Could modern developers make money on old systems?

If they released games for obsolete consoles?

Even old PS2’s don’t get thrown away don’t they. Because they’re still worth like £20 or something.

This youtube video just rated a recent shoot-em-up as the best ever released on the Dreamcast. Sturmwind by Duranik. Who've also put out a game for the Jaguar, Lynx and Falcon, whatever that is.

So all these old consoles still exist and are maybe still being played in people’s houses.

So why not release a new game on old hardware if the install base is say like, almost whatever the console sold initially or the amount that still exist and work?

While it could be somewhat profitable, I believe one reason why they don't is because it might be too difficult for them to port a modern PC game over to an older console.

Then there is also copyright and manufacturing issues, especially on cartage based systems. Not to mention it'd be fairly impractical, as most stores would not want to restock games for systems that went off the mainstream market over 10 years ago, so any manufacturer would need to sell their games on an online storefront, such as Amazon or such.

Also bear in mind the fact that most gaming companies are making games that you can update on the sly, weather through steam, online patches, or the PSN, Xbox live and Nintendo systems. An older system such as the PS2 would have no way to update their games, so they'd have to adjust to the needs of different hardware and the fact that if their games did have massive bugs, they'd have to send out a replacement CD as apposed to releasing a downloadable patch.

Speaking of hardware, developers would have to adjust their games for the limited specs of the hardware.

The PS2 for example has a 294 MHz processor, 32 MB of ram, and a 147 MHZ graphics processor with 4 MB of video ram. Even a simple game such as Super Meat Boy for the PC requires a minimum of a 1.2 GHZ (1,200 MHz) processor, 256 MB of ram, and a video card with at least 64 MB of video ram. Porting Super Meat Boy to the PS2 would take a lot of major rewriting if not possibly recreating the entire game, and more than likely the developers of the game would not be used to working with such a narrow margin of system specs to begin with.

Is it possible? Absolutely! But it's not very profitable and if you did see any new games for the older software it's more than likely going to come from hardcore fan of that console than a modern day developer.

@blazepanzer24: Yes it's true. The games would need writing again for the PS2.

The Dreamcast on the other hand has Windows CE support so the game would only need compiling in C++ / Visual Basic language with no need for machine code or assembly language.

The HITACHI SH-4 CPU @ 200MHz for the DC is easily fast enough to run Super Meat Boy if compiled for Windows CE. If in a 640x480 resolution.

Although on reflection they might also need to use the PowerVR2 GPU.

After that, the MS machines all use Direct-x and C so porting shouldn't be too complicated.

I think it is more of an issue of it being counter productive from a retailer standpoint in that it discourages sales of new hardware.

well, nintendo made a lot of money on the nes and snes classic edition. It just depends on the type of console they are selling. an n64 classic would probably sell pretty well, but a gamecube or wii classic would sell a little better.

@ofofofofoooof: I'm talking about software.

Very few people hold onto their game consoles I still have my NES, NES toploader SNES, Gameboy ,Gameboy color, Gameboy advance SP, Nintendo 64, Nintendo Gamecube, Nintendo DS lite, Nintendo DSi, Nintendo 3DS, Nintendo Wii, Nintendo Wii U and just recently Nintendo Switch. Similar situation for PlayStation and Xbox brands. and just Sega Genesis model 1.

Most people in the world sell their consoles once the Successor console arrives at retail. So Video game developers would not make money developing new games for legacy consoles. Capcom, Bioware, Taito, or Sega or any other current 2019 developer would not bother making a 2019 brand new release for the Nintendo Entertainment System. How many of the 62.3 million ish NES systems are still operational in 2019?

Companies like limited run games exist. In addition to developers who make new games for the NES but those are made in such small numbers. And for the hyper fans of a game genre. I bought a Super NES cartridge of "NightMare Busters" Since it was a Super Nintnedo game that was cancelled and never release during the SNES lifespan. Starfox 2 is another example of an SNES game that was finished but never released. Nintendo gave it an official release with the SNES classic. But not in Super Nintendo Cartridge form. Since how many of the 49.10 million Super Nintendo consoles are still working in 2019?

So while it would be cool to see new N64 games etc from Nintendo and other developers for the old consoles. It will never happen. Same with Xbox and Sony brands. I don't expect a new game for PS2 in 2019. I would love to have new games for old consoles. But outside of Niche companies making games for old systems it is never going to happen. Still Retro game shops exist should I want to play a "new" original Playstation disc based game.

@Megavideogamer: I think programming for the Mega Drive Motoroller 68000 or SNES 6502 would be more problematic than anything from the PS2 era due to them requiring machine code or assembly language at least complied from C.

aThe Dreamcast had a windows CE (compact edition) mode for running games through the Microsoft windows kernal with support for direct-x and direct-draw architectures and windows driver support.

The same is true of the x-box. The GameCube uses a Nintendo proprietary operating system (loaded every time at startup) so would require some probably mostly lost knowledge (at least to developers who aren't retired).

The PS3 is a similar story, with a custom chipset and os but the xbox360 uses windows kernal and c++ libraries so a port from current or next gen down to 360 is pretty painless.

I think from Dreamcast to current gen MS console would all easily port backwards to earlier consoles with minimal additional development cycle.

As for programming for the NES and SNES and Mega Drive. They all use custom architectures very specific to those machines with custom sound, video and internal chipsets so knowledge of the chip in that hardware is crucial.

That is why modern 16bit games designed to run on 16bit consoles are never very technically impressive. It's because you need to understand the data pipelines and bus architecture of the hardware before you can push it above what was being achieved by studios like Treasure in the 90's. Mega Drive games run better on the Mega Drive than their Switch or PS4 counterparts with less slowdown. Go figure. Even the music is simply imitating the sound hardware on the SMD. I'm learning tracker chiptune music right now because it's the only way to make that specific sound.

But you could do it as a bonus for people to buy the special edition and to promote the game. Producing a cartridge these days is relatively cheap compared to back then. A big company could run off a batch for very little cost per unit.

So making new games specifically for a 16bit platform would not make sense to a modern day Treasure. But Axiom Verge from 2016 was counted as the second best game on the Vita handheld and it could run on a Mega Drive if you just reduced the resolution a bit.

If, from the 35 million Mega Drives that sold back in the 90's. 10 million are still hooked up. That is still a potential 10 million game sales.

Hello you two.

I'm from the field of game development. I can say, although I like to think back to the good old days. That's not programmed for an old console anymore. This is due to the unfavorable use of hardware. Take, for example, the SNES. There you can only grind a certain number of pixels.

Also one would not find enough paragraph. Of course there are indie studios who like to program on it for themselves, or even out of pure interest.

I think the right way is to make a remake of a game and see it in a new quality.

If you're really looking for nostalgia, you can get the old console out and play Mario, Zelda, or some title.