Nintendo’s Boss Promises the Switch Won’t Have the NES Classic’s Supply Iss

[0078265317]

https://www.wired.com/2017/01/reggie-fils-aime-nintendo-interview/

[OldSchoolRetroGamer]

Talk, talk, talk. Nintendo is Nintendo and all ready the pre-orders were a shit show running out too quickly. I am betting once released it MAY not have as bad supply problems as the NES Classic but they will still be bad overall.

Edited January 14, 2017 by OldSchoolRetroGamer

[Reaperman]

I believe him for once.

I think they've adjusted the demand side of the balance with their release date and high pricing. It's certainly caused me to stop and consider how much I really want this thing.

 

I think everybody who really wants one will have the chance walk into any store and buy one without preorder, and I'm guessing it will have a fairly early price drop (or bundles) in the months after that.

 

Owning a new nintendo for the first few months is never as fun as I want it to be anyway. I remember a distinct game drought after the launch titles with my n64 and gc. I had money to spend on it, but there just wasn't anything more to buy.

Edited January 14, 2017 by Reaperman

[MCHufnagel]

I believe him for once.

I think they've adjusted the demand side of the balance with their release date and high pricing. It's certainly caused me to stop and consider how much I really want this thing.

 

I think everybody who really wants one will have the chance walk into any store and buy one without preorder, and I'm guessing it will have a fairly early price drop in the months after that.

 

Owning a new nintendo for the first few months is never as fun as I want it to be anyway. I remember a distinct game drought after the launch titles with my n64 and gc. I had money to spend on it, but there just wasn't anything more to buy.

I'm sure it is priced high to protect the 3DS XL which is $200. Still plenty of life in that platform (at least for another year), and at $250, the Switch would hurt 3DS sales.

 

Neither the N64 or Gamecube recovered from their respective launch title droughts. Unfortunately I can see the Switch suffering the same fate. Especially since Nintendo is initially showing that they still don't understand the online gaming scene (a one month free rental NES/SNES game for online subscribers?).

Edited January 14, 2017 by MCHufnagel

[Punisher5.0]

Talk, talk, talk. Nintendo is Nintendo and all ready the pre-orders were a shit show running out too quickly. I am betting once released it MAY not have as bad supply problems as the NES Classic but they will still be bad overall.

 

You can still preorder right now so what's this "shit show" you speak of?

[Eltigro]

I haven't looked into it at all as I rarely have "current gen" systems while they are still current, but a friend of mine said that Amazon's preorders ran out in 30 min and each Gamestop was only getting about 30 preorders. But that still sounds better than the NES Classic.

[ZylonBane]

Good. Having the NES Classic supply the International Space Station was a terrible idea.

[romeoteknik]

Reggie on why they didn't bundle any games.

 

http://www.gamespot.com/articles/why-switch-doesnt-include-any-bundled-games/1100-6446940/

Edited January 15, 2017 by romeoteknik

[0078265317]

No games then not worth it then. At least 1 game should be included.

[Flojomojo]

Especially since Nintendo is initially showing that they still don't understand the online gaming scene (a one month free rental NES/SNES game for online subscribers?).

It's a little different from that, and more innovative IMHO-- the free NES/SNES will have online multiplayer (for the first time ever for these games), and because of this approach, there should actually be lots of players for these old games. You don't get that by dumping them all at once a la Atari Flashback Classics. You'll have the option to buy it at the end of the trial period, so it's kind of like a free to play game. It's way better than just asking $8 for a SNES game up front with no demo at all. I'm willing to give them a chance to see what they can do, there's probably more to it than what we have seen so far, and it will be free for a long time. The community can make or break this.

[KeeperofLindblum]

Best part of that link was the question about Mother 3.

I laughed.

As far as the "supply" issue goes, I'm pretty much banning myself from buying a console at launch. I'm almost always disappointed when I do. I'll be fine for a few months without the switch.

 

Then it will be easy to find and buy.

[Gabriel]

I promise that I will in no way contribute to any potential supply shortage of the Nintendo Switch.

[Mord]

A few things I noted:

 

1. The 3ds will continue to live side by side with the switch. This means they're not going to be combining efforts between their console and handheld dev teams to help stem the game drought that always plagues their systems - the Wii being an exception to that, but the Wii U showed it was still a problem. So overall expect another drought of games after the initial launch tites. Thankfully this time around they'll have a Zelda game at launch rather than at the end of the lifespan. But having that same game on the Wii U will probably limit the appeal to it, as the Wii U owners will probably just pick it up on there. (So the only people that will be really interested in Zelda on the Switch will be those who ignored the Wii U entirely.

 

2. The free game incentive is the worst case scenario after all. Inferior to both PSN and Live by having a single time limited rental. Additionally the rental is chosen for you, and will be a title from the 80's or 90's. If you're not into retro games, this is going to be useless and won't factor into price justification for paid monthly access.

 

 

They also haven't confirmed if digital purchases on the Switch will be attached to the gamer account purchasing it (like the other two systems) or if it'll be directly tied to the hardware again (Whereby it becomes something of a toothpulling I'm told to get the games transferred to a new unit if your current one dies.) Even if I were to step up to the switch, this is what has prevented me from spending a single dollar on digital content on Nintendo consoles thus far.

[Flojomojo]

Mord -- not trying to argue with you, but here's how I see it:

 

Nintendo has made a big deal over unifying their mobile and console development. The 3DS is dead. They'll clear the release pipeline by releasing stuff that's being finished up, but I would expect development to slow to a trickle, like GBA in 2005 or slower, and all third party releases.

 

The "rental" is chosen for you, but that's how you get a multiplayer community. I'd consider it a trial. They really should say more about their virtual console plans, but March is almost here, so we will soon see. I'm keeping an open mind. It's Nintendo, so they're going to be a little weird.

 

Agreed about how digital purchases should be tied to an account. I feel like their moves online have been tentative steps in this direction. They'll want to make this easy, and I hope they allow us to link prior purchases so they can be enjoyed on the Switch. Unlike you, I've stopped worrying and embraced digital on the Wii U and 3DS, because realistically, I'm only playing on one machine at a time. A conventional account system would give greater peace of mind to have the option to move it all to different hardware if something breaks. I assume this was a deliberate choice to avoid support hassles back in 2011, but it's past time for them to evolve.

[Mord]

No arguments here, it can literally go either way as far as I'm concerned.

 

For nintendo themselves though, the devs that matter in this point, you'd think they would have had most of their development for the 3ds already wrapped up or close to wrapped up (outside of beta testing and actual release) if they were truly planning on merging the handheld platform into the Switch. The only way to know for sure that they're keeping a separate handheld in the long term will be if they release a new iteration of the 3ds in the next few years.

 

As for the digitial approach, the main reason it turns me off is because I have been known to have more than one copy of a console at a time. For instance I have 2 PS3s. I like to keep the data bought on both of them, particularly for later on once the system is no longer supported. And I do tend to use both of them. Having a conventional account system does become important in the decision for people like me.

 

We'll have to see how this multiplayer community turns out. It's got a few things to overcome, including the old nature of the games in question and whether or not that's going to really help it any. Most multiplayer on the other systems tends to be the latest and greatest games being released for the actual system - particularly the FPS types.

 

I'll be great if it works out for them, and I'm potentially going to get a switch later on in the year (I'll probably buy some games and accessories prior to the system itself in march), but the way it's looking right now it's going to be like pulling teeth to get me to agree to pay for multiplayer/deals/freebie the way I generally do on PSN.

[Tanooki]

I'm half way between posting some laughing animated gif and not.

 

They're catching crap over the NES, they caught crap over the Amiibo, and the 2 yr Christmas scalper rape fest which was the Wii. The only time them going too far which got them burned was their mess up with the WiiU. They've unlike the others have had Switch hardware ready for awhile and in pressing it in factories. Games have been made for awhile, kits have been out there over a year or two in some form, not months. They may have got the point. We can hope, but if the sellouts online/local of the presells are any indication it may still be short as scalpers are looking to help pay into their summer vacations.

 

I hope he's right and they have millions ready, not like 5 per store.

[Mord]

I hope he's right and they have millions ready, not like 5 per store.

 

I think he said there were 2 million ready for launch.

 

Problem is, if you'll remember, is that it's going to be a world wide launch. That's Japan, USA, Canada, and Europe at the very least. At 2 million at launch, that'll still probably only amount to 5 per store or less...

[Punisher5.0]

No games then not worth it then. At least 1 game should be included.

Agreed. I would have been cool with even a digital free game.

[Tanooki]

While I do agree in principle and it looks worse when you saw WiiU release with a physical copy of NintendoLand, who else has put a game in the box day one in quite awhile? It really shouldn't be a deal breaker. I don't want to defend Nintendo but it's like they're being held to a higher standard than they probably deserve. PS3 at $600 showed up with nothing in the box, and this one costs 1/2 that price.

 

 

Mord true enough it probably may be that low. Perhaps if you think about the preorders they're allowing some store chains may not get any at all or perhaps as few as those 5. Given how many presells have been thrown out there and the time it took (and not) for them to get snapped up there definitely will be some chain preference on who gets far more than others.

[MCHufnagel]

It's a little different from that, and more innovative IMHO-- the free NES/SNES will have online multiplayer (for the first time ever for these games), and because of this approach, there should actually be lots of players for these old games. You don't get that by dumping them all at once a la Atari Flashback Classics. You'll have the option to buy it at the end of the trial period, so it's kind of like a free to play game. It's way better than just asking $8 for a SNES game up front with no demo at all. I'm willing to give them a chance to see what they can do, there's probably more to it than what we have seen so far, and it will be free for a long time. The community can make or break this.

Who said anything about dumping out a bunch of games? What I'm saying is that the other two console online services give you two games per month (MS gives you four with the X360 BC games), which are yours to keep as long as you keep subscribing. A limited time rental doesn't even compare to that feature. Online multiplier for these older games will be great, for that free month. But how many people will end up buying it (I guess it depends on the game).

 

Hopefully Nintendo will tie games to accounts; but really, will they? Sure I'll give them a chance since I really like their games and consoles (even the Wii/WiiU). But the community won't make or break this, Nintendo will. Meanwhile, I'll at least be able to get the new Zelda game for the WiiU.

Edited January 16, 2017 by MCHufnagel

[Tanooki]

Nintendo hasn't yet tied games to accounts. They're so f'ing paranoid the jerks tie them to systems. I had a 3DS issue last year and had to call and appeal to the rep to get them to transfer my stuff from a New3DS back to a 3DSXL because their internal server sees it as a downgrade and not the same device. They did it, but it took about a day forwarding the request to another department. I shouldn't have to do that crap for what I paid for/earned (ambassador program.)

 

And as far as other console services and two games a month. Nintendo is doing it too. Problem is once you download it, like the DEMOs on 3DS, they only last a limited time. Instead of 10 plays, it works the month you get it. So it's like the 1980s/90s again where you go and rent the game and try and get it done before you have to return it or are allowed to re-rent it 1-2x time more until you're stopped. In all fairness it's not bad, 30 days is more than enough to take down pretty much anything outside of an RPG anyway but it is odd you can't just PSPlus like keep it if the subscription is maintained.

[BillLoguidice]

That to me is the biggest disappointment about the online subscription thing. PSPlus gives you multiple "free" games for three platforms a month (sometimes four when a game also works with PSP), and XBLG gives you multiple "free" games for two platforms a month. You would think Nintendo could throw us a bone for once and let us keep one old game a month for "free" as long as we maintain a subscription. They could then still feel good about being classically Nintendo stubborn while going at least a little way towards having parity with the competition.

 

I seriously doubt said subscription fee will give us anything close to the online infrastructure that's present on the PS4 and Xbox One platforms, so what exactly are we getting as a value-add for the fee? A rental, and a single rental at that, is not a value-add in my book. I'll keep an open mind, of course, and I'll no doubt be subscribing regardless, but past history does not indicate something promising.

 

And yes, if they don't finally tie games to an account system, I'll be furious and consider them more foolish than I already do. I know I'm not alone in seriously restricting my digital purchases on Nintendo systems because I'm afraid of losing my stuff. Why leave easy money on the table, particularly in 2017, where there are no more excuses left to restrict things in that way?

[omegadot]

And yes, if they don't finally tie games to an account system, I'll be furious and consider them more foolish than I already do. I know I'm not alone in seriously restricting my digital purchases on Nintendo systems because I'm afraid of losing my stuff. Why leave easy money on the table, particularly in 2017, where there are no more excuses left to restrict things in that way?

 

I think Nintendo is pretty aware that they have a cash cow in those old classics on the VC and they will sell them back to us over and over and over. I can't imagine them ever coming for free in any form that wasn't basically a demo to drive a sale. I also refuse to buy them 900 times over so that approach doesn't really work for me. I am also like you in that I rarely buy digital for actual money on a Nintendo console. I just don't trust it. Most of my digital games were via rewards or the Mario Kart 8 digital bundle thing they did.

 

I'm excited for the online play addition but if no one buys a switch because of some of these decisions it won't matter much.

[Tanooki]

The WiiU for all its faults wasn't grossly lacking in online capability against the others, especially compared to the Wii/DS level stuff. They seem to be in the last a couple generations behind, then closed the gap to one. We just don't know yet, but outside of their obtuse control freak behavior with games tied to systems and not accounts, they're not that far off the mark otherwise. The system now has a share button like the PS4 controller has too. They set it up to have a larger account tied to both a smartphone/tablet app and social media (the first part of that I don't recall Sony or MS doing, just the latter with pic apps and facebook.) It's a paid service, probably $50/yr like the others or more monthly, and it will likely have the same free online aspects the PS4/One have in using some apps, a few games (some rotating to drum up sales), but then most multiplayer items will be under lock and key. I can't see them really being for once backwater this time outside if they persist in that game to system lock.

 

It's a fair argument to make against XBL and Plus. Nintendo is claiming to still use the same eshop and support the 3DS for years to come. They should but won't allow for the monthly freebie rollout to last beyond a month AND carry over between the two. They just want it only on the Switch it appears, 30 days+/- and it's gone... a 20th century rental throwback. It's not terrible, definitely would motivate someone to either finish it that month or buy it in the end and that's fine. It would be good if you could keep things if the sub is maintained, but perhaps they're thinking with their small storage they don't want to eat it up or force people to buy large capacity micro SD cards.

[Austin]

I hope this thing doesn't have supply issues. I wasn't able to get in on the pre-order action, yet I do want one at launch. If I can't get one, I'll be pretty bitter (and will probably lose interest in the thing).