Nintendo talks more about Wii U digital offerings on day one

by **robometal cowboy** » 26 Apr 2012 22:32

Nintendo talks more about Wii U digital offerings on day one
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For the Wii U, we will start the digital download sales of packaged software that I just discussed, so our consumers can choose either the packaged version or the digital download version of the same software from day one of the Wii U’s launch.

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by **LegendofSantiago** » 26 Apr 2012 22:35

I don't see this working for me. I imagine wii u games being quite large

by **metalpants** » 26 Apr 2012 22:46

^ Agreed. Though I'm willing to get a 3TB hard-drive which go for about $130 nowadays and completely avoid changing discs altogether, lol. It's the perfect console for lazy gaming what with the whole TV-to-U-tab-game-transfer and instant game selection.

by **internet** » 26 Apr 2012 22:51

i don't know about those digital retail games . I don't really see the upside but i know some have been asking for it for a long time..... i think it's because they are confusing digital offerings and the very cheap price of steam making possible by the quasi monopole steam got and their total lack of real game investments .

but with steam there is the anti theft protection

by **TaintedSeraph** » 26 Apr 2012 22:52

I'm happy that the launch titles will all be available in digital format right away. If the Wii U is released during the holiday rush and stores run out of games you can always just purchase a digital copy.

by **PaperLink64** » 26 Apr 2012 22:56

That's fine. I will personally keep going retail, but with this, everybody wins.

by **auragar** » 26 Apr 2012 23:15

Now what we need to know is... what are the day one games?

by **jasonmaivia** » 27 Apr 2012 00:02

As long as there are optional choices, I'm totally fine. When something is digital-only, many gamers lose out of the fun.

The Tails and Sonic Show! · by **ninjaTOASTY** » 27 Apr 2012 00:23

I'm just glad they're making the online shop available on launch day, instead of making us wait a couple months like they did with the 3DS' eShop.

by **Elfteiroh** » 27 Apr 2012 00:28

ninjaTOASTY wrote:I'm just glad they're making the online shop available on launch day, instead of making us wait a couple months like they did with the 3DS' eShop.

I'm really surprised it was actually questioned. Iwata even made a comment about that long ago! o_O

by **jasonmaivia** » 27 Apr 2012 00:41

Elfteiroh wrote:
ninjaTOASTY wrote:I'm just glad they're making the online shop available on launch day, instead of making us wait a couple months like they did with the 3DS' eShop.

I'm really surprised it was actually questioned. Iwata even made a comment about that long ago! o_O

It's nothing to be surprised about.

Nintendo has been late at everything. Wiiware was "late" on the Wii (it wasn't available at launch). Then came the 3DS, and it's late online service. No one can be assure until the system actually launches, and we can believe that Nintendo can deliver...on time.

by **Adibobea9** » 27 Apr 2012 00:55

I would love it, if I could download a digital copy with my hard copy. There is something great about owning the actual physical item, but I also love the quick pick up and play style of the digital world...

by **Elfteiroh** » 27 Apr 2012 01:21

Adibobea9 wrote:I would love it, if I could download a digital copy with my hard copy. There is something great about owning the actual physical item, but I also love the quick pick up and play style of the digital world...

I agree, the best of both worlds. I'll mention this in ALL club Nintendo surveys I'll be filling on games that are accessible digitally!

by **Zaakro** » 27 Apr 2012 01:45

@Adibobea9

I don't see this happening. What is going to stop you from giving the game to your friends and they download it too?

by **Star Luigi** » 27 Apr 2012 02:11

YES. This was one of the things Nintendo needs (talking about the online service/eShop up day 1). And option to download retail stuff too? Always good to have options. =)

by **Elfteiroh** » 27 Apr 2012 02:19

Zaakro wrote:@Adibobea9

I don't see this happening. What is going to stop you from giving the game to your friends and they download it too?

Ahh, yeah, I always forget this. :/ Damn.

by **kdognumba1** » 27 Apr 2012 02:34

This is going to be a good thing. Very glad to finally see Nintendo doing this.

by **Maxemillian_X** » 27 Apr 2012 04:50

Zaakro wrote:@Adibobea9

I don't see this happening. What is going to stop you from giving the game to your friends and they download it too?

They can always bind the retail copy a single console so that only that console can download a digital version and still make it so that you can share the game disc. Since the physical disc is already electronically bound to your system in tearms of digital download, your friend woudn't be anble to download a free copy. It could however, entice your friend to buy a digital version if they liked the game and want a copy for their own.
Heck, they could even make a whole rewards program bassed on this kind of practice. I think I just got a good idea :!:

.

by **Irritating Stick** » 27 Apr 2012 04:54

Something I just thought of:

I believe the max capacity of the disc format Nintendo is using is 30 GB.

AFAIK, Nintendo is putting 8GB of storage on the Wii U.

Correct me if these facts are wrong, but if they aren't, that doesn't make a lick of sense to me.

I know that not all games take up the maximum capacity of a disc, but with this setup, you could only download maybe one game to the built-in storage. Frankly, I don't see Nintendo forcing you to buy additional storage if you want to download even one game available at retail.

What this means to me is that they are planning for additional built-in storage.

by **varoennauraa** » 27 Apr 2012 05:07

This is the best news so far.

When theres a game, like a Zelda or new Smash Bros, that I have waited for years, and the launch dday comes. I have sent my wife and kids to the mother in law for the week end and organized a bit of peace and quiet to celebrate one of the great moments of gaming. I go to the local shop to get the game, and whaddya know, once again the game has not arrived in time. Every ****ing time!!!

I don't even care about the prices. There was a time when I demanded noticeably cheaper prices for digital stores, but now I'm actually ready to pay extra to have the games on launch day and have all my games on my system instead of discs. Because of digital distribution we also get higher hopes of getting those very slightly more marginal games.

by **V3N0M** » 27 Apr 2012 05:16

Maxemillian_X wrote:
Zaakro wrote:@Adibobea9

I don't see this happening. What is going to stop you from giving the game to your friends and they download it too?

They can always bind the retail copy a single console so that only that console can download a digital version and still make it so that you can share the game disc. Since the physical disc is already electronically bound to your system in tearms of digital download, your friend woudn't be anble to download a free copy. It could however, entice your friend to buy a digital version if they liked the game and want a copy for their own.
Heck, they could even make a whole rewards program bassed on this kind of practice. I think I just got a good idea .

Uuuuuuh no...that would end up being a very bad idea in the long run for the game developer. Think about it like this. You buy, say for arguements sake, NSMBMii and get the perk of getting a digital copy download voucher for a one time use, that will allow for you to redeem a digital copy of the game for one console of your choosing. You now have the game on your console...so tell me then whats to stop you from giving the retail version away to a friend to keep in place of getting them to go to the store and buy a copy themselves? Nothing. And thus you now run the risk of literally cutting sales in half, assume worst possible scenerio that everyone attempts this. And even then in the not so worst case scenerio I can't see how one could argue that doing this thing would help drive sales of NEW purchases for the game. Sure its good for us the consumer in the short term. We have the game. But its bad for the dev and publisher if they cant recoup enough revenue to start pumping out quailty releases in the long term. Something that would very clearly begin to effect us as the selection of games would start to narrow.

by **Artistic_Anarchy** » 27 Apr 2012 06:10

@Star Luigi
That's exactly what I was going to write. There is nothing wrong about having options and I'm glad they're actually going to have their store available at launch.

Good news.

by **quicklynow** » 27 Apr 2012 06:48

Import games without the ridiculous shipping prices means I'll get a japanese WiiU. Hooray!

by **scikoolaid** » 27 Apr 2012 07:26

Irritating Stick wrote:Something I just thought of:

I believe the max capacity of the disc format Nintendo is using is 30 GB.

AFAIK, Nintendo is putting 8GB of storage on the Wii U.

Correct me if these facts are wrong, but if they aren't, that doesn't make a lick of sense to me.

I know that not all games take up the maximum capacity of a disc, but with this setup, you could only download maybe one game to the built-in storage. Frankly, I don't see Nintendo forcing you to buy additional storage if you want to download even one game available at retail.

What this means to me is that they are planning for additional built-in storage.

Uh, I recall that the idea is for you to pick up an external harddrive to store all your stuff on, its like PS3, It will have some storage but you can change the size of it to your preference. I wonder though if Nintendo will make some kinda bundles to include an external harddrive from Western Digital or Seagate.

Another possibility is they might have re-designed the WiiU and have a port for swapping a harddrive in. We really have no idea on this yet either.

by **Frank** » 27 Apr 2012 08:33

If they do this, they're really going to need to sort out a proper account based system. No way I'll be touching full priced downloadable games if it means I lose them all if my console gets broken or is stolen.

I know you can transfer purchases on a 3DS, but you still need the original system to transfer them from. If you don't have access to it for whatever reason then you're at the mercy of Nintendo's customer service department.