**7/8 Update: It now has TBD on the eShop. **
Iwata has stated that there wouldn't be much of a difference between digital and retail and now we see there's no difference. Oh wait, that's right, I pre-ordered the retail version for $29.99.
I'm trying to not be too pessimistic, but I hope the digital sales are in good numbers and don't turn Nintendo away from continuing their efforts. I can hear it now: well, we offered the same game in digital form and retail continued to dominate. Of course it did guys. There has to be a balance of convenience vs price vs flexibility in the title not being locked to an account/device and you didn't achieve that...
What do you think of the price and if you were to lower it, what would you suggest? $29, $35, etc.?
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ReplyDeleteYou've heard it here first..... "
Yes sir, I did.
"What do you think of the price and if you were to lower it, what would you suggest? $29, $35, etc.?"
I would say $35 as a starting point since you aren't getting a case, or physical copy of the game, but then again, this is a NEW Mario title, so they could probably have made the digital price $10 more, and marketed it as, "Mario's first NEW digital game...EVER." It would have sold 500 million units at $50, and people would say it is better than brewed coffee...I would just stare at them, sip my coffee, and walk away.
The only thing I'm wondering, is that PERHAPS Nintendo is doing the same price initially to protect retailers, so their orders stay high...but then MAYBE in another 4-5 years it will finally drop in price? When did NSMBDS or NSMBW see there first official price drop? (listens for crickets...)
"Yes sir, I did."
ReplyDelete#NewsCentralFTW
As much as I'd like to see more sales, I agree with those points. They can't go too low and undermine retail, but I think something like $35 is a reasonable place to start. No media, no case, no book (for whatever an instruction book is worth these days) or manufacturing costs.
Like you said this IS a new mario game and you know the pricing on that. For NSMBDS and NSMBWii, crickets indeed. Wii is around $40 4 years later and DS is about $28-35 6 years later.
Here's to hoping DLC will be reasonable.
I also heard they want to make the digital sales figures public which will be cool.
Thanks for the comment!
Yeah, I've long thought that a digital game should come in at least $5-$10 cheaper than the retail ones. I know a lot of people are like: but think of the convenience! You get it from your couch. And for some people that's probably true, but with a Walmart literally 3 minutes from my house? I can buy it just as easy and get the case, book, physical game that doesn't soak up my storage space, and something I can sell/trade in later.
ReplyDelete"Convenience Fee", that sounds like the phone or cable companies. :) Like how Dish has on demand movies for 4.99-6.99, though we have a dozen redbox kiosks right around the house for $1.20. Walmart and BestBuy are right here as well so it's no issue to go get a game if I feel I can't wait on free shipping from Amazon.
ReplyDeleteI almost don't mind the price as far as convenience, it's just that the game is locked to your account so, like you said, you can't sell/trade it later.
Doesn't need to be significantly cheaper. Some steam games give you a 10% discount, which if you calculate it out is $3 pre-tax. That's basically the packaging and physical goods cost.
ReplyDeleteI think it will be there for the impulse buy and convenience. I can see 10% off retail being fairly reasonable.
"And for some people that's probably true, but with a Walmart literally 3 minutes from my house?"
ReplyDeleteDo you live in my neighborhood? LOL.
Walmart is super close also, and the benefit of getting it at Walmart and not online? SNACKS! CoffeeWITHGames. CHIPSwithGames. CANDYwithGames. SODAwithGames.
Apparently though, I'm supposed to pay full price online, THEN drive to the store and get my snacks? I guess you could order some pizza, but then that would be DELIVERY and NOT DiGiorno! The whole thing just goes downhill quickly.
Yeah, about the only time I really make use of downloaded games is when they are on sale (as Steam well knows by the abuse they/I have put my credit card through)
ReplyDeleteOh! ChipsWithGames - I like it. New Joint blog? :)
ReplyDeleteNo shortage of pizza places in my town either. It's sort of funny, because my town is really quite small for the most part. We live in a section that's all just small houses, a school nearby, a park, a library... but you drive 3 minutes up the road and you have a Walmart and a Meijer just hanging out (not that I'm complaining)
I think $35 would have been the sweet spot, but I would always choose physical regardless.
ReplyDeleteAs an update it appears the price is back to TBD. Perhaps they noticed reactions and decided to take a step back? More than likely it was a mistake on the eShop and they're waiting until closer to launch to reveal. Since when does Nintendo react that quickly to customer/community feedback? :)
ReplyDeleteOn the other hand would it be smart for them to announce a firm price now and even accept digital pre-orders? Maybe they could do some digital pre-order bonuses of some sort and/or let people download early so they're ready to fire it up immediately on 8/19? (i have no idea how large the DL/cart is. Though 1GB does take a bit of time still as an example.) Heck, I don't know, just throwing out ideas on making the digital version very attractive beyond the usual suspects.
I appreciate everyone's response. I think $35 is pretty reasonable and while I've seen 33% pre-order discounts on steam, 10% wouldn't be bad considering this is a new Mario game.
"I also heard they want to make the digital sales figures public which will be cool."
ReplyDeleteI saw that report, but I almost guarantee that's a lie (love to be proven wrong, WOULD LOVE IT), and PR garbage. Know why they removed the "stats" feature from the 3DS? Apparently, it allowed little no name sites to get SOME information on Virtual Console and WiiWare titles, that Nintendo doesn't want published...such as estimating sales for games in certain countries.
3DS shows stats that you have played only, not world wide stats also like the Wii. If the 3DS showed world-wide stats, I may not have even canceled my pre-order on it...but Nintendo likes to keep data secret from publishers/developers and make them sign NDAs on a lot of sales information provided.
"Since when does Nintendo react that quickly to customer/community feedback? :)"
ReplyDeleteHow about the:
"We don't respond to rumors or speculation, and if we even confirmed it ourselves, we will deny it and say we never said it...effectively calling news source that said we did, a liar."
Yeah, Nintendo really doesn't understand online purchasing. I understand & fully support the desire to maintain he value of content online - Nintendo doesn't want to get caught in the 'flight to the bottom,' but you do have to have the price at least at parity with the majority of physical offerings.
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