Something occurred to me while recently setting down some preorders on upcoming Wii U games. Each and every one of Nintendo's first party releases this year so far, including titles landing in the coming months, has been released at a lower than average or budget RRP of £34.99.
This is something I haven't really seen talked about around here much, especially with some new Wii U owners finding prices of previous years titles still going for around £40-£50 (Pikmin 3, Mario 3D World etc).
It seems to have begun with Captain Toad Treasure Tracker back in December/January. For those unaware, Captain Toad is a spinoff title to Super Mario 3D World, greatly expanding the Captain Toad levels into their own game while reusing a bunch of assets to keep the costs down. It was a stopgap release with a much smaller development time, and so when it was revealed the RRP of the title was £34.99 and not the usual £49.99, a lot of us were very pleased, if not exactly surprised.
However since Captain Toad each Nintendo first party release this year has kept this same RRP, even for titles you wouldn't typically view as a budget release. Titles such as Mario Party 10, Yoshi's Wooly World and even their big new IP Splatoon. Just take a look at the Nintendo UK online store , who sell at RRP to see what I mean (I've included an Amazon link to Yoshi's Wooly World, as it is not listed on Nintendo UK at this time);
Captain Toad Treasure Tracker - £34.99
http://store.nintendo.co.uk/games-wii-u/captain-toad-treasure-tracker/11029174.html
Mario Party 10 - £34.99
http://store.nintendo.co.uk/games-wii-u/mario-party-10/11073629.html
Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush - £34.99
http://store.nintendo.co.uk/games-wii-u/kirby-and-the-rainbow-paintbrush/11095320.html
Splatoon - £34.99
http://store.nintendo.co.uk/games-wii-u/splatoon-t-shirt-m/11100904.html
Yoshi's Wooly World - £34.85
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KL324J6/
It's an interesting move from Nintendo, especially for their big name IP flagship games. Traditionally they'd be price quite high, and retain their value for a long, long time. So what's changed?
Well, the elephant in the room is lacklustre sales of the Wii U itself. It's certainly more enticing to pick up a Wii U console if the games are cheaper than the competition from day one.
However, I think that we also have the success of Amiibo to thank for these lower priced releases. Nintendo want to sell Amiibo to their customers (big surprise I know!). With titles such as Splatoon and Yoshi's Wooly World releasing alongside dedicated Amiibo figurines (Inkling Girl, Boy and Squid, and Yarn Yoshi's), Nintendo can now suggest you to pick up the game, and an Amiibo for the old RRP of £49.99. If you don't want an Amiibo for whatever reason, then it's all peachy! Enjoy your new title for just £34.99.
If true, it's an interesting business decision from Nintendo, sacrificing a percentage of their profits from new game sales at the risk of selling Amiibo, and it seemingly works out better for everyone. People who are only interested in the game can pick it up cheaper, the lower base cost will bring in new customers, customers may also pick up an Amiibo as well (and when they do, I imagine many will buy more than one).
I wonder how this will affect their remaining releases in the second half of this year. Miyamoto has already teased that Starfox Wii U will include Amiibo support, so will we see that title release at this lower RRP? Xenoblade Chronicles X I think will still be full priced, but what about Zelda Wii U?
What do you think?
This is something I haven't really seen talked about around here much, especially with some new Wii U owners finding prices of previous years titles still going for around £40-£50 (Pikmin 3, Mario 3D World etc).
It seems to have begun with Captain Toad Treasure Tracker back in December/January. For those unaware, Captain Toad is a spinoff title to Super Mario 3D World, greatly expanding the Captain Toad levels into their own game while reusing a bunch of assets to keep the costs down. It was a stopgap release with a much smaller development time, and so when it was revealed the RRP of the title was £34.99 and not the usual £49.99, a lot of us were very pleased, if not exactly surprised.
However since Captain Toad each Nintendo first party release this year has kept this same RRP, even for titles you wouldn't typically view as a budget release. Titles such as Mario Party 10, Yoshi's Wooly World and even their big new IP Splatoon. Just take a look at the Nintendo UK online store , who sell at RRP to see what I mean (I've included an Amazon link to Yoshi's Wooly World, as it is not listed on Nintendo UK at this time);
Captain Toad Treasure Tracker - £34.99
http://store.nintendo.co.uk/games-wii-u/captain-toad-treasure-tracker/11029174.html
Mario Party 10 - £34.99
http://store.nintendo.co.uk/games-wii-u/mario-party-10/11073629.html
Kirby and the Rainbow Paintbrush - £34.99
http://store.nintendo.co.uk/games-wii-u/kirby-and-the-rainbow-paintbrush/11095320.html
Splatoon - £34.99
http://store.nintendo.co.uk/games-wii-u/splatoon-t-shirt-m/11100904.html
Yoshi's Wooly World - £34.85
http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B00KL324J6/
It's an interesting move from Nintendo, especially for their big name IP flagship games. Traditionally they'd be price quite high, and retain their value for a long, long time. So what's changed?
Well, the elephant in the room is lacklustre sales of the Wii U itself. It's certainly more enticing to pick up a Wii U console if the games are cheaper than the competition from day one.
However, I think that we also have the success of Amiibo to thank for these lower priced releases. Nintendo want to sell Amiibo to their customers (big surprise I know!). With titles such as Splatoon and Yoshi's Wooly World releasing alongside dedicated Amiibo figurines (Inkling Girl, Boy and Squid, and Yarn Yoshi's), Nintendo can now suggest you to pick up the game, and an Amiibo for the old RRP of £49.99. If you don't want an Amiibo for whatever reason, then it's all peachy! Enjoy your new title for just £34.99.
If true, it's an interesting business decision from Nintendo, sacrificing a percentage of their profits from new game sales at the risk of selling Amiibo, and it seemingly works out better for everyone. People who are only interested in the game can pick it up cheaper, the lower base cost will bring in new customers, customers may also pick up an Amiibo as well (and when they do, I imagine many will buy more than one).
I wonder how this will affect their remaining releases in the second half of this year. Miyamoto has already teased that Starfox Wii U will include Amiibo support, so will we see that title release at this lower RRP? Xenoblade Chronicles X I think will still be full priced, but what about Zelda Wii U?
What do you think?