| RolStoppable said: It's better to let consumers decide for themselves if they'd rather have a physical or digital copy of their NX games. It's not a good idea to force people into something when the odds are nowhere close to being in your favor. And like I said before, "clunkiness" is something that fans of physical products gladly accept in exchange for owning a physical product, so they wouldn't hold that against NX. After all, they could make use of the option to go digital-only, if physical copies suddenly started to bother them. The synergy thing is all theory, but when it comes to practical use, it will be very different. Take the Gamepad, for example. In theory, it was about creating a synergy between two screens, but in practical terms, it was hardly ever beneficial and that despite being packed in with the system. It's hard to imagine that owners of both NX devices will take priority when they are inevitably going to be the smallest group out of the three (home console only, handheld only, both). Additionally, consumers won't welcome the idea that they have to buy a lot of stuff in order to get the full experience; just look at how much "love" amiibo gets. The more investment Nintendo is going to make necessary to enjoy their video games, the higher the chance that they'll end up with only their diehard following. |
But the odds are very stacked in their favor. Most people who prefer physical media will get over it. It's not this "they'll either buy physical or they won't buy your console" like people are making it out to be. Nintendo aren't going to lose out on tens of millions of consumors because they have to download Mario Kart 9. And when that game comes out that forces them to take the digital plunge, most people won't look back, because the technical experience of digital is objectively superior to physical.
It's not a theory. It's how Apple built an entire hardware-software-firmware empire. It's proven to work in practical terms already, and it propelled Apple from being a laughing stock to the most powerful tech company in recorded history. The gamepad was a victim of poor execution, not poor synergy, and even then, most games absolutely benefited from the second screen. The fact that they exist makes them a guaranteed priority.
Why would you bring up Amiibo when it goes against your point? Amiibo is extremely successful for that exact reason. Of course people will complain. People always complain. Often times for good reason. But it's successful anyway, meaning it will be pushed harder. Unlike Amiibo, NX consumers will not need to buy "a lot" of things to get the full experience. Just two systems. That might piss a few them off, but you know how many people are going to not buy the NX because of it? Well let's look at the amount of people not buying Amiibo or Amiibo supported games. Or games with bad DLC. Or games with microtransations. Or Fee-to-Pay mobile games. Exactly.
I 100% expect for there to be content exclusive to specific NX versions of games. They're already testing it out with Smash 4 and Hyrule Warriors, and it's been successful. They are already doing the kinds of stuff you think they won't try with the NX now, and they're being successful with it.
