe, but more or less legitimate sources as well. However, we cannot make any sort of guarantee to that.

*Important! PLEASE NOTE: Downloading copyrighted materials is illegal in most countries. Do so at your own risk. Be sure to know and follow the laws in your area before downloading any such material. 

Hardware
The C64 MiniHome of The C64 Mini
Individual ComputersHome of the C64 Reloaded
TFW8BThe Future Was 8 Bit
Ultimate 64Home of the Ultimate 64 board
Retro InnovationsHome of hardware mods for C64
Pixel WizardHome of new C64C style cases. 
Commodore4everAccessories for Commodore machines
CBMStuff.comA Variety of C64 Hardware
COREi643D Printed Commodore parts
Restore StoreMore Hardware (in German)
idoregesz.huUnique hardware from Hungary
Media
64K64K YouTube Channel hosted by BastichB
Morgan Just GamesC64 longplays and info hosted by Jamie Morgan
Commodore4EverCommodore4Ever Channel
Jan BetaDetailed retro repairs hosted by Jan Beta
The 8-Bit GuyCommodore and retro hosted by David Murray
Perifractic C64C64 videos from Perifractic’s Retro Recipies
MsMadLemon C64C64 Videos from MsMadLemon
SIDspieler.deSID Music Site (German)
C64 RadioC64 SID Tunes Radio
Chicken HeadThe Chicken Head Chronicles Commodore 8 bit
Software (ROMs, disk image, and abandonware)
C64.comSite dedicated to preserving C64 software.
My AbandonwareMassive abandonware site
Games That Weren’tGames that Weren’t abandonware and recovery.
Gurce.netSite of C64 Mini Wiki and some game packs
C64 SceneThe C64 Scene Database
GEOSGEOS Software and docs
Commodore.softwareCommodore Utilities and Software
C64 GamesC64 Games site. (German)
Software NEW
ProtovisionDeveloper of current C64 Games
RetroGamerCDDeveloper of New C64 Games
Poly.Play New Hardware and Software 
C64OSC64 OS Project
8bitguyHome of Planet X2 and other software
PsytronicDownloadable C64 and other Commodore games
RetroZoneBoxed versions of Psytronic Software
Emulators
VICEVICE multi-system Commodore emulator
Combian 64Raspberry Pi Quick boot VICE emulator
Books, Reference, and Documentation
Archive.orgCommodore 64 Book Archive.
SharewarePLUSC64 Hardware Blog
C64 Mini ZoneC64 Mini reference site with useful tools
GameBase64C64 Games Database
Lemon64Large Forum for Everything Commodore
C64 WikiThe Commodore 64 Wiki
Zzap! 64Zzap! 64 Magazine and archive
Reset 64Reset Magazine
Commodore FreeCommodore Free Magazine
C64 BlastC64 Blast Magazine
Other Sites
C64 RegistryCommodore Serial Number Registration
Breadbox64C64 Blog
Commodore BBSCommodore Bulletin Board Service Outpost 
The C64 CommunityThe C64 (Mini) User board
C64 Fan AppWeb based C64  aggregator. (Login Required)

Gigabytes Technology LLC is providing this information free of charge or obligation. We were not paid or compensated for providing these links.

 

The C64 Mini Adding Flags to Image Files

The C64 Mini can set all kinds of settings through the use of .CJM files, however, what if you just have a single problematic game and don’t really want to configure a whole .CJM file? There is a older method that works with the mini called Flag Configuration.

How it works: At its most basic, it is simply renaming a file and adding an underscore (_) and a two capital letter tag to the end of the file name.

Example: Jupiter-lander.d64 —> Jupiter-lander_J1.d64

The above example tells the mini that this file is a joystick port 1 game.

SIDE NOTE: The ports on the Commodore had to be addressed directly from code so some games used joystick port 1 and most others used joystick port 2.

Commodore 64 joystick control ports.

You can add any number of flags in any order to the end of the file. It should be noted that if your game has underscores in the name, you may have to remove those as well for this to work.

Example: The Jupiter Lander file is a PAL joystick 1 image you want to run on an NTSC system. It doesn’t load properly so you want to turn the cycle accurate disk reader on (use Accurate Disk Drive Mode).

Jupiter-lander.d64 —> Jupiter-lander_TPJ1AD.d64

Flag Key

FlagDescriptionUse 
J1This sets the primary joystick port as port 1. With a second Joystick connected, it automatically uses port 2.Use this flag if you cannot use a joystick with a game you know should work with one.
J2This sets the primary joystick port as port 2. With a second Joystick connected, it automatically uses port 1.Port 2 is the default for the Mini so it does not need to be set.
ADStands for “Accurate Disk”. Turns on the cycle exact disk reader on the Mini.Use this if your game is unstable when you try to run it.
ROThis makes the disk image read-only. This is mainly for protection, however, some games did check this for copy protection.
NI“No Indicator” turns off the drive access indicator.Mainly a user preference thing.
TNTells a PAL (European) system that the disk image is NTSC (Japan and North America).Use if you are running a PAL system with an NTSC image or the game play seems too slow.
TPTells an NTSC (Japan and North America) system that the disk image is PAL (European).Use if you are running a NTSC system with an PAL image or the game play seems too fast.

This information is found in more detail here under Appendix A.

Technical Note: “Accurate Disk” does slow the loading of games down, however, it does not turn off the “fast loader” on the C64 Mini. Before loading your ROM or disk image, press the third button on the C64 Mini to turn off Fast Load.

Linux OS Downloads

These are various Linux operating systems to download and install that Gigabytes Technology Supports. Linspire Linux requires a license purchase.

Gigastrand OS
GsOS 1.2Gigastrand OS v1.2. Debian 6 / KDE 32bit
GsOS 2.4Gigastrand OS v2.4. Debian 7 / KDE 32bit
Gs0S 3.6Gigastrand OS v3.6. Debian 8 / KDE 64bit
Freespire
Freespire KDEFreespire 3.08. Ubuntu 16 / KDE 64bit
Freespire 4.5Freespire 4.5. Ubuntu 18 / KDE 64bit
Linspire
LinspireLinspire 8 available for purchase.