Former Nintendo PR Explains Why Switch Games Rarely Go on Sale: ‘This Isn’t Ubisoft’

I mean unlike Sony or Microsoft pyhsical Switch games are like cash. Buy it, play it and resell it with nearly no loss. So i have no problem with that.
 
The brand philosophy and pride in their product's value makes sense in those terms, but in reality they can continue to charge full price with limited and infrequent sales on first party because of the exclusivity they enjoy. I don't believe they do it for any reason beyond that, no matter what they say. You have to pay if you want to enjoy their exclusive products, so they will charge the premium because fuck you, give me money.
 
The brand philosophy and pride in their product's value makes sense in those terms, but in reality they can continue to charge full price with limited and infrequent sales on first party because of the exclusivity they enjoy. I don't believe they do it for any reason beyond that, no matter what they say. You have to pay if you want to enjoy their exclusive products, so they will charge the premium because fuck you, give me money.
The whole "value" argument is a meme because paying less for games is objectively good for consumers.

That's a really big market too. They must be stopped at all costs.
Yes.
 
They respect the 'value' of their games…But not their customers, hence all the shitty, shitty decisions they make gen after gen…
 
That's actually nice, because it also works the other way around. I am never on the fence on buying a Nintendo product that only slightly interests me, because I know it will never go on sale. So I just don't buy it and never think about it again. Precise reason for which I buy very few Nintendo games.
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The best Nintendo games were made during the Wii U era and didn't sell shit what are you blabbing about quality? Most sold is not a metric of quality in ANY medium.
You mean those very same Wii U games that fueled the entire lifespan of the Switch? BTW, on topic, did anyone notice this guy is no longer a Nintendo employee, and is not speaking for the company? I'm just curious.
 
What a dishonest statement. Nintendo games before the Switch used to go on sale after selling a certain amount. They just got greedy and they need to own up to that.

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Yeah but Players' choice/Nintendo Selects launches usually when the console starts to flop, which still isn't the case with the Switch
 
you can get Nintendo games on sale all the time, just not officially by Nintendo lowering the prices.

but that's why third party retailers are so important. you get physical games and digital game codes for cheap all the time.
 
This is actually the best thing about Nintendo games. You know you won't buy them and in 3 months they'll be half off.

I bought Witcher 3 on Switch like a month after release at full price I think, and a week later it was 40. That's why I'm holding off buying 3rd party games until discount.

But I'm sure this thread will make us understand how this is anti-consumer by Nintendo, and this is actually the most pro-consumer thing ever.
 
It's easy to talk big from a position of power. I'd like to see them never discounting their games when they aren't selling so great, see how much they respect value then.
 
Ubisoft did this to themselves. They put out a new 70 dollar game and it's 20 dollars a couple months later or somehow otherwise super cheap. Why would anybody buy at full price when your games go straight to the bargain bin?
 
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Explain the DK Tropical Freeze pricing. I would buy it again if it was $20.

Yeah, as someone who bought it on Wii U for full price on release. This is the shit that pushes me to modding. Yeah maybe I'll buy the new Mario or Zelda but I'm not rebuying the same DK at an even higher price than before. After all the money I dumped on Nintendo in their darkest hour I don't feel like I should have to rebuy every last damn game just to detach from their Frankenstein console. Despite the fact I still re-bought half of them, everyone has a limit. Jesus Nintendo.
 
If I am correct Gamecube games saw some discounts. I bought Metroid Prime etc for 20 bucks ish new. They didn't stay at RRP for long.

But since, yeah, one thing is certain with Nintendo; you can buy those games at launch without the risk of the price being slashed in a month. This means resell value is pretty good. If I search a local marketplace for used goods Mario Odyssey is still being offered for 35-40 by tons of people.

This is both good and bad. If you want to sell your games after a few months its not like EA or Ubi drivel netting you 5-10 bucks a piece tops.
 
Nintendo: "We value our products!"
Also Nintendo: "Our fandom is retarded."

Literally, seeing how someone said that buying games Day 1 and then see resale value being the same after a month calling it pro-consumer is absolutely mind boggling. Everything depreciates in value, its the people who keep buying this crap that keep inflating game prices.

If some of you could keep a Nintendo Shrine giving a Mario a plastic rim job between his two fat cheeks after waking up, you would.
 
I don't like it and it's one of the big reasons I'll skip the Switch 2 for now.
But I think getting their customers used to games just not going on sale (or at least not soon, and never with big discounts) was really smart by Nintendo.

This is actually the best thing about Nintendo games. You know you won't buy them and in 3 months they'll be half off.

I bought Witcher 3 on Switch like a month after release at full price I think, and a week later it was 40. That's why I'm holding off buying 3rd party games until discount.

But I'm sure this thread will make us understand how this is anti-consumer by Nintendo, and this is actually the most pro-consumer thing ever.

So with other games I can just wait 3 months and get it half off.
And that's somehow bad for me as a consumer?
 
Th
yea he is, their games are not always good.
That's absolutely your opinion, one of which is one I will vehemently disagree with. They are generally some of the best games. I think the games that usually get shit on, especially lately, are the Pokemon games.
 
Ubisoft were there day-one supporting Wii U with some pretty good games and an exclusive (Zombi U), they were there on Switch as well with Mario & Rabbids which was a pretty good game. So let's thank them by saying they devalue their games and that you should wait before buying them.

Awesome, well done Nintendo.
Yeah I was about to say, Ubisoft was a good 3rd party partner for Nintendo, weird that this dude is just throwing them under the bus.

Not trying to defend Ubi here, they've lost me as customer for many years already.
 
Man, so many hot takes in this thread. Everything from "Nintendo is able to charge whatever they want" to "I choose not to buy Nintendo games because of the price."

How can we ever convince Nintendo to lower the prices and force people to buy the games now?
 
Some takes here, maybe I get it because I've worked on brand building and design in the past, also if something is too expensive for me I'll just walk away instead of attacking the seller lol.

Nintendo would do well with bending Game Freak's arm for their switch 2 games if they want to justify that 80$ quality product.
It would be great because of these people using them to attack Nintendo:
Work Wow GIF by Offline Granny!


Edit: Yeah, its clearly not Ubisoft


such a premium product for U$ 70

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trash tier product also U$70
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Nintendo dosnt work on "brand recognition" they work on "fanboyism retardation"
As if there weren't enough examples of visually pleasing games from Nintendo already.

Why release new hardware when ps2 graphics is all gamers need then?
I guess you don't really give a fuck about Nintendo because you'd realize there's a reason why everyone constantly uses Zelda BOTW/TOTK and Xenoblade games to shame on Pokemon
 
So with other games I can just wait 3 months and get it half off.
And that's somehow bad for me as a consumer?
Is it good for you as a consumer to buy a game at full price only to then see it half off a few months later?
You can look at it two ways.
 
They use the same tactics as Honda and Toyota. If you don't run discounts often or at all, it creates a false sense of higher value products. The product become worth more on the used market, which keeps perceived company value higher. I mean you also have to make something good, but yea that's why.
 
Is it good for you as a consumer to buy a game at full price only to then see it half off a few months later?
You can look at it two ways.
Time has value man, I bought it on release date ...enjoyed it. Why would I be angry that someone else got it for cheaper after a year? Lol
 
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The whole "Nintendo games not going on sale" thing fucks with me mentally when it comes to purchaes. It makes my feeble brain buy the games near release because I know if Ieave it for a couple of years I simply couldn't justify paying so much for an old game. It's really weird lol.
 
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Well I like their shot at ubisoft but they did sales back then, they do trash games such as pokémon or that Animal Crossing Amiibo festival and also they have ubisoft games which never go on sales too...
 
What a dishonest statement. Nintendo games before the Switch used to go on sale after selling a certain amount. They just got greedy and they need to own up to that.

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29.99 in 2003 is the equivalent of 52.12 today.

Inflation aside (just under 40 bucks, btw) this is Nintendo at its weakest. The GameCube lost bigly to the PS2 as well, and came at a time when the games market was growing. That is no longer the case.

Ironically, Nintendo is selling their first party software at higher orders of magnitude now than they were in the entire GameCube-Wii U period.
 
Another reason I believe is that Nintendo wants its games to remain as fresh as possible to the eyes of the consumer. Keeping a game full price for a long time allows Nintendo to continue to constantly market it as if it were still a new game. And when your a company that focuses heavily on the integration of your hardware and software, that's especially important. It's part of the reason their games often have insane sales figures each gen.

As critical as I've been of Nintendo's handling of the Switch 2 pricing details, and as skeptical as people can be of their business sometimes, the numbers at least speak for themselves. I feel like gamers sometimes put too much stock in making companies act "consumer friendly" everytime, all the time. But if you want to actually get results, you sometimes need to play the bad guy.
 
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They have the right to price their software as they like, but with their current strategy they've lost many game sales from me. I'll keep voting with my wallet.
 
Work Wow GIF by Offline Granny!


Edit: Yeah, its clearly not Ubisoft


such a premium product for U$ 70

Pokemon-Ugly.jpg


trash tier product also U$70
E5A7077AF9F7F35189EFAFB868C7447F24FA76B9


Nintendo dosnt work on "brand recognition" they work on "fanboyism retardation"
You took one isolated example and generalized the whole thing to the advantage of your opinion.
 
In North America, the best time to buy a physical copy is close to release date. To this day, I have yet to pay full MSRP for any game. Almost all retailers offer some $10-$20 discount near launch if you know where to look.

The issue with Nintendo games is scarcity, they don't really reprint physical as often so I've noticed prices tend to stay at MSRP after release.

Personally, I really like the way Nintendo operates. Why ever buy a game on release if you know it will be more than 50% off within the year like most Ubisoft games. When I buy a Nintendo game on release, I feel much better about the price I'm paying. In fact, on release, it may be the cheapest time to buy.

I fully support what Nintendo is doing and expect to get their games below MSRP on release.
 
It's true though. Nintendo value their games (not always correctly).

Moral values aside, having people know your game will be cheaper fairly soon is quite the disincentive.

The whole culture of sales in gaming I feel is damaging and unsustainable. Yes, people are building up big libraries, but it puts enormous strain on developers and publishers to deliver hits on release and to then immediately go onto working on the next game. It's not good for companies and it's certainly not good for the employees.
 
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I know this sentiment has been repeated a million times, but im still gonna do it the million and first time...since Iwata passed away, Nintendo's mentality really has been to not give a fuck about the paying customer anymore, huh?
 
Work Wow GIF by Offline Granny!


Edit: Yeah, its clearly not Ubisoft


such a premium product for U$ 70

Pokemon-Ugly.jpg


trash tier product also U$70
E5A7077AF9F7F35189EFAFB868C7447F24FA76B9


Nintendo dosnt work on "brand recognition" they work on "fanboyism retardation"
while the game looks of course beter on a next gen console comapred to low end laptop graphics i wil say that no amount of graphics can help a lame stale game like shadows, id rather play an ugly pokemon game then a ubisoft game
 
Puts me off buying a lot of their games.

But other games dropping in price after 6 weeks puts me off buying those full price when I otherwise might have.

Nintendo smart. Mean, but smart.
 
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He's not wrong tho...
It's just supply and demand. Whenever Nintendo consoles do badly they do good sales like with the 3ds and launch 3ds. But when they do good they don't like with Switch. I remember Nintendo never dropped the price of Mario kart DS because it kept topping the charts in sales. If something keeps selling regardless then why would you drop the price.
 
Is it good for you as a consumer to buy a game at full price only to then see it half off a few months later?

If you look at buying videogames like some sort of money investment... then yeah that's not great.
If you look at buying games like spending money on entertainment I don't see how it isn't good for me as a consumer.

With every other publisher you get options. Pay full price to get the game day 1 or wait 6-12 months to get it on sale for 30-50% off (let's be honest, the times of 50% off after 3 months are mostly gone). With Nintendo it's pay full price now or pay full price 3 years later. As a consumer I don't see that as a benefit.
 
Game are art so I think they can't charge whatever they like.

Let's not put video games and Nintendo on such a high pedestal.

Video games can be artistic, but they're not art. They are games. Games that started out as electronic toys for children.
 
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