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Nintendo President Vows Cheap Games
Chris Morris, over at CNN's Game Over column, had a chance to talk to Nintendo President Iwata last week about that company's goals for their next generation console. The message Morris came away with: $60 games are not in Nintendo's plans. From the article: "If we can come up with an addictive, but simple title - such as Tetris 15 years ago - my attention should be focused on containing costs ... So, I would make it available through the Virtual Console. I think the opportunity for ourselves will be much larger than software that costs $50-$60. ... Of course, there are a number of people waiting for a 'masterpiece' title. For those games, we'll utilized traditional distribution channels."
How is this any different than the XBOX 360? Games like Grand Theft Auto and Madden will still cost an arm and a leg, while lower budget games will be downloadable through the system. Again, how is this any different?
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"How is this any different than the XBOX 360? Games like Grand Theft Auto and Madden will still cost an arm and a leg, while lower budget games will be downloadable through the system. Again, how is this any different?"
It fundamentally isn't. The only real differences will be the $150/$200 price tag compared to the $300 for the actual console - and Nintendo may focus slightly more on their version of Xbox Live Arcade.
For the most part, Nintendo has always strives to make game affordable. They were the first to offer "Best Of" games, those popular titles that sold over a million or more copies that they started to discount from their original price, usually in the $30 CDN range. But I ask, if you know your next Legend of Zelda is going to sell millions, why launch it with a $60 price tag?
Its not like Nintendo has to guess what will be a hit and what won't. A Zelda, Mario, Metroid, etc incarnation will always sell like hotcakes, so why not just offer them at a discount price to begin with.
I hope this isn't just all talk and no action, which has been very typical of Nintendo for the last 10 years. The Revolution name should be more then just a marketing gimmick. If it doesn't offer dramatically different game play, more features and lower costs then where is the Revolution except on the label. If its just another vehicle for more Pokemon and Mario and Zelda derivative titles, then I think Nintendo might be in big trouble.
I haven't thought of anything clever to put here, but then again most of you haven't either.
I think they are looking at the success of Geometry Wars and hoping to capitalize on something like that.
Nintendo is doing everything they can to get back to the #1 spot. They have the entire 8 and 16 bit catalog at their disposal. They should should try to get the entire Atari 2600-7800 catalog up there too and I think they'll hit a homerun with their system especially if they get Revolution out there at a $150 price tag.
I honestly think Nintendo is going to pull a coup this time around and get back to being #1 in the video game console arena.
funny timing this article, I just blogged about it on my site. :)
Basically, I ranted about how I saw Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion at futureshop the other day. The prices are getting a little out of hand if you ask me. This is what I saw:
(All prices in $CDN)
PC Version : $59.99
XBOX 360 Version : $69.99
XBOX 360 Deluxe Version : $79.99
Why on earth are the console counterparts so much more? Does the xbox 360 license cost that much more? I certainly do not like this trend, and am happily awaiting my Nintendo Revolution. Speaking of Nintendo, here's another plug for them. I just picked up Tetris DS the last week for $34.97CDN. I've been playing it a LOT. It's a great pick me up game. I can turn it on, connect to Nintendo's Wifi service, have a few games against people around the world, all in the span of about 10 min. What a great deal this game is.
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A Zelda, Mario, Metroid, etc incarnation will always sell like hotcakes, so why not just offer them at a discount price to begin with.
Because if they were to do this, they wouldn't be Maximizing profit. You sell Zelda at the 50 dollar price point initially to customers like myself, who will whip out a check the second it comes out, and you keep it there, so that little billy has time to save up to buy the game at full retail price.
The only reason you drop prices is because after a year and a half, there is plenty of new hotness out there, and chances are, you will get lost in the full retail price shuffle. So you slap a distinctive yellow stripe on top of the box, slash the price to 20 bucks, and sell to everyone that "heard it was good from somewhere" but weren't willing to fork over $54.11 just to see if he would enjoy running around as an elf with a boomerang. You don't get as much profit, but you're making more money then you would selling 0 copies at $50.00.
"Inattention makes clowns of us all" -Bean
I think that Nintendo has been looking at the Apple system and realizing that's the way to go - not just with thier own 1st party games, but providing lots of 3rd party support. Then they don't have to worry about shelf space or spending on distribution - it's all bandwidth costs (a near constant) and profit from there.
How is this different from the Xbox 360 Arcade system? Nothing really - only that Nintendo has a *huge* library to pick from (though it would be nice if they got the Rare library too - rumor mill is that they won't, and it will be a shame if I couldn't play Goldeneye or Perfect Dark on the Revolution).
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$60 Canadian? That's, what, $7.54 US? Hold a copy for me.
Translation to english: "Dont worry about the $50 tag our console will have 10-20 year old games at reasonable prices ($5), of course our NEW games will be $50-$60 also you will need to buy some extra controller to play the best of them (like zelda and the sword peripheral)"
Go ahead MOD my day!
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-- get ready for some new NES/SNES/N64 releases via virtual console!
When it comes to the business of games I listen to N. They are the only company that is in the market to make money by selling game hardware and software. Not media centers, not set top boxes. Game systems and games.
The obscure we see eventually. The completely obvious, it seems, takes longer. - Edward R. Murrow
You should see the UK prices of Oblivion. I was in a shop the other day and the PC version was £30 and the 360 version was £50!!!
Did you get that thing I sent ya?
It's true that Nintendo hasn't pushed the upper limits, but they certainly abuse pricing on the low end.
$20 to $30 for GBA ports of NES games? No, I'm not talking about the versions with new graphics and sound. I mean the original Zelda and Excitebike, etc. Some people talked about these prices being reasonable. That's ridiculous.
Most GBA games were far to expensive, but then the DS came. Naturally prices had to be hire. They just tacked $10 on there. Never mind that few games had any of the content or development time of the console titles that sold for the same price!
I've bought a total of three DS games. One I sold for being complete garbage, and the two others I traded in exchange for another game. I have no plans to buy new DS games, as the value just isn't there.
I've bought ONE GBA title, and it was a reissue packaging two other games together for the normal cost of one game. I won't be buying any others.
Gamecube games currently take the longest to come down in price. Their best sellers cost $30 where the PS2 greatest hits only cost $20. I've also noticed that it takes many of their games a long time to come down in price compared to PS2 and XBOX. You can argue quality over quanitity I guess. They also made a killing on selling un-updated NES remakes for gameboy for 20 bucks a pop. I haven't exactly associated them with being budget oriented. I think they are just doing some smart marketing to respond to the gripes gamers are expressing about $60. Let us not forget there were SNES and Genesis games that cost $75 15 years ago. Like I've said before, Street Fighter 2 for SNES blew me away and was totally worth $75. If they can make a game today that has the same effect, I would pay that much again.
it LICENCED it from the state run software company of the old ussr.
I was reading what was actually in the Elder Scroll: IV collector's edition box. Basically what you get is a big fat 100-page manual. I remember when those came standard with PC games. Baldur's Gate, Fallout, and even non RPG titles, like Homeworld, all had thick, interesting manuals to read. That's how you could tell what the good games were. If I couldn't decide between two titles in the store, I would go by the heavier box. Today's games really cheap out on the extras. I bought the regular edition of Oblivion for the PC, it didn't even come in a jewel case.
I wasn't surprised at all when I saw the Xbox 360 games shooting up in price. When they announced that they were going to have downloadable content (for a minimal cost) I really wanted to believe that they were going to do that in addition to the then standard $50 price tag I associated with most games. Now I'm seeing that games are hitting $60 (Quake 4 for XBox 360 yet the PC Deluxe version was $50 and included Quake 2... you do the math) and there's still going to be pay-for content online? Throw a new HDTV on to that along with the cost of the console and you have probably the most expensive console gaming area setup ever (at least until the PS3 comes along).
I know the industry is in a flux stage and is trying to find ways to recoup costs on large budget games, but $60+ price tag for games is not the way to go. Especially when the core audience is teenage and college age males.
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It's interresting to see this debate between 49.99$ games and 59.99$ games. I understand that since everything is priced towards the United States audience, you guys are seeing a price hike. But consider we're I live, Canada. The last generation of games cost 49.99US$ and those translated after the exchange rate to 69.99CAN$ over here. Now, since the Canadian dollar is worth more than before, those games now retails for 59.99CAN$, but this has only been fixed very recently. As for next-gen games (360 so far :p), guess how much they cost over here? 69.99CAN$! To us canadians, there hasn't been a price difference between next-gen and previous-gen games up until a few months ago. I doubt that people who used to pay 69.99CAN$ for years for new games are complaining right now (I bought a lot of Xbox1 games at 69.99CAN$!). I think this game price debate is mostly a United States's problem, because everything is priced based on your economy. But since the American dollar hasn't been doing so well recently, us folks from other countries are actually getting cheaper games considering the raise in development costs for the next generation! (except maybe for Revolution games, we'll see how much they costs to develop)
A note tough, an Xbox 360 still costs around 50CAN$ more than it should, once you apply the tax exchange rate. Microsoft is losing less money here than in the states. But games are rightly priced, and that's the most important part.
I'm not buying the revolution for anything new. I am buying it for the back catalog. I know more than a few people are buying it for the same reason.
With our $2000 development kit, indie developers will now be able to make simple, addivtively fun, original games for a console, and distribute them over the Nintendo network, and people will be able to buy them for a proportionaly low cost.
My hand touched her hand. Her hand touched her boob. By the transitive property, I got some boob! Algebra is awesome!
I don't buy retail games anymore. I'm sick of it. Not only are the staff dumbasses by and large, but the price gouging on Canadians is abysmal. Why the hell do I have to pay more because of the cost of localization so that half my manual can be in goddamn french? Right now, I'm buying my games on eBay, and I shred 20 bucks Canadian off the price of Oblivion for the 360. Some of that came in the form of a lower than retail price, and some came in the form of no taxes(15%).
One issue is that ROM cartridges are expensive to make, compared to CDs.
That said, I agree that there just aren't enough great GBA games, and the prices are too high. Metroid Zero Mission is still $30+, and it's a 2 year old game for an old system.
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The thing in this interview I found most interesting were the details and hints at storage options. First, they flat out said that the Revolution will have a SD slot. Hopefully this will get away from the proprietary memeory cards of the past (or present). Second, Iwata said that there will be usb ports built in for practically andy storage method. So USB flash drives and external hard drives become an option. Sweet. I have to admit that the $400 price tag of the 360 is very off-putting. If Nintendo can keep the cost down by not including a HDD while still making one a practical expansion option, I'm all over it.