Topic: Do they really expect to sell games?

Excuse me, but what's the basis for this?

Ignorance

Yes the 3DS's current lineup is very disappointing (as even Nintendo themselves Stated... well in a way) and considering how games sell on things such as "Steam" and the likes of the "app store" these Prices can seem very steep for games of this quality. Honestly, there should be a huge price drop for Retail games (like brand new $25 for Nintendo brand games and $20 for the other publishers) They wouldn't be losing money (because then more people would buy their products, thus equaling what they already make) "sigh" but this will never happen.

and like a few stated before me, I too wait for them to drop in price these days (which is why right now I'm starting to finally build up my wii library lol)

Aside of my personal taste, NL review scores, for example. Obviously lzbirdboy thinks that these reviews must be based on ignorance ... ... well, most of these present in other sites are even less generous (even more ignorant I guess).

I'll admit the launch line-up was pretty lackluster, but the fall line-up makes up for it.

Fall's releases look absolutely delicious. its about time we see nintendo brand on our gameboxes.

like nintendo said, they admit releasing the 3ds a bit too soon.
even if im angry at it, i have absolutely no doubt this console will be a cult one in time to come. the DS line proved it, as it matured with a huge and amazing game library. but...was it that good at first ? i dont recall that, i was even a bit disapointed like i am now.

the difference is that i carry my 3ds around, everyday, every time. its not just resting on my table or my computer tower. its tagging along my daylife like no consoles ever did.
unless you think the iphone is a console. (its not!)

Many of the bad review scores are based on personal taste. The good 3DS games have a very narrow appeal, and reviewers gave low scores because it's not their kind of game. Most Nintendo games have a much wider target audience, and people expected the same from the 3DS.

My question is more related to how is that launch prices of extreme shovelware are that high. That question is not related to how good or how bad 3DS games are or will be. Obviously free market works fine, but it happens that when a game sells badly because of its low quality/price ratio the main distributors simply stops distributing it and the result is that dev companies conclude that a particular console sells bad (except for Nintendo games again). Looking at how homogeneous the launch prices are independently of the quality of the game I was suspecting that these prices are somewhat agreed between dev companies and Nintendo or if the distribution costs are so high that the added cost of the game itself is insignificant there. Just as an example, Sudoku for 3DS: 37€. I'm not talking about a minigame pack with 100 games being one of them (accidentaly for sure) a Sudoku, I'm talking about a game that is just that, a Sudoku. Yep, that one that probably everyone of you have in many versions and always for free in your smartphones.

Really?

what about this other phone?

cool thread bro

Oh sorry Rift, probably I did express it in a too complex, obscure and tricky way to understand. I'm not asking why most current 3D titles are so bad (nor I'm putting it under discussion), I'm asking how being that bad they can put so high prices and still expect to sell any. Easier now? And that's even worse when you see mithycal companies like Konami following this "fashion".

It's an economics thing. The money that you pay when buying a game does not all go to the developer. Parts also go to the retailer that sold the game to you, the publisher that manufactured/distributed the game to the retailers (and the other places involved in that process), and other chunks goes towards the marketing of the game, paying the costs of producing the game (employee salary, ratings costs, etc.), and whatever's left (if there is any) should be profit to help the developer and/or publisher produce new games. So, while you may pay $40 for a game, the developer/publisher may only get a fraction of that $40 (maybe $15? I'm making up these numbers). While you could always lower the price of the game to make it more attractive to customers, it doesn't change the fact that it costs a certain amount to get the game licensed by the ESRB/PEGI/whoever and a certain amount to make the game cartridge, case, and whatever else is inside the case, so when a game's price is lowered, it's really the dev/publisher taking the risk that more copies will sell and they will make more profit than if they stayed at the original price. In the current economic situation, the $40 price tag (not sure about the European equivalent) of a Nintendo 3DS game is the most likely to turn a profit without reducing sales.

Me too, I was planning on buying it later.

I'll be amazed if it's actually all that good, but it looks pretty cool and more creative than 90% of 3DS games.

and yeah, games not being worth the price is beyond just nothing new. I again point out that at launch the Orange Box cost less than your average 360 game and World of Goo was 1500 Wii points despite being better than everything except half a dozen or so other Wii games (not just Wiiware either). So everytime I get even an only "ok" game for 40-60 dollars, it feels like such a ripoff.

unless you think the iphone is a console. (its not!)

Yes it is.

Totally agree.

As for Pac-Man, I want it for the originals but since the new 3D ones seem terrible and the special edition remakes are outdated, I can't justify the $40.

I remember when games used to be measured in how fun they were and not how much crap was packed into them.

YES, THIS!
I've been thinking this lately while reading some of the criticisms of the 3DS Virtual Console games, particularly Super Mario Land and Kirby's Dream Land. Yes, they're short games, but when we were kids that never mattered. I would just beat the same game like 40,000 times and love it more every time through.

Yeah, the iPhone is definitely coming into its own as a mobile gaming platform, but I gotta say, while there are a lot of fun 5-minute play session type games for the iPhone, there is a huge absence of games that offer any real depth of gameplay experience. Sword & Sworcery is about the only one I can think of, but I'd love to be proved wrong (meaning, I'd love some iPhone recommendations!)