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Soundwave on 31 August 2015
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spemanig said:
Soundwave said:

I don't see it to be honest. Sure they will offer the digital only option, but Nintendo is extremely close with their retail partners, especially in Japan. Retail in Japan is a different beast. Iwata was really fixated on retail sales data for example from Japan. It's a big part of the gaming culture there and for better or worse Nintendo will always consider Japan's needs/tastes first and foremost. 


Japan's primary gaming tastes are of mobile, an all digital platform. Digital is a bigger part of gaming culture there now than physical. Japan will be fine.

And so will the U.S. And Europe.

I've said numerous times, there are ways to maintain retail presence while being all digital, and that way is NFC download code cards.

Not that I, at all, buy that Nintendo will always consider Japan before the west. But that's for another discussion.

Retail is still a big part of Japanese culture, lining up at the Akihibira district to get a new games, etc. etc. It's not like the US. 

I was in Japan earlier this year, it's really eye opening actually. Arcades are still a huuuuuuge deal there, they're everywhere. 

Even porn shops (lol), full *floors* of physical DVDs still, I was kind of like "do they know you can get porn on the internet now?". And this is not like one speciality store of something, this is a staple of their retail enviornment. 

Beyond that I really doubt on the 3DS/Wii U (the relevant Nintendo platforms) that digital downloads of games are maybe 10-15% at best.

Also loathe it or not, Miyamoto has said he still considers games to be like toys, and he likes that they have a physical connection to people:

http://www.eurogamer.net/articles/2013-06-13-miyamoto-nintendos-game-ownership-policy-should-operate-like-a-toy-company

"What's really important is viewing Nintendo almost like a toy company where we're making these things for people to play with," he said. "As a consumer you want to be able to keep those things for a long time and have those things from your youth that you can go back to and experience again.

 

Like honestly I don't care personally how Nintendo distributes their games, but just knowing how Nintendo operates, I don't see them all of all companies taking the lead on this issue. Maybe if digital consumption on Wii U/3DS was over 50%, but it's not even close to that.