Nintendo to start releasing digital before physical release? your thoughts...

[PreZZ]

Windwaker is now available on eshop 2 weeks before the game hits the stores. I think it's a complete dick move by Nintendo to force fans to go digital. They already announced that wii u fit would release digital before physical (dont really care about the game but still think its bullshit). Nintendo isnt in a position to be cocky and arrogant since the wii U is struggling at retail, and im sure it will piss off retailers knowing that maybe up to 33% of total sales of windwaker could be digital. I feel betrayed and will not support any Nintendo games that releases digital before physical no matter how good it is. We made MS backtrack on DRM, lets do the same and please write to nintendo about the issue.

[The Adventurer]

I think it's a complete dick move by Nintendo to force fans to go digital.
Are they putting a gun against your head to buy it? If not, there is no 'force' in this equation.


Nintendo isnt in a position to be cocky and arrogant since the wii U is struggling at retail, and im sure it will piss off retailers knowing that maybe up to 33% of total sales of windwaker could be digital.
A) Maybe Nintendo is having better sales luck digitally, so early releases will help shore up their sales. Not hurt them.

B) Retailers should be pissed off. That their sales model is a dinosaur.


I feel betrayed and will not support any Nintendo games that releases digital before physical no matter how good it is.

Again I don't understand why not just wait the two weeks and pick up a physical copy if owning plastic is so important to you. What inconvenience is it to you to wait a little longer to play? You would have had to wait that long anyway if Nintendo hand't released digital early. It wouldn't have come out physically any sooner.


Frankly I applaud game publishers who have their shit together to understand that Digital distribution doesn't have to follow the same rules as Physical. Treating your distribution of digital just as you would physical is just so assbackward I can't stand it. Its bad enough digital is still priced the same as physical. But baby steps I suppose....

[PreZZ]

This to me is as bad as the MS DRM bullshit. Basically its just nintendo saying" oh you want our game NOW, sure buy it digital. Oh you dont like digital? well wait a couple of weeks, fancy pants"

[Bojay1997]

This to me is as bad as the MS DRM bullshit. Basically its just nintendo saying" oh you want our game NOW, sure buy it digital. Oh you dont like digital? well wait a couple of weeks, fancy pants"

Personally, I just think of it as digital buyers getting something early and physical buyers getting something on time. From a purely logistical perspective it makes total sense as digital software can be released with a few keystrokes while physical releases require manufacturing, packaging and shipping. As long as they are up front about release plans and don't pull a Capcom (i.e. claim there won't be a physical release of Duck Tales and then announce one after many buyers had purchased either the download or voucher version), I have no problem with digital releases coming out before physical.

[goob47]

There's gotta be a large audience who don't even have internet connection. What are they gonna do when Nintendo all of a sudden starts prioritizing on digital stuff?... PSN is already starting to do that, sadly. :( They're losing a large portion of consumers.

[Bojay1997]

There's gotta be a large audience who don't even have internet connection. What are they gonna do when Nintendo all of a sudden starts prioritizing on digital stuff?... PSN is already starting to do that, sadly. :( They're losing a large portion of consumers.

No they aren't. Nintendo is doing about 30% of their sales digitally on their bigger releases right now and then still releasing a physical version afterwards. They aren't losing anyone by doing that and they benefit from a higher percentage of revenue and less costs on those digital releases. Frankly, it's the best of both worlds for Nintendo and still good for consumers as we have a choice of how and when to make the purchase.

[The Adventurer]

There's gotta be a large audience who don't even have internet connection. What are they gonna do when Nintendo all of a sudden starts prioritizing on digital stuff?... PSN is already starting to do that, sadly. :( They're losing a large portion of consumers.

Businesses are in the...er... business to make money. If they're prioritizing one distribution method over another its NOT because they're afraid of losing any signifigant portion of their user base. It's pretty much a sign of the exact opposite.

[InsaneDavid]

Digital distribution does not sell hardware. Nintendo needs, absolutely NEEDS software in the retail stores filling up the WiiU case so people are enticed to purchase the system. I can tell you first hand that WiiU systems are a hard sale for the exact same reason Wii systems are a hard sale - there's nothing new to play. Pikmin 3 is awesome but it's not enough to justify someone that might be curious about Nintendo's current offerings to throw down $400 when they don't see anything else that interests them.

PS3, 360 - old hardware that has a new generation on the horizon yet both systems receive new releases, interesting and good new releases, at retail every week. Seeing those games, right then and there, lights the fire that sells hardware. This week I've seen a tick up in PS3 and 360 hardware sales due to Grand Theft Auto V. These are hardware packages less than three months out of a new console cycle! Why? There's a game, right there, they can buy the system and go home, right now, and play it, right then.

Digital is fine if you have a huge install base, with the WiiU Nintendo simply does not. Generally only the absolute most Nintendo faithful dove into the WiiU head first, and even with them this "digital early" release method splits those small ranks down the middle. Week after week I see the WiiU display case remain exactly the same and the consoles collect dust while their older contemporaries continue to have robust software sales that continue to push decent hardware sales.

[Bojay1997]

Digital distribution does not sell hardware. Nintendo needs, absolutely NEEDS software in the retail stores filling up the WiiU case so people are enticed to purchase the system. I can tell you first hand that WiiU systems are a hard sale for the exact same reason Wii systems are a hard sale - there's nothing new to play. Pikmin 3 is awesome but it's not enough to justify someone that might be curious about Nintendo's current offerings to throw down $400 when they don't see anything else that interests them.

PS3, 360 - old hardware that has a new generation on the horizon yet both systems receive new releases, interesting and good new releases, at retail every week. Seeing those games, right then and there, lights the fire that sells hardware. This week I've seen a tick up in PS3 and 360 hardware sales due to Grand Theft Auto V. These are hardware packages less than three months out of a new console cycle! Why? There's a game, right there, they can buy the system and go home, right now, and play it, right then.

Digital is fine if you have a huge install base, with the WiiU Nintendo simply does not. Generally only the absolute most Nintendo faithful dove into the WiiU head first, and even with them this "digital early" release method splits those small ranks down the middle. Week after week I see the WiiU display case remain exactly the same and the consoles collect dust while their older contemporaries continue to have robust software sales that continue to push decent hardware sales.

I won't disagree with you that Nintendo needs to increase the volume and quality of the WiiU games being released. I do however, strongly disagree that digital sales can't move hardware. People are buying the new WiiU Zelda bundle like crazy from what I saw in stores today and that comes with only a digital download of the game. The fact that 30% of the sales on many of Nintendo's recent 3DS releases are digital (and incidentally sold without any sort of discount and no ability to resell or transfer ownership) shows that there is a huge audience that prefers digital. While it's not the majority, 30% of sales with no distributors or middle men skimming a significant chunk off is huge for a company like Nintendo, especially considering how late they were to the digital game and how poor their rights and accounts management systems are at present. The point is, Nintendo is releasing all of these major WiiU games physically in most cases a couple of weeks later, so it really has no impact either way on hardware sales.

[InsaneDavid]

People are buying the new WiiU Zelda bundle like crazy from what I saw in stores today and that comes with only a digital download of the game.

I know my allocation of six consoles was all swooped up by six regular scalpers this morning as I rolled by and saw the people in line. LE Nintendo consoles are all a buzz again after the Pikachu 3DSXL doubled in value almost overnight. The included Windwaker remake being digital is simply a technicality, in this case anyway.

I wonder if the Pokemon X / Y 3DSXL will have any kind of crazy value, especially considering there are two different colors. If so, I might have to join the scalpers on the other side of the fence.

[Bojay1997]

I know my allocation of six consoles was all swooped up by six regular scalpers this morning as I rolled by and saw the people in line. LE Nintendo consoles are all a buzz again after the Pikachu 3DSXL doubled in value almost overnight. The included Windwaker remake being digital is simply a technicality, in this case anyway.

I wonder if the Pokemon X / Y 3DSXL will have any kind of crazy value, especially considering there are two different colors. If so, I might have to join the scalpers on the other side of the fence.

While anecdotal, I have seen tons of people on CAG and other sites actually claiming that they bought the Windwaker bundle to actually use. The $50 price drop and the free game pushed them over the top. Of course, quite a few people are complaining about not being able to get the download to complete probably because Nintendo didn't bother to increase their server capacity in anticipation of the spike in sales.

As for the X/Y units, it's hard to say. It certainly looks like they will have wider distribution than the Pikachu unit, but they don't include the games and Target isn't having a sale on them effectively dropping the price by $40, so it will be interesting to watch what happens this time.

[RPG_Fanatic]

While it's not the majority, 30% of sales with no distributors or middle men skimming a significant chunk off is huge for a company like Nintendo

This is why buying downloadable games from Nintendo is complete bullshit! No discount compared to a physical release is stupid.

[Bojay1997]

This is why buying downloadable games from Nintendo is complete bullshit! No discount compared to a physical release is stupid.

And yet 30% of the people buying new release Nintendo 3DS first party games are doing it digitally knowing full well there is no discount and no way to sell them. It's just more evidence that digital is rapidly making inroads and the marketplace is changing.

[SparTonberry]

This isn't new.
When Nintendo first started digitial releases in 2011, their first offer was double the Club Nintendo coins to anyone who bought New SMB2 digitally, and last year they offered DK: Original Edition for VC exclusively to anyone who bought selected first-party games digitally. They want to encourage digital purchases, yes. So what. They're a business, they're supposed to promote stuff that is in their favor.
You just can't have your cake and eat it too. Pick whether it's more important to have Windwaker HD physically or to play it now, and support that. Be glad they're still offering you a choice.

[Rob2600]

Digital distribution does not sell hardware. Nintendo needs, absolutely NEEDS software in the retail stores filling up the WiiU case so people are enticed to purchase the system.

iPhones and iPads are 100% digital distribution, and are extremely popular.

What Nintendo needs is to market the heck out of the Wii U this holiday season, starting now. For the next three months, I should see a barrage of commercials for Wind Waker HD, Super Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country:Tropical Freeze, Mario and Sonic at the Olympics, and Wii Fit U, instead of silence.

[PreZZ]

This isn't new.
When Nintendo first started digitial releases in 2011, their first offer was double the Club Nintendo coins to anyone who bought New SMB2 digitally, and last year they offered DK: Original Edition for VC exclusively to anyone who bought selected first-party games digitally. They want to encourage digital purchases, yes. So what. They're a business, they're supposed to promote stuff that is in their favor.
You just can't have your cake and eat it too. Pick whether it's more important to have Windwaker HD physically or to play it now, and support that. Be glad they're still offering you a choice.

I dont give a rats ass if they give more club nintendo points for digital, because I really dont care about 300 points shoelaces or cloth towel, its lame. Bothe releases should be available at the same time, and digital needs to be 5 to 10$ cheaper.

[Zthun]

Windwaker is now available on eshop 2 weeks before the game hits the stores. I think it's a complete dick move by Nintendo to force fans to go digital. They already announced that wii u fit would release digital before physical (dont really care about the game but still think its bullshit). Nintendo isnt in a position to be cocky and arrogant since the wii U is struggling at retail, and im sure it will piss off retailers knowing that maybe up to 33% of total sales of windwaker could be digital. I feel betrayed and will not support any Nintendo games that releases digital before physical no matter how good it is. We made MS backtrack on DRM, lets do the same and please write to nintendo about the issue.

No it isn't. This is how the movie industry does it. They release the movie in theater's first, and THEN release a hard copy DVD for people to buy several months later. This is leaps and bounds better than what MS did with their DRM garbage - their strategy made the physical copies worthless. If people want the game right away and don't care about preserving or resell value, then they can buy the digital, and if they want a hard copy, they can wait a few weeks to buy the disc. This is the middle-ground between all digital and all physical and this is a much better (and proven by other industries) solution than all or nothing.

[Gameguy]

It's Windwaker, the game has been available to play since 2003.

[Melf]

Doesn't the Wii U still do the Nintendo bullshit of tying your downloads to the hardware and not your account? Until transfers are easier, DD on Nintendo hardware can GTFO.

[kupomogli]

It's Windwaker, the game has been available to play since 2003.

This. It's not like this game has never been released before.

[The 1 2 P]

What Nintendo needs is to market the heck out of the Wii U this holiday season, starting now. For the next three months, I should see a barrage of commercials for Wind Waker HD, Super Mario 3D World, Donkey Kong Country:Tropical Freeze, Mario and Sonic at the Olympics, and Wii Fit U, instead of silence.

Thats what they should do but I doubt thats whats going to happen. Microsoft and Sony will make sure to market the hell out of the XBO and PS4 respectively but I have a feeling Nintendo will rely more on word of mouth and a few ads here and there.


Doesn't the Wii U still do the Nintendo bullshit of tying your downloads to the hardware and not your account? Until transfers are easier, DD on Nintendo hardware can GTFO.

This is the reason I haven't bought any digital downloads for my 3DS. It came with a bunch of them(15 or so) and the other games I downloaded for it were free with my club points. Theres a few digital games I wouldn't mind buying for it but if I ever upgrade to a newer system by trading up all of those previous purchases will be lost. Unless they finally fixed that.

[PreZZ]

Doesn't the Wii U still do the Nintendo bullshit of tying your downloads to the hardware and not your account? Until transfers are easier, DD on Nintendo hardware can GTFO.

This. Imagine if you couldnt redownload your xbox live games because your xbox broke, its happened to everybody by now! Im on my 4th 360 console, who knows if the Wii U will have major hardware problems? Digital download on Nintendo is bullshit and you might lose all your stuff easily down the road.

[Bojay1997]

This. Imagine if you couldnt redownload your xbox live games because your xbox broke, its happened to everybody by now! Im on my 4th 360 console, who knows if the Wii U will have major hardware problems? Digital download on Nintendo is bullshit and you might lose all your stuff easily down the road.

I'm sorry, but what does this have to do with your OP? All you've done is stated a reason why people should wait the two weeks for the physical release. Digital is obviously less flexible under Nintendo's current DRM system, so unless they don't offer a physical option for a particular game at all, I am not understanding your issue or why anyone should bother contacting Nintendo.

[Atarileaf]

I'm sorry, but what does this have to do with your OP? All you've done is stated a reason why people should wait the two weeks for the physical release. Digital is obviously less flexible under Nintendo's current DRM system, so unless they don't offer a physical option for a particular game at all, I am not understanding your issue or why anyone should bother contacting Nintendo.

Agreed, sounds like this whole issue just comes down to impatience.

[Tanooki]

I really don't see a valid argument here at all other than but hurt feelings over games being early. I hate it, but I get it. They did it with super luigi u and fire emblem 3ds so it's no surprise and a third of their sales came from it by those who don't care or are impatient and we know there's plenty of those types, just look at all the yearly fools who line up for expensive iPhones and console releases. The only thing that is fairly wrong is no digital discount as they get a wider profit cutting all the production costs.

[The 1 2 P]

I think this is a good idea and have advocated this for sometime now. Games like The Walking Dead prove that this method can be successful.

[jonebone]

It's just smart business from Nintendo.

If they released the game digitally and physically at the same exact time and same exact price, the overwhelming majority would buy it physical since you "get more for your money".

So they have to incentivize the digital purchase. Either release it early or release it cheaper (maybe $50 vs $60?).

At the end of the day, be thankful you have the choice of a physical release at all. Because the day will come when that option ceases to exist.

[The Adventurer]

Something to keep in mind about the Wind Waker HD early release, didn't the Wii U Zelda Bundle come out two weeks before the game release? And since the Wind Waker HD copy you got was download only, it would need to be released early.

[Griking]

Are they putting a gun against your head to buy it? If not, there is no 'force' in this equation.


This was my first thought when I read the OP