So why on earth does it cost the same physically and digitally in europe?
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Eurogamer : Why Nintendo Switch games are ending up more expensive
- Thread starter LFMartins86
- Start date
So why on earth does it cost the same physically and digitally in europe?
Why would they cost more to ship? The cases are substantially smaller as a result of the switch to carts. Also, Switch carts are tiny. Anyone with a kitchen scale wanna weigh a Wii U case with a disc inside and a Switch case with a disc inside? I'm gonna go out on a limb and say the latter is both smaller and lighter.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Shipping costs should be lower compared to a Wii U game though, the size and weight are smaller. Or is the psp style case shape irregular or something?
Napalm_Frank
Member
Same reason all PS4 games ended up being more expensive than PS3 versions even doe it was probably pain in the butt to include PS3 port. Next gen tax, it'll go away in time.
At least I hope so.
At least I hope so.
guybrushfreeman
Unconfirmed Member
We really don't know that's true, the difference is pretty huge from a manufacturing perspective
Portugeezer
Member
Going by RIME a cartridge costs £10 more, yeah okay
Legally speaking, there's nothing wrong with that policy. In fact, on DSiWare and WiiWare, it was Nintendo that set the prices for third party games.
The article makes it sound like there's no such policy though. More like a guideline at best. And that would make sense since otherwise the Switch game part in shops would indeed be rather empty as it's not getting very strong game support from third parties.
Could be a decision by Koch Media. Bear in mind that they also need to pay Sega.
Broken Hope
Member
The amount of Americans that think they are the only place in the world that exists is astonishing.
You get cheaper digital pricing than physical, congrats?
Nobody else does.
You get cheaper digital pricing than physical, congrats?
Nobody else does.
wonderful103
Member
Search through Matt's posting history
...Deep Silver, maybe? That's a pretty important piece of the puzzle, surely.
Sniffynose
Member
Fucking Eurogamer... what a stupid article, they basically wrote this shit up just to pander to the Rime nubs for charging extra.
Still not buying the game, it's coming out later, a port and more expensive.
A few bucks maybe, but like $15 Canadian, fuck off I can buy SD cards cheaper.
Still not buying the game, it's coming out later, a port and more expensive.
A few bucks maybe, but like $15 Canadian, fuck off I can buy SD cards cheaper.
i think this is just BS reasoning for the devs/pubs taking advantage of a new console launch. i think in 6 months time if switch even gets multiplatform releases day and date alongside the competition we will see prices level out.
but much like playstation VR's launch. publishers can get away with charging more for the same thing because those on that platform are starved of content. it's been true for every console launch ever. the switch is no different. yes, their carts are probably marginally more expensive to manufacture. but it's not enough of a reason to justify a $10 price hike. especially when you consider the game is also available digitally with no manufacturing costs.
but much like playstation VR's launch. publishers can get away with charging more for the same thing because those on that platform are starved of content. it's been true for every console launch ever. the switch is no different. yes, their carts are probably marginally more expensive to manufacture. but it's not enough of a reason to justify a $10 price hike. especially when you consider the game is also available digitally with no manufacturing costs.
guybrushfreeman
Unconfirmed Member
huh? Who's Matt?
E_Darkness
Member
I was worried about the price increase after BotW was £60 RRP. I really do hope that price does not stick. The biggest perk of digital should be that it doesn't need the extra manufacturing cost so the game is cheaper.
Oh I'm not saying it's illegal, just that it doesn't add up. Like you say, it's likely a guideline and one that is followed on most releases on any platform at launch.
AcademicSaucer
Member
NOE is shit then?
Corleth the Fey
Member
Nintendo manufactures the carts and likes to make some money there. That's on top of a licensing fee and they no doubt charge publishers for a set amount of inventory in advance. This is what they have always done. Nintendo loves it, publishers hate it and it's why the physical goods from Nintendo always cost more.
They quoted Reggie so I thought they were talking about it WW.
ToysAndMoreClub
Member
The question then becomes, will AAA publishers also sell games at higher costs? If they are producing a million copies of a game, the cartridges will be significantly lower than an indie publisher who is only producing 100k physical copies. At what point does it really make a difference? And how much more expensive it is exactly?
I doubt it is $10 more expensive, and that parity between digital and physical needs to stop.
I doubt it is $10 more expensive, and that parity between digital and physical needs to stop.
whyreggielie
Member
Yea this reads like they just want to put the blame elsewhere and not place responsibility on the publisher for Rime. This shit ain't foolin no one, if they want to charge 10 more for their physical copy then fine but your price parity bullshit for digital is not a thing.
ShadowSoldier89
Member
storage on 3DS carts is vastly lower, though it would also matter what variations in size nintendo supports for switch.
Because there weren't greedy publishers.
It won't. The market will sort it out.
There's probably a multitude of reasons why prices are higher. More expensive physical option is one reason that increases prices, publishers also have less potential for games to make a profit if they sell them for 10$ less because it's not like there are dozens of millions of Switches around yet, so that can often push prices upwards, there's also need to make back initial investments into Switch development, less competition etc. etc.
Games at a console launch are often sold at a premium and prices often don't drop quickly vs. a platform that has been in the market for 2+ years after which pricing starts to be more competitive and even then can come crashing down in just a month or a few.
Exactly. Whoever priced Rime made a shitty decision and Eurogamer is backing them for some dumb reason. Their logic doesn't hold at all.
Only thing we can do is vote for your wallet. For a dev who has been dropped by both Microsoft and Sony, I'm not sure why anyone has any confidence in the smoke and mirrors game anyway.
1GB to 32 GB at first, maybe we will have 64 GB in the future when it becomes cheaper to make.
Games which would require much smaller print runs were digital only.
LFMartins86
Member
It is a thing in Europe and Eurogamer is an European site. Show me one example in Europe where digital is cheaper.
KennyLinder
Member
Warning: Nobody will believe this
Hardly ANY 3DS developer/publisher made huge profits due to expensive cart prices. Margins were always super tight. Now development costs from 3DS to Switch have gone up hugely...
They were kinda transparent in saying that hiring Tantalus for porting the game added additional costs.
Going by Amazon here are the dimensions of Zelda:BOTW Switch and Final Fantasy XV PS4.
Zelda: 0.4 x 4.1 x 6.6 inches; 2.1 ounces
FFXV: 0.6 x 5.3 x 6.7 inches; 2.4 ounces
Yeah no. I don't think cost has anything to do with the weight and/or dimensions of the games being shipped. If anything it should cost less if that were a factor because the Switch games are listed as being smaller and lighter. At the very least it's a wash on that front since they aren't any bigger then current games. They're pretty much similar in size to the 3DS cases with just length and width changes.
DQ8 3DS: 0.5 x 5.4 x 4.9 inches; 2.2 ounces
But 3DS mostly required bespoke games, or porting was non-trivial, which is not the case for Switch.
Herb Alpert
Banned
Yeah $10 a cartridge OK lol
SomedayTheFire
Member
Yeah, we already know this but people keep sticking their fingers in their ears and saying "NO NO NO"
Nostremitus
Member
I'd like to see the numbers. You can fit a lot more Switch games on a pallet/in a box than you can PS4/Xbox One games. I wonder where the trade-off is between cost of cartidge and cost of packaging/shipping.
With shipping being equivalent it still wouldn't account for $10.
With shipping being equivalent it still wouldn't account for $10.
KennyLinder
Member
The development cost (code, art, design) ISN'T (and wasn't) the issue.
The Main Event
Member
I don't remember this being the case with cross platform physical PS4/Vita games. Or does Nintendo charge much higher than Sony for their cartridges?
It is an issue and one that is very different between 3DS and Switch.
What are you suggesting the difference in cost for publishing digital only software on 3DS and Switch is?