Virtual Console = Money Saver?
January 31st, 2008Kotaku links to a post at Vintage Computing comparing all of the current Virtual Console releases to their “real world” cartridge values. The verdict that the author makes is that the VC is actually cheaper than if you were to buy the actual cartridges, except potentially in the case of NES games. It’s a fair comparison, but I think there are still other factors to consider:
1) His methodology for comparison seems somewhat flawed. Using a mean average or total price (as he does) may be somewhat useful, but I’d be more interested in seeing a Median price. There are several games that are probably somewhat difficult to find now that are outliers, and therefore more expensive that what you’d expect to pay for most games. Using the median average would provide perhaps a more accurate picture.
2) Even if the median turns out to be more than a VC game, it shouldn’t really matter. Cartridge prices are determined by supply and demand, which is why some will be far more expensive than others. VC games have unlimited supply and therefore are not subject to the same pricing fluctuations as a real cartridge. For instance, just because a Nintendo World Championship 1990 cartridge goes for $12,000 doesn’t mean it’d be a great deal if Nintendo offered it for $5,000 on the VC.
3) Developing and distributing VC games is extremely cheap. Nintendo could probably afford to drop the price a bit on their VC games and still make an extremely healthy profit (if not more healthy, as I’m not convinced they’ve hit the right price to sell-through ratio).
4) Your “ownership” of a VC game is subject to the whim of Nintendo. Nintendo could easily drop the service for their next system, or maybe even make it so you have to re-buy your games yet again. At some point they’ll probably stop supporting the Wii, and if it breaks, I guess you’re out of luck with your VC games.
Now, this is not all to say that there aren’t some huge advantages to VC games as well. They’re obviously extremely convenient, easy to find/access, and instantly gratifying. These are certainly worth something. But just comparing the VC games to their respective cartridge-based versions doesn’t necessarily indicate whether they’re a good value or not.
Posted in Jeff, Nintendo, Virtual Console |
January 31st, 2008 at 11:26 pm
“1) His methodology for comparison seems somewhat flawed. ”
This would explain some thing. I always assumed that overall the VC would be cheaper, but I didn’t expect the delta to be as big as it was.
“2) Even if the median turns out to be more than a VC game, it shouldn’t really matter.”
Even so, one could say, “on the VC, you win some, you lose some” in which case some games are a bargain while others are marginally more expensive. The net of all costs would still be lower on VC I think.
“3) Developing and distributing VC games is extremely cheap. Nintendo could probably afford to drop the price a bit on their VC games and still make an extremely healthy profit (if not more healthy, as I’m not convinced they’ve hit the right price to sell-through ratio).”
I would be interested to see any evidence that lowering the price would increase sales by an amount greater than the price decrease. If you halved the price, I don’t think you would double sales.
“4) Your “ownership” of a VC game is subject to the whim of Nintendo. Nintendo could easily drop the service for their next system, or maybe even make it so you have to re-buy your games yet again. At some point they’ll probably stop supporting the Wii, and if it breaks, I guess you’re out of luck with your VC games.”
I think the first part of this belies the second.
Yes, ownership is subject to the whim of Nintendo to some extent, but the example you give, also perfectly describes the scenario of owning a cartridge playable on a vintage machine.
If your vintage cartridge or machine breaks, you’re out of luck without purchasing another of whatever broke. So whats the difference?
February 1st, 2008 at 1:33 am
“If your vintage cartridge or machine breaks, you’re out of luck without purchasing another of whatever broke. So whats the difference?”
Buying another working vintage machine essentially guarantees that it will work. The same is not true for a Wii, as games are tied to a specific console. If Nintendo stops supporting it, they wouldn’t transfer it over either.
“I would be interested to see any evidence that lowering the price would increase sales by an amount greater than the price decrease. If you halved the price, I don’t think you would double sales.”
I don’t have that data, obviously. But, at least to me, the prices seem a bit inflated. I’m not sure if they’d have to be halved (although I’d personally probably own at least double the games if they did… I own 4 VC games now), but to me they’re just outside the “impulse” buy level.
February 1st, 2008 at 1:53 am
plz talk about no more heroes
http://blog.shacknews.com/blogarticle.x/51029
i heard so many good things about this. this game is punk stamped onto dvd. plz post your review.
February 1st, 2008 at 2:01 am
Laesp-
I don’t have it yet… =( I just bought Zack and Wiki, though, which has been pretty fun.
February 1st, 2008 at 2:06 am
Ok, speaking of No More Heroes, I just went to Amazon to check it out and it says it’s shipping in 1-2 MONTHS. What the hell… did Amazon only get 3 copies of this game? Do we have another case of poor distribution for this game?
February 1st, 2008 at 8:58 am
“Buying another working vintage machine essentially guarantees that it will work. The same is not true for a Wii,”
I see what you’re saying but the inverse is true of vintage machines which I think is more or less a wash. If your vintage cartridge breaks or has problems, you have to buy a new one. Whereas you can back your VC games up to SD card so if they corrupt on the Wii, you can basically get a new copy at no cost. Not so of vintage cartridges. And considering that Nintendo only dropped support of the famicom last year, the Wii should have a pretty long life.
“I don’t have that data, obviously.”
I know, that was my point.
“But, at least to me, the prices seem a bit inflated.”
Some games are, some arent. But then again, the same is true of buying carts on ebay.
“I’m not sure if they’d have to be halved (although I’d personally probably own at least double the games if they did… I own 4 VC games now),”
I own about 10 VC games. If the price was halved, I would probably own about 5 more.
“but to me they’re just outside the “impulse” buy level.”
Again, this is true of some games, but some are no brainers to me.
February 1st, 2008 at 12:09 pm
NMH on Amazon looks in-stock to me…
February 1st, 2008 at 12:24 pm
It says it’s in stock, but also says this:
“Price: $49.99 & eligible for free shipping with Amazon Prime
Availability: Usually ships within 1 to 2 months.”
Maybe it’s just a mistake, but it’s still very strange.