Questionable decisions of Nintendo

[Jazzhand]

You can talk about the retro era or modern day.

But yeah... last gen I was a xbox guy and before that I was ps2 and before that ps1.
On occasion I had other consoles like dreamcast and gamecube.

And from the portable side my last exposure to nintendo handhelds were gameboy colour where I played pokemon gold and silver (wherein I stopped playing pokemon games because I'm not gonna catch 900 freakin pokemon).

During the DS/DSi generation I was a psp fella and then android for awhile. I have heard of the legendary titles of the DS and was expecting just as much from the 3DS. Plus I even heard it had backwards compatibility to DS games because DS had such a legendary library.


But then I look at their e-shop and find.

Game boy advanced on wiiU.
wait what? Why can't I play golden sun on my 3ds!?

Backwards compatibility to DS games. But NO DS GAMES IN THEIR ESHOP!?
Most games barely support the 3D function!?

This New 3ds business which holds xenoblade exclusively for it? (when I had just bought the smash limited edition).


Portable games, not on portable devivces, backwards compatibility but no eshop versions. Just adding DS games to eshop and nintendo would make a killing. I got 32 gigs of SD card to fill and the 3ds line is highly limited. Nintendo... this isn't rocket science.

Add DS games to the eshop and you can sell them for more than their current market value (I just bought sonic rush for £3). You would make a killing as people slowly reject hard copies, plus it hides the fact that your 3ds range is lacking.


No stores are selling DS games anymore and most buyers look into the 2nd hand market. You arent making money from your decision for backwards compatibility!

 

[PokÉmblem]

You can talk about the retro era or modern day.

But yeah... last gen I was a xbox guy and before that I was ps2 and before that ps1.
On occasion I had other consoles like dreamcast and gamecube.

And from the portable side my last exposure to nintendo handhelds were gameboy colour where I played pokemon gold and silver (wherein I stopped playing pokemon games because I'm not gonna catch 900 freakin pokemon).

During the DS/DSi generation I was a psp fella and then android for awhile. I have heard of the legendary titles of the DS and was expecting just as much from the 3DS. Plus I even heard it had backwards compatibility to DS games because DS had such a legendary library.


But then I look at their e-shop and find.

Game boy advanced on wiiU.
wait what? Why can't I play golden sun on my 3ds!?

Backwards compatibility to DS games. But NO DS GAMES IN THEIR ESHOP!?
Most games barely support the 3D function!?

This New 3ds business which holds xenoblade exclusively for it? (when I had just bought the smash limited edition).


Portable games, not on portable devivces, backwards compatibility but no eshop versions. Just adding DS games to eshop and nintendo would make a killing. I got 32 gigs of SD card to fill and the 3ds line is highly limited. Nintendo... this isn't rocket science.

Add DS games to the eshop and you can sell them for more than their current market value (I just bought sonic rush for £3). You would make a killing as people slowly reject hard copies, plus it hides the fact that your 3ds range is lacking.


No stores are selling DS games anymore and most buyers look into the 2nd hand market. You arent making money from your decision for backwards compatibility!

What you just explained is why I like the WiiU better than my 3DS(at least one reason). Virtual console. Personally, I still don't understand how we get DS games on the WiiU but not the DS's successor. Most of nintendo's questionable decisions has to do with virtual console and lack of advertising the WiiU.

 

[finalark]

Allowing an octopus to decide if the N64 control should ship or not.

 

[Mr. Oshawott]

Separating the proprietary AC Adapter from the New 3DS (XL) was a really dumb, anti-consumer business decision on Nintendo's part.

 

[Ze Diglett]

This "artificial scarcity" business model with the amiibo. I can only imagine how much it must suck to be a collector hunting some of the rarer ones, especially retailer-exclusives, which are pretty much automatically unicorn-tier on their own. I'm very lucky that preorders for the retro 3-pack were so easily accessible.

 

[Jazzhand]

was thinking in terms of poor decisions made for nintendo's benefit than the consumer. Because nintendo have always been using scum bag tactics like this (hence why I avoided them for so long).

so have microsoft and sony.

e.g. the amiibo thing

from a business point of view its very good. and technically legal because its their product as opposed to a resource (like diamonds). And don't think it was nintendo's idea. Blame this scumbag tactic to gachapons. This has been common practice in japan for decades.

Just be glad its not as bad as some things got when some gachapons were worth 10k+ just for their obscene rarity.

(still scum bag though)


As for AC adaptor yeah that has kinda sucked... but then again it has been the longest time when batteries were never included in products.

But there was a legal reason for that (lets say the battery explodes or leaks acid/alkali-guess who gonna pay up the butt in legal settlements)




I guess questionable can be interspreted as scum bag moves by nintendo.

 

[LIVERPOOP]

i don't understand this rant. you can buy DS games and put them in your 3DS, they will work.

i feel like i'm on nintendolife. lol.

 

[Jazzhand]

i don't understand this rant. you can buy DS games and put them in your 3DS, they will work.

i feel like i'm on nintendolife. lol.

dont like the clutter.

I want digitaland actually use the 32 gig i have.

but as is i can barely fill up 10.

Also. Not releasing freedom planet on 3ds. It can handle it.

 

[GenNyan]

Creating consoles that are significantly underpowered compared to Sony/Microsoft.

 

[Deleted member]

Same as the original post. Game Boy Advance games on Wii U rather than the system they should be rereleased on-- the 3DS.

 

[Mr. Oshawott]

The XL being the only version of the New Nintendo 3DS is another decision that has alienated quite a few customers.
Yes, I know there are many people are enjoying the XL, but not everyone likes the huge size of it due to being less portable. Plus, the XL's large screen makes the graphics pixelated. To add more salt to the wound, the Standard New 3DS allows for customizable faceplates, unlike the XL.

 

[Deleted member]

The XL being the only version of the New Nintendo 3DS is another decision that has alienated quite a few customers.
Yes, I know there are many people are enjoying the XL, but not everyone likes the huge size of it due to being less portable. Plus, the XL's large screen makes the graphics pixelated. To add more salt to the wound, the Standard New 3DS allows for customizable faceplates, unlike the XL.

I don't understand why didn't they release the smaller model in the west. I for one think it has a better design compared to the XL, amongst other things, like faceplates, as you mentioned. Such a missed opportunity.

 

[finalark]

was thinking in terms of poor decisions made for nintendo's benefit than the consumer. Because nintendo have always been using scum bag tactics like this (hence why I avoided them for so long).

so have microsoft and sony.

e.g. the amiibo thing

from a business point of view its very good. and technically legal because its their product as opposed to a resource (like diamonds). And don't think it was nintendo's idea. Blame this scumbag tactic to gachapons. This has been common practice in japan for decades.

Just be glad its not as bad as some things got when some gachapons were worth 10k+ just for their obscene rarity.

(still scum bag though)

The way Nintendo is handling amiibos isn't really "scum bag." In actuality, you'd be hard pressed to find any company that produces collectibles that doesn't use the same strategy. TCGs, toy companies, you name it, they all intentionally produce some things in extremely limited quantity.

After all, if they didn't do this then that could crash the precious collector's market.

You see, the people that these companies are aiming for are the hardcore collectors, the kind of people who are guaranteed to buy even the most limited of products. Collecting casuals are the least of their income, because casual collectors aren't going to be buying multiple copies of your limited run item to resell later. They're not where you're going to be getting your 100% profit from.

But lets say that they decide to make rarer items more accessible to casuals? As somebody who has been a fan of game collecting and TCGs his whole life I can safely say that never once has this been a good idea. Lets talk about Amiibos for example. Imagine if Nintendo decided to reprint Marth amiibos in the same volume as Mario? Suddenly, Marth's value plummets on the second hand market. No longer is he rare and valuable, now he's just another figurine. Now you've gone and upset your primary source of income. All those Marths that those core collectors have been holding onto don't amount to much when everyone has one. Now you've effectively killed the collectablity of Amiibos, meaning your core audience is going to move onto collecting something else. With them gone, casuals will soon lose interest and then amiibos are dead, leaving Nintendo with warehouses full of worthless plastic.

These "scum bag tactics" are a necessary when creating collectibles. It's not because Nintendo is doing it out of maliciousness, it's because it's good business for both them and collectors utilizing the second hand market.

 

[GenNyan]

The way Nintendo is handling amiibos isn't really "scum bag." In actuality, you'd be hard pressed to find any company that produces collectibles that doesn't use the same strategy. TCGs, toy companies, you name it, they all intentionally produce some things in extremely limited quantity.

After all, if they didn't do this then that could crash the precious collector's market.

You see, the people that these companies are aiming for are the hardcore collectors, the kind of people who are guaranteed to buy even the most limited of products. Collecting casuals are the least of their income, because casual collectors aren't going to be buying multiple copies of your limited run item to resell later. They're not where you're going to be getting your 100% profit from.

But lets say that they decide to make rarer items more accessible to casuals? As somebody who has been a fan of game collecting and TCGs his whole life I can safely say that never once has this been a good idea. Lets talk about Amiibos for example. Imagine if Nintendo decided to reprint Marth amiibos in the same volume as Mario? Suddenly, Marth's value plummets on the second hand market. No longer is he rare and valuable, now he's just another figurine. Now you've gone and upset your primary source of income. All those Marths that those core collectors have been holding onto don't amount to much when everyone has one. Now you've effectively killed the collectablity of Amiibos, meaning your core audience is going to move onto collecting something else. With them gone, casuals will soon lose interest and then amiibos are dead, leaving Nintendo with warehouses full of worthless plastic.

These "scum bag tactics" are a necessary when creating collectibles. It's not because Nintendo is doing it out of maliciousness, it's because it's good business for both them and collectors utilizing the second hand market.

Idk what you're talking about. If a scalper buys $100 worth of amiibos and sells them for $200, Nintendo has still only gained $100. Yes, limiting production is a good idea, but amiibos shouldn't be able to sell out in minutes. The demand is vastly higher than the supply, which should not be the case, since the "casual" buyers will get them directly from Nintendo, rather than buying them double price on ebay. Not everyone can stay on top of announcements and leaks and camp outside target to get their favorite character. What does Nintendo care if marth is no longer rare/valuable? They only stand to gain by producing more, given demand is sufficiently higher. The hardcore collectors are only able to resell them because there is demand from the "casual" collectors.

TL;DR, Nintendo doesn't/shouldn't give a rats ass about the second hand market.

 

[Jazzhand]

Idk what you're talking about. If a scalper buys $100 worth of amiibos and sells them for $200, Nintendo has still only gained $100. Yes, limiting production is a good idea, but amiibos shouldn't be able to sell out in minutes. The demand is vastly higher than the supply, which should not be the case, since the "casual" buyers will get them directly from Nintendo, rather than buying them double price on ebay. Not everyone can stay on top of announcements and leaks and camp outside target to get their favorite character. What does Nintendo care if marth is no longer rare/valuable? They only stand to gain by producing more, given demand is sufficiently higher. The hardcore collectors are only able to resell them because there is demand from the "casual" collectors.

TL;DR, Nintendo doesn't/shouldn't give a rats *** about the second hand market.

This goes for the decision for the backwards for compatibility for DS games on 3DS. No one sells DS games anymore. And manufacturing more on the off chance people would buy them is a pointless gambit when digital distribution exists.

As is, backwards compatibility only proves to stem the potential of their eshop as the 2nd hand market eats up playerbase looking for DS classics.

tick tock nintendo.

 

[Foxus]

Nintendo not buying Rare was a fail. Nothing has come out really from Rare since Microsoft's acquisition, even Rare's co-founder has questioned why Nintendo hasn't bought Rare. Rare brought us so many timeless titles, and knows how to make one hell of a Starfox game. Maybe I wouldn't have had to swallow my vomit with the rollout of Star Fox Zero.

It miffs me altogether though how Nintendo has put Starfox on the back burner. Fox is such a great creature, why not do more with him?

Open up his world beyond the Arwing like what was so brilliantly done with Adventures?

 

[Jazzhand]

Nintendo not buying Rare was a fail. Nothing has come out really from Rare since Microsoft's acquisition, even Rare's co-founder has questioned why Nintendo hasn't bought Rare. Rare brought us so many timeless titles, and knows how to make one hell of a Starfox game. Maybe I wouldn't have had to swallow my vomit with the rollout of Star Fox Zero.

It miffs me altogether though how Nintendo has put Starfox on the back burner. Fox is such a great creature, why not do more with him?

Open up his world beyond the Arwing like what was so brilliantly done with Adventures?

was gonna mention it was a good move for rare to be taken by microsoft because nintendo (shigi) forced rare to make their original game dinosaur planet into a pointless star fox game for little to no reason than this.

the main character of dinosaur planet was a fox.

And from there Rare had to rework their game to cater to star fox crap they never wanted and only had just enough budget to put in a few references, some basic arwing sequences, bare bones combat system, literally the whole sfx folder being full of free licence sound effects...

If you liked star fox adventures ok... different strokes and all that... but from a technical stand point it was kinda garbage.

Nintendo was not treating Rare well. If anything, its the fact that Nintendo drove them away as opposed to them failing to acquire them. If microsoft is an example and historically nintendo themselves are.

You can have the best devs in the world but you're only gonna end up with crap if you put expectations high and investments low.

As I see it, the people making the decisions at Nintendo are the kinds of people that shouldn't be as they are so out of touch.

 

[Heroine of Winds]

The handling of the Amiibo situation is definitely something I've never got. Why make certain ones like Rosalina store exclusives along with re-releasing the other more rare Amiibo in limited quantities? It's way too ridiculous.

Even Nintendo making underpowered consoles compared to their competition makes no sense to me.

 

[Jazzhand]

The handling of the Amiibo situation is definitely something I've never got. Why make certain ones like Rosalina store exclusives along with re-releasing the other more rare Amiibo in limited quantities? It's way too ridiculous.

Even Nintendo making underpowered consoles compared to their competition makes no sense to me.

That is definitely an american thing.

Europe is not having this issue as badly as you guys. As for underpowered consoles. Its simple math.

An exec does not care about the legacy of the console or the trouble game devs have to go through to create content for it. They only care about the cost to manufacture. As such they try to spend as little as possible and sell at equal prices as other competing consoles. This way their gross profit evens out even if they arent the leading console in sales numbers.

But thats only in theory. If the console is too underpowered to run certain more modern games, you limit your library. Its a clever marketing move for nintendo to say they create games purely for the gameplay aspect.

But frankly thats just business spiel for, we have no choice but to focus on gameplay. Its all we've been given.

 

[Foxus]

The handling of the Amiibo situation is definitely something I've never got. Why make certain ones like Rosalina store exclusives along with re-releasing the other more rare Amiibo in limited quantities? It's way too ridiculous.

Even Nintendo making underpowered consoles compared to their competition makes no sense to me.

The Amiibo thing was really a "right place, right time" type of thing.

You have Smash 4 come out. What comes out the same holiday season? The Amiibos. I've always joked they could be happy meal toys. It was a brilliant move to say the least, s 1. they're collectors items and 2. they're expanding out into other games, Mario Party 10 for an example.

It took Nintendo out of the slumpy sales figures they were having with both the Wii U and 3DS prior to Smash 4's release, I was worried for a while there both consoles would have made a total flop for Nintendo just like the nightmare Microsoft went through with Windows 8.

 

[Heroine of Winds]

That is definitely an american thing.

Sadly it is. Nintendo just loves screwing up their American fanbase.

 

[Jazzhand]

Well I have a fairly decent collection of 3ds games now (not hard seeing as the library is tiny).

But yeah 1 thing I noticed.... no options menu. As an experienced gamer thats kind of appalling.

e.g. rhythm thief. the game has issues with sync rate on the timing circles.

I CAN'T ADJUST THE SYNC RATE. Which is a basic feature of decent rhythm games. But yeah... literally no options menu. Not for control rebinds, sound balancing, etc.

Kids use other consoles too nintendo and they all have options menus in their games.

 

[LancerStaff]

Most of what Nintendo does makes plenty of sense if you think about it or do some research...

The 3DS can't emulate GBA properly. The ambassador games are more of proper ports running on a 3DS with cut-back power. I imagine it's too difficult to make work properly to make anything but the best GBA games to be worth bringing over.

The small N3DS didn't sell well overseas... So why bring it over?

Mother 3 hasn't been localized because it's expensive. Earthbound Beginnings was already localized back in the NES days, but took too long to get out before the SNES came around.

Weaker powered hardware is usually how Nintendo makes it's money. Even the Wii U is turning a profit nowadays... The 3DS wouldn't be half as successful as it is now if they didn't make it the way they did. Proof? Look at the slow start of the 3DS. Things were quite slow until the price drop. Consumers don't really care how much bang for their buck they're getting, but the actual price, and Nintendo knows this. The early 3DS pricing was almost certainly an experiment with how willing they were to drop it, and the results were pretty clear.

 

[Xzsmmc]

Underpowered consoles
Thinking they need to reinvent the wheel every time
Pointless gimmicks
Being out of touch with their consumers

 

[Foxus]

I've never noticed my Wii U being underpowered, however when it is loading Smash 4, it shouldn't take as long to load. Its better than the Wii was with Brawl (up to 30 seconds of boot time) but its still a bit too slow.

I'm not a big tech geek nor play Xbox or PS, so I don't know whether or not Microsoft and Sony have one-upped Nintendo with the hardware under the hood or not. Nintendo could work on their online gaming platform, that is for sure (e.g. issuing more stringent network requirements to be met for smoother gameplay).

 

[Jazzhand]

I've never noticed my Wii U being underpowered, however when it is loading Smash 4, it shouldn't take as long to load. Its better than the Wii was with Brawl (up to 30 seconds of boot time) but its still a bit too slow.

I'm not a big tech geek nor play Xbox or PS, so I don't know whether or not Microsoft and Sony have one-upped Nintendo with the hardware under the hood or not. Nintendo could work on their online gaming platform, that is for sure (e.g. issuing more stringent network requirements to be met for smoother gameplay).

this is why I never play online smash on my 3ds...

its a freaking joke. I play online games all the time on my pc and android... AT THE SAME TIME and I get no lag. Its really their end thats the issue.

 

[Kurri ★]

I've never noticed my Wii U being underpowered, however when it is loading Smash 4, it shouldn't take as long to load. Its better than the Wii was with Brawl (up to 30 seconds of boot time) but its still a bit too slow.

I'm not a big tech geek nor play Xbox or PS, so I don't know whether or not Microsoft and Sony have one-upped Nintendo with the hardware under the hood or not. Nintendo could work on their online gaming platform, that is for sure (e.g. issuing more stringent network requirements to be met for smoother gameplay).

By underpowered, they mean in comparison to the PS4 and XBone.

 

[Jazzhand]

Nintendo 3DS Ambassador Program
All of these games are available as free downloads for consumers who purchased a Nintendo 3DS prior to the August 12, 2011 price drop. The NES titles were first available in Japan on August 31, 2011 for these ambassadors, and available worldwide on September 1, 2011. The Game Boy Advance games were released in Australia on December 15, 2011, and worldwide on December 16, 2011. The Legend of Zelda became available in the Japanese eShop on December 22nd, 2011, making it the first Ambassador game released to the public. Currently, all NES titles offered by the Ambassador Program are available worldwide on the eShop. Nintendo has announced that GBA games will remain exclusive to 3DS ambassadors. GBA games have been released on the Wii U instead, and there are currently no plans for 3DS VC releases.

So GBA games are confirmed to NEVER appear on 3ds post august 2011.