TheLastStarFighter said:
Gold and Plus are generating $50 annually for MS/Sony, times about 50% of total console owners. Sales for both companies are strong, current gen consoles are selling more than previous generation models, and most owners of a previous gen console don't want to give up their ID, friends list and acheivements by switching brands.
The model you are suggesting is "nicer" for the consumer, but doesn't work near as well to "trap" consumers into your brand. I have a Wii U. I get discounts on games if I buy more. Yay! But it doesn't discourage me in any way from stopping using my Wii U to play multiplat games and using another system if it offers a shiny new experience. The subscription model is far more powerful for keeping customers as has been shown by Live,+, and Club Nintendo. Nintendo needs to move in that direction, and the first step is linking rewards to Nintendo Network ID's. Make people love their ID, get attached to it and then use it to generate revenue and discourage abandonment of it.
There is no possible way for Nintendo that a discount program woudl be better for them than a subscription model. Even with Wii U's meager user base, they could be generating $200 million annually with only 50% buy-in. That's enough to turn them from red to black financially. What you are suggesting might be nicer for consumers but is in no way better for Nintendo.
Your biggest flaw in reasoning is that you say I'm wrong, it will never happen, and that the discount system would work on "100%" of customers and other absolute statements. You may be right, I may be right and only time will tell. But you shouldn't be so certain in your line of thinking. We'll only now if I'm right as time passes and new products are released.
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Of course is traps users. It's a model specifically made to get you to buy more games digitally. Those are games that can not be returned or sold back. Once you own a certain amount of games digitally, you're virtually shackled to that platform. Club Nintendo was not a subscription model, so nothing was "shown" in that regard. You can stop using any system. At any time, you can stop paying for PS+/Live to play on the Wii U. There's no penalty for that. If you ever want to go back, you just renew your subscription, and it's as if you never left. Only that effects only 50% of owners. This model effects 100% of owners.
The subription model hasn't proved anything, as Nintendo hasn't gone full swing with this model. But the little bit they've done have been monumentally successful, like with Mario Kart 8. Now many of those owners have at least one full retail download game that they'll struggle to give up in the future. This will only be stronger when the entire rewards structure is built around that. The more content you own digitally, the more hostage you are to those purchases. These are meant to give everyone discounts digitally. It's not a "special service" for "select premium consumers." It's the blanket norm for the entire playform ecosystem. Everyone who purchases software will gain the benefits, and so everyone will be more tied to their NNID.
It's not somehow "nicer" for the consumer. Less cost means more people pay more money buying more games. Nintendo makes more money on games and the system is flexible so that Nintendo makes more money on consumers who decide to still buy less games. It's a system where buying more games lets you buy more games still, which means Nintendo gets you to spend more than you would have and it means that there are more titles out there getting mindshare, meaning more people will buy more games as a result, continuing the cycle. It's much better for Nintendo than for the consumer.
Valve already has ultimate hold over its consumers without a monthly subcription fee for the exact same reasons. Nintendo isn't implementing it exactly like Valve, but the concept and the goals are identical. You think NNID to be is more like PS+. You're wrong. It's to be more like Steam. Please find me 1 Steam user that isn't completely loyal to Steam, while I find you all of the 50% of PS4 and XBO owners who aren't completely loyal to PS4 or XBO. Then we'll talk about how ineffective a free and universal rewards program is ineffective at trapping cosnumers to a brand.
