[wizzwizz4]

The people saying “Why did Nintendo create the NES Classic?” (e.g., me-until-recently) usually have little interest in purchasing a NES Classic. They often have little interest in playing video games.

> But claiming that Nintendo stands to gain nothing from retaining rights to their ROMs

I claim that Nintendo gains little from not selling DRM-free copies of the ROM. There's a big difference between "take down all fangames with a character in a red hat called Mario" and “relinquish all monopoly rights to the public domain”: I suggest that Nintendo wouldn't lose much by being a bit less controlling. They might even recover some reputational damage!