Pricing For Retro Games on the Wii

schnikies79 writes to mention an Ars Technica article revealing the pricing scheme for retro content on the Wii. From the article: "Iwata revealed that games for Nintendo's "virtual console" that will allow Wii owners to play old titles on their consoles will be priced at ¥500 and ¥1,000, roughly US$4.50 to US$8.99. For reference, classic retro games for the Nintendo GameBoy sold for upwards of US$35 for some titles, US$19.99 for others. Uptake was understandably low, as gamers were reticent to pay that much for old content." The piece goes on to say that they're ramping up DS production to meet command, and that connectivity with the DS will be a major selling point for the console when it releases.

Comments

$5 is more than fair

[Tiberius_Fel]

If they're going to include some of the old titles from SNES for sale, I would gladly pay $5 or $9 for it. Some games - Super Mario World, Super Mario RPG, Link to the Past, et cetera - were and are hours and hours of great gameplay. And at that price point, I'm sure they'll sell like mad.

Re:$5 is more than fair

[grammar fascist]

And nobody pays development or duplication costs.

Nintendo has some up-front costs for setting up the service, and some minimal costs to keep it running. Basically, they're sending you free bits (for them) for your money. And you're glad to pay it.

I will be, too. Everybody wins, but especially Nintendo.

Re:$5 is more than fair

[EggyToast]

Eh, I don't think so. How are you going to track and stop something that, as has been said earlier in the comments, deals with files that are in many cases less than 1mb? You can dump the entire NES catalog to someone via FTP in a few minutes, it seems, and if you focus on just the good games for each console, it's trivial to move those files around.

Nintendo has been trying to crack down on ROM distributors for a while now, and failed. People keep playing them and Nintendo never really gains anything from stopping one. To me, this is their response to the ROM dilemma -- distribute the games yourself, from a centralized location, and charge an arguably fair price.

I personally see it as a bit expensive for a digital copy of an old game that, in many cases, is higher than the used market for these titles. I may be surprised, and the purchase be "lifetime" purchases that work on not only the Wii, but future Wiis and future consoles. What would be even nicer is if the Wii could transfer the games to the DS or the "GBA 2." But I'm firmly convinced that Nintendo figured "if you can't beat 'em, join 'em," and worked out a way to digitally offer these games. They know people aren't going to track down the original cartridges and old hardware just to play them; they want to play them from the comfort of their computer or current system.

Re:Sony... Microsoft...

[grammar fascist]

...Are we paying attention?? You can make millions and make your customers happy without gouging your customers.

Microsoft tried, actually, but the number of available retro games is pitiful. Nintendo starts with a gigantic library that they already own.

Microsoft couldn't have done it the way Nintendo plans to. Sony might be able to with PS1 games.

Have you read the summary?

[SmallFurryCreature]

They actually tell you that they have been gouging the market by selling retro games for the handhelds at highly inflated prices that turned people off.

So basically what you are saying that Nintendo after years of charging full price of decade old games finally lowered the price to a mera 5 dollars for games that are a few megabytes and cost next to nothing to distribute and for wich they don't have to pay any license fees?

Oh yeah. They ain't gouging. They just decided to reduce themselves to raking it in.

It is a smart business move but don't make them out to be some kind of gaming heroes. A game 10 years old that cost only a few megabyte of bandwidth to distrubute does not deserve a 4.50 price tag. They might be able to charge it but lets face it, the markup on that must make Apple blush. Hell, it would make Sony blush.

I notice this problem with people talking about digital downloads. 1 dollar/euro for an iTune song? I am sorry, you just skipped all the costs of distrubuting and stocking CD's and I don't see any reduction in the cost of an album? And it is only because Jobs knows exactly how much you can get away with that the RIAA doesn't get its way and raises the price even higher. Where are the cost savings going? As if I need to ask.

At least with the retro games for the various gameboys you got the excuse of the cost of the catridge, and distrubtion/stocking costs.

Love the fact that you can play all the old games without needing a ton of old consoles etc etc but Nintendo is going to laugh all the way to the bank. More power to them but that don't make them into some kind of heroes for me.

Re:Have you read the summary?

[Overly Critical Guy]

A game 10 years old that cost only a few megabyte of bandwidth to distrubute does not deserve a 4.50 price tag.

Demand drives pricing, not ROM file sizes. Legend of Zelda 1 is still valuable to a lot of people, and therefore to Nintendo.