7 ms·

Nintendo has such a great, family friendly brand. If I was in charge, I wouldn't want my brand to be anywhere close to being associated to this type of thing.

by Naga 4y ago

deleted 4y ago
[deleted]
minimaxir 4y ago
Mario Kart Tour makes far less money for Nintendo than Fire Emblem Heroes, which has a more traditional Gacha model (that is ironically not as pay-to-win unless you are doing high-end PvP)
whywhywhywhy 4y ago
Grim to see even Nintendo who stand by their principles to such a degree elsewhere find themselves capitulating to garbage mobile profit models when on a phone. iOS and Android app stores are where creativity, quality and talent goes to die. Whole thing could disappear tomorrow and nothing of value would be lost.
- robotnikman 4y ago
  I remember the iOS pp store having tons of creative games when it first launched. You paid once and that was it. I miss those days.
  - guessbest 4y ago
    There still is, but they don't make it to the top of the grossing charts.
  - whywhywhywhy 4y ago
    And my fave games from that era are no longer runnable on modern iOS. Shenzhen Solitaire is probably the only quality pay once game I could name on the current App Store. There was one other but the dev stopped paying for an App Store license.
dfxm12 4y ago
Especially since they have the Switch/Switch Lite, which appear to be great for playing proper Mario Kart on the go.
officeplant 4y ago
Their entire line of mobile apps are just profit mills with little actual gameplay value.
- autoexec 4y ago
  Just like 98% of all mobile games
currymj 4y ago
they didn't initially. their first mobile game, Super Mario Run, cost $10 and had none of the usual manipulative mobile game elements. People did not buy it so they switched to the same F2P nonsense as everyone else for future games.
- hbn 4y ago
  Super Mario Run was also always-online for no reason, you couldn't play without an internet connection. And it wasn't a particularly impressive game. There's no shortage of endless runners on mobile, and Nintendo didn't do much to differentiate themselves, so it's no surprise nobody bought it.
  - mod50ack 4y ago
    I think the always-online thing is a DRM thing. I could be wrong, though. As for the game itself: I've played it, and it's a pretty decent runner with the physics of New Super Mario Bros. Wii/U, but it's just not the same as the more full-fledged games. It's fun to pick up and play, but not groundbreaking or particularly special.
  - repiret 4y ago
    I was really disappointed by that choice. I had wanted to buy it for a plane trip I had shortly after it came out, but being online only, they lost that sale. It seemed like an anti-piracy move because the game didn’t naturally need to be online. But I never thought iPhone app piracy was much of a concern.
  - latexr 4y ago
    And it required making an account to play. Instant uninstall without trying from plenty of people.
  - albrewer 4y ago
    The online-only aspect of it killed it for me. I lived in an area with spotty cell service when it came out, meaning a game that would otherwise be a great time killer was unplayable due to the DRM.
guelo 4y ago
I've never been into Nintendo but after having kids I kept hearing this about how great they are for families so I bought a Switch. That's when I learned what a greedy exploitative platform it is: overcharging for games, nickle and dimeing for everything, and abusing their fan's nostalgia. I definitely don't want to get my kids invested in their platform so I got rid of the Switch. Steam has more than we need anyway. (just wish Steam had better family friendly search filters, why is it impossible to search for games by ESRB rating?!).
- hbn 4y ago
  What games are you being nickle-and-dimed for? I bought Super Mario Odyssey on release day in 2017 and it's never asked me for more money. In fact I think it got a few free content updates. It's the tightly-made, quality video game experience that it was when it came out.
  - tokamak-teapot 4y ago
    I feel like I’ve got my money’s worth for most games on the Switch, too. Mostly a lot more than my money’s worth. Speaking of Super Mario Odyssey, two of us have played it from beginning to end, so we definitely got a lot of fun game time out of the cost!
- jfim 4y ago
  Do you mind elaborating on the "overcharging for games" part? Console games in the 80s were about $45, so games today are actually cheaper if inflation is taken into account.
  - bentley 4y ago
    Games for Nintendo consoles aren’t overpriced relative to games from past generations, but are expensive relative to PC games today. Sales promotions on PC platforms like Steam and GOG are more frequent and provide deeper discounts than Nintendo’s. And while AAA Nintendo games are roughly the same price as AAA games on Steam, old Nintendo AAA games retain much higher prices than old AAA games on Steam. (Example: Mario Kart 8 is nine years old and still sells for $60 not including DLC.) A lot of the major Nintendo games are on sale this week (probably because of March 10 = MAR10), but even the oldest first‐party titles are only down to about $40 at the lowest.
SpaceManNabs 4y ago
PokemonUnite is pretty egregious too.
- greenknight 4y ago
  I swear Pokemon Unite has 5 different currencies. Gems, Tickets, Coins, Fashion Tickets, Holowear tickets. But then there are other items / collector things which can be used to spend on other stuff, like energy. Its super confusing and hard to explain, because it doesnt make sense!
faeriechangling 4y ago
I think they tried to do things clean with games like "Super Mario Run", I think they really really tried and even when it did kind of work investors weren't happy seeing how games like Diablo Immortal was the highest grossing Diablo game ever and Nintendo wouldn't just take the money just sitting there in front of them. I see this game as a capitulation and it's akin to seeing Santa Claus dying. I would support a law against this entire business model on digital app stores, not necessarily a total ban, but something. No company can resist the temptation unless they are forced to. Google and Apple are making tons and tons of cash off unfettered addiction. Good luck though - there's an entire industry making a lot of money off this and a lot of decent jobs that depend on addicts feeding the system.

Nintendo has such a great, family friendly brand. If I was in charge, I wouldn't want my brand to be anywhere close to being associated to this type of thing.

by Naga 4y ago

Nintendo has such a great, family friendly brand. If I was in charge, I wouldn't want my brand to be anywhere close to being associated to this type of thing.

deleted 4y ago

[deleted]

minimaxir 4y ago

Mario Kart Tour makes far less money for Nintendo than Fire Emblem Heroes, which has a more traditional Gacha model (that is ironically not as pay-to-win unless you are doing high-end PvP)

whywhywhywhy 4y ago

Grim to see even Nintendo who stand by their principles to such a degree elsewhere find themselves capitulating to garbage mobile profit models when on a phone. iOS and Android app stores are where creativity, quality and talent goes to die. Whole thing could disappear tomorrow and nothing of value would be lost.

robotnikman 4y ago
I remember the iOS pp store having tons of creative games when it first launched. You paid once and that was it. I miss those days.
- guessbest 4y ago
  There still is, but they don't make it to the top of the grossing charts.
- whywhywhywhy 4y ago
  And my fave games from that era are no longer runnable on modern iOS. Shenzhen Solitaire is probably the only quality pay once game I could name on the current App Store. There was one other but the dev stopped paying for an App Store license.

dfxm12 4y ago

Especially since they have the Switch/Switch Lite, which appear to be great for playing proper Mario Kart on the go.

officeplant 4y ago

Their entire line of mobile apps are just profit mills with little actual gameplay value.

autoexec 4y ago
Just like 98% of all mobile games

currymj 4y ago

they didn't initially. their first mobile game, Super Mario Run, cost $10 and had none of the usual manipulative mobile game elements. People did not buy it so they switched to the same F2P nonsense as everyone else for future games.

hbn 4y ago
Super Mario Run was also always-online for no reason, you couldn't play without an internet connection. And it wasn't a particularly impressive game. There's no shortage of endless runners on mobile, and Nintendo didn't do much to differentiate themselves, so it's no surprise nobody bought it.
- mod50ack 4y ago
  I think the always-online thing is a DRM thing. I could be wrong, though. As for the game itself: I've played it, and it's a pretty decent runner with the physics of New Super Mario Bros. Wii/U, but it's just not the same as the more full-fledged games. It's fun to pick up and play, but not groundbreaking or particularly special.
- repiret 4y ago
  I was really disappointed by that choice. I had wanted to buy it for a plane trip I had shortly after it came out, but being online only, they lost that sale. It seemed like an anti-piracy move because the game didn’t naturally need to be online. But I never thought iPhone app piracy was much of a concern.
- latexr 4y ago
  And it required making an account to play. Instant uninstall without trying from plenty of people.
- albrewer 4y ago
  The online-only aspect of it killed it for me. I lived in an area with spotty cell service when it came out, meaning a game that would otherwise be a great time killer was unplayable due to the DRM.

guelo 4y ago

I've never been into Nintendo but after having kids I kept hearing this about how great they are for families so I bought a Switch. That's when I learned what a greedy exploitative platform it is: overcharging for games, nickle and dimeing for everything, and abusing their fan's nostalgia. I definitely don't want to get my kids invested in their platform so I got rid of the Switch. Steam has more than we need anyway. (just wish Steam had better family friendly search filters, why is it impossible to search for games by ESRB rating?!).

hbn 4y ago
What games are you being nickle-and-dimed for? I bought Super Mario Odyssey on release day in 2017 and it's never asked me for more money. In fact I think it got a few free content updates. It's the tightly-made, quality video game experience that it was when it came out.
- tokamak-teapot 4y ago
  I feel like I’ve got my money’s worth for most games on the Switch, too. Mostly a lot more than my money’s worth. Speaking of Super Mario Odyssey, two of us have played it from beginning to end, so we definitely got a lot of fun game time out of the cost!
jfim 4y ago
Do you mind elaborating on the "overcharging for games" part? Console games in the 80s were about $45, so games today are actually cheaper if inflation is taken into account.
- bentley 4y ago
  Games for Nintendo consoles aren’t overpriced relative to games from past generations, but are expensive relative to PC games today. Sales promotions on PC platforms like Steam and GOG are more frequent and provide deeper discounts than Nintendo’s. And while AAA Nintendo games are roughly the same price as AAA games on Steam, old Nintendo AAA games retain much higher prices than old AAA games on Steam. (Example: Mario Kart 8 is nine years old and still sells for $60 not including DLC.) A lot of the major Nintendo games are on sale this week (probably because of March 10 = MAR10), but even the oldest first‐party titles are only down to about $40 at the lowest.

SpaceManNabs 4y ago

PokemonUnite is pretty egregious too.

greenknight 4y ago
I swear Pokemon Unite has 5 different currencies. Gems, Tickets, Coins, Fashion Tickets, Holowear tickets. But then there are other items / collector things which can be used to spend on other stuff, like energy. Its super confusing and hard to explain, because it doesnt make sense!

faeriechangling 4y ago

I think they tried to do things clean with games like "Super Mario Run", I think they really really tried and even when it did kind of work investors weren't happy seeing how games like Diablo Immortal was the highest grossing Diablo game ever and Nintendo wouldn't just take the money just sitting there in front of them. I see this game as a capitulation and it's akin to seeing Santa Claus dying. I would support a law against this entire business model on digital app stores, not necessarily a total ban, but something. No company can resist the temptation unless they are forced to. Google and Apple are making tons and tons of cash off unfettered addiction. Good luck though - there's an entire industry making a lot of money off this and a lot of decent jobs that depend on addicts feeding the system.