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[fester]

This issue shouldn't require a 9 paragraph post. It's 2017, Nintendo. Give us a proper digital account system that your competitors seem to manage without any problem.

 

[chronic_archaic]

I'd still be really apprehensive about digital on Switch right now. Too many restrictions for it to be worth doing.

 

[Bronetta]

I will absolutely never buy digital on Switch until I get some guarantee or piece of mind that my data is safe.

I still remember when my 3DS broke I lost all my saves for digital games.

Blaster Master Zero? Fast Racing RMX? Yeah they look good but Im not buying digital until Nintendo sorts themselves out.

 

[King Gilga]

Sounds like you can't deactivate a dead/lost console yourself. Still have to call Nintendo.

On Playstation at least you can manage all your systems from a website on any device.

Oh shit really?

That's fucked up.

One step forward one step back.

That's so nintendo.

 

[Peltz]

I will absolutely never buy digital on Switch until I get some guarantee or piece of mind that my data is safe.

I still remember when my 3DS broke I lost all my saves for digital games.

Blaster Master Zero? Fast Racing RMX? Yeah they look good but Im not buying digital until Nintendo sorts themselves out.

See, I wouldn't miss out on great exclusive games over this. Nintendo hasn't pulled the plug on making any game available for redownload that you've purchased in the past. There's not much to worry about here.

I'm not saying their system is adequate, but I do think any sort of tinfoil hat concerns that your licenses are going to be suddenly revoked should probably be checked. I buy physical games when I can (because I like the boxart) then grab digital only items on e-Shop without worry.

 

[Neoweee]

Sounds like you can't deactivate a dead/lost console yourself. Still have to call Nintendo.

On Playstation at least you can manage all your systems from a website on any device.

Do you have to CALL, or will a web ticket suffice?

Would still be fucked up, but way less of a hassle.

 

[Living the Dream]

I would be curious to see what developers think about Nintendo's archaic digital account system. Surely they're missing out on a ton of revenue due to this.

 

[Smasher89]

Didnt they state in interviews before nnid was released, that it would be forward compatible? googles and tries to find a article, but cant remember where I think i read that!

 

[Devilgunman]

I didn't realise people expected to be able to buy a game once and play it on multiple switches. I have never used ps4 like that and tbh I'm not sure how many people have multiple of the same console. If you lose it you can get your games and according to a recent article maybe even your saves. Not sure what there is to complain about.

Of course people expected it because others have this kind of account system for years. I have multiple iOS devices and I don't need to repurchase all my games. When I travel abroad to work I don't need to carry PS4 with me because I can just buy a new one then sign in with my account and all my gaming library is there. It's a beautiful thing about digital contents. It's baffling how a company as big as Nintendo is still unable to achieve this level of service in 2017.

 

[jroc74]

Sounds like you can't deactivate a dead/lost console yourself. Still have to call Nintendo.

On Playstation at least you can manage all your systems from a website on any device.

Uh oh, one step forward.....

It's still a problem because let's say if you bought two switch consoles, you can't share the software.

Damn, forgot about this....

Of course people expected it because others have this kind of account system for years. I have multiple iOS devices and I don't need to repurchase all my games. When I travel abroad to work I don't need to carry PS4 with me because I can just buy a new one then sign in with my account and all my gaming library is there. It's a beautiful thing about digital contents. It's baffling how a company as big as Nintendo is still unable to achieve this level of service in 2017.

This and having friends n family that have the same console as you.

Its lovely that I can go over our cousin's house and still be able to play the games I have at home just buy logging into his console and downloading.

Seems like I'm back on my no digital buy from Nintendo stance.

On November 22nd, 2005 (11.5 years ago), the Xbox 360 had the following DRM:
- Anything you purchase is playable on the console you purchased it on by anyone on that console (n.b. you could also have multiple users signed in to the same game, so separately the Xbox 360's presence and profile system was much more sophisticated then than Nintendo's is now)
- In addition, it is playable on any other console if you sign in and stay connected
- You can sign in to as many consoles as you want by using the account recovery download, feel free to leave your profile at all your friends houses
- Also profiles can be copied to memory cards and brought to other consoles

Now, by the end of the 360 it had a ton of other features and was much better. But that was the state of play at launch day, 11.5 years ago.

Yup this should be better than this for the Switch.

They are moving forward just with tiny baby ass steps.

 

[Undead Fantasy]

Nope.

I will continue to buy physical versions of games, on all platforms including Switch, whenever possible.

Pretty much this.

 

[The Greek Freak]

Why do games have to severely discounted in order for buying digital to have merit?

Because I can't give a friend my digital copy or sell it when I'm done.

 

[Bruce Springsteen]

Why do games have to severely discounted in order for buying digital to have merit?

For a home console, the advantage of having everything on the HD for quick access does not outweigh the cost savings of buying physical. I'd personally like to have an all digital library, but I'd have to wait 1 year to get the digital sales I'd get in a couple months just waiting for an Amazon or Best Buy sale. My brother also would not be able to play any game I purchased

Now with switch also being a portable, I suppose digital is more enticing, but not for me as when I buy it it will stay docked

 

[Tohsaka]

Nope.

I will continue to buy physical versions of games, on all platforms including Switch, whenever possible.

Same here.

 

[IrishNinja]

to the extent i'm okay with digitally "owning" my games, yeah, this was the biggest hurdle i had that kept me from buying much on the WU. while ill still go physical wherever i can (still holding out hope for those Soinc Mania rumors!), there's too much stuff this gen to pass on otherwise - Blaster Master Neo, Wonder Boy III: Dragon's Trap HD, ToeJam & Earl etc.

 

[Bronetta]

See, I wouldn't miss out on great exclusive games over this. Nintendo hasn't pulled the plug on making any game available for redownload that you've purchased in the past. There's not much to worry about here.

I'm not saying their system is adequate, but I do think any sort of tinfoil hat concerns that your licenses are going to be suddenly revoked should probably be checked. I buy physical games when I can (because I like the boxart) then grab digital only items on e-Shop without worry.

Read my post again. Im not talking about licenses being revoked, Im talking about losing save data for digital games, something that already happened to me when my 3DS broke. Yeah they transferred my digital games over but I lost all my digital save data in the process.

 

[Madao]

for me the biggest problem of going digital is price. physical is almost always cheaper for nintendo stuff.

it's a good thing that they allow you to deactivate your console on your own. hopefully they'll add this ability to do it from the accout itself later to solve the thing about not being able to deactivate a lost or damaged console.

it doesn't feel like region free is as big of a deal as it sounded earlier. maybe because there's no major game released in japan only so far.

i feel that cloud saves for your save data is a bigger priority right now among the stuff they still need to do. save file backup was the main reason i hacked all my 3DS units.

 

[mrk8885]

I understand others apprehension, but I'm mostly ok with it. I'm happy to be able to transfer to another system easily without intervention from them. It would obviously be better if they allowed more than one system (my wife has some passing interest in having her own switch but refuses to go for it if we can't share digital games) , but it doesn't bother me that much honestly.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Note: This policy is still worse than what the Xbox 360 had on November 22, 2005.

If your sole criterion for quality is user friendliness this is absolutely true. I would like to point out though that this is the most airtight DRM scheme for games that isn't the "ultimate" one of just being always-online. Sony's model, at least on PS4, is heavily exploitable, with users able to keep licenses active permanently on any number of consoles as long as they're kept offline by setting them as "primary" before taking them offline. That's on top of the basic "trading primaries" game sharing model. Microsoft minimizes this by only allowing users to change their "primary" console 3 times a year, but the same ideas still apply.

Also this

- Anything you purchase is playable on the console you purchased it on by anyone on that console

is possible on Switch. I don't know about having multiple users signed in at once for a game since I don't have any multiplayer games, maybe someone else can answer this? Switch's user system certainly is funny though, it reverses the general model of logging in first to access your stuff before starting a game. I'm sure they wanted to keep things simple, and this does that, but it's probably going to lose out on functionality even beyond just managing what games can be accessed at any given time.

Still garbage.

We're forced to jump through these hoops because of the hypothetical where a parent buys a switch for each kid and then shares a copy of Pokemon Stars between them.

Ultimately, this is exactly the kind of scenario Nintendo's trying to prevent. It's very clear that not adopting a more traditional model isn't a matter of incompetence, they powerfully feel that game sharing is a threat to them. It would be very interesting to see what metrics are telling them this, as well as what metrics are telling their competition the opposite. The heavy integration of online services into Sony and Microsoft's offerings is probably something Sony and MS see as a large factor in deterring exploitation of the weaknesses of their DRM, and I wonder if Nintendo's stance will soften once they've ramped up their own online services. Any policy shift like that won't happen with this generation of hardware though. Also, it's kind of hard to get to the point where a strong online business lets you soften your DRM when your DRM is preventing your online business from getting stronger.

Sounds like you can't deactivate a dead/lost console yourself. Still have to call Nintendo.

On Playstation at least you can manage all your systems from a website on any device.

Having to rely on the original hardware for deactivation is a real weakness, and a web interface for doing that seems like a totally reasonable addition to Nintendo's current system. The only caveat is that in order for it not to compromise their DRM the active console would have to be internet connected at the time of deactivation, meaning this wouldn't help those with consoles that are unusable for whatever reason. It would still be an improvement. Hopefully we'll get this at some point.

 

[Fimbulvetr]

Bumping this one more time, just want to get as many people's thoughts as I can.

 

[Neoweee]

Bumping this one more time, just want to get as many people's thoughts as I can.

It is still the worst in the industry, but by a slightly smaller margin than it was a decade ago.

 

[Smiles and Cries]

I cancelled 3 Amazon pre-orders today. I plan to download the games I need from eShop until I fill up my microSD

the policy does not really bother me. I would love to see more deals and sales in the near future tho

 

[komorebi]

Bumping this one more time, just want to get as many people's thoughts as I can.

Didn't bother me then, doesn't bother me now. This too shall pass.

 

[Ponn]

I'm almost 100% digital only on my Vita and love it. Since I plan on using my Switch almost exclusively in portable mode the same reasons i love my Vita library being available on the system at any time without changing carts is super useful and nice. The insane amount of PSN store sales helped with that too, no lie. I'm still apprehensive about Nintendo's digital handling. It's still baby steps to a full on account system that is portable with you from system to system. I'm not as afraid of losing any digital games I bought like I was initially with the 3DS. It will be annoying though if they come out with say a sleeker portable only version of the Switch down the road and I decide to hook my OG switch to the TV permanently, what happens to my digital library that I want to play on both systems? What about the famous Nintendo system revisions and LE color variations and the eventual PIkachu yellow Switch?

Still, with these apprehensions i'm still going to buy some games digitally. I plan on getting Blaster Master Zero soonish. I'm eyeing Has Been Heroes and re-buying I am Setsuna since I really want to play it but I want it portable on Switch. Then there are games that still will be so much more convenient having them stored on the system for quick plays like Bomberman R and Ultra Street Fighter 2. Basically I won't be 100% digital like I have been with Vita but for convenience and digital only sakes it will be a begrudging mix. Hey Nintendo, you know what would make it less begrudging? PSN and Steam style sales, hint hint wink wink.

 

[Maintenance]

That's useless if your console breaks / is stolen, so it's still inferior to others, at least from what I've been told.

And they locked up saves to one console too.

All in all, it's 2017 and they still haven't created a proper account system.

 

[atbigelow]

Why should you be able to use a single digital copy of a title on more than one system at a time?

I'm genuinely curious about this. Is it purely because mobile platforms allow it carte blanche?

 

[Htown]

I can't imagine a scenario in which I would need to quickly transfer ownership between multiple consoles, so all the "it's difficult to transfer licenses" thing has never been a problem for me in the first place.

It would be nice if it was as easy as Steam's system, I guess, but it really doesn't matter to me.

 

[grap3fruitman]

I had a manic episode and bought like $55 in eShop points for some reason. I'm an idiot. That's how I feel about Nintendo's DRM. Oh well, Zelda's getting DLC and I guess I know which platform I'm getting Sonic Mania on. Nintendo's physical games do hold their value. I've been needing some cash lately and have made the decision to ditch everything not this gen. All my Nintendo stuff obviously held the most value and I'd like to stick to physical copies for that reason alone. It seems like Nintendo is under-shipping physical copies if anything in order to push digital these days too. The collector in me can't have that.

 

[ramparter]

The new policies are improvements, definitely.

The only problem is the price of games or, more precisely, the new policies on digital sales.

Digital on Nintendo will be interesting only when we'll see massive discounts times periodically, like PSN/Steam/Live.

Just think about 3DS: I don't think we will never see a fire emblem game priced 9.90 or 14.90€ on eshop, never.

Instead you can find a physical copy of the games priced for 20-25€ with store sales, black Friday, ecc

1. The worst offense with pricing is that they dont allow lower digital prices to keep stores happy. So stores can drop physical price but digital remains the same. Fuck off.

2. I want boxes for mah nintendo games! I would be happy to go digital if the retail boxes had download codes instead of cards. It would also solve the above issue.

 

[yami4ct]

While it's nice they've loosened their stupid archaic DRM from the 3DS/Wii U days, that never actually stopped me from going digital. On a portable system, I love the convenience of having my games all right with me when I go.

What has changed, though, is stores taking 20% off the top for physical. As much as I like the convenience, physical now wins because of that.