As a consumer, I like Nintendo's policy to maintain games' prices
- Thread starter walking fiend
- Start date
Living the Dream
Member
Have you seen their eshop pricing and their laughable sales they have on there?
What?? Higher prices and underpowered hardware are both good things. Nintendo doesn't need a proper account system or third parties. Their mobile strategy is going to set the market on fire, that Miitomo, wow!
Because Nintendo never printed enough in the first place probably? Everyone knows how bad Nintendo are at stocking anything.
Nintendo are still using the same price modeling from 3 decades ago. It doesn't work in today's economy. People want sales, they don't want to pay full price for a game. They are out of touch with what the consumer wants.
RichiRamjag
Member
I a kid and we went to Kmart and saw resident evil 4 was $60 back then. Took my ass over to funcoland and traded the n64 in and brought it for $20 on ps1 greatest hits.
Even after the games are out of print, even with millions if copies sold.... A lit if Nintendo games still fetch a premium. That's even when controlled specifically by the supply and demand and peoples willingness to pay. Nintendo can charge full price because will pay. But they also drop prices a lot. Most of the great games on wiiu are 19.99 brand new.
In ten years, those games will sell for 40 bucks used of more. Because they are great games and worth the money and they aren't releasing yearly upgrades that immediately devalue the games like call of duty etc....
In ten years, those games will sell for 40 bucks used of more. Because they are great games and worth the money and they aren't releasing yearly upgrades that immediately devalue the games like call of duty etc....
Well, that's not true.
i think there are two things at play here:
1. the used game market, which this topic was originally about more than anything. nintendo's games hold value there because they simply do. go try and find any used pokemon game and despite each one having sold millions of copies, you'll probably only find it $35 used at gamestop. even twilight princess, now a decade old and officially $20 new, goes for $20 used as well. this is beneficial to the people who regularly buy games and trade them back in for something else. nintendo doesn't decide these prices. supporting the used game market isn't their business. this is between retailers and consumers in a straight supply/demand scenario.
2. nintendo doesn't go for the markdown game like other companies do. nintendo has the option, as most companies do, to mark down the prices of games to help move poor-selling stock, or (and this is the more common practice among big developers), intentionally sell a shitload more than they need to with the agreement that if there's a certain level of stock available after a certain period of time, then the price would automatically decrease. or if it's around the holidays, that the initial huge buy-in is going to include quantities for holiday sales. my assumption here is that nintendo does not go for this, and this is why you would have shortages of 3ds games like fire emblem and luigi's mansion. if stores are ordering to preorders, nintendo will let the market speak for itself and demand more games. they won't okay deals that will automatically devalue their games after 4-8 weeks. this doesn't always work out, and in those cases you get stuff like the wonderful 101 and sin & punishment. in those cases, i think retailers demanded some price protection, the stores did it on their own, or nintendo granted price protection to maintain a solid relationship.
i think that the dedicated hardware market's become pretty unbalanced, and if it is going to survive for another decade (hah), it needs to find a medium ground between the constant high prices on nintendo's side and the extreme discounts coming from everyone else. i think even making $50 the msrp again would go a long way towards fixing things.
1. the used game market, which this topic was originally about more than anything. nintendo's games hold value there because they simply do. go try and find any used pokemon game and despite each one having sold millions of copies, you'll probably only find it $35 used at gamestop. even twilight princess, now a decade old and officially $20 new, goes for $20 used as well. this is beneficial to the people who regularly buy games and trade them back in for something else. nintendo doesn't decide these prices. supporting the used game market isn't their business. this is between retailers and consumers in a straight supply/demand scenario.
2. nintendo doesn't go for the markdown game like other companies do. nintendo has the option, as most companies do, to mark down the prices of games to help move poor-selling stock, or (and this is the more common practice among big developers), intentionally sell a shitload more than they need to with the agreement that if there's a certain level of stock available after a certain period of time, then the price would automatically decrease. or if it's around the holidays, that the initial huge buy-in is going to include quantities for holiday sales. my assumption here is that nintendo does not go for this, and this is why you would have shortages of 3ds games like fire emblem and luigi's mansion. if stores are ordering to preorders, nintendo will let the market speak for itself and demand more games. they won't okay deals that will automatically devalue their games after 4-8 weeks. this doesn't always work out, and in those cases you get stuff like the wonderful 101 and sin & punishment. in those cases, i think retailers demanded some price protection, the stores did it on their own, or nintendo granted price protection to maintain a solid relationship.
i think that the dedicated hardware market's become pretty unbalanced, and if it is going to survive for another decade (hah), it needs to find a medium ground between the constant high prices on nintendo's side and the extreme discounts coming from everyone else. i think even making $50 the msrp again would go a long way towards fixing things.
Yeah I'll buy some games day one but games going down in price allows me to decide what price I think a game is worth. Or in case of having too many games I want to play when it comes out, having the bonus of if I have to wait to play a game at least paying less when I get it.
sir_kevith
Member
They didn't print enough sure, but that just means it's genuinely scarce.
great analysis
I think I would agree with this. Sony and MS have their issues, but I don't actively feel like they're trying to fuck me over at every turn. How the fuck do you leave out a goddamn charger with your portable console?
A scarcity that Nintendo created themselves by under shipping a product is what I'd define as fake scarcity (it's actually called Artificial scarcity )
SuperSonic1305
Member
I remember walking into a Toys R' Us in 2007 and buying Smash Bros Melee for $60 a few weeks after getting a Wii.
fredrancour
Member
It'd be great if games were cheaper, but I can't deny that the knowledge that price drops are distant makes me feel less guilty when hype sucks me into buying a game day one.
aren't there all manner of policies in place between retailers and publishes regarding how pricing works? price protection agreements, or return policies, or other things to the effect of "if this product tanks, we will help make up the difference?"
when AAA third party games drop to 40 dollars almost instantly, is that the msrp getting adjusted or the retailer taking a random stab at price discrimination that succeeded? cause if it weren't done with the publisher's blessing, I feel like some nintendo games would go down way faster than they actually do.
i really thought that one in particular had a players' choice release by then.
aren't there all manner of policies in place between retailers and publishes regarding how pricing works? price protection agreements, or return policies, or other things to the effect of "if this product tanks, we will help make up the difference?"
when AAA third party games drop to 40 dollars almost instantly, is that the msrp getting adjusted or the retailer taking a random stab at price discrimination that succeeded? cause if it weren't done with the publisher's blessing, I feel like some nintendo games would go down way faster than they actually do.
i really thought that one in particular had a players' choice release by then.
Melee had a player choice edition, at least PAL.
I bought for a friend something like 2006/2007.
Amazon.fr has it at 45 bucks which is what I paid at the time.
It was also at a time when they gave incentives to buy new instead of used so I got some nice bonus out of my purchases.
If msrp is something like 60, I never buy anything at more than 40 because I buy online for WiiU because it's regionlocked anyway.
For ps4, most of my stuffs is either black friday or amazon so usually 35-40 in the worst cases.
That's what I paid (or less) for the collector edition of Pokemon Sun.
It kinds of helps that most of the games released these days I have less interest than most of Ikea's catalog.
Thing is Nintendo used to incentivize buying new so out of habit (and because Wii/DS era was godly at affordable prices) I bought new from them when the competition went all in with day1 edition you could find for dirt cheap years later.
Of course Nintendo isn't blameless, you can probably still find day1 copies of Metroid Other M these days after all.
But on average they get their shipment right so either get it at near full price (used or new) or don't get it.
I also hate paid DLCs (and psn regionlocking gave me new reasons to), so I avoided Dark Souls III for example until I get for cheap with all the dlcs or even cheaper for the base game.
I had no qualms buying NMS for near full price because I was pretty sure they wouldn't do paid dlc or I wouldn't care (not saying I'm right or correctly informed, just giving my feelings and feelings trumps facts these days).
Heck with international shipping, I'm actually paying even less because I'm not paying VAT anyway.
I never paid more than 50bucks for anything BUT Tropical Freeze (and that was a special case).
I bought for a friend something like 2006/2007.
Amazon.fr has it at 45 bucks which is what I paid at the time.
It was also at a time when they gave incentives to buy new instead of used so I got some nice bonus out of my purchases.
If msrp is something like 60, I never buy anything at more than 40 because I buy online for WiiU because it's regionlocked anyway.
For ps4, most of my stuffs is either black friday or amazon so usually 35-40 in the worst cases.
That's what I paid (or less) for the collector edition of Pokemon Sun.
It kinds of helps that most of the games released these days I have less interest than most of Ikea's catalog.
Thing is Nintendo used to incentivize buying new so out of habit (and because Wii/DS era was godly at affordable prices) I bought new from them when the competition went all in with day1 edition you could find for dirt cheap years later.
Of course Nintendo isn't blameless, you can probably still find day1 copies of Metroid Other M these days after all.
But on average they get their shipment right so either get it at near full price (used or new) or don't get it.
I also hate paid DLCs (and psn regionlocking gave me new reasons to), so I avoided Dark Souls III for example until I get for cheap with all the dlcs or even cheaper for the base game.
I had no qualms buying NMS for near full price because I was pretty sure they wouldn't do paid dlc or I wouldn't care (not saying I'm right or correctly informed, just giving my feelings and feelings trumps facts these days).
Heck with international shipping, I'm actually paying even less because I'm not paying VAT anyway.
I never paid more than 50bucks for anything BUT Tropical Freeze (and that was a special case).
sir_kevith
Member
That's not at all what's going on with that game though. Nintendo just under-shipped it at the time that's all. It happens all the time with all kinds of games.
toddhunter
Member
Because they do?
Old Nintendo games hold their value in retail stores because they are purchased by people who don't really know much better. They just want that "mario game" as a christmas present.
Outside of that retail market there is rampant piracy and second hand sales consistent with any other platform. How is your ds game library investment valued?
This has no benefit to a consumer. It is "as a gamestop owner I like Nintendo's pricing policy because I still sell full price new super mario brothers to people who don't know ebay exists".
That's not at all what happened because Nintendo under shipped it? What? You're denying they under shipped a product they could have supplied more of because...they under shipped it? What are you on about?
DJSharpeCheddar
Banned
While my list of "Things That Irritate Me About Nintendo, A Company I Very Much Want To Love" is long and sad, this practice is probably in the top five. Completely asinine.
lol.
.
So many times I was about to buy 3D World but didnt due to the price. If I dont get a Nintendo game at launch I may never get it...
SatelliteOfLove
Member
Ratchet mechanics ain't just a thing in SMB1 yall.
Jawmuncher
Member
That's really the only positive, which isn't much of a positive
sir_kevith
Member
That's not what artificial scarcity is, is what I'm trying to say. They could have printed more but they didn't therefore it's actually scarce from our perspective.
Steam flash sales are closer to artificial scarcity but the prices are low enough that it's not a problem in that case.
It's really because they do.
Something for all the crap NSMB took for being a "shit" game according to GAF here, it still sold a shit load because people never sold their copies.
Also ebay carries a risk that amazon and co don't, there's also not enough copies on ebay to satiate the market thirst for the game (as sales numbers clearly shows the market demand).
It happens with games on PS/XBOX too.
Back in the day to get CoD:MW you nearly had to pay full price because the game was in high demand and no one wanted to part with their copy.
Or maybe it's because it's a shit game and people want 'COD' for the brand or some shit GAF tells itself to sleep at night.
Unknown Soldier
Member
I would rather you not, modern capitalism is highly dependent on asymmetric information.
Yeh they didn't print more copies because it create the scarcity and kept the prices up. Happens with pretty much all Nintendo games, like someone else said before, It's why all Nintendo games in the UK stay at a high price, because they don't ship that many over here to start with. It's Nintendo driving their own prices up through under shipping.
Why are so many people ok with games plummeting in value because they're "old?" There are exceptions, but generally, misleading marketing props up games as the second coming to push day one sales. Once the reality comes to light and the mystery is gone, the prices are slashed.
Other people feel differently, but the gameplay in Mario Kart 8, 3D World, Smash and Splatoon is just as fun as at launch. I don't feel duped like I do with Dragon Age Inquisition, Killzone 4 or Second Son. High quality games like Witcher 3 are the exception, but it's backwards that Witcher 3 complete edition PS4 sells for $25 when it ran like hot garbage while it sold for $60.
I feel for people who can't afford $60 games, but the value should reflect the quality of a title, not just an artificial factor of the marketing strategy.
Other people feel differently, but the gameplay in Mario Kart 8, 3D World, Smash and Splatoon is just as fun as at launch. I don't feel duped like I do with Dragon Age Inquisition, Killzone 4 or Second Son. High quality games like Witcher 3 are the exception, but it's backwards that Witcher 3 complete edition PS4 sells for $25 when it ran like hot garbage while it sold for $60.
I feel for people who can't afford $60 games, but the value should reflect the quality of a title, not just an artificial factor of the marketing strategy.
sorry but i don't know what part you're responding to here.
again, i don't think it's really nintendo's pricing policy, but more about their markdown policy and how they sell games to retailers. nintendo seems more willing to stock games based on orders and then let the stock run out at the initial price, than to intentionally create a surplus that would require that they go back and mark them down later. when they do drop prices, it's usually under a product line (player's choice/nintendo selects), or because something severely underperformed (sin & punishment, the wonderful 101).
regarding retail and used games, that's basically what the thread's predicated on, and if you don't like the relationship between retailers and customers within their used game market, that's not really on nintendo.
CloudyTuba
Member
I don't buy games to invest. I buy games to play games.
Sure, it's not without perks. It's nice that it retains more value if you want to sell, but there are much more lucrative ways to invest your money if that is your concern. I would not go as far to call any game an investment.
Nintendo's stick in the mud mentality toward...just about everything actually has pushed me away in recent years.
Sure, it's not without perks. It's nice that it retains more value if you want to sell, but there are much more lucrative ways to invest your money if that is your concern. I would not go as far to call any game an investment.
Nintendo's stick in the mud mentality toward...just about everything actually has pushed me away in recent years.
Just_myles
Member
Well OP I can see what you are saying. Nintendo keeping their prices for their software consistent does help in resell in a lot of cases, I guess.
Games these days don't retain value very well, like cars. Be nice to make a little money off a resell. Correction, not make more money but make at least half of your money back.
Games these days don't retain value very well, like cars. Be nice to make a little money off a resell. Correction, not make more money but make at least half of your money back.
Genghis Khan
Member
This just isn't true though..
Nintendo's greed at times exceed human comprehension. i just remembered,Twilight Princess HD a ten year old game costs more than when the game launched on Wii.
Now keep in mind that the only added piece of new content to the game was a shitty extra mini dungeon that you could only unlock by buying a amiibo that costs additional fifteen dollars. This is the sort of thing that would make even EA embarrassed!
Now keep in mind that the only added piece of new content to the game was a shitty extra mini dungeon that you could only unlock by buying a amiibo that costs additional fifteen dollars. This is the sort of thing that would make even EA embarrassed!
What is the upside of providing retailers with too much copies to sell?
Inventory space ain't cheap either, if retailers don't order more they don't get more.
And retailers won't order more if people don't buy more.
It's more a failure in the demand than the offer you're describing.
Ricerocket
Member
This is straight up false. You're basically saying retailers value Nintendo product more just because ... ___ ?
There are deals in place during certain periods that will allow lower price and that is based on the product's company and not retailer. Shelf space is limited.
The fact that people expect games to become much cheaper this soon is the reason why they try to get more money with scummy tactics and big season pass made of cut content.
I've rarely felt let down by a Nintendo game because I got exactly what I expected: a full game. Which isn't always the case with most of the other publishers around. There's a reason if Ubisoft can start selling WD2 for half price like two weeks after release, and that's because it was not worth full price from the start.
And before people tell me I'm a Nintendo fanboy, I only have a n3DS with like 5 retail games (3 of which are the Zelda ones) and have never owned a WiiU. I just hate to see that buying a game on any other platform almost always means losing money in a few weeks (or hell, days) because I could've waited more to play it.
I've rarely felt let down by a Nintendo game because I got exactly what I expected: a full game. Which isn't always the case with most of the other publishers around. There's a reason if Ubisoft can start selling WD2 for half price like two weeks after release, and that's because it was not worth full price from the start.
And before people tell me I'm a Nintendo fanboy, I only have a n3DS with like 5 retail games (3 of which are the Zelda ones) and have never owned a WiiU. I just hate to see that buying a game on any other platform almost always means losing money in a few weeks (or hell, days) because I could've waited more to play it.
fargofallout
Member
You got me to actually laugh out loud. Thank you, kind internet person.