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Wii

NWR Hot Topic: November 20, 2007

by James Jones - November 20, 2007, 10:37 am EST

This week: Happy Birthday Wii!

For much of the world, Monday was the Wii's first birthday. For all intents it seems to have been a banner year for Nintendo’s white box of "innovation." Worldwide over 13 million units have been sold.

So here's what we want to know: What does Nintendo need to do, or not do, in order to keep the Wii rolling for the next year and beyond? Get going to the NWR Forums and tell us what you think! Do a good job and you’ll be featured here next week. There is no prize this time around, but we're all winners anyway, thanks to Nintendo.

Last week we wanted to know what prices you want for games. pSYCO-gAMER321 won the drawing this week, so congrats! pSYCO-gAMER321, please check your PM inbox in the forums.

With that, here's some of the good replies we got:


GoldenPhoenix wrote: I think publishers view price as an indication of quality, so in a way they don't want their bigger budget games to get that kind of publicity when people are browsing games at the store. Now the second part of that equation is habit. Why do I say this? Well because for the longest time now $50 has been the standard, and even with $60 games for PS3 and Xbox 360 this price point is still key for not only Wii but also PC.

I think the industry needs a better price structure, perhaps dependent on budget. If you have a low budget game, you should offer it at a lower price point, unless it is a GREAT title. I think if companies started to go by this model you would see a pretty big jump in sales numbers because people can afford the games. Why do you think handheld games do so well? Price point has tons to do with that (which is one reason why PSP has struggled).

I think there is room for $20 games and there is room for $50 games. It seems like it could be beneficial for companies to take a hold of this, and balance their games for all budgets. As much as I like a game like Carnival Games, the $40 price point is too hefty. I can only imagine how it would sell at a $20-30 price point.


KDR_11k wrote: What I pay depends on the quality, the strength of the competition, and my mood. The number of full price games I'm buying went down lately. I'm more willing to make an exception for a DS game than a Wii game because the DS games are slightly cheaper by default. I didn't buy Metroid Prime 3 because I had enough games I got for fairly cheap and wasn't willing to spend 50€ on a new game, and I didn't get Mario Strikers Charged because I wasn't convinced it was worth that much. I'll probably grab Mario Galaxy because of the reviews it got. Generally the quality level at which I'll wait for a price drop can already be what the industry considers AAA.


KashogiStogi wrote: I don't buy a lot of games because of the ridiculous $50 admission fee, so I always choose wisely.

I probably spend about $400 dollars a year on video games. That could come out to about 8 games. More if I find deals. So basically if third parties want me to buy there games, they either have to be:

A: Better games


or

B: In the bargain bin


Kairon wrote: I believe that the $50 dollar price point is sustainable for hardcore/traditional games. Other price points WILL make sense depending on each game's situation.

New games for the Wii can come in at the $40 price point, and this can often prove beneficial because of a target audience, like Zack & Wiki's younger-skewing art style, or because of a straightforward budget mentality, like Dragon Blade's or Kororinpa's no frills set-up.

Ports can also come in at lower price points, like the RE4 Wiimake at $30. Hopefully Capcom follows this example with a $30 price point for Okami. Also, we're seeing that multi-platform games on the Wii can cost less than next-gen systems and be more in line with current PS2 pricing around $40 instead of $50 or $60.

Finally, a range of games pointed at the non-gamer will have infinitely more success at lower price points. Wii Play is successful because though it costs $50, it costs $10 once you factor out the price of the included Wiimote. Nintendo is following this line of pricing with the Zapper & Link's Crossbow Training at $20 (which is exorbitantly cheap, actually). Nintendo SHOULD have followed this strategy with Big Brain Academy [Wii] because that was a game that should not have cost $50, but $30 instead. Luckily, they ARE following this strategy of lower pricing for blue-ocean games with Eternal Ocean.

And finally, there are the typical budget and edutainment releases enabled by the Wii's lower dev costs and expansive user base, releases like National Geographic’s Sea Monsters that find a home at the $30 price point.

I personally believe that no Wii game really needs to go as low as $20 like Mercury Revolution has, but instead that a lot of Wii games should be able to exist at the $30 mark.


Chasefox wrote: I had a choice with the amount of money I had, either one $50 game, or two $30 or cheaper games. I got RE:4 and SSX Blur.

This brings up a thought, two great games for the price of one first party game (although this pair cost about $10 more). I think there should be a mixture of all pricings and offerings for companies. For example:

1) Instead of buying one game, I bought TWO!!! With the options of more games being sold, that brings up a chance for more profit if people do in fact have the money to spend on games. Sure, a Galaxy or a Brawl will take that money much of the time, but some people are left with the hard decision of one great game they know will have quality or 2 really good games which may give them options.

2) Why not have different companies try different price ranges. Excite Truck is a fine and dandy Nintendo product, but does it really deserve the same 50 dollar price tag as Galaxy? Why not drop it a bit like they plan to with Endless Ocean? And at that, why not let a few other big name developers, Capcom for instance, do the same thing. A few high end, 50 dollar titles (Umbrella Chronicles), some mid-range good games where they can still turn a good product around the 40-45 dollar range (Zak and Wiki), and some lower quality new material and/or good ports which would do nothing but churn in the profits (RE:4 and Okami). And then plenty of the smaller developers out there could release games in the 30 dollar range as well, with unique deals and games (Mercury Meltdown?)


pSYCO-gAMER321 wrote: I would have both [AAA $50, and cheaper less polished games]. Seeing that I can only choose one, I would rather have experimental games. Face it, games that try to compete in Nintendo's territory ultimately gets overshadowed. Wii is a creative machine and needs creative games. Games that try to be games will sell, but the new market for Wii are going to hit people who want to try new things. Why do you think Wii sells? First off, it did something different, something experimental and catering to that will really shine!


Famicom wrote: Price really doesn't have any bearing on what I buy. If I think I'll like it I buy it. I have a 4 to 3 ratio of Nintendo to third party Wii games, with only one of those games coming at less than $50 (Zack & Wiki). That said, it would be obvious that I'd want third parties to strive for Nintendo quality and keep the same price point if necessary. However, third parties seem to have already been attempting this with some incredibly shoddy results (Carnival Games).

The alternative is cheaper, more quirky gaming experiences. I'd probably be down for a few of those, but that's not really where my priorities as a gamer lie. And even if that wasn't the situation, it would still beg the question; would cheaper prices encourage me to buy more third party games? ....Can't say I'm really sure about that since it is a lack of time that holds me back more so than price, but I'd be a fool not to welcome cheaper games of any kind.


couchmonkey wrote: I'd like to see games priced at what they're worth. Good examples are Resident Evil 4 (a couple of years old and a port so don't make me pay full price) and Mercury Meltdown Revolution (supposedly decent but short...but at about half the price of a new game, I'll consider it). When companies don't price games at what they're worth, I wait until they're used or discounted to the price I do think they're worth and buy them then.

I would have purchased Wario Ware, Sonic, and SSX on day one if they had been the same price as RE4.


There’s more to our fanciful site than just some Hot Topic.

- Nintendo Console Discussion: What is "nintendo-like" quality?

- Nintendo Handheld Discussion: Rumor: New DS Revision!

- General Gaming: Buy XBox 360 between Nov. 21 and Dec. 21, MS will mail you a free Halo 3

- General Chat: Crazy idea...

- Funhouse: 2%

- Talkback: Happy Birthday Wii

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