This only serves to weaken the Threadiverse further; even moreso than Beehaw defederating from lemmy.world and sh.itjust.works.
Unlike physical cartridges, a digital, emulated copy of FireRed has no resale or collector's value. The lack of physical copies for virtual console games also means each copy sold costs Nintendo nothing beyond the initial emulator development cost, which would be minuscule on a per-game basis.
Considering those factors, and the Switch having a higher install base than prior systems (over ten times Wii U unit sales), maintaining the Wii U and 3DS price points is the most reasonable means for Nintendo to monetize their back catalogue in a way that makes piracy less enticing for many people: $3 per GB, $4 per GBC, $5 per NES, $7-8 per GBA, $8 per SNES, $10 per N64/DS, and $20 per Wii.
Given that each emulated console only requires that a Switch emulator be developed for it once (something Nintendo has already done for NSO) to support hundreds of paid titles, there's no need to increase prices when the games will sell several times more than they had any chance to on the Wii U.
Given how many games NSO includes, they could continue offering them that way for people who prefer renting their library. Consumers want meaningful options; pricing a GBA game at $20 is not that.
Blind consumer loyalty only incentivizes Nintendo to further raise prices and make their products less consumer friendly.
Piracy simply demonstrates a problem with supply; if Nintendo wants to solve it, the solution isn't trying to cuts heads off of a hydra, but rather adjust prices to capture unrealized market potential.
If a company shows no respect for its consumers by nickel and diming them for everything, then there is no reason to show a company respect by purchasing its products.
If they re-released their entire back catalogue at reasonable prices—not locking them behind a subscription—with a commitment to letting users transfer them to future consoles without an upgrade fee, then things would be different.
Impeachments mean nothing without a conviction.
They're intentionally pricing this at $20 to convince people that the subscription model is a better deal. GBA games on the Wii U were priced at $8, a much more reasonable price point.
FireRed is not worth $20, especially without rom hack support or optional filters.
Edit: It's a ROM being emulated; no substantial effort beyond the initial development of the emulator itself went into this release. Don't support Nintendo's price inflation practices by raising the baseline of what emulated games should cost. GBA games on the Wii U were $8, a far more reasonable price point.
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Alternative to CBS.