Official DS Packaging Revealed

OneHungLo writes "Gamespot has posted an article showing the final design of the Nintendo DS packaging. The package design confirms that a "Metroid Prime: Hunters" demo cart is included, and the "Pictochat" software is embedded into the DS."

Comments

News?

[UncleBiggims]

Ok, so the news here is that gamespot has a picture of the Nintendo DS box... or am I missing something? Wow, a picture of the box. Now that DOES matter.

P.S. Gizmodo posted this about 4 days ago. :)

Re:Sexy box

[mrgreen4242]

I was thinking about that a little while ago... the lack of bundled games... I remember buying a SNES and I got a game and 2 controllers with it, and the NES had 2 games (Mario and Duck Hunt), 2 controllers AND a lightgun! Now you are lucky to get anything beyond a single cotroller with a new system.

Putting in a demo of Metroid is step up from the norm, but a huge step down from what we used to get. Now, I know it's not possible with the DS, but for the DVD/optical media based systems, it would be accapatble if a new console (at launch tiem anyways) included a demo disc with PLAYABLE demos of all the launch titles (it's usually only 10-15 game anyways). At least you will know what games don't suck before you plop down $50 just to try out the new toy. After 6-8 months or so they should include a complete free game, and it should be the launch title that sold the second most... it'd be incetive to get the console if you didn't already have it, but the #1 (think Halo) game will still cost you $50.

I want one.

[koi88]

I know I want one.
The device looks cool and I'm sure Nintendo will offer a range of fresh new games (something I don't expect from PSP, that has the only ambition to be a portable PS2).

Let's take a look at economics.

[Inoshiro]

When you were buying a NES Power Pack or a SNES box, you were getting a lot, yes.

However, they also had NES packs without the extra controller and game. Did you notice how those were cheaper? I did.

In the olden days (1992), a NES system was about 40$ to make, 60$ at the wholesale level, and 80$ at the retailer level. They sold for 100$. If you had the extra game and controller, you'd spend about 150$. They passed the cost on to the consumer, rather than taking away from their profit margin just like any business would.

How much does a PS2 cost to make? They sell for 200$ CDN, but the cost to make is not 100$. It's closer to 170$. If you want a package that has an extra controller and a game, you just buy them separately. This has the added benefit of giving you, the end user, the choice over what controller and game combinations you get. Most of the time, people play single player games, for example. This means a lot of people (70% or so) don't want an extra controller.

About the only thing I can think that would be beneficial to include with a system would be a memory card, because (like a power cord, AV cord, controller, and the system itself), it's the only thing that's 100% needed for gaming enjoyment. However, as we see regular capacity increases (well, not from Sony; Nintendo has gone up from 59 block, to 251 block cards, to 1019 block cards), and because there are 3rd party cards (well, not much on the Sony side), you see that this could again be a place where consumers exercise their right to choose.

"After 6-8 months or so they should include a complete free game,"

Hmm, well, you obviously haven't seen the Microsoft Xbox holidy bundles. They include "complete, free*" games (*: It still costs more than a base system, because companies past costs on to the consumer, duh!) with them to try and drive sales of people who wouldn't mind getting a system with some games, as long as the system + games together is cheaper than the system + buying games separately. Microsoft's not the only one to do this; Nintendo has had things like the Mario Sunshine bundle (which also included a memory card 59), the current Metroid Prime bundle (Players' Choice million sold), and the Zelda collector pack (which had emulated classics in it). Nintendo didn't charge extra for its bundles (Mario Sunshine bundle excluded) and had them out for the holidays as well.

So it looks like, to me, that the reason companies don't always include FREE (which aren't free because you pay anyways) junk is because most people don't want it, which is reflected in the fact that, while the companies will put out holiday bundles to hopefully snap up extra Q4 system sales, they still have the regular bare-bones configuration available alongside it.

Hmm, so wouldn't that make your whole "+5, Insightful" into a "+2, Redundant" because you obviously never researched any of what you talk about, you just yammered along about how you want free stuff, and hit post? Halo's still expensive because it still sells. Microsoft knows this as much as you know this. I don't think you'll see a price drop on it until November the 9th; perhaps not even then. And don't think that feature's unique to Microsoft; Super Smash Bros Melee is still 49$ CDN, despite being Players' Choice.

Re:Let's take a look at economics.

[Inoshiro]

"Second, we are talking about VIDEO GAMES. CALM DOWN, no need to be such a dick about freaking games!"

I'm just speaking out because there's a very strong "something-for-nothing" attitude that a lot of /.ers have. There is no such thing as a free lunch; you don't have to be an economics major to understand this, so why can't we?

Plus, everything you suggest has happened, in one form or another, for the past decade. Just not to the extent that you seem to want.

"Now, I recall the 'bare-bones' NES and SNES, but as I remember it those came out after the initial launch of the system... maybe I am wrong, but that would at least give you something to get all angry about again."

They did. However, as you'll notice, the majority of system sales did not occur until after these price cuts and slashes to make sure that the retailers could pump out the maximum volume of systems. The attachment rate (aka the # of games each system owner buys, on average) is something you can't always maximize easily; the solution to that is to get more systems out the door so there are more systems for the games to attach to. That's why this proved to be a succesful strategy for Nintendo in the late 80s and early 90s (as well as for other makers, like Sega and notably Sony).

"Also, the bundles we get now with a system are coming what, 2 or 3 years after the console launch? Why bother at that point? There's enough used and bargain bin games that users can make their own bundles."

Not true. Microsoft can throw in 2 games for a price that's like buying one game used. Nintendo can take a game that's made back its development costs and throw it in the box with a demo of its sequel. All of this is only possibly because the cost of the system hardware has been reduced. At each price point, there is a very specific hardware lifecycle attached. Intial launching at 300$ US means it costs about 450$ CDN for a system. That's expensive. All the launch titles are expensive, too; only early adopters will be wanting to buy a system for half a grand, and then dropping a further 80-90$ a piece on games. But if they wait a couple of years, they can walk away with a system that includes a game or two for 150$ less (as happened with the holiday bundles in fall 2002). This is a great bullet point on the box, and helps get the "wait-and-see" people off the sidelines and buying systems they can attach new games to.

"The appeal to bundling a game with a system AT LAUNCH is that it FEELS free... of course we are paying for it, usually to the tune of $200-300."

Yes, but that's 100% covering cost. If you wanted to include a game with it, you'd have to make it even more expensive. Sony wisely chose to include a demo disc with the launch of the PlayStation console to keep it at the (at the time, incredible for the technology involved) price of 399$ US, rather than having a pack in. Sega tried to sue them for getting it to that low level. Until you get some early adopters out there providing you with better advertising (as in, "try out the Playstation I bought, buddy!"), and helping you to clear out inventories of systems so that economies of scale on the production can kick in (which allows vendors to actually have margin on the units; Sony milked this with the PS2 until Microsoft and Nintendo came along) and allow for better technologies, etc.

"Ok, my compleely made up figure is that 85% of people think of gaming as a social activity, and hence must want an extra controller to play with friends. Moving on..."

As any engineer would tell you, it's easier to add than subtract. The number of single-player people outnumbers the number of multi-player people out there; so the multi-player people can add. In addition, why pay 40$ more for a console with extra controller, when you can get a MadCatz extra controller for 20$?

"Ok, demo's, what I suggested be bundled with systems, would be a nice thing to throw in

Re:Sexy box

[leland242]

Hmm, I would have to disagree with: "The only reason why we have ever gotten games with our consoles for free is to rathar get rid of extra copies that companies couldn't sell or to make people want to buy the console in the first place. It's mainly used as a very, very good way of attracting attention and to steal sales from other companies. It even builds brand loyalty to an extent."

I think the real reason we used to get games packed into consoles at launch was because people wouldn't have had it any other way.

In the 80's, certainly, buying a video game system was a new thing and the joys of ownership were not completely understood.

I doubt that parents, who (for the sake of arguement) know nothing about video games, would spend $200 on a toy that could not be used unless an additional $50 was spent on a game.

The reason to pack in a game was to sell a fully functional system at the time of purchase and make it easy for everyone. Not only that, but include a good game - ala asteroids, sonic, mario, altered beast, etc etc.

Now, that paradigm has shifted - those kids are today's parents and now it is common to have both the kids and the adults playing games.

What I'm curious to know is what system was first introduced without a game? N64? PS1? Maybe some older system like a Turbografx?