Topic: Episode 7: More Expensive Because We Care

[oksoda]

Cave Story 3D, Kirby's Return to Dream Land, and more!

http://www.nintendoworldreport.com/connectivity/28339

Welcome to another episode of Connectivity! We have quite the show for you this week.

Andy, Scott, and Zach get the ball rolling with a conversation about this week's news... which is only that Resident Evil Revelations is going to cost $50. Yowza.

Then, Scott leaves so Andy and Zach can go over Cave Story 3D and how it differentiates itself from the older, less expensive versions already out there.

Later, Danny Bivens joins Scott to go over his latest feature concerning the multitude of expansion ports present on every Nintendo home console from the Famicom to the GameCube. You can read his feature here.

Rounding the episode out (no pun intended) is a discussion about Kirby's Return to Dream Land, featuring Neal, Pedro and Scott. How does the game compare to other recent Kirby games as well as the variety of 2D platformers released for the Wii over the past few years? Listen in and find out!

Feel free to send us listener mail by clicking here. Also, if you have a minute, please rate and review the show on iTunes! Thanks for listening.

[Steel Diver]

Did you answer my question? I have not been able to listen to it yet. My name is Zack so you know what email I'm talking about.

[oksoda]

We sure did! We used your question to springboard in to talking about the high price of RE: Revelations as well as 3DS games in general.

[Shaymin]

I ended up sending my thoughts about the pricing in as an e-mail, so I'll say that the expansion port discussion was a great way to nerd out and I'm cursing my brokeness preventing me from grabbing Return to Dreamland RIGHT FRIGGIN' NOW.

At least I can redirect the part of my brain that gave a crap about Cave Story 3D, dood.

[oohhboy]

Probably a random glitch but on itunes, the episode name is: Episode 7: Jeopardy Returns!

It is the new episode, but the name is wrong.

[Enner]

Concerning PSP game prices in North America, the only games I can recall that break the $39.99 line are special edition packages that include extra merchandise. Even the Square Tax did not come to effect as Kingdom Hearts: Birth By Sleep was released at $39.99. In fact, I think Dissidia 012 Duodecim Final Fantasy was released at $29.99.

Concerning the price of Resident Evil: Revelations, is it a good or bad thing that the western audiences hold portable games at such a lower value and to different expectations? Or is it just how the video game culture has formed for western audiences and the it is unfortunate that there is are different focuses in the Japanese video game industry?

I would like to say a great game is worth equally on whatever platform, but that is not true. I value portable console games lower and differently to PC and home console games.


EDIT: Oh, as for a to-home-console port of Resident Evil: Revelations of course it will come. It's Capcom.

[Halbred]

The question of pricing expectations on different platforms is an interesting debate. I think Game Boy games set the standard ($20-$30) and Nintendo's actually been relucant to let too many games be above that threshold until the 3DS. It is a higher software standard, and development costs on a game as big as RE: Revelations is huge compared to, like, Picross 3D, but I really think the handheld industry painted itself into a wierd corner over the last 20 years regarding pricing.

[Kytim89]

I hope that Resident Evil Revelations does well enough that it opens the door for games like No More Heroes and Dead Space to appear on the console. I like the idea of having core titles on the go.

[ejamer]

Regarding pricing, I find there is an odd mental barrier at $30.  Under that price point and it's something I don't think too hard about buying; not necessarily "impulse buy" range, but close enough that I don't mind dropping the money if a game looks good.


Once you move outside of the $20-30 range, games becomes a much tougher purchase - part of the reason I'm not keen on buying any of the currently available 3DS games. At $40 a game becomes a real investment for me, and something that I need to feel confident I will enjoy and invest a considerable amount of time with. Oddly, there is almost no difference in my reluctance to pay $40 or $50 though: if I'm confident enough that game is worth $40 then it's probably worth even more to me.


So the pricing for Resident Evil Revelations doesn't bother me that much. Either the game is worth paying a premium for or it's not. From all of the previews and details revealed so far, I'm leaning towards the former... and it's easily my most anticipated game for the system outside of an eventual Monster Hunter release.

[NWR_DrewMG]

Props to Scott & Mike; the editing gets more and more solid every week.

[oksoda]

To be fair, editing your silky smooth voice is a dream, Andy.

Ahem, anyway, thanks for all the great comments this week guys. I'd write back responses to everyone, but I think maybe we'll read some of these on the air this week and then reply to them there. Lots of good points have been brought up, and it's interesting reading everyone's opinion. If anyone else something to say, do it!

[eggwolio]

@Andy To further that debate on what to spend your sixty bucks on, I've noticed Wal-Marts here in the Dallas area are selling Arkham City with the Arkham Asylum GOTY included for free. So that's probably not a bad way to spend your sixty dollars. Just throwing that out there.

[Plugabugz]

As much as i growing a like of this show there's always something that brings me out of my "zone" when listening to this: external distractions. There was 2 or 3 cases where i hear an iPhone beep or vibrate, or i hear someone tapping on a laptop keyboard etc.

They're just little things that can really be cut out if at all possible.

[Ceric]

As much as i growing a like of this show there's always something that brings me out of my "zone" when listening to this: external distractions. There was 2 or 3 cases where i hear an iPhone beep or vibrate, or i hear someone tapping on a laptop keyboard etc.

They're just little things that can really be cut out if at all possible.

OKSoda deploy HypnoToad.

[oksoda]

As much as i growing a like of this show there's always something that brings me out of my "zone" when listening to this: external distractions. There was 2 or 3 cases where i hear an iPhone beep or vibrate, or i hear someone tapping on a laptop keyboard etc.

They're just little things that can really be cut out if at all possible.

OKSoda deploy HypnoToad.

Deployed!

But it's a valid complaint. I try to edit out as much of those background noises as I can, but on longer episodes, such as this one, they do sometimes sneak through. I'll do my best to weed them out!

[Lithium]

If i had a 3ds i wouldnt have a problem with buying RE revelations. Mostly because I just used my handhelds as a 2nd console.