Basically, they say there is a whole bunch of other content out there.
http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/news/30127
While we're now aware that Nintendo of America's two-month 3DS Virtual Console drought will end next week with Kirby's Block Ball, here is Nintendo of America's comment to us in regards to the lackluster support in 2012 for the service:
"Each week Nintendo makes available a mix of Nintendo eShop, Virtual Console, WiiWare and Nintendo DSiWare games. Combined, these services currently provide gamers with hundreds of fun and interesting downloadable games to choose from. There is no preset schedule as to how many games will become available in a given week, but many more are on the way via all of these digital-delivery systems."
Nintendo is saying that they give gamers options, defending the original content-heavy release schedule by saying that the eShop (and the Wii Shop, for that matter) has hundreds of games already.
How do you feel about Nintendo's comments? Would you rather have more Virtual Console than original eShop games? Or vice versa? Let us know in the Talkback section below.
they need to realize that if they put stuff, people can buy it whenever they want. they don't have to worry about shelf space, stock, etc. if they suddenly do a sale later on (yea, right) they don't have to stock up to meet demand.
they need to get people in management who understand the world where supply is infinite, where shelf space is unlimited. bascially they need to go hat in hand down the street to valve and beg gaben and his people to teach them how to turn digital into giant, massive, scrooge mcduckian piles of cash.
In a world where shelf space is unlimited, then what's important is "discoverability," which is how likely someone is to even see your product when there's a smorgasbord of other competing products on this "infinitely" long shelf. People's attentions, time, and energy are not infinite! iOS and Android games definitely suffer from this problem as well. In that sense, I suspect that Nintendo is still trying to figure out a good way to give the products that come out on what sounds like their collective services sufficient time and attention to shine.
I think Nintendo's statement is indicative of their biggest problem with these online services: they view them all as all appealing to the same audience, competing and taking dollars from each other.This. So much this. Nintendo has this problem in all aspects of their marketing philosophy. Release one major game across all platforms per month (except holiday seasons, if we're lucky). Nintendo fanboys don't tend to suffer from this as much, as we have all the current systems... but others notice.
Steam customers are a different demographic than Nintendo customers. Right now, 30% of Nintendo 3DS owners haven't even connected their systems to any form of internet, at all! And that's supposed to be an improvement over before! Steam doesn't have that problem.
The problem is not just the functionality of the storefront, it's the extra steps console users currently have to take to even reach the storefront, as well as the basic shopping and usage behavior of the customers themselves.
Steam customers are a different demographic than Nintendo customers. Right now, 30% of Nintendo 3DS owners haven't even connected their systems to any form of internet, at all! And that's supposed to be an improvement over before! Steam doesn't have that problem.
The problem is not just the functionality of the storefront, it's the extra steps console users currently have to take to even reach the storefront, as well as the basic shopping and usage behavior of the customers themselves.
that has much less to do with the system and more to do with nintendo themselves. why not a video that plays the first time you open the system that takes you through the features and shows the shops? why not advertised sales? why not a free VC game when you buy a new games kind of deal? or, 20$ eshop credit with every new 3ds? that's just off the top of my head. They could do anything to raise awareness outside of their news following faithful(ie us) and they chose to do... nothing.
Like a console, it is games that drive the sales and it is no different for a virtual store front.
If they could just commit to one game, and only one game, every single week, it would provide a steady flow while not overloading the market.
Steam customers are a different demographic than Nintendo customers. Right now, 30% of Nintendo 3DS owners haven't even connected their systems to any form of internet, at all! And that's supposed to be an improvement over before! Steam doesn't have that problem.
The problem is not just the functionality of the storefront, it's the extra steps console users currently have to take to even reach the storefront, as well as the basic shopping and usage behavior of the customers themselves.
that has much less to do with the system and more to do with nintendo themselves. why not a video that plays the first time you open the system that takes you through the features and shows the shops? why not advertised sales? why not a free VC game when you buy a new games kind of deal? or, 20$ eshop credit with every new 3ds? that's just off the top of my head. They could do anything to raise awareness outside of their news following faithful(ie us) and they chose to do... nothing.
Those are fine ideas, but they may not be what Nintendo wants to do. Are you ready for you to sell customers a system that plays them commercials and shows them ads as soon as they turn them on? Do you really want to teach consumers not to pay full price for your software despite arguing against the devaluation of games at GDC 2011.
And actually, they are giving away free VC and download games with purchases (see: Club Nintendo,3D Classics Kid Icarus promotion). And whereas they haven't given people a $20 eShop credit with every 3DS, they HAVE created free services that consumers only benefit from if they take their console online, like Nintendo Video and Swapnote. (However, unlike an eShop gift certificate, which attempts to "push" consumers to go online, these benefits are invisible until someone does go online.)
But you're right, these are problems because of Nintendo. They're because Nintendo is concerned about things that other companies aren't and they sell to consumers that other companies ignore.
I'm not saying they're perfect. And I'm not saying there aren't things I wish they'd steal wholesale from other companies. But there IS a Nintendo difference, for better AND for worse, and that's one of the things that shapes what they do.
That said... I still want my Wii U home screen to be something akin to the Nintendo Channel though. I just want to set it on infinite play so the ads, previews, trailers, and content give me a nice steady stream of game-related background noise!
On a very fundamental level, nintendo just does not understand digital. they don't get it.
and as far as not wanting customers to pay less, that ship has sailed. and sales and bundles increase revenues by large factors. Steam has done the leg work here. if NES games were 1 or 2 dollars a peice, I'd probably own 30 or 50 dollars by now, instead of the... well, zero dollars worth I have now. and during a sale, I spend way more than usual during a steam sale. and it's not like valve or the publisher is out a copy sold at a discount that otherwise would have sold at full price, that's the magic of digital.Right, they would have your money instead of not having your money. But then again, maybe they wouldn't have made as much on their games from people like me, who buy them as they come, as I feel like playing them that week. Mane people like me would likely start waiting for sales instead of paying the full price.
On a very fundamental level, nintendo just does not understand digital. they don't get it.
and as far as not wanting customers to pay less, that ship has sailed. and sales and bundles increase revenues by large factors. Steam has done the leg work here. if NES games were 1 or 2 dollars a peice, I'd probably own 30 or 50 dollars by now, instead of the... well, zero dollars worth I have now. and during a sale, I spend way more than usual during a steam sale. and it's not like valve or the publisher is out a copy sold at a discount that otherwise would have sold at full price, that's the magic of digital.Right, they would have your money instead of not having your money. But then again, maybe they wouldn't have made as much on their games from people like me, who buy them as they come, as I feel like playing them that week. Mane people like me would likely start waiting for sales instead of paying the full price.
On a very fundamental level, nintendo just does not understand digital. they don't get it.
Here's a link to the original Forbes article that says that. (http://www.forbes.com/forbes/2011/0228/technology-gabe-newell-videogames-valve-online-mayhem.html) It is a big claim so I thought it would help the case if the source of the information was found and linked.and as far as not wanting customers to pay less, that ship has sailed. and sales and bundles increase revenues by large factors. Steam has done the leg work here. if NES games were 1 or 2 dollars a peice, I'd probably own 30 or 50 dollars by now, instead of the... well, zero dollars worth I have now. and during a sale, I spend way more than usual during a steam sale. and it's not like valve or the publisher is out a copy sold at a discount that otherwise would have sold at full price, that's the magic of digital.Right, they would have your money instead of not having your money. But then again, maybe they wouldn't have made as much on their games from people like me, who buy them as they come, as I feel like playing them that week. Mane people like me would likely start waiting for sales instead of paying the full price.
On a very fundamental level, nintendo just does not understand digital. they don't get it.
there is no reason you can't still buy them as they come out. but you can't do that if they don't put things out. and steam data says the better the sale = even more overall money. you get people in the door, get them invested in your digital ecosystem.
valve has the highest profit per employee of any company on earth(something like, 2.5M per employee). they didn't get that way selling half-life, it's all from taking a cut from items sold on steam. They are doing it right. Nintendo wouldn't go wrong to copy some of their ideas.
valve has the highest profit per employee of any company on earth(something like, 2.5M per employee). they didn't get that way selling half-life, it's all from taking a cut from items sold on steam.
valve has the highest profit per employee of any company on earth(something like, 2.5M per employee). they didn't get that way selling half-life, it's all from taking a cut from items sold on steam.
While I'm sure that Nintendo wants profits, I still think they see themselves first as a developer, second as a publisher, and then only after all that as an online retailer. It just might not be in Nintendo's psychology to prioritize earning royalties off of other people's products over enabling themselves to make and sell the sort of game experiences that they want to make. That's why Nintendo is the most first-party centric of the three hardware manufacturer's.
Wonder what the Nintendo Australia excuse is?
"You're having no new content what-so-ever again this week because... uh.... selling videogames is hard, guys."
