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[Velcro Fly]

You hear all the time people buy a game digital and then the next week it goes on sale. You never get the difference back. Maybe in retail stores where customer loyalty is everything, but PSN sales are final, eShop sales are final, etc. Buying it before the promotion started isn't Nintendo's fault really.

It reminds me of how every year on July 1st when the new CN year starts and it's always glitchy and weird with counting surveys towards gold and platinum for a little while. I always wait until after the 4th to register my stuff to make absolutely sure nothing funny happens.

Yeah this situation sucks, but the dates for this were plastered all over the place. If everyone knew ahead of time that it wouldn't qualify for the 30% discount and point before the date of the promotion, I bet people would have waited, right? When they inevitably reverse position, I really hope people who broke the street date learn their lesson with stuff like this. The sense of entitlement is high in here.

 

[LordGouda]

*And Nintendo. If Nintendo didn't want redemption codes redeemed before time x, it would be hilariously easy to restrict them with a time dependent condition.

Why do you think there is a set date from July 26th to September 21st? He got it a few days earlier - therefore, no PDD. He and others should have honored the promotion before crying foul on Nintendo for not honoring their own promotion.

 

[Starfish Hero]

"Doesn't owe them shit". Ok, explain how that answers my point of it "being the right thing to do". Oh, and explain to me again, why is it a good idea to actively punish people who *Want* to spend money on your console (because the wii u clearly has too many of those right now and can afford to lose some).

When Nintendo inevitably backpedals on this and give everyone the discount who got pikmin 3 as a download, you're going to look a bit silly for trying to defend a rather stupid position.

I just asked you why is this the right thing to do. That wasn't a rhetorical question. Tell me: why is it the right thing to qualify people's purchases for a promotion that they clearly did not follow the rules for? When they broke pretty much the only rule of the promotion (buy between date X and date Y), why should they still qualify?

Whether or not Nintendo backpedals or not wouldn't change my stance. They shouldn't qualify those purchases. It shits on the people who actually did their research and waited on registering the product, despite having access to the game. Why should they get punished because other people are pissed off that they broke the rules? Nintendo hasn't refused to honor the promotion yet, but they will if they retroactively change the rules for people who don't deserve it.

 

[TheDrowningMan]

Again, this is true. But they are not punishing anyone for this. It's consumers willingly purchasing a product before the promotion even started. The discount must absolutely be honored, the promotion, on the other hand...

No, no it's not. The game was listed as a pre-order on Game's website, not "COME AND GET IT NOOOOOOW!" with a release time of 00:01 on the 26th for the eShop version. That some purchased it because they became aware that not only were codes being sent out in preparation but that Nintendo were automatically downloading the game once said code had been entered is a problem for Nintendo to sort out with Game.

 

[ArchangelWest]

While I feel bad for the people who aren't getting what they thought they were getting, the bottom line is that people thought they were getting over on the system and it blew up in their faces. Its Nintendo's way of saying, 'Bet you won't do THAT again'. They could be gracious, but if it ends up that they aren't, it's not fair to act like they are the bad guys here. The retailer broke the agreement, the gamer took advantage of it while not taking into account that the bonus had a specific set of dates attached to it.

 

[TheDrowningMan]

I just asked you why is this the right thing to do. That wasn't a rhetorical question. Tell me: why is it the right thing to qualify people's purchases for a promotion that they clearly did not follow the rules for? When they broke pretty much the only rule of the promotion (buy between date X and date Y), why should they still qualify?

Whether or not Nintendo backpedals or not wouldn't change my stance. They shouldn't qualify those purchases. It shits on the people who actually did their research and waited on registering the product, despite having access to the game. Why should they get punished because other people are pissed off that they broke the rules? Nintendo hasn't refused to honor the promotion yet, but they will if they retroactively change the rules for people who don't deserve it.

Because the game was listed as a pre-order on Game's website. Inputting the code after receiving it should not penalise anyone; once that's been done, the onus is not on the consumer to stop Nintendo's servers from automatically dumping on their console.

 

[TheDrowningMan]

While I feel bad for the people who aren't getting what they thought they were getting, the bottom line is that people thought they were getting over on the system and it blew up in their faces. Its Nintendo's way of saying, 'Bet you won't do THAT again'. They could be gracious, but if it ends up that they aren't, it's not fair to act like they are the bad guys here. The retailer broke the agreement, the gamer took advantage of it while not taking into account that the bonus had a specific set of dates attached to it.

How do you suggest distinguishing between those who were "gaming" the system and those who'd already pre-ordered and entered the code once Game sent it out? The issue lies with Nintendo's abysmal system allowing the download to begin.

 

[G.O.O.]

You seem unable to separate the idea of downloading a digital game prior to it's official date and qualifying for a specific promotion.

I thought it was a promotion for people buying the game soon after it's released. And being greenlighted by their own digital distribution system means that it's released in my book. I don't think I'm the only one to understand it that way.

July the 26th isn't any day, it's the release date. I don't think anyone would complain if it was another day.

The fact that they won't even give the NNP points mean that they clearly want to punish early buyers. I say OK, fine, but at least do something so that you know it before you're downloading (or just block the damn thing).

 

[ASIS]

No, no it's not. The game was listed as a pre-order on Game's website, not "COME AND GET IT NOOOOOOW!" with a release time of 00:01 on the 26th for the eShop version. That some purchased it because they became aware that not only were codes being sent out in preparation but that Nintendo were automatically downloading the game once said code had been entered is a problem for Nintendo to sort out with Game.

EDIT: wait can you please re-phrase your post? I don't think I understood exactly what you meant.

 

[Velcro Fly]

When people are putting in codes, what do they expect to happen? Putting in the code is pretty much purchasing the game. We're blaming Nintendo because they had it up on the eShop already but putting zero blame on people who put in the code thinking that if it was accepted they wouldn't be getting the game early? How the fuck does that logic work? I guess it's just easier to blame the retailer and Nintendo instead of taking responsibility for your own actions.

 

[Starfish Hero]

Because the game was listed as a pre-order on Game's website. Inputting the code after receiving it should not penalise anyone; once that's been done, the onus is not on the consumer to stop Nintendo's servers from automatically dumping on their console.

It wasn't automatic, was it? You had to input the code to receive the game first. There were people who said "Hey, if I input the code now I won't qualify for the promotion". They waited, and guess what? They qualified for the damn promotion. The people who downloaded it early weren't penalized at all: they did not qualify for the promotion, so they didn't get it. They did not earn it only for it to be taken away: they never received it.

 

[Shahadan]

Also my concerns are mainly for UK gamers. What is pikmin 3's price on the eShop over there?
Because when you're mainland european like me, by buying digital version of both pikmin 3 and W101 via Game you'll be in the end paying the same you would have via eShop with the promotion, thanks to the conversion rate.

No DPP sucks though.

 

[ArchangelWest]

How to you suggest distinguishing between those who were "gaming" the system and those who'd already pre-ordered and entered the code once Game sent it out? The issue lies with Nintendo's abysmal system allowing the download to begin.

The game had a release date. The promotion had a release frame. What's there to sort out? I'm not saying that Nintendo can't or shouldn't go ahead and fix it, but it's laughable to pretend that the people who did this thought that Nintendo's system was 'abysmal' when they sat there downloading the game early with a troll face on.

 

[TheDrowningMan]

And they did that before the promotion started. How does any of that change what I said? Did someone force their hand to download this before release date? Did Nintendo some how hide the fact that the promotion starts on the 26th? The rules were laid out very clear, it sucks, yes, but it IS clear. Ignorance is not an excuse.

Once you've entered the code, the download begins. There is no splash screen, no warning, no "this will become valid when the game goes live". It's genuinely ridiculous and offensive to foist the blame on to the consumer.

I don't expect companies to be as good as Apple when honouring purchases and offering upgrades (see Logic X) to people who bought early, but this is a miscommunication between Nintendo and Game and poor coding of the eShop code redemption system on Nintendo's part.

 

[Coffee Dog]

Amusingly, this is pretty lenient compared to other companies. mS would have banned you!

 

[TheDrowningMan]

It wasn't automatic, was it? You had to input the code to receive the game first. There were people who said "Hey, if I input the code now I won't qualify for the promotion". They waited, and guess what? They qualified for the damn promotion. The people who downloaded it early weren't penalized at all: they did not qualify for the promotion, so they didn't get it. They did not earn it only for it to be taken away: they never received it.

A retailer sends out a code early; Nintendo don't have to allow redemption of said code. People were penalised.

The simple solution, of course, is to buy second W101 second-hand. No one gets hurt that way in this instance.

 

[tornjaw]

...some of us in Europe were able to buy a downloadable code for Pikmin 3 from Game.uk a few days before the release date.
Since then those who asked directly to customer services were told they wouldn't be allowed to use the -30% deal on W101 since it was donwnloaded before July 26th.

The customers didn't break the street date, the retailer did. It's not the customers responsibility to know when a game is allowed to be sold. Expecting the customer to take the responsibility is absurd.

It's not Nintendo's responsibility to honor any promotion outside of the dates they stated in their advertisements. So not expecting the customer to take responsibility is, to me, beyond absurd.

 

[flippedb]

Promotion starts on the 26th. What's the problem? Nintendo stated so. If Wii U's eShop is anything like 3DS', you have a big ass image naming the promotion and stating it starts on the 26th, why be a rebel and download it early?

A retailer sends out a code early; Nintendo don't have to allow redemption of said code. People were penalised.

The simple solution, of course, is to buy second W101 second-hand. No one gets hurt that way in this instance.

Platinum gets hurt because of some not-so-smart consumer decided to download the game before the promotion started.


Oh well, fuck Nintendo yada yada

 

[TheDrowningMan]

It's not Nintendo's responsibility to honor any promotion outside of the dates they stated in their advertisements. So not expecting the customer to take responsibility is, to me, beyond absurd.

July 26th is Pikmin's release date. There's no reason for it to be available prior to that point via Nintendo's own store, nor for anyone to suspect that said date refers to anything but that.

 

[Velcro Fly]

A retailer sends out a code early; Nintendo don't have to allow redemption of said code. People were penalised.

The simple solution, of course, is to buy second W101 second-hand. No one gets hurt that way in this instance.

Was Nintendo aware these codes were going to go out early? If not, it doesn't matter if redeeming a code early would start the download. If there is no way to get a code, having it up early isn't a problem. It wasn't able to be purchased with just eShop funds before the street date right? It was just the codes? Suggests to me Nintendo had no idea the codes would go out early and that people should be coming down hard on the retailer and not be asking Nintendo to fix everyone else's mistakes.

 

[Darryl]

i don't get why a promotion like this needed a start date at all. most of nintendo's promotions have counted games registered since release date. but yea, op fucked up as well. everyone loses now, hopefully they fix this for you guys.

 

[ArchangelWest]

 

[-MB-]

A retailer sends out a code early; Nintendo don't have to allow redemption of said code. People were penalised.

The simple solution, of course, is to buy second W101 second-hand. No one gets hurt that way in this instance.

People penalised themselves for being dumb, not Nintendo.

 

[Shahadan]

i don't get why a promotion like this needed a start date at all. most of nintendo's promotions have counted games registered since release date. but yea, op fucked up as well. everyone loses now, hopefully they fix this for you guys.

OP is still "winning" and doesn't care.

 

[TheDrowningMan]

Promotion starts on the 26th. What's the problem? Nintendo stated so. If Wii U's eShop is anything like 3DS', you have a big ass image naming the promotion and stating it starts on the 26th, why be a rebel and download it early?

Why should entering your legitimately purchased code and then being allowed to download it from Nintendo's own store without warning make you a "rebel"? What sort of fucked up teenage reality have I stumbled upon?

 

[TheDrowningMan]

Was Nintendo aware these codes were going to go out early? If not, it doesn't matter if redeeming a code early would start the download. If there is no way to get a code, having it up early isn't a problem. It wasn't able to be purchased with just eShop funds before the street date right? It was just the codes? Suggests to me Nintendo had no idea the codes would go out early and that people should be coming down hard on the retailer and not be asking Nintendo to fix everyone else's mistakes.

This is true too. People should pursue Game for compensation, but that doesn't mean Nintendo have done the right thing by allowing the download to go ahead on entry of the code.

 

[D-e-f-]

I got the game early by preordering it (the physical game, not the download) online too. I don't see what that has to do with anything: They paid for the game: the T&C of the DDP say nothing about street dates or registering game codes early.

What that has to do with it? There are worse situations to be in than getting the digital download days early and cheaper than in the eShop.

While it's not cool that they didn't anticipate the pre-launch sale of codes in regards to all the various promotions they have going, it's not like Nintendo is actively fucking anyone over which is what it sounds like reading some posts here.

It would be nice to wait for an official NoE (non-customer service!) response before going berserk.

 

[Starfish Hero]

A retailer sends out a code early; Nintendo don't have to allow redemption of said code. People were penalised.

The simple solution, of course, is to buy second W101 second-hand. No one gets hurt that way in this instance.

The were not penalized. Nintendo did not disqualify the early adopters as punishment for playing the game. It's apparent they did not care if people bought it early, or they would not have let Game do so.

The promotion, though, did not start with the first purchases of the game. They intentionally had it start the day before the physical release of the game, I guess as some sort of release day "party". The dates were clear: if someone thought there was a mistake, they should have either asked before downloading or played it safe.

 

[TheDrowningMan]

The were not penalized. Nintendo did not disqualify the early adopters as punishment for playing the game. It's apparent they did not care if people bought it early, or they would not have let Game do so.

The promotion, though, did not start with the first purchases of the game. They intentionally had it start the day before the physical release of the game, I guess as some sort of release day "party". The dates were clear: if someone thought there was a mistake, they should have either asked before downloading or played it safe.

26th of July was the release date of the physical version. Research is good.

 

[Coffee Dog]

OP tried to redeem a promotion outside of the alloted promotion dates. Of course the promotion wpuldnt apply.

 

[Velcro Fly]

26th of July was the release date of the physical version. Research is good.

If we're playing that game, it was also the start of the promotion. People redeeming codes before then don't qualify! The end.

 

[Flamfas]

The real question is why Nintendo's eShop infrastructure is so flimsy that they would allow a download before the street date, legitimately purchased or not. You'd think they'd have safeguards against this.

 

[Starfish Hero]

The real question is why Nintendo's eShop infrastructure is so flimsy that they would allow a download before the street date, legitimately purchased or not. You'd think they'd have safeguards against this.

Review copies

 

[Air Zombie Meat]

OP tried to redeem a promotion outside of the alloted promotion dates. Of course the promotion wpuldnt apply.

Yeah but it seems petty of them in this case.

 

[Starfish Hero]

26th of July was the release date of the physical version. Research is good.

Guess I mixed it up with Australia's. Well, it's only more evident that the promotion was meant to coincide with the official launch date.

Plus, I wonder why research isn't "good" with regards to looking up the promotions start date?

Yeah but it seems petty of them in this case.

Why?

 

[FZZ]

The real question is why Nintendo's eShop infrastructure is so flimsy that they would allow a download before the street date, legitimately purchased or not. You'd think they'd have safeguards against this.

Download codes are usually available earlier for reviewers, those codes and the ones available for the system at retailers are all put on the same server which gets activated as soon as it is purchased or activated by Nintendo.

 

[Flamfas]

Review copies

Then authorize downloads for the codes they sent to reviewers, not for the codes that were sent to game.uk.

I think Nintendo could have prevented this ha they spent enough time properly setting up the eShop.

 

[Trogdor1123]

Isn't the retailer at fault here? It's not the customers fault they were sold the game early

 

[truestatic]

Because you're punishing consumers for buying your products.

What punishment? There's no punishment. Not benefiting from a promotion for which you are not eligible to begin with isn't a punishment. Expecting someone to honor a bargain you don't meet the requirements for is asinine.

I'm with you on the digital deluxe promotion, but for the Pikmin3/Wonderful101 promotion, they have absolutely no responsibility to the early buyers. You can argue that it would be in their interests to do from a PR perspective, but they're under no ethical obligation.

 

[ArchangelWest]

Then authorize downloads for the codes they sent to reviewers, not for the codes that were sent to game.uk.

I think Nintendo could have prevented this ha they spent enough time properly setting up the eShop.

How about don't try to download the game early? Problem solved.

 

[Coffee Dog]

Isn't the retailer at fault here? It's not the customers fault they were sold the game early

Its the customers fault for not buying it in the promotion window if they wanted in on the promotion.

 

[LordGouda]

How about don't try to download the game early? Problem solved.

But the temptation!

 

[Flamfas]

How about don't try to download the game early? Problem solved.

I was talking in general, really. This predicament with the promotion aside, I think Nintendo should have been able to prevent early downloads from non-reviewers.

 

[TheDrowningMan]

Its the customers fault for not buying it in the promotion window if they wanted in on the promotion.

They pre-ordered it. Didn't buy it early.

 

[Velcro Fly]

How about don't try to download the game early? Problem solved.

Obviously the flimsy eShop setup forced them to redeem the code before the promotion began. It's simple really.

 

[Air Zombie Meat]

Guess I mixed it up with Australia's. Well, it's only more evident that the promotion was meant to coincide with the official launch date.



Why?

They bought the game before the promo expired like everyone else, which is what the date meant to most people who saw it. Technically Nintendo can do this but whats to gain from penalising customers for getting the game a few days early? Seems like needless bad pr for what is actually a decent promotion.

 

[Starwolf_UK]

It would be nice to wait for an official NoE (non-customer service!) response before going berserk.

What makes you think one will come? Have any popular blogs run this story with the "we have reached NOE for comment".

 

[Linkstrikesback]

Why do you think there is a set date from July 26th to September 21st? He got it a few days earlier - therefore, no PDD. He and others should have honored the promotion before crying foul on Nintendo for not honoring their own promotion.

Ok, first, the PDD doesn't even mention anywhere anything about street dates, so you don't even know what you're arguing, my god. You're thinking of the W101 promotion which does have a street date.

https://p.nintendo.net/premium/
Terms and conditions link is at the bottom. Leads to http://microsite.nintendo-europe.com/terms/wiiu/index.html

I see no mention of street dates anywhere on the page: The premium discount has nothing to do with it.

I just asked you why is this the right thing to do. That wasn't a rhetorical question. Tell me: why is it the right thing to qualify people's purchases for a promotion that they clearly did not follow the rules for? When they broke pretty much the only rule of the promotion (buy between date X and date Y), why should they still qualify?

The only rule was "buy this game between launch and september". If nintendo didn't want download codes redeemed before the 26th, they shouldn't have let them. It's as simple as that.

I only even knew about it because of gaf, and in the announcement thread http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=627166 , nowhere does it mention a starting date, so taking it for granted that gaffers would know about the date is a far stretch.

Even requiring you have to do research to find out you aren't valid for a promo because you bought and were able to download a game through the only retailer selling the codes, and directly through Nintendos store is a case of at least, gross negligence on nintendos part.

And then you get big nintendo news sites like Nintendolife covering the early code sale, and even cross referencing it with the promotion for W101 with no mention of the date limitation
http://www.nintendolife.com/news/20...d_pikmin_3_now_by_picking_up_a_code_from_game

Or how about eurogamer?
http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2...ikmin-3-digital-download-codes-two-days-early

gamespot?
http://uk.gamespot.com/news/pikmin-3-unlocking-early-at-uk-retailer-game-6412034

Even ********** and mynintendonews which make mention of only pikmin 3 being up for download, but nothing of w101, don't mention that the promotion (both of which covered it earlier) are restricted by date.

Saying people "didn't do the research" because they didn't watch the nintendo direct which sits at only 20k views on youtube (for the uk channel, presumably there are a few more in other languages, but the game codes are only supposed to be redeemable on the uk store anyway), so very few people have watched it, is downright insulting, and shows the fundamental problem with Nintendo directs.

So yes, giving everyone the discount is the right thing to do because
A) they did a terrible job of getting the news out about their being a problem with getting a discount on wonderful101
B) they shouldn't have given game the codes until midnight anyway, and regardless, they could have and should have added a simple bit of code which would restrict them from being redeemed if nintendo had a problem with it until the proper time.
C)Because they are paying customers and they only for the game when Nintendo let them. Actively putting a barrier up to those people giving you MORE money is stupid no matter how you try to spin it. Because how many people are going to buy W101 after nintendo screwed them like that? I know I sure as hell wouldn't.

I suppose it depends entirely on how you think blame should be handled, Nintendo could easily have stopped people at several points from being able to download pikmin 3, Though I do have to say, the amount of people who think consumer policy should be "well, it can't possibly be our companies fault, we should punish the customer" is astounding.

Why should they get punished because other people are pissed off that they broke the rules? Nintendo hasn't refused to honor the promotion yet, but they will if they retroactively change the rules for people who don't deserve it.

I'd love to hear what the "punishment" is that nintendo would be giving out by giving everyone who downloaded pikmin 3 the discount on w101.

 

[AkimbO_Arcana]

The simple solution, of course, is to buy second W101 second-hand. No one gets hurt that way in this instance.

No, everyone gets hurt that way

 

[qko]

Yeah, that's silly to let their customer download the game early but won't let them take advantage of the DDP or even other promotion.
Why didn't they block the download until the release date?

Media get downloads now. No review retail discs since they started offering first party 3DS games on eshop day one.