It seems to be a (slowly but surely) growing trend, the idea with having multiple versions of the same game with smaller changes in the actual content. Examples would be the handheld Pokémon games, the (most recent) Megaman Battle Network games, Nintendogs and so on.
So I'm wondering...exactly how profitable is it to release games like this? In the case of, say, Pokémon, how many people actually buy both versions? I guess it's hard to find out, but shouldn't it generate more sales to have two different versions of a game like that? Sure I imagine there'll be some smaller extra costs involved to actually make slightly different versions, but I'm sure sales increase because some people buy both of them? Or are those people in such a small minority it doesn't make much of a difference?
Also, I think we could include the "limited editions" of certain games in this thread, even though they tend to contain only extra material rather than differences in the actual game, Halo 2 being one example of this. In the same way as above, how profitable is this kind of release strategy you think? And assuming it's profitable, why aren't we seeing more limited editions here in the West? It seems to be a lot more common in Japan.
So I'm wondering...exactly how profitable is it to release games like this? In the case of, say, Pokémon, how many people actually buy both versions? I guess it's hard to find out, but shouldn't it generate more sales to have two different versions of a game like that? Sure I imagine there'll be some smaller extra costs involved to actually make slightly different versions, but I'm sure sales increase because some people buy both of them? Or are those people in such a small minority it doesn't make much of a difference?
Also, I think we could include the "limited editions" of certain games in this thread, even though they tend to contain only extra material rather than differences in the actual game, Halo 2 being one example of this. In the same way as above, how profitable is this kind of release strategy you think? And assuming it's profitable, why aren't we seeing more limited editions here in the West? It seems to be a lot more common in Japan.