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Discussion Nintendo will continue to support physical media for the forseeable future

Lugia667

Lugia667

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www.nintendolife.com

Nintendo Will Continue To Support Physical Media And "Maximise" All Software Sales

"This policy will remain unchanged going forward"
www.nintendolife.com www.nintendolife.com

Nintendo's digital software sales have grown remarkably over the years — and the same can be said for all of the big publishers. But in terms of where the Big N's focus lies, it's not dedicating itself to a digital-only future.


During the financial results briefing for FY2024, Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa responded to a question about the growth of digital media and the expectations the company have for the "successor to Nintendo Switch" which was announced early this week.


Furakawa recognises how the industry has shifted since the release of the Nintendo Switch, and that "the expanded scale of our digital business can be cited as one of the major changes" for the company. But even with this, Nintendo is adamant that it's not going to be solely focusing on digital sales, but physical media too:


"Our objective is not to simply increase the share of digital sales, but to maximize overall game software sales, including sales of physical software. This policy will remain unchanged going forward."
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Considering others are focusing less and less or trying to phase it out all together it's definitely a welcome statement
 
Good news going forward with the new console, it's nice their traditionally conservative business policies are for the best for once.
 
It's nice to have it confirmed, at least. I didn't think they would phase it out yet, but I wasn't certain. I will continue buying physical as long as I am able, so hopefully that extends into the future.
 
Awesome news. I hope they also find a way to make durable packaging while reducing plastic use. I know some people advocate for cardboard but those boxes are so hard to keep in good condition.
 
When Xbox and PlayStation fully pull out of physical media, Nintendo is going to be the only one with shelf space.

Even in a world where people prefer to do their shopping online, that shelf space advantage matters imo.
 
Excellent. I’ll be funding my Switch 2 by selling on a small chunk of my Switch collection, which is one of the reasons I like physical Nintendo games. They hold their value and I usually get most of my money back when I sell them on even 5 years later.
 
Sin & Punishment said:
When Xbox and PlayStation fully pull out of physical media, Nintendo is going to be the only one with shelf space.

Even in a world where people prefer to do their shopping online, that shelf space advantage matters imo.
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Xbox at least has already begun, with ancedotes about their shelf space at stores disappearing
 
Sin & Punishment said:
When Xbox and PlayStation fully pull out of physical media, Nintendo is going to be the only one with shelf space.

Even in a world where people prefer to do their shopping online, that shelf space advantage matters imo.
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I do believe there is always some advantage to being the only player in a space. Even as physical goes down in popularity, we see piranhas like LRG monopolizing the existing market, because there still is demand. So Nintendo would benefit from being one of the few players left there.
 
Physical games still sell well in Japan and are good for kids, so yeah, I anticipate Nintendo will be printing physical games for a long time.

I'm mostly digital, but I like physical Switch games as an option since they don't take up space like a digital game. This conversely makes physical games less appealing on systems where they install the whole game on there.
 
I'm definitely a cardboard advocate. Switch packaging is really wasteful, so I'm hoping cardboard returns one way or another next time out. Minimise that plastic waste, please. Sturdy cardboard packaging is possible - it doesn't need to be an empty box but could be a reinforced sleeve, essentially, with the cartridge able to be pulled out via an interior tab.

Be interesting to see if there are price hikes for software next time out. I feel there are reasons why Nintendo doesn't need to move upwards on software prices; they're able to maintain full price for the vast majority of releases for years at a time, they make a ton in royalties given how high their first party software sales are, and they also sell to a broader demographic than the other platform holders so perhaps, given the large family market for their games, there's an incentive not price themselves too far out of that demographic.

There'd be other pressures to move upwards though: third parties will want to match prices on other formats and Nintendo might not want their brands to appear 'cheap' by way of comparison, but I also wonder if larger and faster cartridges (presumably required) will be more expensive and lead to price hikes. I don't mind some upwards movement for the most cost-intensive games, but I'd hope we don't see rises across all Nintendo releases.
 
I never believed they wouldn’t, but what I’d really like reassurance on is that backwards compatibility will work for both digital and physical games… I’m just worried we might see a Vita situation with backwards compatibility on the Switch’s successor… I don’t believe Nintendo is likely do to that…but it’s still a possibility that I worry about.
 
Imagine a plot twist where the Switch 2 allows for backwards compatibility for switch games and that's part of the reason they're still doing physical copies. Unlikely, but it'd be big if that happens again.

EDIT: post got ninja'd. Didn't see anyone else mentioning backwards compatibility before I posted.
 
MisterSpo said:
I'm definitely a cardboard advocate. Switch packaging is really wasteful, so I'm hoping cardboard returns one way or another next time out. Minimise that plastic waste, please. Sturdy cardboard packaging is possible - it doesn't need to be an empty box but could be a reinforced sleeve, essentially, with the cartridge able to be pulled out via an interior tab.

Be interesting to see if there are price hikes for software next time out. I feel there are reasons why Nintendo doesn't need to move upwards on software prices; they're able to maintain full price for the vast majority of releases for years at a time, they make a ton in royalties given how high their first party software sales are, and they also sell to a broader demographic than the other platform holders so perhaps, given the large family market for their games, there's an incentive not price themselves too far out of that demographic.

There'd be other pressures to move upwards though: third parties will want to match prices on other formats and Nintendo might not want their brands to appear 'cheap' by way of comparison, but I also wonder if larger and faster cartridges (presumably required) will be more expensive and lead to price hikes. I don't mind some upwards movement for the most cost-intensive games, but I'd hope we don't see rises across all Nintendo releases.
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Cardboard coming back would be awesome. Bring back GBA size boxes!

iu
 
Tye said:
I never believed they wouldn’t, but what I’d really like reassurance on is that backwards compatibility will work for both digital and physical games… I’m just worried we might see a Vita situation with backwards compatibility on the Switch’s successor… I don’t believe Nintendo is likely do to that…but it’s still a possibility that I worry about.
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I mean with the Vita they were going to a completely different medium, it's not likely to be that drastic in this stiutation
 
Lugia667 said:
I mean with the Vita they were going to a completely different medium, it's not likely to be that drastic in this stiutation
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That’s true, but we don’t know how different the Switch successor game cards may be. Though I suppose they’re unlikely to get any smaller than they already are, lol.
 
Me said:
Imagine a plot twist where the Switch 2 allows for backwards compatibility for switch games and that's part of the reason they're still doing physical copies. Unlikely, but it'd be big if that happens again.
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unlikely?

It's highly likely the Switch 2 is backwards compatible with digital AND physical media
 
If they want to sell more than one switch per household they should implement some sort of digital family sharing. Until then, physical is the way for me.
 
Sin & Punishment said:
unlikely?

It's highly likely the Switch 2 is backwards compatible with digital AND physical media
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I've been out of the loop so the "likely" part is a bit lost on me, sorry. Just looked it up right now and see it was confirmed according to TheGamer so whoopsie on my part.
 
While I didn't think they would drop physical games, I always love to hear confirmation on this matter.

I might lose it if Nintendo goes all digital.
 
I'd fucking hope so. I can't buy anything without jumping through hoops online because my government happened to suck. Like even beyond online pushing you to never actually own your stuff, it'd suck for different reasons for me and I'd strongly consider not supporting anything that goes this way
 
I think what's even better than them continuing to support physical media is them not pushing people towards digital. I'm so glad they haven't been participating in the trend of digital deluxe editions.
 
Lugia667 said:
Xbox at least has already begun, with ancedotes about their shelf space at stores disappearing
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In my area, I rarely see more than 5-10 different Xbox titles for sale at a time (outside of dedicated gaming stores). Playstation and especially Nintendo consoles have packed physical sections for the most part, by comparison.
 
Nintendo has no reason to get rid of the cartridge slot. It's inexpensive to manufacture. Game cartridges on the other hand are, and I don't expect every game to get a cartridge version.
 
I mean it literally says "the policy will remain unchanged going forward" it's a bit more definitive than "at the moment"
 
it'll be nice when the day finally comes when we don't have to worry about the entire game being all over the internet for weeks in advance with their games because someone got a physical copy super early but I wasn't expecting that to happen anytime soon so ah well
 
rickyson33 said:
it'll be nice when the day finally comes when we don't have to worry about the entire game being out there for weeks in advance with their games because someone got a physical copy super early but I wasn't expecting that to happen anytime soon so ah well
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Wut?
 
ColdGoldLazarus said:
Wut?
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the internet is often flooded with spoilers for the entire game with Nintendo games weeks in advance because someone gets a copy super early due to a retailer breaking street dates or whatever

as someone that has never cared about physical media it'll be nice when the day comes that I no longer have to worry about that
 
rickyson33 said:
it'll be nice when the day finally comes when we don't have to worry about the entire game being all over the internet for weeks in advance with their games because someone got a physical copy super early but I wasn't expecting that to happen anytime soon so ah well
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🤦
 
rickyson33 said:
the internet is often flooded with spoilers for the entire game with Nintendo games weeks in advance because someone gets a copy super early due to a retailer breaking street dates or whatever

as someone that has never cared about physical media it'll be nice when the day comes that I no longer have to worry about that
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That is a bizarrely selfish reason for not wanting physical games to exist.
 
Jack Nicholson nod dot gif

They already dominate most of the remaining retail space. Until it's no longer feasible to allocate their physical media to stores, why shouldn't they continue to offer both avenues; sales back people clearly enjoy buying physical switch titles more so than PS4/5/Xbox at this point.

As far spoilers go for breaking st dates, they're easy to avoid. That's a non argument.
 
Hailinel said:
That is a bizarrely selfish reason for not wanting physical games to exist.
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yeah I suppose it is

it's annoying to have to tiptoe around it so much though and my experience is somewhat colored by playing games primarily on PC which manages to function perfectly fine without physical copies and doesn't tend to have that sort of thing happen

I don't actually expect it to happen anytime soon so I suppose it's kinda a moot point anyways
 
0
rickyson33 said:
the internet is often flooded with spoilers for the entire game with Nintendo games weeks in advance because someone gets a copy super early due to a retailer breaking street dates or whatever

as someone that has never cared about physical media it'll be nice when the day comes that I no longer have to worry about that
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Maybe I'm wrong here, but isn't it true that a lot of the leaked Nintendo games go out around the time that (digital) review codes are sent out? Or am I mistaken?

Either way, games for Switch that are not Nintendo games and games for Playstation with physical editions do not usually leak as early or as frequently as first-party Nintendo games do. There is a subset of gaming culture where leaking/dumping unreleased Nintendo games is seen as okay or even morally good because "Nintendo bad/anticonsumer". I think that attitude has more to do with the games leaking than the medium that the games are in.

Edit: Looks like most leaks do indeed come from physical cartridge dumping. I don't believe that it is a strong enough reason for Nintendo to abandon the medium.
 
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For what it's worth physical media in both video and music has made a bit of a comeback. Vinyl's trend is well-known and a couple decades old, but DVDs, Blu-rays, and even CDs are slightly up (still not huge) in the last couple years. Sales are still low but I think they'll be around for the foreseeable future. It makes sense, with the balkanization of streaming you can't be sure that movie you liked will be on the same (or any!) streaming service in a year.

I wouldn't be surprised if something similar happens with games eventually.
 
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