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eraFROMAN

One Winged Slayer
Member
Mar 12, 2019
2,874
You sell the hardware to people that wouldn't buy otherwise, you get a good set of numbers for the results meetings, and the ecosystem grows, allowing for more game sales, etc, down the road. Also, if you sell well, you can afford the odd sale for your image.
 

Shadoken

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,204
Next year, that strategy would make a lot of sense. The people who were in, would be in. The fence straddlers may be persuaded. But we've seen that Switch has consistently been selling well. It doesn't really need to rope more people into the ecosystem that weren't already going to.

Same thing with Apple. They don't discount their stuff. That's because there's a loyal 60 million people every year buying their ridiculously priced (but very high quality) products.

Well when you buy a phone there isn't really a guarantee that you will spend any additional money on it. And even if you do its usually quite small like apps..etc.
However someone buying a Switch is bound to buy some games , something they were never intended on buying.

Ecosystem growth is super important for the Switch. Unlike Apple where all recent phones are on the same ecosystem.
Developers will pump more games to the Switch has more sales. Which in turn gets Nintendo more money because they get a cut.
 

EloKa

GSP
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
1,905
It's almost like marketing strategies are focused on creating a constant growth within the long run.
 
OP
OP
Kieli

Kieli

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
3,736
You sell the hardware to people that wouldn't buy otherwise, you get a good set of numbers for the results meetings, and the ecosystem grows, allowing for more game sales, etc, down the road. Also, if you sell well, you can afford the odd sale for your image.

That's precisely what happened to me for the Vita. Sony charged an insane amount for the proprietary SD cards, which dissuaded me from buying the system. Their loss. Vita needed all the life support it could get, but Sony was too busy trying to get the best margins they could on ancillary add-ons.
 

Deleted member 5159

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
1,704
I love Steam sales. I enjoy PSN sales too. I get most of my games this way.

I waited a couple months for DMC, and it was discounted from $80 --> $53 or something.

Point is Nintendo doesn't do this, and they don't need to.

i too, have been buying a lot of discounted games on the nintendo eshop
 

Gyro Zeppeli

Member
Oct 27, 2017
5,289
Nintendo ain't a charity. They ain't your friend. They're a business and businesses make money.

Sometimes I wonder about some posters on here. Dude. We're all consumers. However we can save money is a win for us. That's right. Businesses are not our friends, yet you are doing a terrific job going to bat for them.
 

Dog of Bork

Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,988
Texas
Sometimes I wonder about some posters on here. Dude. We're all consumers. However we can save money is a win for us. That's right. Businesses are not our friends, yet you are doing a terrific job going to bat for them.
No you don't get it

The company that sells you stuff is there to sell you stuff

Ok? Get it now? They. Sell. You. Stuff.
 

scar654

Member
Oct 27, 2017
337
Wishing for a discount doesn't mean it will be granted. I wish paying less for things I want. Can't people ask for it?
 
OP
OP
Kieli

Kieli

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
3,736
Sometimes I wonder about some posters on here. Dude. We're all consumers. However we can save money is a win for us. That's right. Businesses are not our friends, yet you are doing a terrific job going to bat for them.

I'm not saying it's a good thing or a bad thing. I'm trying to explain why it's not logical to expect discounts so early in the lifespan of something that's successful.

If they discounted the Switch Lite at BF, I'd probably get one. If they don't discount, I don't get one.

I'm not here praising Nintendo.
 

xxracerxx

Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
31,222
I'm not saying it's a good thing or a bad thing. I'm trying to explain why it's not logical to expect discounts so early in the lifespan of something that's successful.

If they discounted the Switch Lite at BF, I'd probably get one. If they don't discount, I don't get one.

I'm not here praising Nintendo.
But who needs this explanation though? Who?

This is the biggest "actually..." thread there is, right now.
 

Clay

Member
Oct 29, 2017
8,107
That's precisely what happened to me for the Vita. Sony charged an insane amount for the proprietary SD cards, which dissuaded me from buying the system. Their loss. Vita needed all the life support it could get, but Sony was too busy trying to get the best margins they could on ancillary add-ons.

What do you think, they're just going to give away memory cards? Sony ain't a charity. They ain't your friend. They're a business and businesses make money.
 
OP
OP
Kieli

Kieli

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Oct 28, 2017
3,736
What do you think, they're just going to give away memory cards? Sony ain't a charity. They ain't your friend. They're a business and businesses make money.

And the Vita business suffered for it. Look me in the eye and tell me that the Vita is a success.
 

Clay

Member
Oct 29, 2017
8,107
And the Vita business suffered for it. Look me in the eye and tell me that the Vita is a success.

I just think it's funny that you see how putting short-term profit above all else caused the Vita to fail, but somehow you struggle to see why it might make sense for Nintendo to discount the Switch Lite on one of the year's biggest shopping days.
 

danhz

Member
Apr 20, 2018
3,231
Its okay if they dont want to make sales, i wait to buy nearly all of them 2nd handed and nintendo gets 0 mon it.
 

EloKa

GSP
Verified
Oct 25, 2017
1,905
Nintendo is an outlier. Look at the price for pretty much any game that isn't Nintendo a year out. It's like bargain bin prices.
That's not an outlier, its just a different variation of the same old tactic.
In this case you force the market to keep the prices of your products high (creating additional "fictional value" by doing so) which causes that people will tend to wait for the few special sales like black friday, easter and holiday sales. During these sales Nintendo will get an immense boost in sold unites. They are basically creating artificially imposed shortfalls which will be covered during these peak sale periods.

Nintendo could easily offer regular discounts and that would give a small boost to their average sales but they would also lose their biggest sale potential during those special sales. Nintendo isn't a better company or in a better position than others, it just comes with additional fictional value created by a marketing strategy.

Also simply throwing a "20% OFF!" badge onto your product during a special sale is often much cheaper than paying for regular marketing.
 
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Champion

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
2,888
Tampa, FL
Look me in the eye and tell me that the Vita is a success.
tenor.gif
 

Shadoken

Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,204
If they discounted the Switch Lite at BF, I'd probably get one. If they don't discount, I don't get one.

There are many people , especially on BF who will get one if they see a big shiny $50 off and probably buy something else if theres no discount.
Nintendo would rather get that customer to themselves than lose it.

Its not like they always do this , Black Friday is usually the time of year where many people make impulse purchases.
 

dom

â–˛ Legend â–˛
Avenger
Oct 25, 2017
10,427
On the flipside, why didn't the Wii U ever see a price reduction?
 

Shairi

Member
Aug 27, 2018
8,536
As a businessman, I want them to sell it for the maximum price that consumers can tolerate.

First of all, why do you want them to sell it for the maximum price as a buisnessman? Are you a Nintendo executive? If not, how does it provide any benefit to you as a buisnessman? Why would a buisnessman want high prices for consumer products he doesn't sell?

Secondly i hope you aren't a buisnessman because you will have very limited success if you live by these words. A buisness is more than just asking for the highest possible price. If that's the only thing you care about, your client/consumer relationship will sour. Thats not how good companies act on the market.

And yes, Nintendo's pricing policy prevents me from putting too much money into their ecosystem. Not only does it make economic sense to drastically cut the prices of their games after 3-4 years, but it would also allow more people to experience Nintendo franchises and grow the fanbase for the future.

It's a shame that Nintendo as a company that has children and teenagers as their target group, prevents poorer families to experience Nintendo games, even after 4-5 years.

And it's a shame that people justify the greed of a company with the fact that the games sell anyway.
 
Oct 31, 2017
8,613
Consumers love discounts, that's all.

And if a product sells, there's no reason to drop the price.

That's pretty much it.

Point is Nintendo doesn't do this, and they don't need to.

They do though, it's just a little too soon for "Nintendo Selects" games :P

I mean, the PS4 sells like crazy too and they frequently discount

It depends on where you live. I wouldn't be surprised if you were located in the USA!
 
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catpurrcat

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,789
Because discounting a product on the biggest selling day of the year gets more people into your ecosystem? This is not hard to understand.

This. Exactly.
Look at that Sony PS4 BF bundle and those 100m console sales numbers during supposedly the generation where consoles were supposed to be gone. Discounting works wonders, in conjunction with A+ software.
 
OP
OP
Kieli

Kieli

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
3,736
First of all, why do you want them to sell it for the maximum price as a buisnessman? Are you a Nintendo executive? If not, how does it provide any benefit to you as a buisnessman? Why would a buisnessman want high prices for consumer products he doesn't sell?

Secondly i hope you aren't a buisnessman because you will have very limited success if you live by these words. A buisness is more than just asking for the highest possible price. If that's the only thing you care about, your client/consumer relationship will sour. Thats not how good companies act on the market.

And yes, Nintendo's pricing policy prevents me from putting too much money into their ecosystem. Not only does it make economic sense to drastically cut the prices of their games after 3-4 years, but it would also allow more people to experience Nintendo franchises and grow the fanbase for the future.

It's a shame that Nintendo as a company that has children and teenagers as their target group, prevents poorer families to experience Nintendo games, even after 4-5 years.

And it's a shame that people justify the greed of a company with the fact that the games sell anyway.

Libraries are starting to catch up and have after-school/weekend gaming events. Game consoles, PCs, etc... If you are poor, you can go to one of these to play those games.


This. Exactly.
Look at that Sony PS4 BF bundle and those 100m console sales numbers during supposedly the generation where consoles were supposed to be gone. Discounting works wonders, in conjunction with A+ software.

Did they do this on the first year of PS4 Slim? PS4 Pro?
 

StallionDan

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
7,705
Selling two games at $40 is better than selling one at $60.

Nintendo prices keep me away from their systems.

I guess it a balance of milking the die hard fans for full price all gen or expanding the userbase and making the difference up in increases sales.
 

catpurrcat

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,789
Next year, that strategy would make a lot of sense. The people who were in, would be in. The fence straddlers may be persuaded. But we've seen that Switch has consistently been selling well. It doesn't really need to rope more people into the ecosystem that weren't already going to.

Same thing with Apple. They don't discount their stuff. That's because there's a loyal 60 million people every year buying their ridiculously priced (but very high quality) products.

i see your point, but apple/phones aren't an ideal comparison because people do buy phones on payment plans, tabs, and trade in credits. So in that sense they are discounted (for you finance folks, time-value of money).
 

Servbot24

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
43,040
I think I'll swing by Wal-Mart and buy a third Switch. I love watching Nintendo's profits grow!
 

catpurrcat

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,789
Libraries are starting to catch up and have after-school/weekend gaming events. Game consoles, PCs, etc... If you are poor, you can go to one of these to play those games.




Did they do this on the first year of PS4 Slim? PS4 Pro?

Yes. PS4 Pro was discounted 10% ($50) in Canada at ebgames during the first few weeks of release. I had zero intention of upgrading until I saw that offer.
 
OP
OP
Kieli

Kieli

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Banned
Oct 28, 2017
3,736
Yes. PS4 Pro was discounted 10% ($50) in Canada at ebgames during the first few weeks of release. I had zero intention of upgrading until I saw that offer.

Ok, that's really cool. Gonna be honest, I really don't see why Sony (or EB?) would have discounted it during release week(s), but it's a good thing.
 

Bricktop

Attempted to circumvent ban with an alt account
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
2,847
Nintendo ain't a charity. They ain't your friend. They're a business and businesses make money.

Do you work for Nintendo? Otherwise, what's your point? Are we, as consumers, supposed to give a shit about why their prices don't go down?

Why are you all ra ra for prices not dropping? It's very fanbiyish of you.
 

BasilZero

Member
Oct 25, 2017
36,329
Omni
You know what

Instead of reducing prices , I think all games should be $120

Ps+ , Nintendo online and all should be $100 per month and consoles should be $1000 a piece

I agree with OP, fuck the consumers!!!!

/s
 
OP
OP
Kieli

Kieli

Self-requested ban
Banned
Oct 28, 2017
3,736
If you think consumers are going to tolerate those prices, I have a bridge to sell you.
 

The Cellar Letters

lmayo
Member
Oct 25, 2017
4,136
Couldn't agree more. Sony is selling straight up critically reviled trash like God of War and Persona 5 for $15 on Black Friday. Lol why. Wouldn't play em for free.
 

Deleted member 31817

Nov 7, 2017
30,876
Because people prefer to buy things when they're cheap??
 

JustinH

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,379
I think the idea is that the people who really wanted thing already bought it at full price, and with a discount it'll just get more people who were on the fence or just needed some push to buy when otherwise they wouldn't?

I dunno, I wan't a marketing major lol...
 

SupremeWu

Banned
Dec 19, 2017
2,856
When I was a kid games cost up to and including $80. And that's in 1990 dollars!

Imagine complaining about a $60 game that probably lasts over 100 hours. We had to mow 20 lawns for 10-hour games and we were lucky if they weren't glitched to death!

..that's it. That's all I'm bringing to the table.
 
Nov 11, 2017
1,583
Software
Every time I see these threads I am confused (less and less each time) that some people put their cheerleading of mega corporations ahead of their own interests.

Congrats on liking Nintendo I guess OP. Hopefully people looking for deals on their products doesn't keep you up too late at night.
/thread

"As a businessman, I want them to sell it for the maximum price that consumers can tolerate." Fkn lol.
 
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matrix-cat

Member
Oct 27, 2017
10,284
Every time I see these threads I am confused (less and less each time) that some people put their cheerleading of mega corporations ahead of their own interests.

Congrats on liking Nintendo I guess OP. Hopefully people looking for deals on their products doesn't keep you up too late at night.

Seriously. I've honestly lost count of the number of times I've seen "Uh, actually, they're a business, and business exist to make money" posted online. What drives people to make these threads?
 

SupremeWu

Banned
Dec 19, 2017
2,856
Seriously. I've honestly lost count of the number of times I've seen "Uh, actually, they're a business, and business exist to make money" posted online. What drives people to make these threads?

It's not that mysterious. Lots of folks complain Nintendo doesn't discount or go on sale enough, and some fans want to point out that they really don't need to.

Yes it would be nice to get a sweet Switch bundle on black friday but the fact that we don't shouldn't be a point of anger or mystery. (which it sometimes seems to be)
 

Deleted member 12790

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 27, 2017
24,537
Because for many console makers, their primary form of monetezation isn't selling the consoles and games directly. Those are marginal to their sales, actually, the vast majority of console maker's profits come from licensing to 3rd parties. Licensing per game on these consoles is a ton of money, per devkit, per cert certification, etc. Before a single game is sold, the console manufacturers make money.

1st party games exist primarily to push console sales, they care about getting consoles in the hands of more people so that they have a larger market presence, so that third parties will have a bigger potential audience, so that they will develop more for the system, which means more money to the console maker.

If the consoles are selling well, but not well enough to attract third parties to develop for the system, then it's worth lowering the cost during a sale, to spur the market, to spur 3rd party development. Unlike a single console or single video game sale, continued third party development is a money maker continuously.