SNES Classic coming September 29th

[BogusMeatFactory]

^that's a fair point. And I suppose that could be the intention... except I doubt any of those people that you're describing were able to actually get one.

Not in preorders, maybe, but in line for sure! When I lined up for the nes classic only one guy of the 17 folks was selling his, everyone else wanted it for their husbands or themselves who haven't played games in forever.

[noiseredux]

^that's a fair point. And I suppose that could be the intention... except I doubt any of those people that you're describing were able to actually get one.

Not in preorders, maybe, but in line for sure! When I lined up for the nes classic only one guy of the 17 folks was selling his, everyone else wanted it for their husbands or themselves who haven't played games in forever.

But you're still talking about folks "in the know," right? Like, they knew it was coming out and lined up at launch, right? Not the casual impulse buyers that I'm referring to when I think of re-capturing the nostalgia audience that they don't already have.

[marurun]

^that's a fair point. And I suppose that could be the intention... except I doubt any of those people that you're describing were able to actually get one.

Not in preorders, maybe, but in line for sure! When I lined up for the nes classic only one guy of the 17 folks was selling his, everyone else wanted it for their husbands or themselves who haven't played games in forever.

But you're still talking about folks "in the know," right? Like, they knew it was coming out and lined up at launch, right? Not the casual impulse buyers that I'm referring to when I think of re-capturing the nostalgia audience that they don't already have.

Some of the stores around here had a few units on shelves for a time. And as for the in-the-know thing, there were articles all over the place. So even people who aren't in the current video game scene probably had some indication the units existed. But you're right, a casual shopper who hasn't been paying any attention is unlikely to simply come across one in the wild. But in order for that to happen, Nintendo would have had to have had an open-ended release cycle for these, and that clearly goes against some of their other priorities. Nintendo's doing some weird balancing act with these, and I'm convinced there are factors involved that we don't understand. Nintendo is not interested in deliberately shooting themselves in the foot, and despite a few noticeable failures like the Virtual Boy, they also aren't idiots. They're sitting on lots of cash and are a very healthy company right now, despite the WiiU not doing well. It's hard to argue with those financials. They're obviously doing something very very right.

[noiseredux]

I agree and I don't.

I don't think they're idiots. And yes, I agree they make plenty of money. But like I said earlier, I find that this is somewhat in spite of their business decisions, and not always because of them. I think there's definitely situations you can point to and say "well, they could make more money if they just did X." I'm not saying I'm smarter than Nintendo. Nor do I have their kind of money or experience. But it's definitely hard to follow some of their decisions and as a consumer there are times I'm confused why they make it so difficult to give them money in exchange for a product.

[marurun]

I feel the same way about Apple and their products. And yet, Apple is the largest company in the world by market capitalization, so I guess they know stuff I don't.

[noiseredux]

I tend to think that Nintendo and Apple both make a bulk of their money thanks to brand loyalty. That is, it's not necessarily that they make great decisions, it's just that they have a large fan base willing to buy whatever they sell because Nintendo/Apple is the ones selling it.

[marurun]

I tend to think that Nintendo and Apple both make a bulk of their money thanks to brand loyalty. That is, it's not necessarily that they make great decisions, it's just that they have a large fan base willing to buy whatever they sell because Nintendo/Apple is the ones selling it.

The only way brand loyalty works, though, is if you give your customers worthwhile products. The companies most renowned for brand loyalty actually generate high quality products and typically have good customer service. Apple has definitely released problematic products that hurt their reputation and their brand loyalty, and then they came back from them by implementing course correction. Same for Nintendo.

[wclem]

Nintendo makes money by the default of it is the only place you can get Mario and Zelda games. They control the market. Just like Apple, you want an iPhone you have to buy theirs. They don't license it out. Though that is extremely simplifying it the point is made.

[Ziggy]

^that's a fair point. And I suppose that could be the intention... except I doubt any of those people that you're describing were able to actually get one.

Because the people on this forum want to rebuy the games they already have in their collection for the umpteenth time

You can't use that argument because they are including a previously unreleased game. In fact, one of the most infamously canceled games of all time. And they sent out emails to all people registered with Nintendo to inform them about this. Clearly "those people" aren't their only intended market. They are marketing it to us forum people.

[noiseredux]

I tend to think that Nintendo and Apple both make a bulk of their money thanks to brand loyalty. That is, it's not necessarily that they make great decisions, it's just that they have a large fan base willing to buy whatever they sell because Nintendo/Apple is the ones selling it.

The only way brand loyalty works, though, is if you give your customers worthwhile products. The companies most renowned for brand loyalty actually generate high quality products and typically have good customer service. Apple has definitely released problematic products that hurt their reputation and their brand loyalty, and then they came back from them by implementing course correction. Same for Nintendo.

but as I stated from the get go, their products ARE worthwhile. It's their decisions on how to get those products into consumers' hands I think are poor.

I feel like I'm either not getting across what I'm trying to say here, or you're misunderstanding me.