Soundwave said:
I don't know about extreme microtransactions. The thing is Nintendo is very sensitive about the kids market, and in a way getting kids addicted to microtransactions is a but like getting them hooked on gambling or something. I think Nintendo is fundamentally against that. They will use the F2P model, but I think they will keep it sensible ... ie: for $2 for get 2-3 Zelda dungeons or a 4-5 Punch-Out opponents or whatever. I don't know if they'll go down the entire nickle and dime route. They could have done that with Mario Kart 8 DLC too, but it's been quite reasonable and I think the player feels like they're getting good value for whats being offered.
To be honest that might also be what the paid part of the Nintendo-DeNA service is ... if you pay a flat monthly fee maybe you can play all of Nintendo's iOS/Android content and get all the DLC stuff unlocked, that way parents don't have to worry about the scenario of their kid racking up some huge monthly charge on in-game purchases.
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Bolded; I'm not too sure about that. They are the ones who make the most effort to reach out to children with their commercials and seem to have the least qualms about making them into very young consumers, and they didn't seem to have a problem with something as ridiculous as the fees on online Pokemon Storage. They have also shown an increased interest in the concepts of DLC and are even launching an online membership service that will likely have a monthly or annual fee; there is plenty of cause for thinking that they'll adopt somewhat more cynical business models, if not for any other reason than to compete on a level playing field.
That said; I believe they'll be a positive presence on mobile platforms overall and since they already have a solid corporate structure and are of decent size, they won't have to go as far as others to produce a profitable setup.
They'll never go EA on us on mobile devices, I think, but we should also not forget about their practices in the past, the 80's and early 90's in particular, they were pretty much a sort of consumer electronics mafia organization.
They have shown what they're willing to do when presented with a money-making opportunity and fixing their profits is their number one priority now, shareholders are rattling their cages rather fiercely and have been for some time.