Yes, those things cost money, but the money that we want to make, we want to make it today. And this is how we make it. What economic incentive is there for preservation?
(/takes off devil's advocate hat and puts on flame suit)
(/takes off devil's advocate hat and puts on flame suit)
Tightly managed first party IP with a lot of retro throwback games/compilations/crossovers/virtual console and an overly aggressive copyright approach to managing what people do with their IP (even if fair use).
Nintendo plays the long game. They do not compete directly with Sony, Microsoft and the like.
But yes I think you're on to something that Nintendo plays the long game the best, they handle their IPs like Disney does: featuring them across multiple verticals that feed into each other. Its surprising to me how long its taken Nintendo to come back to movies and TV.
Actually now that I think about it, Disney's biggest shortcoming is their video game division despite many wonderful retro Disney and Lucasarts games at their disposal.
Conservation is a social interest amd must come from organized initiatives, it will never take shape magically from individual judgement.