The versions would be priced differently, complete edition slightly more expensive. Is that feasible?
Lego City Undercover Switch cover mentions 13GB download [Up3: Full game on card]
- Thread starter shiyrley
- Start date
The versions would be priced differently, complete edition slightly more expensive. Is that feasible?
frankie_baby
Member
On all platforms, even buy a new phone and first thing you usually have to do is software update it
And the example you cite I'm firstly not familiar with and is hardly comparable, lego city will run on a switch, the required download will fit and if it doesn't then a 10 buck card will fit it, if you were gonna buy the 50-100 dollar card then you were goimg to buy a card anyway so there isnt really an issue
Marty Chinn
Member
Your example isn't remotely comparable. There's nothing about this game that won't work on an out of the box Switch. It's like complaining you have to install a game on a PS4 or Xbox One in your argument.
Leafhopper
Banned
That's a logistical nightmare and defeats the purpose of them doing this in the first place to save money.
Mr. Pointy
Member
Could have used the 16GB card and patched in the last bit.
If they weren't willing to spring for a 16GB card which would have still required some level of downloading to get the complete, I don't see why they would go down that route for a game that's targeted at the family market.
newtypepilot
Member
13GB patch for a Switch game lol? so what's on the cartridge?
They name it Switch because you'll be switching SD cards all day lol
They name it Switch because you'll be switching SD cards all day lol
Schnozberry
Member
We know carts cost more, that's obvious, but how much more? Certainly not $10 more. It's difficult to parse who is being more shrewd here. There's plenty of evidence of both Nintendo and Major Publisher fuckery over the years.
Games are released in multiple editions all the time. Money is not lost as the complete card would cost more.
frankie_baby
Member
With a bit of time and effort they probably could have compressed it into 16gb but this was probably rushed
frankie_baby
Member
It was 22gb on Wii U
Marty Chinn
Member
I think trying to market and explain the difference to most consumers would be a nightmare.
IsntChrisL
Member
I plan on getting an SD card soon so I'll be fine but Nintendo needs to nip this practice in the bud asap.
lol
Lord of Ostia
Member
Yeah I don't buy the cartridges are too expensive argument tbh. Publishers release 3ds games all the time at $40 or less, and often release Vita/PS4 titles where the Vita version is significantly cheaper than the ps4 version despite being on a cart. What would make a Switch cart so much more expensive than a Vita one?
The price difference and the name would be an indication.
Marty Chinn
Member
Cartridge storage size.
Why don't people factor this in?
It's not as easy as you think. Consumers aren't bright in general to technical details. Saying one has part of the game and you need to download the rest while the other has the entire game is a confusing message to the non tech savvy consumer.
MisterR
Member
Nintendo can't get third party support as is and you think telling them to eat shit is gonna get them to line up for Switch ports? If anything Nintendo needs to eat the extra cost of carts. At the end of the day Nintendo needs them more than they need Nintendo.
So practically if a game is above 16 GB or maybe even above 8 GB you either have to pay more than the other versions or download the rest of the game.
I guess that might explain the prices also for the exclusive software.
Nintendo needs to get some better deals for the game carts.
I guess that might explain the prices also for the exclusive software.
Nintendo needs to get some better deals for the game carts.
frankie_baby
Member
Its on the box
Lord of Ostia
Member
I get that the cartridge storage size is high, but I don't believe that cost is so high that it justifies passing the cost onto the consumer. Square put DQH 1+2 on a 32 GB cart, why couldn't they put Lego City onto one? I'm sure it's more expensive, but this is also a straight port of an already made Wii U title. Not a huge investment of resources to begin with.
Edit: Unless the 32gb cartridge size is double or triple the cost of an 8gb cart, it's not justifiable to do something like this, whether it's forcing you to download or upping the price for a higher size cart. Rime is particularly egregious because I'm betting the file size of that game isn't high.
I'm more concerned about the 720p docked thing to be honest. If it's simply because they didn't have enough time to optimise for the docked spec and just went with the handheld clocks then that wouldn't really be concerning but otherwise I'm worried for how handheld mode will fare.
Man, I hadn't even thought of the longer term issues. Yeah, this is a horrible move for everyone but the execs who wanted to save some cash. And we're not buying a game just to give them money.
And are there cases that anyone feels WOULD justify this? I'm thinking MAYBE downloading MP modes as those are dead without online service anyway, but moreso that this might be Ok either for super massive games (as in >32 GB) or MMOs that similar to that MP idea would be dead without online services, with the additional angle that things can change so much that much of the content actually on the cart can be obsolete (just how much data from a vanilla WoW install wouldn't be replaced these days?)
And are there cases that anyone feels WOULD justify this? I'm thinking MAYBE downloading MP modes as those are dead without online service anyway, but moreso that this might be Ok either for super massive games (as in >32 GB) or MMOs that similar to that MP idea would be dead without online services, with the additional angle that things can change so much that much of the content actually on the cart can be obsolete (just how much data from a vanilla WoW install wouldn't be replaced these days?)
WordAssassin
Member
Man this fucking sucks. I never finished LCU on Wii U and was looking forward to playing the port minus outrageous loading times, plus co-op, on Switch.
But this is total fucking bullshit. Lots of games I was looking forward to I'll be passing on now (RiME, LCU, there's another but the name escapes me) because of how lazy and shitty and greedy *publishers* (originally said devs, but that's not fair they don't set the prices) are showing themselves to be. I really wanted to play them but I can't support this kind of shit.
Snake Pass is safe still, right?
But this is total fucking bullshit. Lots of games I was looking forward to I'll be passing on now (RiME, LCU, there's another but the name escapes me) because of how lazy and shitty and greedy *publishers* (originally said devs, but that's not fair they don't set the prices) are showing themselves to be. I really wanted to play them but I can't support this kind of shit.
Snake Pass is safe still, right?
It's still early days. If Switch does sell as well as everyone is hoping/predicting, then economies of scale will make higher capacity carts less costly. But the reality is that large physical games for Switch are a gamble for 3rd parties right now and they know it. WiiU burned a lot of 3rd parties early on so I can't blame them for wanting to minimize investment costs upfront.
Marty Chinn
Member
It's a huge difference in size. 3DS games peak out at 8GB with most never even approaching that size. Looking at Vita games, every one I've looked at falls under 4GB. Even games like Odin Sphere, World of Final Fantasy, and LEGO Star Wars are all under 4GB.
And in Japan DQH1 and 2 is like 100 dollars. The issue for this game is that they couldn't get it to fit on the 16gb card so they would have had to get a 32gb card which is overkill They probably decided to just go with the cheaper storage. People aren't considering the fact that a 50gb bluray costs the same no matter how much of the storage you use whereas the switch cards get more expensive the bigger your game is.
I think most publishers are going to do what Puyo Puyo tetris is doing. You are going to pay more for the switch physical but you get a collectors edition with $.05 keychains to give it the appearance of more value while allowing them to recoup their extra costs or just digital only.
MisterR
Member
It costs more to put games on the Switch. Why do you think developers should have to eat this extra cost? They are taking all the risk. Nintendo chose a more costly option for games. Shouldn't they be eating the extra profit to benefit their fans?
Vampirolol
Member
Well, I won't buy the game then. I just hope that this won't become a trend.
Nintendo doesn't supplement anything. The Switch is making a profit day one though older cheaper tech. Their games never go down in price unless they bomb and they barely bundle.
Kenny I like how you answer things for folks that they seem to magically ignore and keep making the same statements.
KennyLinder
Member
Lazy and shitty developers.
Here's someone who has zero idea how game development works.
Just have to hope the larger size game cards become cheaper sooner than later as storage sizes increase.
For sure, I just hope this doesn't become a common thing...
Pancake Mix
Copied someone else's pancake recipe
We've already seen higher prices for Switch games become a thing.
Honestly it wouldn't be shocking.
Lord of Ostia
Member
It's going to hurt sales for those games on the platform though. Doesn't seem worth it to get bad press on your game when you could just eat the cost of the carts and sell more. And in the case of Rime, they could very well make the digital version cheaper, the fact that they won't is very telling about this cartridge cost issue.
Pancake Mix
Copied someone else's pancake recipe
Less profit per unit when you already sell less on Nintendo platforms isn't amazingly appealing.
Retailers and most consumers don't appreciate digital version's being cheaper than physical either.
Honestly I think the number of third-party games on Switch (aside from smaller indies) will just decline. Game cards rock but Nintendo wasn't willing (or quite possibly able) to eat the price for thirds, and that makes sense, but it's an impediment to larger third-party games.
stan423321
Member
There is a point at which it becomes insane though. Switch sold essentially mostly due to one first-party title so far and is still sold out in some areas. Suppose that third party games would give just zero profit to Nintendo. They won't sell more Switches on those games existence since they can't sell more Switches anyway. At the same time those third party games are somewhat competing with their own offerings. The Switch drought will end but "eating the cart costs" would convert third parties' existence in physical market into a straight loss. Especially since if Nintendo didn't differentiate between card prices at all, games would bloat since there would be no reason to optimize their size, and if they differentiate the same as they do now only with base price shifted, nothing changes whatsoever.
This is a somewhat more constructive idea but it's hard. Few want media like this, few make it, Nintendo seems to have an exclusivity deal for Switch with Macronix, Macronix continues to generate losses nonetheless.
They would have to make their very own miracle tech to handle this basically. And given advances in regular flash, it would be somewhat shocking if they came up with one.
We have been told that the digital price can't be lower then the Physical version per Nintendo. To get a lower digital they would have had to forgo a physical version. I figure most companies will just do digital only to keep parity.
Lord of Ostia
Member
I don't think a game like Lego City is the type of game that sells less on Nintendo platforms. Retailers don't care about games like Rime. Every indie game with a physical release is cheaper digital, more expensive physical. Shovel Knight, Stardew Valley, Terraria. Retailers don't make a fuss about those games, why would they care about Rime?
Infernal Monkey
Member
Wonder if the Japanese version in June will ship in a complete form (and have English on the cart...)
Pancake Mix
Copied someone else's pancake recipe
Eh, you have a point on Lego, but it did already release on Wii U, and at this stage of the game the market probably overlaps quite a bit. Either way, WB Games was not going to pay for a 32 GB card as they've made clear here, so it was either going to be Nintendo (no), or the consumer.
That's the issue here.
As for digital being cheaper than physical, that's bullshit and the larger the game, the more likely a retailer would put their foot down, thankfully. They do it in their interests of course, not those of consumers, but in this case it that ends up being one and the same. As someone who generally buys physically I just wouldn't buy it.