Random Gaming Thoughts

[MrPopo]

Well, the other portion is that the console market is a bit different from the PC market. The PC market had already been sliding digital for a while. That's a much dicier proposition in the console space.

No reason it should be, if presented appropriately.

[Sarge]

Well, other than that, in the past, consoles weren't Internet-connected devices. That's changing, but PCs were already there, so it made sense for them to leverage that advantage. This is the first generation where we really are just basically running midrange gaming PCs at home.

I still think real ownership is a big deal, but most folks disagree with me, I suppose. I probably shouldn't care as much as I do, given that I won't be taking any of it with me when I die anyway...

...let's change the subject! I need another good game to play. I'm thinking about snagging Odallus, even though I told myself I'd wait for it to be on special. Not that I'm lacking for other games in the backlog.

[BoneSnapDeez]

I would openly and gladly embrace a full switch to digital as long as all games were DRM-free and fully transferable..... In other words, the GOG.com model. In fact I would prefer this to physical copies. I have enough crap in my house at this moment.

[Exhuminator]

http://www.nintendo.co.jp/ir/en/library ... 3.html#s25

That link is useful in showing growing profit margins for digital sales. Likely a result of Nintendo revamping their eShop and creating a decent account system. However, look at the sales of physical media from that same document:

These are the cumulative sales figures of some of the Nintendo 3DS software sold so far. Although "Mario Kart 7" was released in 2011, "New Super Mario Bros. 2" and "Animal Crossing: New Leaf" were in 2012 and "Pokémon X" and "Pokémon Y" were released in 2013, each of these titles sold more than 1 million units in the subject fiscal year. In the overseas markets especially, many titles tend to become evergreen and sell consistently even long after their releases. "Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS" was released in fall last year and sold 6.75 million copies by the end of the subject fiscal year. "Tomodachi Life" was released in Japan in November 2013 and in the subject fiscal year overseas, and it sold particularly well in Europe with the global cumulative shipment reaching 4.15 million units. Also, from their release in November last year to the end of the subject fiscal term, 9.94 million units of "Pokémon Omega Ruby" and "Pokémon Alpha Sapphire" were shipped. While on one hand, we will keep these titles evergreen and on another we will add new quality software, we aim to further expand the sales of Nintendo 3DS hardware by increasing its broad software lineup.

With Nintendo moving software units in numbers like that, do you honestly think they will abandon physical sales any time soon? I do not.

Let's be honest here; individual physical disks are on their way out for consoles (handhelds are a more interesting case because they have tighter storage limits and are less likely to be always connected). It might not come in 2016 but it is inevitable.

Oh I absolutely agree that it is inevitable. I'm only debating that I seriously doubt Nintendo will do it first.

My inclination is that the NX is going to skew more towards iOS/Android in an attempt to capture more of that market, and the resulting software sales model may wind up being similar too.

I'm not sure I can agree with that concept, given that Nintendo has admitted they are working on mobile games for iOS/Android separate from their console/handheld development. That inclines me to believe they are hoping Nintendo games on smartphones will get mobile users interested in giving Nintendo's proprietary devices a shot. Not that Nintendo will provide those selfsame mobile games on said proprietary devices, as that would be redundant and unnecessary. And Nintendo wants games they can sell for $30-60 on their own platforms. Those sorts of games wouldn't fit the standard iOS/Android market model.

Once again, people pitched a fit when Microsoft proposed a similar system, and that was without killing physical media, but tying them to an account.

Indeed, there was a proper shit storm over that debacle. And given the backlash of that incident I'm sure both Sony and Nintendo took a mental note that "it's not time yet".

Well, the other portion is that the console market is a bit different from the PC market.

I agree the PC market is a different beast than the console market. That's why you don't see me conflating the two. I would add though that PCs were first to primary digital delivery for a simple reason. Most PCs already had internet access as that's what the vast majority of personal computers have been used for since the late 90's. That is, when said PCs weren't being used for gaming instead. So of course the two uses (internet / gaming) would intertwine before consoles began intertwining the two as a standard. As such PCs have had a big head start in this distributional seachange.

I would openly and gladly embrace a full switch to digital as long as all games were DRM-free and fully transferable..... In other words, the GOG.com model.

I love the GOG model also, because it means I can back my games up as self contained offline DRM free entities for future proofing. That's not an option with most (if not all) other digital distribution systems. And that means ownership of those digital games is not wholly in the hands of the consumer. Although in the modern consumerist throwaway society most people treat games as a one and done. So maybe I'm just oldschool in that regard and it simply doesn't matter to average Joe gamer.

[Snatch1414]

I received two CoolBoy Famicom multicarts from overseas the other day and, with a little help of Ziggy and others in the technical forum, got them working with a Famicom adapter. These things are awesome. One is 198 games in one, the other 400. I haven't even touched the 400 one yet. The first one has a bunch of games I'd never shell out the money for the actual cart: Ninja Gaiden III, Panic Restaurant, Shatterhand, etc. I'm thrilled with the purchase now that I've realized I'm just probably not ever going to find a lot of these carts out in the wild at this stage, so I might as well play them some other way on the original hardware.

[Exhuminator]

Here's a really informative and fun to watch trailer for Super Mario Maker:

[isiolia]

I'm not sure I can agree with that concept, given that Nintendo has admitted they are working on mobile games for iOS/Android separate from their console/handheld development. That inclines me to believe they are hoping Nintendo games on smartphones will get mobile users interested in giving Nintendo's proprietary devices a shot. Not that Nintendo will provide those selfsame mobile games on said proprietary devices, as that would be redundant and unnecessary. And Nintendo wants games they can sell for $30-60 on their own platforms. Those sorts of games wouldn't fit the standard iOS/Android market model.

I'm going partly from the direction Nintendo had said they were going over a year ago (Question 5 here), and taking into consideration the kind of unification that prfsnl_gmr quoted (from this presentation).

I agree, they likely don't want to be making a direct competitor to iOS/Android, with app level pricing and all that. While they want to differentiate the NX from mobile, making it a product that fits the usage model that hundreds of millions, if not billions of users around the world are familiar with now make sense.
Doubly so if you assume that plenty of kids now have almost grown up with iPads and the like. For us, it's a new-fangled use model that we're not entirely sure we like. For them, it's just how things are, and that's only going to become more prevalent over the life of the device (one assumes the NX will be on the market at least through 2020, if not 2025).

It makes sense to me that they'd try to make something that is similar enough that audiences can relate to it.

[Exhuminator]

It makes sense to me that they'd try to make something that is similar enough that audiences can relate to it.

Keep in mind though a significant portion of Nintendo's audience are older gamers who are used to the way things used to be. Taking away their older audience's physical media preference would be a short sighted move. That's why devices that allow for physical media as well as downloadable media in tandem are the happy medium. That's what Nintendo is doing now, and I believe they will continue to do with the NX series.

[Damm64]

Well i agree with the general consensus that the evil within is a lot like resident evil 4.

Also Mikami has some sort of fascination with spanish people.

[MrPopo]

It makes sense to me that they'd try to make something that is similar enough that audiences can relate to it.

Keep in mind though a significant portion of Nintendo's audience are older gamers who are used to the way things used to be. Taking away their older audience's physical media preference would be a short sighted move. That's why devices that allow for physical media as well as downloadable media in tandem are the happy medium. That's what Nintendo is doing now, and I believe they will continue to do with the NX series.

I think you overestimate just how many people need physical copies, as opposed to just having a preference when both are available.