Topic: More Free Games In the Nintendo DSi Shop

We should get more free games to download. I can't afford to run into town 20 miles away to get a refill card. My parents give me my own credit card but they don't want things like this on the statement every month. Flipnote Studio and the free Web app dont do much either. The web can't do everything my cell phone web can do, like load videos, buy things from ebay. Thank You for your time.......

If the devs don't want to, they won't. It's as simple as that.

Are you new, Benjamin? If so, welcome to NintendoLife.

In a fair world, If Nintendo can release a simple (but functional) animation studio app for free, they can also offer crappy clocks and calculators for free. But they don't.

A free channel for the Wii would be welcome as well.

My name is benjamin too, hehehe, but I absolutely agree with you. There should be more free apps, just look at the app store for the ipod touch/iphone! There are hundereds of free applications! The DSiware shop is ridiculously overpriced, and most of the apps are horrible!

Example 1:

Sure they could make some of the games free, but how are the developers going to be making any money by doing so. Its how they put food on the table. Why would they work so hard to make a game and not get any benefit from it?

Exactly, the only free apps are ones that add some functionality and the two on there are pretty much just marketting points. I don't really think you can expect much of anything to be given away because even the big companies need to pay their employees!

I think the only way I could see a free game being on the shop is if it was episodic and the first episode was free.

I agree that there should be more free games, but I also agree with Ashman. About the only free games I can see are demos for games like MFC, Mario Vs. DK, Trajectile, the tower defense games on here and just about every Gameloft game. However, developers could also put demos of actual DS games like Pokémon for download.

Demos would certainly be something really cool for them to do. They started doing this on the Wii a while back, from what I recall. I also wouldn't mind being able to download trailers and gameplay videos like you can on the Wii. I tend to look for these sorts of things before I buy a game to have a better grasp on them, but sometimes it's nearly impossible to find them on YouTube (couldn't find any Number Battles videos, for example).

I suspect the download limitations they impose on DSiWare prevents them from doing something like this, however.

More stuff should be free. some dsiware and DS game demos should be on the service and free. if they were to actually to release something free on the dsiware it should be a youtube app or a DSi speak channel or something like that.

Here's the hard truth people: iPhone development kit is FREE and is free to post on the app store, which is why there are a lot of free apps from different companies. But it costs some serious dollar to get developing for Nintendo. Which in turn is why there's tons of free apps on the iPhone and not on the DSi. But remember that there are better games on the DSiWare service than on the iPhone.

So the conclusion is:

development costs: iPhone better

Apps: iPhone better

But quality gaming: DSiWare better

So if you want more apps, get an iPhone or iPod touch, but if you want true gaming, stick to DSiWare and remember to do your homework before complaining next time.

How about some free WiiWare?

I already know that. In fact, I have developed a few Iphone apps myself. What I meant was that there are so many demos that cost around $10 for a game that you could buy as a cartridge with about 5 times the amount of content, and three times the price. Also, the space limit is horrible, and the only way to make a good game is to make it in episodes, instead of trying to cram it into that miniscule 20 MB, whereas the iphone app size limit is a whopping 2 gigabytes! I believe you misconstrue what I said originaly, and for that, I apologize for putting a poorly worded comment in this thread.

@Vander: I dunno...iPhone has Color Cross. I had to import a European retail copy on DS for about $20 because I don't have an iPhone to download the $3.99 game. The one problem iPhone REALLY has is the lack of buttons. That is just plain STUPID, STUPID, STUPID!

Agreed. I still vote they should split up older Ace Attorney games for DSiWare and offer the first case from the first game free to entice people to buy the rest. That would be WAAAAAY better than the WiiWare ports!

Naw. The SDK is free, but you have to register with the iPhone Development Program to get a developer's license to submit it to the App Store, which is $99 I think. But everything else is spot-on.
EDIT: Actually, there is a free iPDP for universities, but there are many restrictions.

Yep, I got the HTC Hero wich runs the Android App Market, and its the same thing. Tons of Free stuff, even from the same developers as on DSiWare. Thing is, DSiWare should offer the same thing as the phones. You download a bit of the game and if you like it you pay and then get the remaining parts of the game, and Nintendo need to get real with their cost to compete. Hell they are only the richest company in !@#$% WORLD. You would think of all companies, they would be the one to lighten up a bit.

Darn, I thought that this thread was saying that there was new free stuff.
But yeah, I 100% agree with you. Eventually there is going to be something else free, but as of now, the shop is still developing, and 2-10 dollars really isnt that much for a download. Give it some time. But look on the bright side, we have flipnote; it never gets old.

All of Gamelofts 800 point game are way over priced, IMHO.