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Switch Game Prices getting lower in the UK
- Thread starter bomblord1
- Start date
They are also too much, nobody is buying those either.
I got a New 3DS XL used for ~£100 (in surprisingly good condition) and I wouldn't have paid much more.
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=0WPteMFkI2k
I mean, be fair, that reputation isn't completely undeserved.
Even for kids advertising, it's offensive. When you were young would you have told your friends that clean is better than dirty and the world's a special place?
Is that why the 3DS was sold out everywhere last month?
I believe in Europe companies can't set a recommended price, and that the retailers are the ones that set the price. That's the reason that Kimishima-san didn't announce an official price at Switch presentation last week. So I don't think this is Nintendo lowering prices, but retailers getting caught on a greedy mood...
Not sure if the same rules applies on UK since not all European recommendations applies there.
Not sure if the same rules applies on UK since not all European recommendations applies there.
Sir_Crocodile
Member
Okay, HERE we go:
Using Amazon's BIGTHANKS (£10 off over £50 until end of Jan 20) you can get Zelda + MK8 for £80.98 w/ Prime. £40.49 each!
Add them both to basket, use BIGTHANKS
Cheers man. MK8D & 12S for £66
No, you're right. And I kind of rolled my eyes at Miiverse's loading screen. Being accessible for all ages doesn't mean looking cute and friendly. In Japan, yeah, maybe. But their stance on those aspects of design is different to overseas right?
But around Playstation 2 is kind of when Nintendo literally turned into childs play. Back in high school, I remember handing a friend SSBM during break — some one caught eye of it, snatched it, and flipped over how awkward it is to be owning a Mario/Pokemon game. Tastes back then were obviously around watching and doing stuff before you're legally allowed to. Being adult before you actually are. Playstation 1+2 carried games that had mature content, and it helps that GTA is a gigantic groundbreaking AAA franchise.
Cheers man. MK8D & 12S for £66
Does Amazon Prime need to be active on release day for the discount? Or can I start the 30 day trial now and pre-order it with the discount?
Donniewahlberg
Banned
I'll add that as a kid, we had a Master System, a Mega Drive then a Playstation. I never had a Nintendo console until the gamecube, since it was the first console I saved up for and bought myself. That said, plenty of people I know had Nintendo consoles, especially the N64. You will find plenty of people my age that will gush about Golden Eye & Mario Kart 64, or the big platformers like Mario 64 or Banjo.
Android18a
Member
I just think the 'value' of a game is pretty set in most people's minds.
I tend to think of an indie/budget game as being £20-25, a mid-tier game as £30-35 and a top tier game as £35-45 (although certain retailers charge more or less, obviously).
I think if the average customer walked into a game store and the budget games were all £49.99 and the higher games were all £59.99, they'd pretty quickly just nope out of that store. It's hard to justify that kind of money on a videogame when you've got food and bills to cover.
£35 or less gets into that "Oh, go on then..." price mentality where you can just about justify the purchase.
I tend to think of an indie/budget game as being £20-25, a mid-tier game as £30-35 and a top tier game as £35-45 (although certain retailers charge more or less, obviously).
I think if the average customer walked into a game store and the budget games were all £49.99 and the higher games were all £59.99, they'd pretty quickly just nope out of that store. It's hard to justify that kind of money on a videogame when you've got food and bills to cover.
£35 or less gets into that "Oh, go on then..." price mentality where you can just about justify the purchase.
Donniewahlberg
Banned
100% agree, and personally I don't think there's too much to worry that these prices will hold, it's just retailers trying their luck at launch. If you check price history for say Knack on amazon (I won't even entertain what Game were asking), it initially went up for pre-order at £55, dropped to £46-48 over the pre-order period, & it only started to drop realistically once the machine and games were out and retailers started to actually compete, and reviews were out there. You see a similar pattern for Killzone Shadow Fall, except that does actual peak up towards £50 again post release a few times, as late as the February as the PS4 came out.
All that to say, this is a historical norm and the prices will come down. In fact I tend to find in my own experience you can buy a Nintendo game on average for cheaper than the others, closer to the £30 mark, but it will hold that price for much much longer than other platforms.
Typically when I walk in to GAME, new PS4 and XBONE titles are around £54.99-£59.99 anyway
geordiemp
Member
My Son is 13 - he has 360 and Ps4 - he plays in Clans and big parties - typically they will play a bit of Destiny (6 in party), then switrch to GTA 5 / Division / Rocketleague / COD / TF2 / FIFA
They jump around in large parties with school mates, often facetime as well - games are large coop games online.
He never heard of Switch, neither has his mates, Nintendo been dead since Wii craze when kids moved over to party gaming and minecraft.
Nintendo does not understand beyond Japan and their hardcore fans is my take, and thats not changing anytime soon.
Note he takes an Ipad and an Iphone 6s into school, they use IPADs in class, game on them on bus to school. He has a 3ds and a VITA, not turned them on in a few years lol, He only bought VITA to remote play on his Ps4, does not bother anymore.
His friends that are not on Ps4 are on XB1, same story.
My 5 year old nephew is mad about Pokémon at the moment and has got a 3DS and several games now (Mario Party, Pokémon and others). I have anecdotal evidence to offer too
Teenage boys would likely be the worst audience for Nintendo as they want "cool"/"mature" games, not Nintendo titles, so they'd never be seen dead with a console/game that people think are cartoony/kiddy.
geordiemp
Member
My 5 year old nephew is mad about Pokémon at the moment and has got a 3DS and several games now (Mario Party, Pokémon and others). I have anecdotal evidence to offer too
.
Yup, my son was Wii, then he got to 8 and wanted to play COD (peers), got him into twin stick through Ratchet clank. At 10 all kids want to play GTA / COD / Destiny with their school mates in parties and insult each others mums (LOL) - thats why 360 did so well in UK (party chat culture), and why Ps4 has taken off (party chat, share play, streaming). You know its coming for him.
Dead_Pixel
Banned
It's kippers and champagne time, chaps.
Jezbollah
Member
Okay, HERE we go:
Using Amazon's BIGTHANKS (£10 off over £50 until end of Jan 20) you can get Zelda + MK8 for £80.98 w/ Prime. £40.49 each!
Add them both to basket, use BIGTHANKS
Any way to add this to my previous purchase?
Thinking I wanna add to my switch pre-order....
Donniewahlberg
Banned
Fundamentally different prospects though to fair. Not just in what the device does and how it does it, but in entirely different types of software. I'd wager that whether Zelda at launch, Splatoon in summer or Mario in winter is enough to justify the cost, is a much more relevant problem than what the cost of a PS4 is.
The answer could definitely be no and that the software library they build over the next 9 months does not entice people to put down for a switch, but I always got the idea that when someone goes into a game store or online to purchase a console in this day and age that they have a vague idea of what kind of games they like and how they want to play them. You could legit flip flop between an xbox or playstation on a given day if all you want to do is play third party western games at home. If you went in wanting a Nintendo system, or a portable system, I think you would go in asking whether $300 is too much for that, look at a 3ds etc. You don't suddenly want a playstation, nor do you necessarily want one for your kid if the goal is something for the car and so on.
Also, for Nintendo's goals and ambitions, the Ps4 can be what price it likes, it hasn't stopped Japanese gamers heading to mobile only, and that is a main priority here, to provide a system and ecosystem between mobile, 3ds and the switch, to prevent the very culture of playing games to change completely for everyone in the business over there.
Okay, HERE we go:
Using Amazon's BIGTHANKS (£10 off over £50 until end of Jan 20) you can get Zelda + MK8 for £80.98 w/ Prime. £40.49 each!
Add them both to basket, use BIGTHANKS
Using that, 1-2 Switch is only £25.... I'm actually tempted!
Jezbollah
Member
The thing is, when it comes to the market here, people tend to learn towards value just as much as each product's unique offering. The fact that people can get Switch's competitor and two, three, maybe four games is quite alluring.
Switch will come down in price eventually, and they will release more games for it. It just has to face the fact it's going up against two very well established platforms (as usual).
Toadthemushroom
Member
Yeah, it makes more sense that Switch would cater towards the enthusiast audience first (who would also ensure a high attach rate like with Vita) than a wider audience or even the "core" audience that only plays AAA games.
If they didn't it'd just be another Wii U anyway - which launched with 32 games of varying genres and, er, quality.
MarkMclovin
Member
And today you can get another £10 if you spend £50 or more. Today only.
EDIT - I'm way late.
EDIT - I'm way late.
Yautja_Warrior
Member
Yep I just did that, ordered 1-2 Switch and Mario Kart.
1-2 Switch will be great for house parties, as some friends have kids but we are all big kids really, when the drinks start flowing lol
I dunno , the Mega Drive was more popular than the SNES then Nintendo thought £80 games in 1997on the N64 composing with Playstation was a good idea....that the equivalent of £105 games in 2017.
Donniewahlberg
Banned
Mmm, well we'd have to agree that the Ps4 or xbox one are the switch's competitors, and that's what people who actually want a Nintendo device turn to when they found the Wii U wanting or not, but I do totally agree people look for value and might buy something else, for themselves or for their children, in the face of that price, or moreso may just stick with a device they already have.
As I mentioned, price low or high, it doesn't change the fact Japan has turned to mobile, I would say the consumers Nintendo want here have lapsed gaming or turned to mobile and so on but outside of debating where people turn, I think we agree that £280 is a risky price and whether they can entice people with their proposed line up on a large enough scale is certainly in the air. I think Nintendo want core hardcore users to jump straight in, and for the larger audience to transition slowly. Mobile, to 3ds, to switch, over time as they grow mindshare with them.
MatrixMan.EXE
Member
They're also overpriced.
To be fair it is usually the case that games stay closer to RRP for a new console launch.
Opus Angelorum
Member
Especially the 3DS.
MatrixMan.EXE
Member
Seriously. It's approaching 6 years old and the top end models cost nearly as much as a PS4 or Xbox One.
Exterminieren
Banned
You probably shouldn't let your 8-year-old play COD.
Android18a
Member
And this is why anyone who knows about gaming tends to nope out of Game pretty quickly. Pre-owned games for £45+? Sure.... XD
I used a popular online retailer and pre-ordered Final Fantasy XV, one of the biggest games of last year, for £32.95 back in August. Game were probably asking £59.99 for the same thing.
Resistance100
Member
They can tell retailers and websites what to sell them at. But websites can always sell them at whatever price they want
geordiemp
Member
Who do you think makes up the 20 million a year ? Seriously, 30 year olds play Yoshi, 10 year olds quickscope in COD.
They set the cost that the shops buy them for - distribution prices. So in a way, shops wont go below that.
m.i.s.
Banned
They're losing money on the Wii U so NCL refuse to lower the price of 3DS hardware because it would entail greater losses to their bottom line. ie prospective 3DS owners are having to subsidise losses on the company's console side. That's how badly this company is run.
Yet the market is paying that high 3ds price; even now the 3ds is not widely available bar the very recent stock replenish on amazon.
Given the above from a business perspective, it's good given the circumstances*
*the circumstances being a direct result of bad management during the Wii U inception-release. Gotta do best in the situation and to be clear I'm not saying it's ok either but it is what it is.
m.i.s.
Banned
Like you say, bad situation all round.
Is the market paying that high 3DS price? Would really need to dig into the figures to be able to tell. Also, 3DS not being widely available is not indicative of any great demand situation for the hardware either.
I have to look at it in this way: customer refuses to buy 3DS at a given price and instead buys a competitor product. Customer further buys software, DLC etc for that competitor product. Had NCL lowered the price of the 3DS to market levels [plus "reasonable" profit], NCL would easily offset the lowered cost by all future software purchases for.that customer and all future customers.
The market is indeed paying that much to my surprise too. And it was going second hand for high prices due to the lack of supply (I've been keeping an eye on it for relatives and only now is stock being replenished on Amazon & Nintendo's UK store).
Taking a wider view it seems "good" in the sense that there is demand for a Nintendo handheld at ~£180 in it's 6th year, in the smartphone world, no doubt due to its library.
But yeah it's not ideal dropping £180 on it in its twilight, as a consumer due to the
(very) aging hardware. Software library is excellent however.