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Forums - Nintendo - Nintendo:That Bringing Their Games To Smartphones Etc Decreases Brand Value

Gamerace on 03 August 2013
RolStoppable said:
Gamerace said:

Those games are already on iOS/Android - for free.  There's no greater price discrepency than that.   Ignoring it doesn't change the fact.  Clearly people want to play those classic titles still.  Many are very well suited to mobile devices and it's money that's Nintendo is leaving on the table.

Whether Nintendo officially puts them on mobile or not people are playing them on mobile.  But I'm sure a good chunk of those people would gladly pay $.99 or $1.99 to play them if they had that option.   As long as Nintendo isn't putting current games on mobile, it's not competing with WiiU/3DS.

If that causes a price discrepancy between mobile on what they are changing on their own systems, then clearly, they are charging too much.   If they want higher prices then add something (hd, new levels) to justify the price and sell those exclusively on WiiU/3DS.  

Let's run some numbers while we completely ignore the possibility that making Nintendo games available on other platforms could undermine the sales potential of Nintendo hardware.

To test the waters, Nintendo puts their NES library on smartphones for $1 a piece. Let's say they are able to shift 100m copies annually, that generates revenue of $100m of which 30% move to the platform holder, thus Nintendo is left with $70m. Now Nintendo either has the choice to decrease the revenue for NES games on their own platforms to one fifth of what it is now or use development resources to justify a $5 price tag. Either way, Nintendo loses out on money. Dropping the price to $1 for NES games is self-explanatory, justifying the $5 price tag means that those developers can't work on new games. So the already meager gain of $70m from smartphones will be mostly offset.

People are already playing these games on those platforms so Nintendo isn't suddenly making them available, they are making them available at cost instead of free.

Okay by your numbers Nintendo has made 70m but now has to drop the price on eshop.  Let's assume they sell 1m on eshop (we both know those numbers are not happening but we'll use this for estimating loss to be conservative).  So now they loss $4 on ever one sold through eshop or 4m dollars. 

Um?  Am I missing something?  70m gain on mobile at a cost of a 4m loss on eshop?  HELL YES!  DO it Nintendo!



 

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t3mporary_126 on 03 August 2013

This thread reminded me that Nintendo should put Yoshi touch and go on 3DS eshop for $10. This game was an auto-running touch only game before the iPhone came out.



Alby_da_Wolf on 04 August 2013

Totally agree: controls available on phones and tablets seriously limit the kind of games that can be enjoyed on them. And as a pure matter of perception, but not to be underestimated, the flood of shovelware and cheap and quick (even free) games on phones and tablets would damage quality, but more expensive ones: too many gamers wouldn't be willing to try and see if the higher price of a quality game is justified.



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the2real4mafol on 04 August 2013

They will never do that, don't worry



Xbox Series, PS5 and Switch (+ Many Retro Consoles)

'When the people are being beaten with a stick, they are not much happier if it is called the people's stick'- Mikhail Bakunin

Prediction: Switch 2 will outsell the PS5 by 2030

Gamerace on 05 August 2013
RolStoppable said:
Gamerace said:

People are already playing these games on those platforms so Nintendo isn't suddenly making them available, they are making them available at cost instead of free.

Okay by your numbers Nintendo has made 70m but now has to drop the price on eshop.  Let's assume they sell 1m on eshop (we both know those numbers are not happening but we'll use this for estimating loss to be conservative).  So now they loss $4 on ever one sold through eshop or 4m dollars. 

Um?  Am I missing something?  70m gain on mobile at a cost of a 4m loss on eshop?  HELL YES!  DO it Nintendo!

Well yes, you are missing something. Even if Nintendo's games would sell like mad (100m wouldn't be happening), the additional profit they would make from it would be peanuts.

When we then add the expectations of consumers that more Nintendo games will become available on non-Nintendo hardware, there is less of a reason to own Nintendo hardware. If Nintendo hardware sells worse, then Nintendo's new software will also sell worse. And they have a much bigger profit margin on new games. You would be asking Nintendo to put the health of their hardware at risk for a few million of extra profit.

Also, if you ask Nintendo to put their games on smartphones, you might as well ask them to put their games on the PC, Xbox and PlayStation. The principle is the same: More addressable consumers than on Nintendo hardware alone. And if we go further with this, why not ask Sony to put games on Xbox and Microsoft to put games on PlayStation?

Except people are already playing  classic Nintendo titles on mobile devices (and PCs).  In fact emulating Nintendo games was a sales pitch for Ouya.

So your entire argument lacks merit.  If people want to play Mario Kart (N64) on their tablet, they'll go ahead and do it.  If they want to use a controller they can do it on Ouya or PC.   Classic Nintendo games are already out there.   Yes, maybe that's costing Nintendo some sales of new hardware from people who feel Mario Kart N64 is the same and Mario Kart 8 (and to an extent that's true).   But largely it's rubbish, if people want the new games, they'll buy the new Nintendo hardware to play it on.   It's up to Nintendo to make their new games compelling enough that we don't want to settle for the old ones.

Really Rol, you usually make a solid argument and have shot me down (justifibly) a couple times but this stance is really weak.  I don't believe that you believe selling N64 and earlier games on other platforms would notciably undercut new hardware sales.   And by not selling the games themselves, it's just millions left on a table untouched.      But we've seen Nintendo do that countless times, and I don't see them doing this either.



 

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zorg1000 on 05 August 2013
HoloDust said:
I say if they're thinking of doing something 3rd party (which I doubt), they should try with something like this:



Both are big brands, so I think they would be able to safely test the waters with something that is not strictly their franchise.


I honestly wouldnt mind a few Lego Nintendo games, Zelda, Mario and Metroid could all be pretty cool



When the herd loses its way, the shepard must kill the bull that leads them astray.

Osc89 on 06 August 2013
RolStoppable said:
Gamerace said:

Except people are already playing  classic Nintendo titles on mobile devices (and PCs).  In fact emulating Nintendo games was a sales pitch for Ouya.

So your entire argument lacks merit.  If people want to play Mario Kart (N64) on their tablet, they'll go ahead and do it.  If they want to use a controller they can do it on Ouya or PC.   Classic Nintendo games are already out there.   Yes, maybe that's costing Nintendo some sales of new hardware from people who feel Mario Kart N64 is the same and Mario Kart 8 (and to an extent that's true).   But largely it's rubbish, if people want the new games, they'll buy the new Nintendo hardware to play it on.   It's up to Nintendo to make their new games compelling enough that we don't want to settle for the old ones.

Really Rol, you usually make a solid argument and have shot me down (justifibly) a couple times but this stance is really weak.  I don't believe that you believe selling N64 and earlier games on other platforms would notciably undercut new hardware sales.   And by not selling the games themselves, it's just millions left on a table untouched.      But we've seen Nintendo do that countless times, and I don't see them doing this either.

Why would people pay for Nintendo games when they could emulate them for free? Your argument doesn't make sense in regards to that. It's like saying that each pirated copy of a game equates a lost sale.

The music, TV, games, and film industries would not exist if this was true. All of these things can be pirated, yet there are enough legitimate purchases to sustain the industries. Most of the time people just go for the easiest option; piracy has decreased since the introduction of Netflix and Spotify.

I made a solid argument, it's just that you couldn't bothered to address this part at all:

Also, if you ask Nintendo to put their games on smartphones, you might as well ask them to put their games on the PC, Xbox and PlayStation. The principle is the same: More addressable consumers than on Nintendo hardware alone. And if we go further with this, why not ask Sony to put games on Xbox and Microsoft to put games on PlayStation?

Nintendo is directly competing with Sony and Microsoft. For example EA has Battlefield 3 on PS360 because they don't make a console, but not on Steam because they are directly competing with Origin.

Why stop at smartphones? People have been emulating Nintendo games on PCs for decades. Why not lure gamers from Xbox and PlayStation to Nintendo machines by making classic Nintendo games available on those platforms?

Why would you think making old games multiplatform would damage sales of Nintendo hardware? Is there any reason to suggest that people buy the latest console for anything other than the latest games? Microsoft even release games to PC within the same generation and are repeating this with the X1. Sony are almost certainly going to make Gaikai multiplatform. There doesn't seem to be any connection between old games selling new hardware. All Nintendo are doing is missing out on money and advertising their franchises to an untapped market.





PSN: Osc89

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Gamerace on 13 August 2013
RolStoppable said:
Gamerace said:

Except people are already playing  classic Nintendo titles on mobile devices (and PCs).  In fact emulating Nintendo games was a sales pitch for Ouya.

So your entire argument lacks merit.  If people want to play Mario Kart (N64) on their tablet, they'll go ahead and do it.  If they want to use a controller they can do it on Ouya or PC.   Classic Nintendo games are already out there.   Yes, maybe that's costing Nintendo some sales of new hardware from people who feel Mario Kart N64 is the same and Mario Kart 8 (and to an extent that's true).   But largely it's rubbish, if people want the new games, they'll buy the new Nintendo hardware to play it on.   It's up to Nintendo to make their new games compelling enough that we don't want to settle for the old ones.

Really Rol, you usually make a solid argument and have shot me down (justifibly) a couple times but this stance is really weak.  I don't believe that you believe selling N64 and earlier games on other platforms would notciably undercut new hardware sales.   And by not selling the games themselves, it's just millions left on a table untouched.      But we've seen Nintendo do that countless times, and I don't see them doing this either.

Why would people pay for Nintendo games when they could emulate them for free? Your argument doesn't make sense in regards to that. It's like saying that each pirated copy of a game equates a lost sale.

I made a solid argument, it's just that you couldn't bothered to address this part at all:

Also, if you ask Nintendo to put their games on smartphones, you might as well ask them to put their games on the PC, Xbox and PlayStation. The principle is the same: More addressable consumers than on Nintendo hardware alone. And if we go further with this, why not ask Sony to put games on Xbox and Microsoft to put games on PlayStation?

Why stop at smartphones? People have been emulating Nintendo games on PCs for decades. Why not lure gamers from Xbox and PlayStation to Nintendo machines by making classic Nintendo games available on those platforms?

This was addressed initially in my post. Simply if given the option some (at all) people would gladly pay.

Re the rest: Obviously not on competing consoles and PC doesn't have the set-up of mobile devices for finding/buying games unless you go through Steam/Origin in which case - sure why not?    PCs and mobile are not directly competing devices and classic games won't compete with current Nintendo games.   In fact by putting them out there to the wider audience new people might discover and fall in love with Nintendo classics and then want to buy the newer games/systems.  

Sony and MS don't have NES/SNES equivelants and MS none for N64.    Sony could and arguably should do the same for PSX titles but considering virtually no if any at all Sony IPs from PSX are still being made now, there would be less benefit to them.  It wouldn't help promote and sell their current Ips the way Nintendo's classics would for Nintendo's new systems.   There has long been rumours that Sony would be releasing older titles via cloud service on all devices.