Nintendo Explains Why Digital Games Aren't Any Cheaper

[Samurai Silhouette]

I don't mind it costing the same, but why can't these fucks tell the truth instead of sugarcoating lies with bullshit?

 

[bdcjacko]

Why do people get outraged the games cost money?

Because you pay the same and get less, that's why.

What do you get less of, do they withhold the last level if you buy a digitial copy?

You get less of an entire game if you ever use another system.

How if that different than a physical copy? If I buy say call of duty for wii u, it would play on Xbox 360. So that is dumb argument.

 

[loa]

Why do people get outraged the games cost money?

Because you pay the same and get less, that's why.

What do you get less of, do they withhold the last level if you buy a digitial copy?

You get less of an entire game if you ever use another system.

How if that different than a physical copy? If I buy say call of duty for wii u, it would play on Xbox 360. So that is dumb argument.

Buy your call of shooters on a WiiU digitally, you can only play it on that WiiU.
Buy it physically, you can *gasp* bring it to a friends house and play it on their WiiU.
You can give it to them or sell it.

Bought pokemon X digitally and your 3ds broke?
No more Pokemon X for you if you buy a new 3ds.

 

[Brian Tams]

It would be nice if these gaming companies would just come out and say "We won't lower the price on digital copies because its more money for us."

Just say it. Hell, I'll even gain some respect for you because of it; a small amount, but still an amount of respect. But don't give us the run-around. We aren't stupid.

 

[JarinArenos]

I'm *drowning* in the bullshit here. Seriously, how stupid do the putzes in marketing think we are that anyone is going to accept this explanation? They'd have been far better off continuing to say nothing.

 

[Yoshi4102]

I really do like getting digital for 3ds (who seriously wants to carry cartridges around) but I wish there was some sort of digital loyalty program or something. If they want to push digital so badly, then give people incentive.

 

[Pedro The Hutt]

Not as much "bullshit" said by Iwata as I'm reading here in the comments. =p The simple fact of the matter is that plenty of publishers and devs have said that they can't price down digital sales of their games because major chains like Gamestop have threatened that if they do that, they'll simply stop stocking their games. And since currently the majority of console game sales still happen through brick & mortar stores they can't afford to lose them quite yet.

 

[Atmos Duality]

"[Digital games aren't cheaper] because we want consumers to value software as highly as possible and because we have been trying to heighten the value of our software whenever we produce it," Iwata said during an investor Q&A, adding "We decided that, since the contents are the same, the company would offer the software at the same price, be it the packaged version or the digital version."

So he's saying:
"We're price gouging you and we think you're all stupid enough to buy our Snob Appeal excuse."

Thanks Nintendo! That sure cleared everything up!
...And fuck you too!

Not as much "bullshit" said by Iwata as I'm reading here in the comments. =p The simple fact of the matter is that plenty of publishers and devs have said that they can't price down digital sales of their games because major chains like Gamestop have threatened that if they do that, they'll simply stop stocking their games. And since currently the majority of console game sales still happen through brick & mortar stores they can't afford to lose them quite yet.

Uh, no. Iwata is still spouting total bullshit, because the reason he provided isn't the one you provided.
Yours actually makes a lick of sense; his is just a big ol' strawman about customers valuing software, even though customers logically would get more value from the CHEAPER alternative if it existed.

But nowadays all the "good" games you have are the same old nintendo lineups, pokemon, mario (including spinoffs like mario cart), zelda and metroid.

I understand why people throw Mario, Pokemon and Zelda under the bus as tired Nintendo perennials...but Metroid? Really??

10 games in 25 years, plus one spinoff. Samus is definitely not milked to the anywhere near the same degree as Mario and Pokemon, or Zelda, or even freaking KIRBY.

 

[Arif_Sohaib]

He is basically saying we will charge more for these famous products because we know people will buy them and pay whatever we ask. However, we will reduce prices of new IP or experimental stuff because we don't know if it will sell.
Doesn't this "devalue" any new thing they do?
To combat this I suggest not buying or buying less of their famous titles and buying new and more innovative ones instead.
They will be cheaper too.

 

[Orekoya]

"We could make them cheaper, but we won't. We're also not sorry."

Basically what I read.

So when I buy a digital game, really I'm just doing Nintendo a favor since it's saving them money on the production of a physical copy. That's pretty much it exactly. Okay, I get it. You want to save money. That's fair. But what do I get out of it? I have to go buy a fucking SD card for Luigi's Mansion because the game is so huge that the default SD card doesn't have enough room on it. So there's another 19.99 out of my pocket. Oh, and if I want Fire Emblem, I'll have to splurge on an even bigger card.

It's just nonsense and poorly thought out by the hardware developer to have such criminally small storage space for the sizes of some of these games, you can barely fit more than a couple of games per SD card. They should make cards specifically designed with their own slot to store and retrieve game data. Possibly with customized logos so I know which game is stored on which card and -- oh wait they do that.

And it's the same cost game for game with no extra cost of buying each individual SD card.

Why would I ever buy a 3ds game digitally again?

 

[bdcjacko]

Why do people get outraged the games cost money?

Because you pay the same and get less, that's why.

What do you get less of, do they withhold the last level if you buy a digitial copy?

You get less of an entire game if you ever use another system.

How if that different than a physical copy? If I buy say call of duty for wii u, it would play on Xbox 360. So that is dumb argument.

Buy your call of shooters on a WiiU digitally, you can only play it on that WiiU.
Buy it physically, you can *gasp* bring it to a friends house and play it on their WiiU.
You can give it to them or sell it.

Bought pokemon X digitally and your 3ds broke?
No more Pokemon X for you if you buy a new 3ds.

Oh, I didn't realize you couldn't transfer accounts between wii u's (how the do you pluralize wii u?). Well now that is a horse of a different color. Being able to transfer games between compatible devices is one of the selling points of digital content.

 

[InsanityRequiem]

Sheesh a lot of people are taking this negatively at face value. Not actually looking at it from Nintendo's perspective. They're a long running company with a big history. History full of third party publishers crapping on them whenever they make new consoles. Now with the Wii U, it's even worse.

So while I feel Iwata's saying some truth, he's not saying the whole truth. How can he tell investors that the third party publishers and retail stores would react negatively to games, on release, cost $20-$30 cheaper than retail?

Gamestop and retail chains would either not stock or 'mislabel' the Nintendo brand. Third party publishers would never put their games on the E-shop, stop making games for Nintendo at all, or make them inferior to other consoles.

This 'explanation' seems more like Nintendo taking the bad PR hit in an effort to keep retailers and third party publishers from abandoning Nintendo products.

 

[Neurotic Void Melody]

Dont want to be another poster saying exactly the same thing...

Though i wonder how long they spent in a board meeting to come up with this public excuse?

Im pretty sure a lot of senior japanese business types are not aware entirely of western cynicism. Still not that it matters much now. Literally all my innocence is lost now, i think i might go and cry in a corner for a bit

 

[Tel_Windzan]

I pretty much agree with a lot of other people in that this is a stupid reason to give. Yes, a lot of games Nintendo sells are usually good sellers because Nintendo does have a few IPs that sell really well. Yes, I recognize that those games do require some work so I understand that Nintendo should earn some profit from these games to cover the production costs of those games. Even the digital games sold help out in that goal, even if it is ridiculous to care the same, or more, for the digital games. So long as it finally covers the initial production cost of the game, I guess I'll be okay with it. Once that is over though, I hope they would be reasonable to reduce the price of their games, especially the digital version, as after that one cost is covered, they should just be getting straight profit from each sale afterwards.

Only except, I don't see Nintendo doing that at all, ever. Heck, at my Walmart, some of the older Pokemon Titles from Generation 4 were still going for 30 to 40 dollars despite the newer games having been released sometime later (at least the last time I checked them out, which has been a while). Why not reduce the price for their older games to at least give the "straggling" fans a chance to enjoy these titles as well? I feel like it is a missed opportunity of Nintendo to try and do that to make buying games a bit easier for some of their potential customers

Which is the same thing with the digital sales too! I'd imagine they would get a lot more people interested in buying digitally if the games were cheaper because they are cheaper! I'd seriously like to hear an answer as to why this isn't an idea that Nintendo is trying out!

 

[Ipsen]

Why do people get outraged the games cost money?

Because you pay the same and get less, that's why.

What do you get less of, do they withhold the last level if you buy a digitial copy?

You get less of an entire game if you ever use another system.

How if that different than a physical copy? If I buy say call of duty for wii u, it would play on Xbox 360. So that is dumb argument.

He's referring to the limits on titles, specifically here. Staying within the realm of the console '3DS', it's a bit bullshit that a physical copy, that you can potentially pay LESS for, has MORE options (IE, playing on a different 3DS) than the digital version, which should be easier. Why consider that alternative, when the company controlling it creates so many limitations, and thus inconveniences for it? This is, of course, a train of thought going in the direction that you WANT to give money to this company.

But limitations are just one facet of the problem. Nintendo keeping their 'standard' at best puts words in the mouths of their consumers, and at worst appears blatantly AND unreasonably greedy. Overall, no one want's to pay more for a title.

I also find it baffling that companies would hamstring incentive to move units over keeping a bottom line. Especially when digital is virtually unlimited (just keep security and power to the servers on). There's a limit to how much incentive on price you can add to a title, but you see a lot more bullshit if you have to base purchases solely on your interest in the title.

If businesses want to pinch pennies over incentives of convenience, then by all means, consumers should/could/will do the same.

 

[kasperbbs]

So basically "it's not cheaper because people will buy it anyway, so why miss out on some extra cash?".

 

[Psychobabble]

So it's an arbitrary price that doesn't actually reflect the cost of the medias creation. Can't say I'm surprised. Oh well since I seem to be buying less and less games every year it's not really hurting my wallet. And is certainly making what used to be pointless leisure time more productive.

 

[Atmos Duality]

Sheesh a lot of people are taking this negatively at face value. Not actually looking at it from Nintendo's perspective.

Nope. Not buying it.

Nintendo lost the right to that defense when they presumed to speak falsely on behalf of their customers. If they're trying to hold onto retailer support, they should just keep their mouths shut and the physical<->digital prices equal.

And if they can't compete properly anymore, then they don't deserve their customer's money anymore, history be damned.

Man for all the people who say MS doesn't care about customers, here is a prime example of a company that TRULY does not think of them as anything other than money machines.

Nintendo's anti-consumer bullshit here doesn't make any of Microsoft's anti-consumer bullshit any better.

 

[NotHankHill]

"[Digital games aren't cheaper] because we want consumers to value software as highly as possible and because we have been trying to heighten the value of our software whenever we produce it," Iwata said

Wait hold on, so what is he saying? Is he implying they won't try to "heighten the value" of their games if they aren't charging full retail on digital? Would they just slop out whatever shoots across their desk if digital downloads were at a discount? Does the quality of our favorite IP's hinge on that price-point? Call me a cynic, but I just ain't buying it.

 

[Shadow-Phoenix]

So basically what I got from this thread was:

Typical business motives because a business is there to make money, not rainbows for free.

People taking major offence from Nintendo's statement as if the users word were law and was denied.

People comparing a console company plus their service to Steam a PC only digital market once again as if to prove that everything should and only be Steam based (I game on PC and handhelds for the time being) due to lower prices on some games.

Look people just because Steam has had some positive light for a long while now doesn't bloody mean it should be the norm for every single company to follow as if you decree it as some fucked up law just because you want it to.

Jesus it would be like bullying the shit out of little timmy down the road because he doesn't sell his lemonade cheaper than Billy across the road while treating Billy as if he were some god because you can agree with him which means Little Timmy somehow deserves the biggest shitting.

I bought a Nintendo 3DS (crystal White) along with Pokemon Y, Fire Emblem Awakening and Animal Crossing new Leaf and yet I was happy I purchased them for their price and I'm not even rich as fuck, I'm not pouting like some downtrodden child, wishing Nintendo to make that whole lot I just bought amount to pennies because that would be bad business and devalue the bundle I got in general.

I really can't take some of the shit some users love to spout on here, if anything all 3 consoles will always get shat on when they somehow don't appease the PC only user which 90% of this site may as well be.

If you don't like their prices and deals then just ignore them and buy elsewhere, don't give the finger and pull a spat like some child just because you can't have everything your way.