Gaming Why are Nintendo games so expensive?

[Deleted User]

When a game comes out from almost any other developer it will probably be around half its price about a year after its released. For a Nintendo title it will be between $10-$20 cheaper. At EB games (Australian Gamestop) Super Mario 3D world is on special for $57. Its full price is $80. Zelda OoT 3D is $60 and so is Zelda Majora's Mask 3D. Looking online I can find Pikmin 3 for $57 and CoD Ghosts for $24.

My question is why? Doesn't doing so just encourage gamers to pick the PS4/XBONE?

 

[sarkwalvein]

Nintendo games rarely go down in price after release, at least during all the life of the given console.
And even after that, scalpers do the "Metroid Prime Trilogy" on you.
It is a very well known "feature" (?) of Nintendo games.
I suppose they consider it gives their IPs an added sense of value or something... Who knows... But anyway, people would buy a good game even if it doesn't get cheaper.
All of this actually encourages me to give up on overpriced console games and live with with Steam on PC, but I don't do it, because Steam doesn't have Fire Emblem or Metroid (eg).
I suppose their tactic really gives their IPs an added sense of value....

 

[bobmcjr]

Nintendo games are expensive
because they make very few copies
because "nobody buys them"
because Nintendo games are expensive...

 

[RustInPeace]

All of this actually encourages me to give up on overpriced console games and live with with Steam on PC, but I don't do it, because Steam doesn't have Fire Emblem or Metroid (eg).

I'm in the middle of saving up money to get a high end gaming PC so I could invest in Steam (namely to play MK X). As a Nintendo fan, all my consoles except Sega Genesis, are from them. The game prices for older Wii U games are pretty cheap, so I think there is an age factor. I saw Zombie U and Arkham City for <$20 on Amazon.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

Nintendo games are expensive because people make them out to be. Had they been PlayStation or Xbox games the prices would've decreased ages ago.

Imagine if Uncharted or God of War were Nintendo games, what would happen? Prices would maintain to still be high possibly.

Slap that Nintendo logo and even if the game's shit it's still worth a lot.

 

[Rockhoundhigh]

They've just always retained their value very well. Whether artificially or not I don't really know.

 

[sarkwalvein]

Nintendo games are expensive because people make them out to be. Had they been PlayStation or Xbox games the prices would've decreased ages ago.

Imagine if Uncharted or God of War were Nintendo games, what would happen? Prices would maintain to still be high possibly.

Slap that Nintendo logo and even if the game's shit it's still worth a lot.

Yeah, I think Nintendo games are Veblen goods, that reinforces the theory that it is all a "tactic to give their IPs an added sense of value".

 

[Foxi4]

Very simple - it's because of the cognitive bias of those who buy them. People think that Nintendo games are valuable for some reason, they are saught after and thus they are resold for higher prices. There's a market for them so they're expensive.

 

[Bladexdsl]

your asking why games are so expensive here when you live in Australia? cmon mate you should know by now we get ripped off left right and center on EVERYTHING!

 

[Taleweaver]

I think the main answer for this has to do with the competition: MS and sony have much more games coming out on a regular interval, thus creating more internal competition. This means that after launch, companies pretty much have to reduce their prices or the audience will just buy the newest games instead of theirs. Add into that services like PS+, and the abundance of games to choose from further diminishes the asking price.

On ninty's front, they control all their first party titles. It's not like HAL is going to panick when yarn Yoshi is released. They're not going to lower their price because the audience might go for that cutesy game instead of Kirby's woolly world.

Oh, and they take care of their brands. I might be overgeneralizing things, but it seems to me like ninty has a lot of fans among their users. These guys/girls don't sell their games right after they finished them, meaning less second hand copies (meaning: higher prices).

My question is why? Doesn't doing so just encourage gamers to pick the PS4/XBONE?

If you look at the sales figures, I think quite some of 'em did exactly that.

 

[Deleted User]

If you look at the sales figures, I think quite some of 'em did exactly that.

Very, very true. Hopefully Ninty will learn from their mistakes and change in the future. In the meantime it makes things harder because none of my friends have a copy of Pikmin 3 to lend me

 

[fischermasamune]

Taleweaver reasons are correct and straight to the point, but I think there is one more. If the prices don't get cheaper soon, it makes less profitable to wait for purchase a game when the price drops. So people won't be paying a high premium for having the game early. This at the same time a) prevents buyers from losing interest and forgetting about the game waiting for a price drop and b) charges full value for people who were going to get it anyway (but were going to pay for only a fraction if they knew the price would drop).

 

[laudern]

I was in EB games the other day and saw Mario Kart DS for its original full price. And that game is over 10 years old!!!!

 

[Deleted User]

I was in EB games the other day and saw Mario Kart DS for its original full price. And that game is over 10 years old!!!!

Wow. I suppose in the case of Mario Kart you can get it on the virtual console for like $13 AUD. All this bitching made me forget something important. The more you bitch about your games the less you'll actually enjoy playing them.

 

[Taleweaver]

Very, very true. Hopefully Ninty will learn from their mistakes and change in the future. In the meantime it makes things harder because none of my friends have a copy of Pikmin 3 to lend me

I can understand that reasoning, but I wasn't suggesting that nintendo made a mistake there. None of the companies are in it to sell the most consoles...they're in it to make the most profit. For this, creating games that don't lose their value mere weeks after release is actually a very, very good thing for them. There may not be that much games out there, but the ones that are actually ARE quality. They don't have to rely on teasers, pre-order bonusses and stuff like that to beg people into buying things at full price (or worse: before word of independent reviewers break the game down).

Sure...as it stands, people want the console with the best graphics and a huge 2nd hand market* (which is kind of weird, since that latter is something 'the people' need to create themselves). But I'm not sure if it's in the industry's best interest to keep flooding games like that. There's already quite some bitterness that games aren't different from last generation. It's only a matter of time before gamers just decide it's better to just PLAY those last-gen games rather than hold out for the newest shiny thing.




*let's not forget how the preorders of the xbone pretty much crashed when it was rumoured/announced that it wouldn't play second hand games...which directly forced them into canceling that 'idea'

 

[Deboog]

Nintendo doesn't release clones or ports often so people don't have much of a reason to sell their old games secondhand and bring down the price. Call of Duty's and Assassin's Creed's aren't worth crap the next year because everyone and their grandma is trying to sell their old one to get the new one.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

Nintendo doesn't release clones or ports often so people don't have much of a reason to sell their old games secondhand and bring down the price. Call of Duty's and Assassin's Creed's aren't worth crap the next year because everyone and their grandma is trying to sell their old one to get the new one.

Really?

Wii U game > Clone/remaster/rehash title

Mario 3D World = Mario 3D Land 2
Mario Kart 8 = Mario Kart 7.5 HD
Smash Wii U = Melee HD
Wind Waker HD = Wind Waker HD
New Super Mario Bros. U = New Super Mario Bros. HD
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate = Monster Hunter Tri HD (by Capcom but still)

I think you get the picture. Nintendo games while fun and enjoyable are also clones, ports and rehashes of other games already released.

It'd be hard to improve Smash as it's in HD and a lot of care has gone into it, plus new DLC. So if anything, they'll repackage next time and call it a new game.

 

[fischermasamune]

Really?

Wii U game > Clone/remaster/rehash title

Mario 3D World = Mario 3D Land 2
Mario Kart 8 = Mario Kart 7.5 HD
Smash Wii U = Melee HD
Wind Waker HD = Wind Waker HD
New Super Mario Bros. U = New Super Mario Bros. HD
Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate = Monster Hunter Tri HD (by Capcom but still)

I think you get the picture. Nintendo games while fun and enjoyable are also clones, ports and rehashes of other games already released.

It'd be hard to improve Smash as it's in HD and a lot of care has gone into it, plus new DLC. So if anything, they'll repackage next time and call it a new game.

Come on. There's a big difference between SM3DL/SM3DW and FIFA12/13/14/15... The system is just one of them. Even for WW the situation is totally different as they have what, 10 years between them? There are 2 SSB now, but they are for different platforms, and there has been only one for console for this series. I think the same applies for MK. Now you say it's the same situation for a PS360 owner with COD???

Edit: Maybe I should say: Nintendo does ports, rehashes and remasters but they do it way less often than some big 3rd party companies, and normally for a different system.

 

[WiiCube_2013]

Playing Mario 3D World was fun and very enjoyable but it felt like a certain game that I had played previously in a handheld version, so looking at it as a sequel is reasonable.

I would've preferred a Sunshine 2 or Galaxy 3 but Nintendo's figured that they don't need to do much of an amazing work to get high praises all around. Another way of looking at how bad and lazy Nintendo's gotten is through DLC Party 10, Mario Golf and that Mario Candy Crush Saga game.

They're also investing more time in amiibos than more games for the Wii U.

 

[fischermasamune]

This time I agree with you!