As a consumer, I like Nintendo's policy to maintain games' prices

nintendo's games stay at $50 because they know that Mario / Zelda / Smash Bros is the only reason anyone is going to buy their hardware

so might as well keep it at $50 because they're going to still buy it anyway
 
I agree that prices drop too quickly for resellers. tt sucks playing a game that was fulfilling and you want to unload but these days you have to resell at 1/3 instead of 2/3s in the same time period.

I'm ok with certain Nintendo games retaining value over a long period but they do take too long offering any form of discount while everyone else is too fast and too steep.
 
walking fiend said:
My reasoning, in short, is that I can consider buying Nintendo games as a kind of investment. If I buy a game and don't like it, or don't want to keep it, I can resell it for a reasonable price. Investing into AAA gaming on other platforms out of sale is basically just paying a premium fee to get the games early, as it has become a policy for most other developers to eventually reduce the price of the game to a bargain.
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I agree. I have no regrets buying almost every 1st party Nintendo Wii U game as each has a perceived value greater than any other game on PS4 and PC where games drastically drop in price after 2 weeks.
 
Theognosis said:
I agree. I have no regrets buying almost every 1st party Nintendo Wii U game as each has a perceived value greater than any other game on PS4 and PC where games drastically drop in price after 2 weeks.
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hahaha

Well, to each their own, i suppose.

Just about the only game that comes close to that kind of value is Smash 4 imo. But the netplay is terrible and Nintendo hosts no events for the title like Namco or Capcom would with their popular fighting games.

In fact, Smash is the only real "esports" viable game that people care to look at, and Nintendo does absolutely nothing to help the community set it up. They tried to shut down Melee at evo ffs.
 
I am failing to see how higher prices are advantageous for the consumer or anyone. I am good with knowing that if I decide not to buy a game at launch or near, that there is a chance that the price will eventually drop like most other products. Nintendo makes excellent games, but other developers make great games as well that go on sale. Sorry, imo a 6 year off game should not still be $60.
 
Drackhorn said:
Perceived is the word here.
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All values are perceived, that's the whole point of value.
If there's enough customers that value the stuffs you're selling you'll be rewarded with their hard earned cash, that's the point.
The whole point of BoS is actually about shifting customer values to carve a market on your own.
That's how the DS and the Wii took the market by storm.
 
Ah, so that's why FE Awakening never dropped in price! I wasn't aware Nintendo did this.

You'd think they'd put out a Nintendo Selects version, but I guess that's not happening.
 
To some extent I can respect why Nintendo would want to hold their prices, but there's no way it's better for the consumer than just being able to get it for cheaper in the first place.
 
I think it's a silly policy to like unless you are already committed to buying tons of Nintendo games. If you're in that camp, it means you can feel okay about buying them day one, because it's not like they're really going to drop in price very much. But if you're NOT in that camp, all it means is that you either a) buy every Nintendo game you might one day be interested in at launch, because if they disappear at some point, too bad for you; or b) you never buy Nintendo games because they weren't worth it to you at launch, and they never go down in price, so they never drop to a price you'd be willing to pay.

For a brief time, I was in group A, but there honestly aren't a lot of Nintendo titles I cared about, which left me with a shelf full of Nintendo games I still haven't played years after buying them. So now I'm a group B. For example, I still don't own Splatoon, and at this rate I probably never will.
 
I like that the price is predictable. As in, if you buy a game you know it's not going to be seventy percent off next week.

I would prefer if they had more regular price drops though and a larger Selects range.

There's a middle ground here.
 
What is the expected rate of return on this "investment"?
There is no way in hell that outweighs the opportunity cost of investing that money in something that will actually produce a return.

Admit it OP. You just like getting screwed and are trying to justify it.
 
oh man... i knew there was going to be all kinds of crazy in this thread

i will say back in the wii days i got a lot of mileage off nintendo trade-ins. like a copy of twilight princess probably got me two new-ish 360 games years after the game came out. but things are much different now with nintendo consoles being secondary and buying digital (in my case, at least)
 
I'm not sure about the whole "investment" angle. But as someone who typically waits for the steepest sale, I felt comfortable buying Overwatch earlier this week, knowing it wouldn't be five dollars by the spring.
 
This season has been pretty remarkable for getting discounts on new releases for other platforms. If you were worried about your "investment" declining in value... just wait? Not everything needs to be a day one purchase.
 
No. Nintendo's policy is stupid and I hate it.

Twelve years after release and Super Mario 64 DS is still going for $30 online in places like Amazon and Gamestop. Thank goodness for ebay and flea markets.
 
I don't know that I like it, as on every other platform I just wait a year and buy games for next to nothing.

But Wii U and 3DS are the only platforms I bother buying anything at launch cause prices usually don't budge.

StarSketch said:
Ah, so that's why FE Awakening never dropped in price! I wasn't aware Nintendo did this.

You'd think they'd put out a Nintendo Selects version, but I guess that's not happening.
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Went up in price in Canada. Launched at $40, it's now $50.
 
If I'm buying it at launch, at least I know it won't drop 2 weeks later. Nintendo's games that aren't very good drop pretty quickly though.
 
Video game consumers really do like to act against their best interests sometimes. I don't agree with Nintendo's strategy with pricing their games. There have been plenty of times where I've skipped out on a Nintendo game that I was only somewhat interested in, I'll see a copy on a shelf a few years later and it's still full price.

I just don't care what Nintendo's strategy is. As a consumer I think it's dumb that a game that came out as far as 5 years ago is still sold at full price.
 
Nintendo games are constantly on sale and have constant retailer promotions throughout the year. Haven't paid full price for a Nintendo game or accessory in years. Just got a ton of 3DS and Wii U games from numerous holiday promotions and paid a fraction of the MSRP.
 
I'd say the price ensures I rent my Nintendo games unless it's something I know I just must own like Bayonetta 2. It's one of the few reasons my Wii U collection is mostly 3rd party stuff, which as you can imagine means I haven't bought many Wii U games the last couple of years.
 
I don't mind Nintendo backing the value of their art up with a maintained price point, but after 2 years and on, it gets ridiculous.

When the Wii U is still $300, and many early 3DS games are still $40, it makes me not want to "invest" at all.

tl;dr You done drunk some Kool Aid that Nintendo wasn't even serving.
 
I wouldn't call it an investment if most of them just hold most of their value. There are certainly Nintendo games that don't- Codename Steam is worth peanuts around here. I only want to play games, not invest in or collect them, I just don't like buying games if the market means it's going to be half the price if I show the slightest bit of patience.

However, it does mean I'm more likely to buy first-party Nintendo games close to launch as the price won't drop like a rock like most popular games in the UK. It's not uncommon for retail copies of other games to be half the launch price three months later, so I just don't buy them until the price settles any more.
 
It's only an "investment" if you're re-selling, and even then most of those games actually will not retain their full resale value despite being full list price, because the second-hand market is dictated by its own supply (the number of second-hand games in circulation) more than the quantity and price of unopened copies.

I mean, I kind of "get" what you're saying in a "I like my games to have high net worth!" sense, but it's completely wrong-headed. You aren't playing Dwarf Fortress, you aren't going to get attaboys because your game collection has a higher hypothetical value than the next guy over. The difference essentially exists entirely within your head.
 
AngryMoth said:
As someone who doesn't sell games, I hate this policy. Really stings when I feel like catching up on something form 5 years ago and then realising it's still full price
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Exactly. OP you just have a lot of money to spare and don't mind it but most others can't afford 60 bucks games and always wait for price drops. With Nintendo that's just a very hard thing to do.
 
The only benefit for a consumer is that you might just aswell buy the game day one since the price won't officially drop, unless it's a bomba

Other publishers might even drop the price after 1 week and definitely after 1 month
 
I was in a gamestop a while back and the cashier asked me if I wanted to pre-order watch dogs 2. I said "no thanks, don't really want it, and even if I did, it's common knowledge that Ubisoft games will be on sale for almost half price within a month after release". He was kinda shocked.

Then I knocked over a magazine rack on my way out! That'll show him!

before anyone freaks out that's just a NeoGaf meme I didn't really knock anything over :P

But on topic - I don't think video games as an investment are a good idea. And I don't think nintendo's business practices are doing anyone any good. ¯_(ツ)_/¯
 
What an absurd perspective, solidifies that parts of Nintendo's fanbase are enablers to Nintendo's backwards policies and prices. People even defended friends list, no HD, no online, Wii U pad etc. Nintendo are always behind and i feel thier fans have a role to play. Thier treatment of PAL territories during N64 days was appalling, thank god for Sony and MS for taking over largest markets and pretty much releasing games WW within an acceptable time frame, introducing cheaper format to pass on savings to customers and expelling Nintendo's bullshit excuses by proving things can be done as well as US/Japan.
 
Nintendo's strength is maintaining the value of certain games for their entire console generation (like Mario Kart). They also seem afraid to devalue the perception of their games, which is why their virtual console titles are rather expensive. However, they've still been forced to reduce the price of some games like Ocarina of Time 3D and Mario 3D Land to $20. Why some others like Zelda A Link Between Worlds are still at $40 I'll never know.
 
It's a policy that makes me shy of even thinking about buying a Nintendo system. If I was coming into PSBone now there's enormous catalogues of cheap new games and cheaper second hand (except GTAV).

By maintaining second hand prices and keeping new games at launch RRPs I just see a really expensive proposition to get into, even if I come LTTP.

I respect if AAA titles prifecdropping...well I know it'll happen, so I have the choice of waiting 2 months (and tbf prices don't come down that much in Australia) or paying top whack at launch.

Jumeira said:
What an absurd perspective, solidifies that parts of Nintendo's fanbase are enablers to Nintendo's backwards policies and prices. People even defended friends list, no HD, no online, Wii U pad etc. Nintendo are always behind and i feel thier fans have a role to play. Thier treatment of PAL territories during N64 days was appalling, thank god for Sony and MS for taking over largest markets and pretty much leasing games WW within an acceptable time frame, introducing cheaper format to pass on savings to customers and expelling Nintendo's bullshit excuses by proving things can be done as well as US/Japan.
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Dat pure gaming experience tho.

On the 'This Gen is shit' thread someone made a big thing about MT, DLC & so on, praising Nintendo for not going sis that path, but they're just as guilty of milking their audience as anyone else.
 
It's a good policy. You never regret not waiting for a potential price drop. Other publishers wish they could do the same.
And it works too. See Nintendo holidays sales.
 
Drackhorn said:
Perceived is the word here.
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Perception is very important because I don't convert my collection to dollars. That goes to any of my belongings whether games, books or luxury watches. There's a sense of satisfaction knowing that my collection is not as common and as cheap as everything else in the market. If the item has dropped significantly in price and has become so common, I won't get as much satisfaction (looks at all my PS4 games bought at full retail prices).
 
KooopaKid said:
It's a good policy. You never regret not waiting for a potential price drop. Other publishers wish they could do the same.
And it works too. See Nintendo holidays sales.
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So you think paying full price at release without the option to buy the game cheaper after release is superior to paying full price at release with the option to buy the game cheaper in the future because... You don't get your feelings hurt by other people getting a better deal long after you've bought the game?

Seriously, what the fuck is up with posts like this and the OP?
 
Toxi said:
So you think paying full price at release without the option to buy the game cheaper after release is superior to paying full price at release with the option to buy the game cheaper in the future because... You don't get your feelings hurt by other people getting a better deal long after you've bought the game?

Seriously, what the fuck is up with posts like this and the OP?
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I would only be happy if I were a Nintendo investor and evergreen titles like Mario Kart 7 keep selling loads at MSRP.
 
Toxi said:
So you're glad you never have to worry about the option of something better.

Seriously, what the fuck is up with posts like this and the OP?
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I want Nintendo to stay in business so I support them with my money. A world without Nintendo is definitely not better in my book.
It's almost a «political» statement.
You know, like supporting an indie dev.
 
Toxi said:
So you think paying full price at release without the option to buy the game cheaper after release is superior to paying full price at release with the option to buy the game cheaper in the future because... You don't get your feelings hurt by other people getting a better deal long after you've bought the game?

Seriously, what the fuck is up with posts like this and the OP?
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Actually, there's more than emotions involved. The publishers bringing the prices down hurts the second-hand market, i.e. consumers who already have the product would have to resell their games at a great loss.

The practice of lowering the price after launch is anti-consumer. The publishers should have released the product at a low price to begin with.
 
Theognosis said:
Actually, there's more than emotions involved. The publishers bringing the prices down hurts the second-hand market, i.e. consumers who already have the product would have to resell their games at a great loss.

The practice of lowering the price after launch is anti-consumer. The publishers should have released the product at a low price to begin with.
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The majority of consumers do not buy and sell enough games for this to be a significant concern. And as mentioned before in this thread, the idea of video games as an investment is a joke. You're reselling at a loss either way.

Calling the practice of lowering price after launch "anti-consumer" is laughable.
 
I never ever sell my games, so resale value isn't important to me.
However I do think nintendo's policy of maintaining a price is important for the games industry, although they probably take it a bit far.

There have been so many good studios that have gone out of business in the past decade. Caused by things like publishers putting developers through the wringer and then disbanding them. I think a lot of it is due to this culture of sales. People expect these games to be 50% or less extremely quickly. People wait for sales, and buy when a game is like $8. It's an expected cycle. So publishers resort to lame tactics like exclusive day one dlc download codes, or retailer exclusive dlc or whatever they can think of to milk the hype for a week and retain some kind of profit margin. And I'm sure those kind of thin margins extend to screwing over developers. It seems like the same kind of tactics that movie studios do to the cgi production houses, completely fucking them over.

I really like to get a bargain on games, but there has to be some middle ground. Games are so devalued that even massive games that take years to make seem to be dropping in perceived value to match mobile games. How is that sustainable? We will end up with just safe blockbusters and f2p mobile games. Paying a decent price for a well made game means that less people need to buy the game for it to be successful. Meaning that niche games can be made, or interesting mid-tier games. This boom or bust model is really harmful to the diversity and longevity of games imo.
 
So everyone is ignoring that they've been dropping a lot of prices for recent games and doing promotions (even if they don't sell games at 99 cents) because they don't go to retailers and make them drop prices of old games? I doubt they're still shipping 10 year old games, although I could be wrong.

There's a lot of valid points to discuss here, but pretending they haven't been dropping their prices and just looking at old games is simply absurd.

Also, their games are usually cheaper than the competition, at least in Portugal where it's usually €50 vs €70, although that varies a bit with stores, not to mention a few titles were released at lower price points, which is something that needs to happen more .
 
If Nintendo released their games somewhere between the standard RRP and a sale price (closer to the latter), and kept them there, I'd see your point. But you just want them to have high prices always because it makes you feel like it's more premium or something? What nonsense.
 
It is a shame that the OP argument is poorly argued, because actually i do agree with him that games have to hold some sort of value. It may be amazing for the consumer that games drop from £40, to £30 to £19.99 in a matter of months, but it is certainly not good for the industry.

I do think a middle ground needs to be found. Perhaps, releasing all games at £30 and refusing to drop the price and hoping that people buy more games. But that isn't is a sure fire way of people picking up more games. After all, people only have a limited amount of time in the day, they have other commitments, be it school or raising a family. And dropping the price means that games have to sell even more copies to make their money back. The other option is for developers and publishers to make games within their means, but i think we, both as consumers and them as developers are way past the point of no return with that one.

It can't be good when games like Titanfall 2 or Watchdog's 2 drop so much when they need to sell 4-6 million copies (presumably) at full price just to break even? Yet we consumers are so demanding of graphical fidelity and obsessed with power, frame rates, and resolution. We whinge at Micro-transations and Dlc, which a majority of developers need to utilise to earn that profit (Shock horror! enables them to employ people, and make more games (boo!) We kind of find our selves in a impossible situation. I wouldn't really calll this a sustainable business model.

I kind of get the impression that we don't actually value games, we just see them as disposable pieces of junk. I don't know wether that is our fault or the publishers, ( i guess the publishers because the customer is always right you know)

The above may seem snarky, but i woken up on the wrong side of the bed :), and i know the OP arguments is poorly conceived, i just found it odd that quite a few people were jumping on him. I know that is probably just in regard to his argument, but the actual concept of game value is one thing that needs to be address in the industry.

Just seems to me that the rush to the bottom pricing that as reared it's head again, especially on the back of quite a lot of big AAA Titles bombing, and people being upset that a game costs a Big Mac and Coke on the iPhone store.
 
KooopaKid said:
I want Nintendo to stay in business so I support them with my money. A world without Nintendo is definitely not better in my book.
It's almost a «political» statement.
You know, like supporting an indie dev.
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Nintendo is a multi-billion dollar corporation. They do not need your charity or devotion.
 
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