Nintendo Sells 10 mil. vc games, still-emphasizes-retal Channel (joystiq)

[8th lutz]

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/06/nintendo...phasizes-retai/

 

Sales figures for Nintendo's Virtual Console service on the Wii have been hard to come by, but a recent interview with president Satoru Iwata has revealed that the Virtual Console has surpassed 10 million games sold as of December. Even assuming that the majority of sales were at $5 USD (the lowest price point), Nintendo would have still earned over $50 million USD on old, re-released titles alone.

 

Though Iwata states this as proof of the value of digital distribution, he also reiterates the importance of the retail channel, claiming that boxed games will still be a strong part of the market for the next three-to-five years.

 

Iwata also admits that the retail chain is not nearly as profitable for Nintendo, with low profit margins on boxed titles, and short shelf life as two of the main contributing problems. In spite of these difficulties, Iwata remains confident on the value of brick-and-mortar retail. With WiiWare due out sometime this year, however, it'll be interesting to see if he begins to change his tune.

 

There is some this that Nintendo can do for improving their sales with the vc:

• Get a demo channel for the vc
  
• release more vc games a week
  
• Sega releasing more 3rd party games for the Sega Genesis on the vc
  
• Nintendo releasing 2 N64 games in some months
  

 

Nintendo can't much with all the games Rare has rights to like Golden Eye or most of the Square Enix big name games.

Sega has some big name 3rd party games that I am pretty sure people want to download like Castlevania Bloodlines.

[ninjarabbit]

That works out to less than one VC download per Wii sold, so I guess that market is smaller than I thought it was.

 

I think there are several reasons for this.

 

First the WiFi-only can be a pain in the ass and the USB adapter wasn't that good.

 

Second I think pricing is a little high on the games considering that the production costs of these games have long been paid for.

 

Third is that you have to buy the classic controller to play many of the games, that's another $20 you have to throw down.

 

Fourth is that 75% or so of the games really aren't worth downloading once you get beyond the Triple A titles like the Mario and Zeldas and the few interesting games like Sin and Punishment and Gunstar Heroes. I mean do you really want to download Operation Wolf for example.

 

Fifth is that many of the games on the VC are available on other game collections. For example I have the Sega Genesis Collection for the PS2 so I have no incentive to download the games on that for the VC. Plus I only spent $15 on it so that worked out to being less than a dollar a game vs the $8 each I would have spent if I had downloaded on the VC.

 

Sixth is that a good chunk of the Wii audience isn't interested in downloading games at all, I just don't see the soccer mom and nursing home audience really caring about downloading stuff.

 

 

I know I sound like I'm complaining a lot but really I'm not, I'm just pointing out why it's not as sucessful as it could be. I've downloaded $120 worth of games to the VC so I've done my part to help to help the inbalance.

 

And while $50 million might seem like a lot of money it's barely a decent weekend in sales for many of the higher end sales. For example Halo 3 made something like $150 million in it's first 24 hours.

Edited February 7, 2008 by ninjarabbit

[Ryanw]

I've only downloaded one virtual console game, and the reason I even downloaded it was because I had 500 points left over after purchasing the internet browser. I do look forward to wiiware though

Edited February 7, 2008 by Ryanw

[Atariboy]

What makes you say the Wii's USB LAN adapter wasn't very good? Worked perfectly for me, it was plug and play and seems to have much faster speeds than using the Wii's wifi.

 

http://www.ebgames.com/product.asp?product%5Fid=802615

 

I think the biggest reason its only this much is because a lot of people simply aren't interested or haven't taken their Wii online yet. Theres many Xbox 360's that haven't even purchased one XBLA title yet, I don't have the statistics handy though. Its just the way it works, not everyone is jumping at buying simple downloadable games.

 

And the classic controller really isn't necessary. You need it for SNES and N64 games if you don't have a GameCube controller, but otherwise its really pretty optional. And if people seem somewhat misinformed on how and what you need the classic controller for, so I doubt non VC purchasers are having that as a deterrant. And how many of the general public are going to realize something like Gain Ground was on a collection that was much better value for your money? Outside our small communities of classic gaming fans, not many. So I don't see that playing a major role (Though its kept me largely away from the Genesis section of the VC).

 

I think the library is pretty decent, I'd be buying probably 75% of it if they were more reasonably priced and didn't take up so much storage space. And I think you hit the nail on the head with your 6th point, I see that being the primary reason it hasn't sold more.

Edited February 7, 2008 by Atariboy

[JamesD]

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/06/nintendo...phasizes-retai/

 

Sales figures for Nintendo's Virtual Console service on the Wii have been hard to come by, but a recent interview with president Satoru Iwata has revealed that the Virtual Console has surpassed 10 million games sold as of December. Even assuming that the majority of sales were at $5 USD (the lowest price point), Nintendo would have still earned over $50 million USD on old, re-released titles alone.

...

You do realize that's gross. If any of the games aren't their's then there is some sort of royalty taken out of that.

Still, that would make for a pretty good profit.

[MCHufnagel]

I was really surprised to see that figure on VC downloads. But too be honest I shouldn't be. Both of the families that I know that have the Wii, neither is connected to the internet. I bet most Wii owners aren't connected either.

[8th lutz]

http://www.joystiq.com/2008/02/06/nintendo...phasizes-retai/

 

Sales figures for Nintendo's Virtual Console service on the Wii have been hard to come by, but a recent interview with president Satoru Iwata has revealed that the Virtual Console has surpassed 10 million games sold as of December. Even assuming that the majority of sales were at $5 USD (the lowest price point), Nintendo would have still earned over $50 million USD on old, re-released titles alone.

...

You do realize that's gross. If any of the games aren't their's then there is some sort of royalty taken out of that.

Still, that would make for a pretty good profit.

Yes. I copied and pasted the news.

[n8littlefield]

If it averages to 1 per Wii than that means because of me there are about 20 Wii's with no games downloaded to them