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[turok4n64]

A little while after the DS first came out, Nintendo sent out a report saying software sales for the system were a bit low and blammed it on PictoChat.

Now with the Revolution coming out and free downloadable first party games are confirmed, do you think this will effect the Revolution software sales the same way as it did with the DS?


Obviously now the DS software is selling like waffles at Waffle House, but the inital concern was there when many title were sitting on the counters.


Just a thought.

 

[trilobyte]

I don't think they ever blamed pictochat. Got a link?

 

[Dagon]

Now with the Revolution coming out and free downloadable first party games are confirmed, do you think this will effect the Revolution software sales the same way as it did with the DS?

Do you have a source for this?

While I've got no doubt that Nintendo will give away a few games, there's no way that they're going to give away the whole (or even just a large portion) of their first-party library.

 

[Koshiro]

Blamed it on Pictochat? :lol

 

[acidviper]

this bullshit is bananas

 

[golduck342]

Pictochat is pretty worthless without online.

 

[Laurent]

At first, some people thought that free downloadable games were confirmed by Nintendo, until they noticed that it was bullshit from a PR (Harisson?) that they were talking about the actual network mode...

 

[ge-man]

I doubt there will be problem is the Revolution has a decent launch. Blaming pictochat was a pure bullshit PR statement to gloss over the fact the NA launch of the DS has been choked by a glut of underwhelming 3rd party games. I know that Nintendo probably doesn't want to stack their launch with their own games and once again fuck over 3rd parties, but I think it's crucial that Nintendo has a strong showing of their own game for the Revolution. They count on 3rd parties to pick up the slack.

 

[ge-man]

At first, some people thought that free downloadable games were confirmed by Nintendo, until they noticed that it was bullshit from a PR (Harisson?) that they were talking about the actual network mode...

It wasn't bullshit. People were misinterpeting what looked like a pretty clear statement. Plus it's just common sense--Nintendo made a shit load of cash selling some these same games that will be on this service as GBA games, and at a premium too. With most speciality game stores getting rid of their pre-playstation hardware/software, I imagine that Nintendo see this as an oppurtunity to fill that void and finally profit from the used market they didn't have access to before.

If anyone actually thinks they are getting these games for free, they will pretty surprised when Nintendo gets around to announcing their pricing system later in the year.

 

[Kai]

What if the revolution is not what we are all hoping for..... The revolution box that we saw might just be a hard drive with the ability to play "revolution" games, (2-3x more powerful than the current gc) and the gc games..... and the controller.... the controller other than the gc controller that will play gc games... is actually a portable wifi system that you can use to play nintendo games on the go (like an ipod for games) which you download from nintendo's wireless service....

Hmm... That's what I think at least....

 

[HooDoo]

What if the revolution is not what we are all hoping for..... The revolution box that we saw might just be a hard drive with the ability to play "revolution" games, (2-3x more powerful than the current gc) and the gc games..... and the controller.... the controller other than the gc controller that will play gc games... is actually a portable wifi system that you can use to play nintendo games on the go (like an ipod for games) which you download from nintendo's wireless service....

Hmm... That's what I think at least....

And how would that help non gamers to play into games and such ? Nintendo claims the Revolution will be different, what you describe is just a portable home console (unable to play games if people don't have an inet connection).

 

[ge-man]

What if the revolution is not what we are all hoping for..... The revolution box that we saw might just be a hard drive with the ability to play "revolution" games, (2-3x more powerful than the current gc) and the gc games..... and the controller.... the controller other than the gc controller that will play gc games... is actually a portable wifi system that you can use to play nintendo games on the go (like an ipod for games) which you download from nintendo's wireless service....

Hmm... That's what I think at least....

I think that's partially where they want to go with it (the form factor makes it very easy to transport to any hotspot if you don't have your own wireless network). But I think that's only part of it. Besides, the system is already been confirmed to not have a hard drive--it uses flash memory and SD cards. There's going to next gen hardware under the hood and it's going to complimented by what I feel is the center of the Revolution's revolution--a gyroscopic controller. I've been looking further into the techology and I think it's going to be the next step. It's a fairly cheap technology thats easy to use with a huge potentional not only for improving what games are doing now but opening up even more areas for game play.

 

[Kai]

And how would that help non gamers to play into games and such ? Nintendo claims the Revolution will be different, what you describe is just a portable home console (unable to play games if people don't have an inet connection).

Well, it opens up a new way to play games for non gamers by making an ability to play games on the go and developers can make simple games to play which dont have big budgets. You dont need an internet connection if you take your revolution in a bag to a hot spot.....

 

[puck1337]

It wasn't bullshit. People were misinterpeting what looked like a pretty clear statement. Plus it's just common sense--Nintendo made a shit load of cash selling some these same games that will be on this service as GBA games, and at a premium too. With most speciality game stores getting rid of their pre-playstation hardware/software, I imagine that Nintendo see this as an oppurtunity to fill that void and finally profit from the used market they didn't have access to before.

If anyone actually thinks they are getting these games for free, they will pretty surprised when Nintendo gets around to announcing their pricing system later in the year.

Ding. And not only does this fill that void at retail, but it has the potential to put a bit of a chill on the growth of emulation and piracy. There will always be people that want to download games and play them for free, but I think there will be a lot of people out there that will rather just buy a system and use Rev. to purchase the games they want. This is the kind of thing that has huge nostalgia potential, especially if Nintendo were to reach out to Sega.



And I don't think that it will really hinder new game sales all that much. Old games appeal to people for different reasons than new ones.

 

[Craig Majaski]

I really think Nintendo will charge for all the games. My guess is it will be something like iTunes where they charge a set price per game. There will probably be different prices for different systems (i.e. $1.99 for NES games; $3.99 for SNES; $6.99 for N64) or something like that. However, what I'm wondering is if they couldn't sell the games in retail somehow? What about the population of gamers that a) don't have broadband and b) don't have wireless Net access? I mean are we to assume that Nintendo wants to leave that chunk of the population out of the loop? What would be REALLY cool is if you walk into a GameStop or EB and there's a "download" station where you bring in your memory card and download the games through that by inserting money or credit card. I think that would work out extremely well and plus you get retailers in the mix.

 

[GhaleonEB]

A little while after the DS first came out, Nintendo sent out a report saying software sales for the system were a bit low and blammed it on PictoChat.

Now with the Revolution coming out and free downloadable first party games are confirmed, do you think this will effect the Revolution software sales the same way as it did with the DS?


Obviously now the DS software is selling like waffles at Waffle House, but the inital concern was there when many title were sitting on the counters.


Just a thought.

This topic was covered pretty well before.

 

[Deleted member 284]

I really think Nintendo will charge for all the games. My guess is it will be something like iTunes where they charge a set price per game. There will probably be different prices for different systems (i.e. $1.99 for NES games; $3.99 for SNES; $6.99 for N64) or something like that. However, what I'm wondering is if they couldn't sell the games in retail somehow? What about the population of gamers that a) don't have broadband and b) don't have wireless Net access? I mean are we to assume that Nintendo wants to leave that chunk of the population out of the loop? What would be REALLY cool is if you walk into a GameStop or EB and there's a "download" station where you bring in your memory card and download the games through that by inserting money or credit card. I think that would work out extremely well and plus you get retailers in the mix.

That would probably be just like the Nintendo Power service in JP. But I could easily see the Gamestop/EB clerks abusing the in store system or not maintaining it. Also, those stores would probably want a premium for allowing the customers to use the station.

But I think that Nintendo will ultimately allow this to happen.

 

[Dragmire]

I've thought about this service stunting sales of Revolution games, but I think it will do more to help than to hurt. For one thing, people won't be hesitant of possible software droughts when buying Revolution. More users = more potential game sales. Also, I'm sure they'll offer demos and previews of Revolution games, which will spur at least some sales. Plus, Revolution games will be able to do entirely new things. That will be one of the big draws to the system. They've even talked about using classic games as incentives to buy new ones. I think this service will do wonders for Revolution.

 

[Gahiggidy]

If they charge a fee it won't be a "problem"... at least not for Nintendo. They should include the d/l games as part of the "tie-ratio".


...on second thought, thye may not allow ALL the games to be available at launch... but make them available in batches every few months.

 

[StRaNgE]

I really think Nintendo will charge for all the games. My guess is it will be something like iTunes where they charge a set price per game. There will probably be different prices for different systems (i.e. $1.99 for NES games; $3.99 for SNES; $6.99 for N64) or something like that. However, what I'm wondering is if they couldn't sell the games in retail somehow? What about the population of gamers that a) don't have broadband and b) don't have wireless Net access? I mean are we to assume that Nintendo wants to leave that chunk of the population out of the loop? What would be REALLY cool is if you walk into a GameStop or EB and there's a "download" station where you bring in your memory card and download the games through that by inserting money or credit card. I think that would work out extremely well and plus you get retailers in the mix.

for them to sell the games for $$ the Rev would need a large harddrive space or storage space of a very large size. who would want to buy tons of games having to delete them to make room for more after shelling out $$. If the system is still planned to come out with a smaller storage solution then i would lean towards thinking of free as well. download play for a day, overwrite the download with something new and move on.

by next generation the old games will be just a novilty.

have you ever actually bought an old atari or coleco vision to catch up on old games?
it wears thin very quick and you can refresh your memory on a large backlog of titles in less then an hour or two.

 

[DrGAKMAN]

I think the downloads will be "free" by way of paying for Revolution games and getting points to get the old ROM's with so that solves that "problem" right there. This basically rewards people for buying Revolution games and prevents issues with kids using daddy's credit card to buy ROM's and it also makes good business sense. To those who don't wanna buy Revolution games to earn points, they can buy points dirrectly by way of pre-paid cards (which Mr. Iwata mentioned) sold in stores. They will give less points with Players Choice or bargain bin games and no points with used games (thus helping to increase sales of newer, full-priced games) and give more points for games that are exclussives, third party games, newer releases, pre-ordered games, special editions, etc.! ROM's will be priced depending on their value, rarity, wether the game was unreleased or not, it's era and also depending on how new it is to the Nintendo network. This points system promotes the buying of new Revolution games and also is in place to help prevent waiting for bargain bin prices/used games, multisystem owners from ignoring the Revoluton version of third party games and issues with payment CC#'s being used to buy gmes over a network.

 

[Gahiggidy]

for them to sell the games for $$ the Rev would need a large harddrive space or storage space of a very large size. who would want to buy tons of games having to delete them to make room for more after shelling out $$. If the system is still planned to come out with a smaller storage solution then i would lean towards thinking of free as well. download play for a day, overwrite the download with something new and move on.

by next generation the old games will be just a novilty.

have you ever actually bought an old atari or coleco vision to catch up on old games?
it wears thin very quick and you can refresh your memory on a large backlog of titles in less then an hour or two.

Every Nintendo Revolution will come with a Unique Identifier Number. Once a classic game is bought and downloaded on one of the Revolutions, its UID is registered with that game and the system is free to d/l it again, free of charge. (Though, a potential problem is that N-haters will download the same game over and over and over as a way of sabotaging Nintendo's bandwidth.)

 

[Deleted member 284]

Every Nintendo Revolution will come with a Unique Identifier Number. Once a classic game is bought and downloaded on one of the Revolutions, its UID is registered with that game and the system is free to d/l it again, free of charge. (Though, a potential problem is that N-haters will download the same game over and over and over as a way of sabotaging Nintendo's bandwidth.)

I was just about to propose this. And if they so choosed, Nintendo could limit the amount of times a game is downloaded in a specified timeframe.

Oh and the UID could just be the MAC address.

 

[Particle Physicist]

downloadable games is exactly how nintendo is going to fund their online network.

i guess they feel people would rather pay for old games than to pay monthly or yearly for a service they might not use that much.

its a pretty interesting idea.. i think it might work.

 

[WindyMan]

Here's that article about DS game sales starting off slow.

http://www.planetgamecube.com/news.cfm?action=item&id=5967

It happened with the DS because:

- The DS came with a DS game-and-a-half: the Hunters Demo and PictoChat. If none of the launch games floated your boat, the pack-ins probably did just fine. (PictoChat especially, if you had a lot of friends.)
- You didn't need a game to play different games. Single-card multiplayer is the best thing ever, and if you knew someone with a copy of a game like Mario 64 or Ridge Racer, then you could play multiplayer with them without needing a to buy the game yourself.
- For the reasons cited in my first point, the launch lineup was a little stale. If the DS had a lineup like the PSP did at launch, it would have done even better. The DS games are a'comin' now, though.

The simple fact that everyone had easy access to other games without needing to buy them for themselves made DS game sales lower than Nintendo expected. This won't be possible with the Revolution because if you want to play a game, you need to buy the game.

Of course, if Nintendo does manage to release Super Smash Bros. Online at launch, and everyone buys it, then I don't think anyone would need to buy another game for a few months after launch. Outside of that, I doubt anyone would pay $200-250 for a console just to download Super Mario Bros. 3 for "free" and be happy with that for a month.

 

[Juice]

I think the downloads will be "free" by way of paying for Revolution games and getting points to get the old ROM's with so that solves that "problem" right there. This basically rewards people for buying Revolution games and prevents issues with kids using daddy's credit card to buy ROM's and it also makes good business sense. To those who don't wanna buy Revolution games to earn points, they can buy points dirrectly by way of pre-paid cards (which Mr. Iwata mentioned) sold in stores. They will give less points with Players Choice or bargain bin games and no points with used games (thus helping to increase sales of newer, full-priced games) and give more points for games that are exclussives, third party games, newer releases, pre-ordered games, special editions, etc.! ROM's will be priced depending on their value, rarity, wether the game was unreleased or not, it's era and also depending on how new it is to the Nintendo network. This points system promotes the buying of new Revolution games and also is in place to help prevent waiting for bargain bin prices/used games, multisystem owners from ignoring the Revoluton version of third party games and issues with payment CC#'s being used to buy gmes over a network.

Sometimes when I pray to Yamauchi at night before slipping into bed, I ask him to go this route.

I think it's the most likely as well. Nintendo wants two things out of online play:

1) Go online but have the box take care of 99% of the setup so it's easy and accessible to anyone that buys it.

2) Make money off the connectivity, but don't give kids the chance to abuse it. (Although I can't imagine them leaving out the CC option for those who just want the old games.)

Nothing's more secure than having Nintendo be the only ones with the keys to those bonus games. I think it'll be a fantastic way to sell the first year or two of software. What I'm shaky on is whether or not anyone but the really hardcore gamers would be interested in any retro games beyond the 12 they're really nostalgic about.

Maybe Nintendo would have to market some of the old games that should have been classics but weren't widely received. Like SMW2.

 

[puck1337]

I was just about to propose this. And if they so choosed, Nintendo could limit the amount of times a game is downloaded in a specified timeframe.

Oh and the UID could just be the MAC address.

No, it couldn't be the MAC address.

 

[JJConrad]

These totals aren't all up to date, but...

SUPER MARIO ADVANCE 2    2,437,305
SUPER MARIO ADVANCE      2,057,598
NAMCO MUSEUM - GBA       2,010,727    
MARIO BROS 3: MARIO 4    1,673,303  
PAC-MAN COLLECTION       1,386,229   
ZELDA: LINK TO PAST      1,349,428   
NAMCO MUSEUM  -PS2       1,256,216         
YOSHI'S ISLAND:MARIO3    1,145,903
KIRBY: NIGHTMARE           959,077      
DONKEY KONG COUNTRY        959,031   
ANIMAL CROSSING            918,950 
SUPER MARIO 64 DS          858,798   
SONIC MEGA COLLECTION      851,369     
NAMCO MUSEUM -XBX          509,437          
 SUPER MARIO BROS. -       507,487
METROID ZERO MISSION       455,684
FINAL FANTASY I & II       383,925
GAME & WATCH GALLERY 4     347,371
 THE LEGEND OF ZELDA       331,995
 DONKEY KONG               283,874
 DR. MARIO                 204,086
 PAC-MAN                   191,287
 ZELDA II                  184,133
DISNEY'S MAGICAL QUEST     124,655
 METROID                    89,622
 CASTLEVANIA                83,205
EXCITEBIKE                  79,379
ICE CLIMBER                 55,519
BOMBERMAN                   54,226
XEVIOUS                     39,684

Considering that many of these games have had multiple re-releases, but still sell very well, Nintendo strategy should ge very well.

Also, even most NES games weren't like your typical Atari game that repeated the same basic level endlessly, NES games had far more depth in the plot and gave a reason to keep playing for more than an few minutes.


If you want an idea of Nintendo's online plan with this, yo should look at what they are doing now. When you register at nintendo.com, you select a username and a screenname, and have multiple people (for families) tied to one account. When a game is register, you earn "points" towards "prizes," plus you unlock special features on Nintendo's site like wallpapers and screen savers. They're also doing downloads at retailers and promotions with soft drink and fast food companies. The problem is NOA seems to be the slowest and laziest of the 3 regions to adapt these techniques.

In the early days the program I see Nintendo using free games as a way to promote the feature and console. As the program matures they'll move away from the give-aways and use the feature to advertise new games (particualrly SNES and N64 games). Let's say, as the release of Star Fox Revolution approaches, Star Fox and Star Fox 64 are highlight as downloads, with special offers but doesn't need to be for free. This attracts people to try out the earlier games and get excited about the new game. Whereas, getting SF64 for free for buying STR is really only an incentive for those who like SF64.

 

[Deleted member 284]

No, it couldn't be the MAC address.

After I posted this, I realized that a router could just emulate the MAC.

 

[Li Mu Bai]

Certain 3rd parties will be all over this, esp. Square & Capcom. Nintendo even charging a dollar to $2.00 for any NES, SNES, or N64 title would net them millions, & not even be viewed as a "ripoff" by the consumer imo. 3rd parties perhaps charging a buck or 2 more, done on probably some form of number of requests per-title, or using extremely high past sales as some form of reference point for 3rd parties.

Or as mentioned earlier, incorporating a points reward system by purchasing Revolution 1st, 2nd, & 3rd party software/& peripherals. (offering the most points for 3rd party titles obviously) These go towards a pre-set amount needed for downloads. (nothing too prohibitive) 1 new 1st party game purchase allows for 2 downloads, 3rd parties doubling that amount. In actuality both ways could be combined, & probably ideal.

 

[Craig Majaski]

There seems to be this misconception among certain people out there (I've read similar replies elsewhere) that the Revolution won't be able to hold very many games. Think about it for a minute. The system has 512 MB (That's MegaBYTES) of flash memory totally dedicated to saving games and/or saves. Now, let's take a look at NES games. Most games are between 1 megaBIT (8 megabits equals 1 megabyte) and 4 megabits. I believe the largest NES game was 8 megabits (1 megabyte). On SNES the games weren't a whole lot bigger. Even a 24 megabit game would only be 3 megabytes...a fraction of the space installed on the system. N64 games were often 64 megabits and I think the biggest was 512 megabits (Resident Evil 2 which would be 64 megabytes).

As you can see if you do the math, you'll be able to save many games on the system memory alone. If you happen to fill that all up then you'll be able to buy SD cards to presumably save even more (these cards are as high as 2 Gigabytes right now).