How much does Nintendo's digital software management system put you off?

[xist]

With the announcement that Phoenix Wright Dual Destinies is going to be a digital only release, and the subsequent muttering but general lack of revolt, it really begs the question why Nintendo is still so far behind with their digital account management. Or rather lack of it, with software purchases tied to consoles rather than using a system similar to the PSN or Steam. Lose your console and potentially you lose everything....yes i'm aware that in some circumstances you can go through customer services to re-arrange a console switch but that seems backward thinking in comparison to the ease of other services. Most of the time the solution is that you need to link your old and new systems up which seems unnecessarily primitive compared to the ability to deactivate old systems yourself.

Are you happy with the way your digital purchases from the eshop are dealt with, or does it mean that you refuse to buy anything there, or at least anything of any value? It seems like we criticise every other company for the way they handle digital business (probably exclude Steam from that), but Ninty gets a pass because they're....well they're Nintendo.

Should Nintendo change their system? Will they? (and again i know promises of change are mooted but how far will that change extend?)

 

[Chary]

I am a person who dislikes digital downloads of retail games, regardless of if its from Nintendo or not. When I DO have to make a purchase from the eshop, though, I don't particularly hate Nintendo's way of digital purchases. My only complaint, is that digital retail games on the eshop should be slightly cheaper.

 

[Pong20302000]

doesnt put me off (already made a few myself)

the problem is in the encryption process

currently each system has its own unique key, to stop SD file trading

if they had opted for an Account Key system it would mean people would just sign into multiple accounts on different consoles and download and then hide offline, so people would have multiple copies

the Ideal method would have been to use BOTH, though hard to see how this would work would a a central account that could be access on a computer or the devices
which had licenses for every purchase made onto the logged on account and also the devices serials that the console had access to, so the license for a game total would appear on a account (multiple possible ideal for parents) and say you would say, i dont want it on that one any more, confirm it with password and then on the device would connect to WiFi and flag up and then allow on the account page to select which device that new license belonged to or even leave it on the account but not on a device to save space on a SD card or even sell/transfer it to a friend.
again the problem being if someone goes "O i lost it", claiming back would be a pain but nintendo could indeed just strip that console from the account and give the licenses back to the users account and mark the device if it ever get internet again to completely deactivate it unless the original owner contacts them (in-cases of lost and the found later)
but still would allow for possible copies of games but sounds like they sometimes do this anyway

 

[emigre]

I really like digital distribution as it allows for smaller niche games a variable form of distribution. I've just completed Thomas Was Alone, and that's a game completely suited to digital distribution. I am irritated greatly at Ninty's complete unwillingness to actually engage into a cohesive account system to be personally grating. Admittedly it hasn't put me of using the service but it is still concerning at the complete lack of thought and care Nintendo put into the service.

I contrast this to my PSN account and the difference is fucking night and day. I bought a Vita recently and guess what? Those PS1 gaems I bought several years ago work on there! Those digital PSP gaems I have? I can just redownload them onto my Vita. Cross buy? That's fucking awesome. And then there''s PS+ which is fantastic service. PSN isn't a perfect service but compared to what Ninty offer to be more precise, what Ninty don't offer, it is Godly.

As a consumer, I much more happier with what Valve and Sony offer compared to Nintendo.

tl;dr: Sony does what Nintendon't

 

[WiiUBricker]

Well, what Nintendo does better than Sony as far as digital downloads go, is the appearance of the eShop and the "app-like" apps. The eShop has all these warm orange colours, the nice music and generally better graphical presentation than the PSN. It makes things much more appealing.

 

[xist]

Last thing i want is a Nintendo vs Sony argument comparison (although i know perhaps i alluded to it). Civility reigns supreme.

the Ideal method would have been to use BOTH, though hard to see how this would work would a a central account that could be access on a computer or the devices
which had licenses for every purchase made onto the logged on account and also the devices serials that the console had access to, so the license for a game total would appear on a account (multiple possible ideal for parents) and say you would say, i dont want it on that one any more, confirm it with password and then on the device would connect to WiFi and flag up and then allow on the account page to select which device that new license belonged to or even leave it on the account but not on a device to save space on a SD card or even sell/transfer it to a friend.
again the problem being if someone goes "O i lost it", claiming back would be a pain but nintendo could indeed just strip that console from the account and give the licenses back to the users account and mark the device if it ever get internet again to completely deactivate it unless the original owner contacts them (in-cases of lost and the found later)
but still would allow for possible copies of games but sounds like they sometimes do this anyway

Isn't this what the PSN does already with it's content? And allows the user to deactivate consoles? (of course there are limits to the number of active accounts possible, restricting the scenario of unlimited sharing).

Personally i have no faith in digital delivery at all (probably because i'm at the mercy of iffy internet provision) but i still seem to have accrued a fair few Steam games (less PSN games but that's because i generally rip my own PSX discs). In part that's due to the fact that i can access those Steam games from elsewhere should i need (for instance my brother's connection). There's also the sales that go on too...contrast the sales that feature on Steam, and the PS+ freebies which allow you to build up a (albeit temporary) collection with Nintendo's offering and it just seems they're in the stoneage with that method of content delivery. What would it really take to push them forward? I sold my 3DS a while back, but just the though of the digital only nature of Nintendo games almost makes me discount them from the 3DS' catalogue because they seem so restricted.

 

[Pong20302000]

Last thing i want is a Nintendo vs Sony argument comparison (although i know perhaps i alluded to it). Civility reigns supreme.



Isn't this what the PSN does already with it's content? And allows the user to deactivate consoles? (of course there are limits to the number of active accounts possible, restricting the scenario of unlimited sharing).

couldnt tell you, last sony console i owned was a PS2 & PSP

 

[BORTZ]

With the way the OP is set up, it seems like you want a self fulfilling argument, and already made up your mind that you dont like what you dont like.

Sure the eshop is generally poorly put together, but i think its workable. As titles get added, i think there should be some major re organization.
I only have experience with the PSP version of the PSN store, but its pretty well layed out if you ask me.

 

[the_randomizer]

Digital games are more convenient, sure, but if their servers go down, if your console dies or your HDD fails, guess what? Nintendo gets your money once more! Yay for having to repurchase games! Buy games that can't be redownloaded for free and aren't tied to an account? Sign me up!

I'd rather use Steam, at least that has games tied to something called an account, and *gasp* for free! What sorcery is this!?

 

[xist]

With the way the OP is set up, it seems like you want a self fulfilling argument, and already made up your mind that you dont like what you dont like.
Sure the eshop is generally poorly put together, but i think its workable. As titles get added, i think there should be some major re organization.
I only have experience with the PSP version of the PSN store, but its pretty well layed out if you ask me.

Not sure what you mean....would you just rather the first post to say "Is the tying of software to hardware rather than accounts ridiculous and how can it be justified in today's digital market?".

I tried to justify my point, and as far as i can see Nintendo's account/purchase management system is backwards. I'm not talking about the eshop itself, just how purchases are handled. I apologise if i've offended but would you argue that Nintendo isn't behind the curve in this respect then? What would you omit from my OP?

 

[BORTZ]

Oh dude dont get me wrong, im not trying to argue and im certainly not offended. I guess i was kinda trying to figure out where you were coming from.

You have some good points in your argument sure. And I agree with them for the most part.

I can also see why they did the eshop purchases that way. Most of the Nintendo library is geared toward a younger audience, less M rated titles and such. You know that already though. Having a LIVE account or a PSN name and password works great. And I like those systems. But I feel like those might be a bit too steep for a child to remember for eshop stuff. Either that or Nintendo was trying to gear things toward a lower tech level of intelligence and know how. It cuts out the step of remembering a NNetwork name and password, because my 3DS just connects to the store automatically.

Which for the most part works. Until you go to sell your system to upgrade or what have you. Thats where this system runs into problems, and where a server side username/pass keeps debacles like this from happening, mass confusion of unorthodox game transfers, system merges, and other things. Like not knowing how that system works and leaving you with no games.

Im not saying you are right or wrong. There are just a few ways of doing things and nintendo went for the less tech savvy way.

 

[The Catboy]

I have mixed feelings about it.
On one hand, it saves room and I am still buying the game and supporting the devs. Not to mention with games like Phoenix Wright, which have more of a cult following than mainstream following, meaning it doesn't always make the sales it needs in physical copies, it will help those games. So in other words, it's great for indie/non-mainstream games.

On the other hand, I am collector and enjoy collecting the games as much as I do playing them. So having a physical copy is just something I prefer.

But it really doesn't effect how I game and I will still buy the games.

 

[porkiewpyne]

I generally don't mind it as long as it's not the only choice, which unfortunately is the case with AA5. That said, I'd choose hardcopy over digital release any day. Personal preference.

I have been on other sites and some people are going "Oh you can call Ninty should anything go wrong etc". Well, that's all fine and dandy...... unless you are not in the US or part of Europe. *sigh*

 

[Eerpow]

I am a person who dislikes digital downloads of retail games, regardless of if its from Nintendo or not. When I DO have to make a purchase from the eshop, though, I don't particularly hate Nintendo's way of digital purchases. My only complaint, is that digital retail games on the eshop should be slightly cheaper.

Just buy the redeem code from an online store, cheaper that way.

 

[RchUncleSkeleton]

For me since the overhead of packaging and manufacturing isn't there I believe all digital content should be cheaper to get into the hands of consumers, therefore it should come at less cost to the consumer. There's no way I'll buy a digital version of a game that's the same price as a retail version, it just doesn't make sense to me. As far as digital only games it depends on what I see as inherent value and if it's worth the asking price. I don't expect to pay more than $15 for a digital only release, though.

 

[Chary]

Just buy the redeem code from an online store, cheaper that way.

Huh? Really? I didn't know you could do that! What online stores sell redeem codes?

 

[Eerpow]

Huh? Really? I didn't know you could do that! What online stores sell redeem codes?

Don't know any in the US, sorry. The one I've used is EU only, google should help. It's pretty sweet though, you get the code sent to you in 5 minutes.
EDIT: http://www.bestbuy.com/site/Nintend...01.c?id=pcmcat278100050001#storeInventoryLink

 

[Pleng]

Digital games are more convenient, sure, but if their servers go down.....guess what? Nintendo gets your money once more!

Why do you have to buy the game again if Nintendo's servers go down?!!

 

[Randamin]

Huh? Really? I didn't know you could do that! What online stores sell redeem codes?

I bought the KI 3D classic from gamestop.com before that game was available in the eshop. Same concept

 

[the_randomizer]

Why do you have to buy the game again if Nintendo's servers go down?!!

What if your HDD fails and you forget to copy the game over? Surely, Nintendo doesn't allow that.