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Nintendo 2011/2012 Fiscal Meeting 26/04 [Update: Full Notes In OP, DD System, More]
- Thread starter BY2K
- Start date
I think it might be an avenue for NoA to release already translated games that NoE would have released, so hopefully yes as it would require less work and resources for Nintendo to do this.
StreetsAhead
Member
I like what I'm reading and hearing so far.
More unannounced 3DS titles for release this fiscal year? Yes, please.
Digital distribution? Yes, please.
Animal Crossing DLC? Yes, please. (Wallet: Nooooooooooooo!)
Me like what me hear.
And, to be honest, price and release date announcements were looking less and less likely anyway, so no disappointment from me.
More unannounced 3DS titles for release this fiscal year? Yes, please.
Digital distribution? Yes, please.
Animal Crossing DLC? Yes, please. (Wallet: Nooooooooooooo!)
Me like what me hear.
And, to be honest, price and release date announcements were looking less and less likely anyway, so no disappointment from me.
I hear people give Nintendo shit for all manner of things that their competitors do that Nintendo doesn't, most of them related to online. Which is a fine point, given Nintendo actually had a system capable of doing any of it - which they haven't till now. So I see people say, "Why is Nintendo so slow at adopting a proper online system?" and think, "You realize the Wii isn't actually capable of doing that, right? Like, not technically capable?" And then we're back arguing over whether the Wii's power ratio was a good choice - couldn't they have made it stronger? why did it have to be so weak? what's with that waggle controller? etc. and so on.
At the end of the day, the 3DS and Wii U are the first systems that Nintendo has produced which really give the company the ability to create a proper online standard. Thus far, they're not doing a horrific job, though they could certainly botch it somewhere along the line.
There's a reason why localisation companies like XSeed are doing more digital-only releases. It's getting harder and harder to get shelf space in retail outlets for niche Japanese games, plus there are all the costs associated with making and distributing boxed copies.
DXB-KNIGHT
Member
I've always complained on Nintendo surveys that Animal Crossing is a title that requires easy and quick access since its supposed to be a game that is checked daily.
Yup. And every time they have a misstep, a gigantic shitstorm appears on the internet, followed by predictions of doom.
I'm surprised by how aggressive and serious they are taking this approach. Perhaps they were waiting until the markets were ready? There sure is a lot of secrecy for a console that has supposedly "disappointed" some developers.
In any case, I'm keeping an open mind. There's still so much we really don't know about the console. And price point won't even be mentioned at E3. I bet they really are going to agressively price this.
Chet Rippo
Member
True, but even then we'd probably still wouldn't see games like Captain Rainbow.
Freezie KO
Banned
The one thing I really wish they'd rectify with a single account is the duplicate VC games. Like Super Mario Bros on 3DS VC and then Super Mario Bros. on Wii VC.
I would think that a unified account would get rid of this, but they keep releasing portable NES games on VC, making me think that this isn't going away. I want to be able to transfer games back and forth.
I would think that a unified account would get rid of this, but they keep releasing portable NES games on VC, making me think that this isn't going away. I want to be able to transfer games back and forth.
John Harker
Definitely doesn't make things up as he goes along.
no wii sports for wii u launch confirmed
Gianni Merryman
Member
Great news indeed, can't wait for E3!
Alexios
Cores, shaders and BIOS oh my!
No.
Black Republican
Member
you can:
buy from eshop (at nintendo's price)
buy download code from retailer (at their price)
buy packaged sku from retailer
Only $5 dollars more at Gamestop!
lulz
hopefully amazon does a deal where you buy it with them and they instantly give you a code.
The more I think about Nintendo's proactive retailer involvement the better I think it is. Giving retailers an incentive to promote digital titles is pretty large and potentially expands the digital market beyond the people listening to the NintenDownload Express or obsessively following the eShop trail. It's another prong of the wide blue ocean, I guess you might say.
Of course whether or not that would work in practice, and whether it extends to download-only titles at all is another thing, but still.
Of course whether or not that would work in practice, and whether it extends to download-only titles at all is another thing, but still.
I read that briefly as a single title, merging elements of Paper Mario, Mario & Luigi and Luigi's Mansion. Now I'm sorry it's not that.
DXB-KNIGHT
Member
Same here :/
Yeah I think a lot of people will like it. I'll still buy packaged for two reasons.
1) I can sell it or loan to a friend
2) I can import games at about 1/2 the price of retail here. If Nintendo do DD I bet they will make my region DD prices the same as the retail ones here. This of course depends on whether my importer can get those DD codes and sell them to me for cheaper.
I'm really dreading the day of full DD (once retailers are gone). There will be no deals to have.
I think the 360 is a perfect example of people buying a console for the software rather than the hardware. No one in their right mind would have bought a 360 during the height of the RROD plague if it didn't have any good software.
Well I just wanted a smartphone so I went if a cheap no name option. I knew the hardware features were cheap, like the camera, but it had Android which is what I wanted. If I wanted iOS and this phone could support it and probably would have bought it instead of an iPhone.
There's a difference between those who buy Apple product for reasons like you stated and those who queue up on day one just to say they have the latest Apple product. If I took my MacBook to an Apple conversion and they saw what I have done to it I'd probably be kicked out for blasphemy. That's the mentally of some of the fanbase we're dealing with. Key word being fanbase, not userbase.
Wario64 got banned as well. When it comes to the rules it doesn't matter who you are.Andrex can't be perma-banned, can he? He's too important
Well in the UK we don't even need a clearance to have a sale so I'm not too worried.
Localisation costs. Then again NoE is pretty happy to provide the Japanese soundtrack so they could save money not hiring voice actors. NoA on the other hand...
Well they have confirmed accounts are coming as part of their Nintendo WiFi -> Nintendo Network rebarnd, we just have no idea what that entails.
Well if AC Wii was anything to judge by I hope most DLC for Animal Crossing is free.
Well Wii seems to be very locked down. Perhaps from 3DS onwards VC purchases will be transferable.
It was given as an example of a game you'd like to check for a few minutes a day like Brain Training and why it's convenient to have it always on the system rather than constantly swapping out cartridges.
If you read the official statement from nintendo of america it sounds as if you can't buy the games directly from the e-shop.
you have to either buy a download code in a retail store or online store.
"These downloadable games will be available for purchase at participating retail stores and on retailers' websites. Our customers can visit retail outlets or their online shopping sites, look for the products they want and pay for the product there. The retailers will then provide shoppers with a 16-digit code that can be exchanged in the Nintendo eShop for the game. This will give shoppers more options to find and purchase their favorite games."
you have to either buy a download code in a retail store or online store.
"These downloadable games will be available for purchase at participating retail stores and on retailers' websites. Our customers can visit retail outlets or their online shopping sites, look for the products they want and pay for the product there. The retailers will then provide shoppers with a 16-digit code that can be exchanged in the Nintendo eShop for the game. This will give shoppers more options to find and purchase their favorite games."
Assuming you don't read the paragraph just above that, sure.
I won't buy many titles DD, but that actually makes a lot of sense for AC.
Well it would still launch as a downloadable title in the e-shop, only you have to pruchase a code elsewhere to actually download it.
Just my interpretation.
"Of course, for all the digital download software, we ultimately need our consumers to download them to their Nintendo 3DS system through the Nintendo eShop. However, when it comes to how our consumers choose the candidates and make the final purchase decision, as well as how they pay for the software, we are going to enable consumers to go through these processes at both retailers and the Nintendo eShop."
Damn it, Erethian.
Me too. Since I need to buy games from the US, I'll save quite a lot in shipping and will have my games delivered in 15 minutes instead of 15 days.
You interpretation is wrong. The DD games will be sold on the eShop as usual, but you'll also be able to buy the download codes from retail, like you can already do with some eShop games.
What? They've been going for a couple of months.
The Nintendo Network must be getting lots of blazing fast servers. On their current servers, it'd take days to download a 10GB game. In my region at least.
I hope this DD news also means those interesting niche Japanese games (both in development and from generations past) will become available stateside. Don't wanna have to here any NoA BS excuses next gen.
Although very unlikely due to cost and currently unnecessary, I'd love for Nintendo to add SDXC and USB 3.0 support to the Wii U.
I hope this DD news also means those interesting niche Japanese games (both in development and from generations past) will become available stateside. Don't wanna have to here any NoA BS excuses next gen.
Although very unlikely due to cost and currently unnecessary, I'd love for Nintendo to add SDXC and USB 3.0 support to the Wii U.
Talk about niggling over details. It still doesn't change the fact they announced them before launch and it took them almost a year to deliver them.
Yeah, Nintendo is giving us all the options for us to choose what fits best. Essentially we can:
- Buy the physical copy at retail. Takes up shelf space, it's the most expensive, and you need to carry the game around, but you can freely lend it to friends or re-sell it to be played in more than one system. It's also more valuable from a collecting standpoint.
- Buy the download copy directly at eShop. This version is always available and all you need is to connect your 3DS to the Internet. Game will always be on your system without carrying an extra cart around, but this version will never be on sale in comparison to DD copies at retailers, unless the Suggested Retail Price is cut overall.
- Buy the download copy at a retailer. The amount of codes a retailer can sell is probably limited, and depending on where you live you may not access to certain stores, but retailers can charge their own prices for download codes and you may get them cheaper.
- Buy the physical copy at retail. Takes up shelf space, it's the most expensive, and you need to carry the game around, but you can freely lend it to friends or re-sell it to be played in more than one system. It's also more valuable from a collecting standpoint.
- Buy the download copy directly at eShop. This version is always available and all you need is to connect your 3DS to the Internet. Game will always be on your system without carrying an extra cart around, but this version will never be on sale in comparison to DD copies at retailers, unless the Suggested Retail Price is cut overall.
- Buy the download copy at a retailer. The amount of codes a retailer can sell is probably limited, and depending on where you live you may not access to certain stores, but retailers can charge their own prices for download codes and you may get them cheaper.
Probably not since they would eat the wholesale value on the DD copy but what I think could be cool for some like me who like DD but also collecting is maybe $50-$60 (3DS, essentially retail profit plus wholesaled DD copy) for a for a combo pack with both.
Our delicious march toward an all digital future is making me happy. I understand the benefits of physical releases, but I rarely re-sell my games and I have enough stuff cluttering my house so I don't need a bunch of games taking up shelf space when there are alternatives. PC gaming has made me completely comfortable with the idea of going all digital.
JimboJones
Member
Like the news about the digital distribution of games, don't think I will bother getting NSMB2 digitally though as I would want to share that with my brother.
But I would definitly get the next Animal Crossing as a digital copy as it's best played in short bursts and the next mainline Pokemon for 3DS because I don't/can't share those games (i'm sure it will have a single save again).
But I would definitly get the next Animal Crossing as a digital copy as it's best played in short bursts and the next mainline Pokemon for 3DS because I don't/can't share those games (i'm sure it will have a single save again).
Smashkirby
Member
And this is why I love this news. It will only drive sales up and make things more accessible for everyone.
I really want accounts for the 3DS though, it could be as simple as locking all content you have on your 3DS to an account. The info is already on the system, just have saved to an online account.
H_Prestige
Banned
No, all this news amounts to is that you can buy game download codes from retailers in addition to Nintendo.
The packaged product and download are completely separate and buying one doesn't give you license to the other.
Pathetic Basement Virgin
Banned
With all the dry snitching some of y'all did it was bound to happen.
Rebel Leader
THE POWER OF BUTTERSCOTCH BOTTOMS
EatChildren
Currently polling second in Australia's federal election (first in the Gold Coast), this feral may one day be your Bogan King.
Indeed. Retailers mainly hate digital sales because, obviously, it eats into their share of consumers. More people buying digitally = less people buying retail, thus less money for them. Moreover, retail is a fickle beast when it comes to shelf space, organising what games go where, and how many copies you want to order.
Selling digital at retail gives retailers a potential cut into digital sales, takes up little to no actual floor space, and keeps consumers who want to (potentially) pay less for digital over retail happy. I also like, in theory, retailers pricing their digital sales competitively. As excited as I am for digital Nintendo, Nintendo's pricing model can fuck off. I fully expect digital retail says to be cheaper than Nintendo's own prices. Which is lame, but also...good?
The impression I'm getting is that retailers give consumers are code though. I think the better way to do it would be to sell coupon cards, not unlike what Microsoft and Sony already do with Live points, as well as Nintendo. This might be what they intend to do, and I'm just misreading.
Yeah, I'm really liking the DD via retail idea as an option as opposed to just pushing everything into the eshop.
I'm guessing Nintendo's margins are going to be pretty similar either way, but this way they get to keep retailers happy. You can still have all that activation in the store and in the ads.
You can obviously see the benefits where someone wants an obscure title at Gamestop and they can just print a card off with the digital code instead of having to carry stock. Also makes it easier for people who don't like or don't have credit cards (i.e. a kid saves up his/her allowance money to buy a game).
I'm guessing Nintendo's margins are going to be pretty similar either way, but this way they get to keep retailers happy. You can still have all that activation in the store and in the ads.
You can obviously see the benefits where someone wants an obscure title at Gamestop and they can just print a card off with the digital code instead of having to carry stock. Also makes it easier for people who don't like or don't have credit cards (i.e. a kid saves up his/her allowance money to buy a game).
Father_Brain
Banned
FINALFANTASYDOG
Member
Heh. Anyone caring so much to translating bits?
Iwata didn't seem as on his game this time:
Only actual news in here is: margins for retailers are going to be less for digital downloads then regular retail games. They don't believe digital and retail games should be a different price.
Seems the English translation has that differently, on the issue of retailer margins. Cause the person asking the question proposed a scenario where digital versions are seen to have less value, so retailers would reduce their margins to sell the game at a cheaper price than the boxed copy. And Iwata made the point that the digital versions sold in stores would have reduced inventory costs that would offset any price reduction, to a certain extent.