gaming Why don't Nintendo games drop in price?

[Light Diamond 950]

This is something that has concerned me for some time. The usual 3DS/Wii U games from Nintendo like Pokemon, Mario, Zelda and more still cost the same price years later as they did when they first came out. Why is this? Games from all other companies drop in price a few months later.

 

An example would be Pokemon Y. I bought this 2 years ago when it came out for £30, 2 years later it's still the exact same price and hasn't dropped at all. I also wanted to buy a few 3DS games but New Super Mario Bros 2, Zelda remakes, Fire Emblem and more are still at full price years later along with most of the Wii U games. It's kind of hard for me to buy one of these games at full price when they've been out for years as i can just buy a game that has just come out for around the same price.

 

It doesn't seem right because PS4 exclusives like LittleBigPlanet 3, Knack, Bloodborne, The Last of Us Remastered and more have all dropped in price. Xbox One exclusives like Forza, Sunset Overdrive, Halo and games from all other developers drop in price after a few months while Nintendo games don't seem to which they should and i think it would be better for people buying Nintendo consoles and games that the software drops in price so that the people that can afford to buy them at release can and if they want to they can wait for a price drop to save money, as for the people that can't afford to buy games at full price they can wait for a price drop so that they don't miss out, a little idea of mine.

Edited November 15, 2015 by Light Diamond

[Mothra 669]

I remember rhythm thief being £40 on the eshop even though it'd been out for a while, but my local second-hand shop had the boxed version for £8. A whole £32 difference, which is insane! The newer non-pre-owned games (the physical versions at least) do drop in price over here, if only a little, but I agree, they're still a bit extravagant in price.

[Megas 27,748]

It has something to do "devaluing their IP", and Nintendo has an iron grip of their IPs and holds them in very high regard, which is fine.....

 

 

Except when the games in question still go for $50 or $60 even when A) it's been out for several years and  Some of the games are goddamn Wii and DS games.

 

It's partially why I don't buy Nintendo games as much as I want to. It'd really help a lot if they put more of their games on sale and bring back Player's Choice. Their games would fly off store shelves

 

 

As for why used Nintendo games are still pricey? Gamestop's gonna Gamestop. Don't know how it is for other 2nd hand retailers though

Edited December 10, 2015 by Santa Megas

[Lucky Shot 232]

They do, just not the big names you're mentioning like Pokemon.

 

Most video games drop in price because demand for them drops quickly in the few months after release; thus they sell more slowly, thus the price drops in the hope that selling more copies will make up for the reduction in asking price.

 

Most consoles have larger libraries from more developers, and so no one game is particularly iconic for or vital to the console.

 

But because Nintendo lacks the same third-party support, the big name Nintendo games are almost all first-party (i.e. exclusives) and almost all strong "killer apps" for their consoles, so demand for them persists for a much longer time. Pokemon X/Y is still selling steadily at full price, so it hasn't become any cheaper.

 

In addition, Nintendo doesn't offer price protection to retailers (i.e. Nintendo doesn't refund the retailer for games that drop in price), whereas most other large developers do.

Edited November 15, 2015 by Lucky Shot

[Shanks 10,816]

In addition, Nintendo doesn't offer price protection to retailers (i.e. Nintendo doesn't refund the retailer for games that drop in price), whereas most other large developers do.

That does explain a lot, I didn't know companies did that. Nintendo is such as strange company, they are so far ahead on certain things and so far behind on others. Perhaps they should considering doing something like this, they have done well in the portable market but the Wii U just isn't doing that well.

[MAIKUN 262]

I wish all games for the Wii U were a little bit cheaper, maybe like $19.00?

[Kyoshi Frost Wolf 41,705]

It seems Nintendo games, for whatever reason, they hold their value quite a bit over the years. For example, Super 64 DS, a DS LAUNCH title from over 10 years ago, was still at minimum $25 at most stores, it was only until recently that they dropped it in price because the game is now on Virtual Console. Also, a lot of Nintendo games seem to really set themselves apart form each other, minus some exceptions. Like how Mario Kart DS has a lot of things that set it apart from Mario Kart 7 and so on, instead of 7 just feeling like a sequel. 

[cmarston1 5,959]

I don't really know.

It would be really nice if some of these games dropped down to a more reasonable price.

[Courageous Thunder Dash 7,824]

It would be nice, because the most expensive games I've brought were in fact Nintendo games. I remember buying Mario Sports Mix for like $50 and by time tax came along it was almost $60. It was totally outrageous. And I brought Mario Sports Mix after a few months after it's debut.