Hardware eShop vs physical media

[Bicster]

Apologies in advance for the noob question: I bought my kids a 32GB Wii U - Super Mario U bundle for xmas and I also picked up Mario Kart 8. Today I realized that the Wii U allows downloading of games. Will I be able to transfer Mario Kart to the internal storage or an attached hard drive, or do I need to buy the eShop version to do that?

Not having to mess with physical discs is easily worth the extra $20 to me... I hardly used my Wii at all until I modded it to play games from a hard drive.

Also: Will the Super Mario U game be preloaded or on a disc?

Thanks!

 

[nicklesminer]

You would have to rebuy the game on the eshop, unfortunately a physical copy does not get you a digital copy. As of the Super Mario U question, I'm not sure. But I'd assume its digital. Hopefully someone who knows for sure could answer that for you though.

EDIT: Looks like I was wrong about Mario. According to Amazon, Super Mario 3d World comes in its own case, so its physical.

 

[Bicster]

Thanks, in that case I guess I'll return the physical copy. It's a shame retailers can't sell e-copy download codes at a discount. I'm sure they don't like being left out of that revenue stream.

 

[shinkodachi]

t's a shame retailers can't sell e-copy download codes at a discount.

Just curious, why would they? The option to get a download code from a brick and mortar is there for people who don't want to / can not enter their credit card information on the eShop (e.g. in Europe it only supports Visa and MasterCard, so personally I couldn't use my Amex). This is why retailers will have pre-order bonuses, limited editions, etc. with content that's not available digitally. With amiibo, Nintendo has also ensured people will buy from retailers as opposed to being 100% digital.

 

[Bicster]

Sorry, I didn't realize that retailers sold download codes. It's not something I've seen, so I'm guessing it's not well publicized.

Why would they sell at a discount? To get business! Why do they sell Mario Kart 8 for $45-52 vs $60 from Nintendo, along with the hassles of managing inventory?

I guess the best you can do is try to buy eShop credit at a discount. I do this with iTunes all the time, where I never pay over 80% of face value.

 

[shinkodachi]

Why would they sell at a discount? To get business!

Yeah it doesn't work that way. If every retailer sold download codes for games below the eShop prices, there'd be no point to the eShop for Nintendo. Everybody wants a piece of the cake and nobody will get the entire cake for themselves. Not all retailers sell download codes, but many game/electronics stores do.

 

[rdurbin]

Yeah it doesn't work that way. If every retailer sold download codes for games below the eShop prices, there'd be no point to the eShop for Nintendo. Everybody wants a piece of the cake and nobody will get the entire cake for themselves. Not all retailers sell download codes, but many game/electronics stores do.

Actually there would still be a point to eshop. You would have to download the game still. honestly I don't see why retailers even sell eshop codes to begin with. You still need to download the game on the eshop and if there the same price, whats the point? well I guess you can use cash at stores, but other than that, I don't see a point.

 

[shinkodachi]

well I guess you can use cash at stores, but other than that, I don't see a point.

The option to get a download code from a brick and mortar is there for people who don't want to / can not enter their credit card information on the eShop (e.g. in Europe it only supports Visa and MasterCard, so personally I couldn't use my Amex).

 

[WiiCube_2013]

eShop prices aren't exactly decent because for example on the UK eShop the poorly done port of Watch Dogs for Wii U costs £49.99 and that's an absurd amount for a game that runs as low as 14 fps (its highest is between 25-30 fps though unstable).

So if I were you I'd go with physical releases, they look nice on the shelf and you get Nintendo Points with most of them.