Author Topic: Your First REV downloads (Read 32285 times)

Ian Sane · « **Reply #50 on:** December 01, 2005, 12:58:59 PM »

"If Nintendo goes with price-per-download rather than a subscription, I think they would (appropriately) take the same route Apple does with the iTunes music store. They don't make much money there. The revenue covers their costs to operate it and the rest goes to the companies/artists."

Nintendo is an artist in that case though so it's a little different. They don't have to share the money for first party games and a lot of the most downloaded titles will be Nintendo's own.

"But I wonder if they'll actually sell games outright. I wouldn't be surprised if they went with a subscription model where games expired after so long."

Okay if they did that I would definitely never download anything. That's not buying, that's renting. I think the whole feature would completely bomb if they did that.

Illegal roms has been brought up. Whether you like it or not that is Nintendo's competition here. With roms you can not only get games for free but you can get EVERY game including stuff like licenced titles that won't be made available on the Rev. The advantage of the Rev's service is mostly that you get to play the games on a TV on a console with real controllers and everything. I think people will pay for that but not too much for that. Nintendo has to find a price point where they can make decent profit while also keeping people from going the illegal route. Some are going to go that route anyway but I think they can keep the general public if they have a low impulse price particularly for the NES games. Remember they can charge more for N64 games. Part of the strategy could be to not make so much off of the NES but make up for it with higher prices for the newer games. Remember the 99 cent suggestion is for NES games not SNES or N64.

IceCold · « **Reply #51 on:** December 01, 2005, 01:20:06 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: Don'tHate742
You realize that if they release it at $0.99 that they could generate a hell of alot more money then say $5 per game.

It's all about linear programming; Nintendo has to find the price that will yield the best results, taking into account that if the price raises, less people will download it, but the margin of profit will be more..

Nintendo has to find that sweet spot is for the different consoles - guess we can just wait and see what it'll be.

Spak-Spang · « **Reply #52 on:** December 01, 2005, 04:28:05 PM »

Icecold: Your right. And to complicate the issue more. say you raise the price 1.99 but lose 1/4 of the people downloading. You still gain more revenue because the price makes up for the lose.

I actually believe Nintendo may find away to somewhat bypass the whole idea of cost per download. They may just sell download cards in the gamestores. Perhaps something like this:

5 downloads $10.00
10 downloads $15.00
20 downloads $20.00

Or something like that. Basically you buy more you get a better price. Then IF you want to buy online for immediate convinence it could be $1.99 a game.

But buying them at the store solves some hassles with children and credit cards.

IceCold · « **Reply #53 on:** December 01, 2005, 04:38:34 PM »

Yeah, I would rather buy download cards than order it straight - they should really provide that option. Then they can also do promotions where you buy a Rev game and you get credits to download a game or two online by entering a code.

JonLeung · « **Reply #54 on:** December 01, 2005, 04:55:26 PM »

They could offer game credits a number of ways - subscribing or resubscribing to Nintendo Power, registering products, promotional tours, perhaps getting some back after a certain number of purchased downloads, etc. Basically giving them away everywhere their presence is.

Now, I get the feeling Nintendo's not going to have everything available for download right from the start. They'll probably have a few games from each series/genre to start with. Over time, they could release more games, even if they had them ready all along. It would maintain interest in the download service. I think they should have a good selection at the start, but good games could cause a clamour if they were deliberately held back.

"All right! The Legend Of Zelda comes out next week!"
"You mean Twilight Princess?"
"No! The original! I'm going to stay up all night to download it right at midnight!"

UncleBob · « **Reply #55 on:** December 01, 2005, 05:58:06 PM »

You know, people have said that Nintendo has "no costs" involved in the classic games... Now aside from simply building and maintaining the Nintendo WiFi Connection (including the bandwidth to play your games online for free), We have to take into account that Nintendo will have to have server space (and bandwidth) set aside for storage and downloading of these ROMs. Nintendo will also, likely, need to "update" the ROMs to include current copyright info (at least - not to mention if anything needs to be done to the ROMs to allow them to be played on the "Revolution") - that takes some sort of manpower - and manpower (Knowledge based manpower, mind you, not just grunts) to maintain the servers that host the downloads. Also, there's a good chance that, although the games are out of production, there is always a chance that Nintendo will still have to pay some kind of royalties (of any sort) to employees that worked on the games (Personally, I don't know how Nintendo employee contracts are written). And that's just the costs that *I* can think of... I'm sure I'm missing something...

zakkiel · « **Reply #56 on:** December 01, 2005, 07:34:45 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: IceCold
Quote
Originally posted by: Don'tHate742
You realize that if they release it at $0.99 that they could generate a hell of alot more money then say $5 per game.
It's all about linear programming; Nintendo has to find the price that will yield the best results, taking into account that if the price raises, less people will download it, but the margin of profit will be more..

Nintendo has to find that sweet spot is for the different consoles - guess we can just wait and see what it'll be.

As with all software produced by a hardware company, you also have to bear in mind that it will have an impact on hardware sales. Thus, if Nintendo is smart they will sell below the "sweet spot," making less money but getting more people to use the feature. More people using the feature=more valuable feature=better Rev sales.

IceCold · « **Reply #57 on:** December 01, 2005, 08:01:34 PM »

But it could also potentially hinder Rev software sales, if many people buy a Rev almost exclusively for the nostalgic games.

Kairon · « **Reply #58 on:** December 01, 2005, 08:02:07 PM »

Yeah Zakkiel, this is also why BigJim's post is so interesting.

If iTunes really exists to sell iPods, does the analogy extend to downloads? Are downloads the cheaper-than-expected "hook" that gets people to pick up a Revolution, and after that anything's game?

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

Don'tHate742 · « **Reply #59 on:** December 01, 2005, 08:07:11 PM »

Cards are a fabulous idea. I expect them to have such an item in place.

Packing in old games, or giving pre-order promotions is the best idea i've ever heard for promoting a game, and its somewhat easy and basically "free" for the publisher.

Kairon · « **Reply #60 on:** December 01, 2005, 08:07:12 PM »

Quote
Originally posted by: IceCold
But it could also potentially hinder Rev software sales, if many people buy a Rev almost exclusively for the nostalgic games.

Nintendo's had userbase stagnations this past two generations. If the Rev can catch more userbase, EVEN if a lot of this userbase is initially only there for the downloads... I really don't think we'd be in a position to complain. Besides, they may think that they'll only get the Downloads, but they won't be able to resist a new smash Revolution game when they see one.

Also, an argument can be made that new modern games will be outcompeted by cheap retro titles. That may be true, but it hasn't happened so far on the PS2, though that isn't really analogous. Yet, we should keep in mind that NONE of the retro games will use the Revs gyroscopic abilities... except maybe DuckHunt and the Super Scope Games (OMG! I can finally play the T2 Superscope game! yay!). The gyroscopic controller, coupled with modern day advanced game designs and new Rev genres will probably enable new games for the Rev to be vastly distinguishable from the Retro offerings.

~Carmine M. Red
Kairon@aol.com

Don'tHate742 · « **Reply #61 on:** December 02, 2005, 03:34:08 AM »

Good points. I think for that reason alone, the REV is a well-rounded console. Coupling the new and the old into a user-freindly/sleek package is absolutely genious.

It will pay off....mark my words....

JonLeung · « **Reply #62 on:** December 02, 2005, 03:53:32 AM »

I think having NES downloads alone will get a lot of people over 20 years old excited because of the nostalgia, which is a demographic that supposedly isn't very keen on Nintendo. (This is why I say Nintendo and Sega should work out a deal!) If people at West Edmonton Mall keep selling those knock-off Genesis- and N64-controller plug-into-your-TV-and-play things that are loaded with NES ROMs, which I'm sure isn't official or even legal, then there's certainly more than a possibility for a market that includes a bigger, official, legal, and more convenient system of acquiring old games.

UncleBob · « **Reply #63 on:** December 02, 2005, 05:03:04 AM »

JonLeung - http://www.wcco.com/local/local_file_322174150

That should answer the question as to if the PowerPlays are legal.

couchmonkey · « **Reply #64 on:** December 02, 2005, 05:24:38 AM »

The idea of the downloads as a selling point is nice, but even in that case I think Nintendo can afford to charge more. Though I'll add at this point that I do think some of Nintendo's shorter titles like Donkey Kong should only be going for a dollar or two. I do think Nintendo should push the download feature hard, though. I agree it could be a big selling point. I just don't think the games have to be 99 cents for it to sell.

Edit: I'm also not convinced that people who buy it for classic downloads will be swayed to buy new games. Especially if I can have all the classic games I wanted for a dollar, why would I spend $50 on some new game I've barely heard of? My girlfriend has a GBA, and the only games she wants for it are the exact same NES and Super Nintendo games she played 10 years ago.

JonLeung · « **Reply #65 on:** December 02, 2005, 06:06:50 AM »

The idea of different price points per generation is commonly thrown around, but yeah, you're right, whatever price a NES RPG like Final Fantasy is, you'd wonder if it ought to be the same price or considerably more than an early NES game like the three-stage NES Donkey Kong.

Prices per generation just seem like a good idea because games are typically more elaborate each generation, so it makes sense to the consumer, and cost more to make originally, so it makes sense to the developer. But it's an assumption more based on graphics than gameplay. If you had a long NES RPG and a short Super NES arcade-style game, which should be worth more? Which would be more fair to charge more for?

But if games end up being priced differently based on gameplay, who makes these decisions? Even if it's strictly by genre, you'd have to be sure what the genres are, and what to do about multi-genre games or games that defy genre. (I insist that The Legend Of Zelda games are adventure games and not RPGs...no one ever calls StarTropics an RPG and they're very similar...but many people disagree with me and insist on sticking Zelda with the more turn-based or stats/numbers-heavy RPGs.)

Even if you could get a general pricing plan that works, either by console or genre, there's bound to be somebody who'll disagree with the prices of particular games.

Pale · « **Reply #66 on:** December 02, 2005, 06:16:06 AM »

About those power play things, if you see a kiosk in a mall selling them, give Nintendo a call and let them know. I've heard that there are significant game/system rewards that Nintendo hands out to the people that report them.

Don'tHate742 · « **Reply #67 on:** December 02, 2005, 06:32:20 AM »

What?! Are you serious?

There was a brief perido when ever single time I happened to vist the mall, I would see a power play (sometime 2!).

Why me?!

JonLeung · « **Reply #68 on:** December 02, 2005, 06:41:10 AM »

Hmmm, if that's true, I'll need to get on that before someone beats me to the punch...

That reminds me of some law that get adjusted or something a little while ago. Or maybe a year ago. Some law concerning old software that people mistakenly believed meant the decriminalization of ROMs and unauthorized abandonware. In reality it was all still illegal, but I think there was something about if a company that has the rights to them could still make money off of them, they would never be truly abandoned. I see the download service as not only being an extra source of revenue for Nintendo and all those other gamemakers involved, but also a way of enforcing their hold on their games. Like copyright extensions beyond the usual 75-year-hold. Or something.

Spak-Spang · « **Reply #69 on:** December 02, 2005, 06:59:14 AM »

I don't want different prices per generation. I would rather have a flat 1.99 to 2.99 rate so that I know what every game costs. Or the cards, where I know I buy this card and I can download any 10 games I want for a flat price.

Also the cards give 3rd party developers a much easier means of spreading their classic games around as special bonus content to their Revolution games. Imagine Capcom allowing you to download 2 Mega Man games with the purchase of Mega Man Revolution, oh and by the way these 2 Mega Man games are ONLY available in this deal.

Literally it costs 3rd parties nothing, and yet it gains them the ability to sell their Revolution games easier.

Nintendo could also have the server set up to unlock certain Revolution games for download after you register a new game with them.

Spak-Spang just registered Super Smash Brother Melee, unlock Super Smash Brother N64 for purchase. Now he Registered Mario Kart Revolution, unlock Super Mario Kart and Super Mario Kart 64 for download purchase.

There are several ways Nintendo can increase profits by playing with the timing and releasing of download games.

Bill Aurion · « **Reply #70 on:** December 02, 2005, 07:21:09 AM »

The different generations of games will "cost" varying amounts of bandwidth to Nintendo, and thus must be priced accordingly...I think it's quite fair to price an N64 game more than an NES game considering the huge difference in size between the two...

ThePerm · « **Reply #71 on:** December 02, 2005, 07:36:48 AM »

damn i saw a poer play at a flea market

JonLeung · « **Reply #72 on:** December 02, 2005, 07:39:25 AM »

Bandwidth could be one of the factors supporting higher costs to download an N64 game over a NES game, but it shouldn't be the sole thing or directly correlated.

Aren't NES games like 100-200 kB and N64 games like 4-16 MB? I'm not keen on an N64 game (@ 16 MB) being 160 times as costly as a NES game (@ 100 kB).

Bill Aurion · « **Reply #73 on:** December 02, 2005, 07:50:02 AM »

It wouldn't be that directly related obviously...

It'd just end up with Ninty making more profit per kB over NES games than N64 games...

JonLeung · « **Reply #74 on:** December 02, 2005, 07:59:37 AM »

I like Spak-Spang's ideas about developers giving away downloads per game in the same or related franchises.

But I think in the case of registered Revolution games "unlocking" games for download availability, I don't think that should be the case. Maybe someone really wants an old game but doesn't want to buy the new game for it. Sure, that'd be incentive for oldschool gamers to be more open to buying new games, but if they REALLY don't want to buy them then there's lost revenue for the download as well. But perhaps registering games could give you a discount on those downloads, or if Nintendo periodically releases some old games at a time, maybe registering games could let you get to particular downloads earlier.

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Author Topic: Your First REV downloads (Read 32285 times)