This week brought a major landmark for both Nintendo and Humble Bundle with the aptly named Humble Nindie Bundle. It's the first time that console downloads have featured in the pay-what-you-want platform, allowing gamers in the Americas to pick up eight separate games (some cross-platform) at a fraction of their normal price. The fact it's a first has also contributed to a region-lock, meaning that gamers in PAL regions are missing out on the promotion.
It's a surprise move, however, and in the first of multiple interviews with those involved we caught up with Nintendo of America's Senior Manager in Marketing and Licensing, Damon Baker. The key detail beyond that lengthy job title is that Baker is effectively the current NoA face for the eShop and its dealings with indie developers, stepping into a role that was notably led by Dan Adelman for a number of years.
We discuss how this surprise deal came together.
At what point was the idea of the Humble Nindie Bundle first explored by Nintendo?
We've actually been in conversations with Humble for years but the stars seemed to align with the teams over the past 6 months.
Was it a challenging decision for Nintendo of America conceptually, considering the pay-what-you-want structure of Humble Bundle and its nature of bundling multiple games together?
Ultimately, our goal is to give as much visibility to the Nindie developers as possible, and working with Humble opened the door to increasing that awareness for the great content available on Nintendo eShop.
The concept decision wasn't challenging at all as we're big fans of the Humble organization and what they stand for. We saw it as a great opportunity to combine our audiences in a way that everyone would benefit. Ultimately, our goal is to give as much visibility to the Nindie developers as possible, and working with Humble opened the door to increasing that awareness for the great content available on Nintendo eShop. The challenge was more on the execution, since this was unmarked territory for consoles – we had to sort out a lot of logistics to handle code delivery and financials in order to stay true to those Humble Bundle core messages of pay-what-you-want and bundling.
When working with Humble Bundle was it a smooth process, or were there tricky moments in integrating eShop codes for both Wii U and 3DS within a deal?
It's been an incredibly smooth process, and Humble have been really helpful in providing insight and recommendations based on their expertise in working with developers and charity organizations over the years.
How did you choose the games to be included - did Nintendo of America approach the developers and publishers involved, and what was their initial reaction?
We wanted to make sure that we had a nice representation of Nindies across the board and an even spread of content and genres for both Wii U and Nintendo 3DS. We feel that these are some of the best games available on Nintendo eShop and should be in every person's library. Initial reactions from our partners were generally of surprise that we were actually doing this! But after that, most were very enthusiastic to participate and they all had their fair share of questions on how it would roll out.
What was the criteria to choose Code.org as the charity linked with this bundle?
Code.org is a fantastic nonprofit and one close to our hearts. Making sure that computer science and programming education are available in all schools is a great initiative. Who knows where our next Nindie might come from?
While the eShop stores run consistent sales and promotions, how significant do you feel this Humble Bundle is in the evolution of the eShop, and indeed the Humble Bundle platform?
What we love about Humble Bundle is that it increases the exposure for all these great developers and games to a brand new audience. Our digital-only games are found in the Nintendo eShop and are showcased and presented to consumers in a different way than physical games would be in retail stores. So it's important that we continue to drive awareness and discoverability outside of the shop as well as within.
It's important that we continue to drive awareness and discoverability outside of the shop as well as within.
How would you assess its impact so far in terms of sales and money raised?
We've been blown away by the response from the community! As I've mentioned, the main goal of the program was to increase awareness for these Nindies by reaching a new audience, all while supporting a great cause. We're really "humbled" by the outpouring of support and excited to take learnings from this to see what else we can do in the future.
Were there any particular issues that prevented this from rolling out in other regions, too?
Without going into the boring details there were challenges and issues, but that's because this is uncharted territory. Wii U and Nintendo 3DS are the first consoles/handhelds to collaborate with Humble and we're extremely proud to have been able to create a bundle that appeals to a wide audience across both platforms. There was a lot to sort out having never done this in the past, but we intend to apply those learnings to future opportunities. In the end, we hope that fans can look at the offering for what it is – an amazing deal for amazing content, all for an amazing cause.
Are there plans or ambitions to run future bundles, and if so are you confident that they'll be global in the future?
We're absolutely interested in future collaboration opportunities with Humble…but we have nothing to announce right now.
We'd like to thank Damon Baker for his time.
Comments 32
Great interview. Humble Nindie Bundle was a great idea!
I wonder what games they are going to release for the bundle next Tuesday?
The "boring details" are that Nintendo HQ probably only allowed them to go ahead if they paid for it out of the NoA Marketing budget. Thus they needed to constrain it to the US.
@Sceptic Source?
Anyway great interview. I'm happy for the exposure some of the Nindies got as well as Nintendo being interested in doing more bundles in the future.
Have all of the games in the bundle been released in all regions? If some of the games haven't been released in the eShop in some regions that could help explain why this was only available in the Anericas.
@jahasnell you've got it, that's exactly why
@Ryu_Niiyama Why, have you got a better theory? Other than the fairy godmother that magically prevented Nintendo from offering these games worldwide? Please unterstand?
You do realize that someone has to bear the actual cost in lost revenue from these bundles, right? How high do you think that is for a $10 game as opposed to a $50 game? Does "We love moderately selling $10 indies" make more sense now? It does to me.
@Sceptic
I think that's probably a LOT of it. It's also worth noting that Nintendo of America has traditionally been willing to take bigger risks and have more outlandish marketing ideas than Nintendo of Europe and especially the more conservative Nintendo of Japan. Granted, that dynamic has begun to shift over the years, but Nintendo is still a Japanese company, and Japanese businessmen (think their board of directors) are typically cautious and conservative about new marketing ideas.
Really cool, but a real bummer that it's only for the Americas.
@Captain_Gonru Easiest way to avoid that problem is just temporarily redeem them onto a usb stick.
@Captain_Gonru You can always redeem and then just download from the download history at a later date. I know this because my router was acting up when I attempted to redeem and The Fall didn't auto add to the download list. Had to go in manually and "Download Again" from the history.
I like the idea of the console stores getting in on humble bundles like this, unfortunately this bundle is mostly bleh, and the few gems on it, I already have on another console, so its not worth buying. I do hope that Nintendo does this again in the future, maybe with some bigger(ish) eShop titles (there are quite a few exclusive bite size titles that I would want off the eShop) as the "pay at least this much" rewards.
Considering that doing the bundle in the American region means dealing with one set of content publishers, laws, rating systems, and more, I'm guessing that wrangling all of those things together for Europe was proving messy, as some developers may have different publishers, and creating codes that work across various eShops might have been a mess, aside of whatever games may only be in some European territories and not all (I'm American and don't claim to know whether all games released in one territory by NoE are available to all.... one would hope, but who knows...). I'm guessing these are the factors that kept the Humble Bundle from going to Europe as well; ratings systems, eShop release differences across Europe, licensing/publishing deals across countries, and a bunch of otherwise boring elements. I'm assuming that the DRM-free nature of most Humble Indie Bundles further made it so that this was one of the first that caused issues, and I imagine other storefronts like Steam lead to fewer issues on this front as well, so we're seeing it coming to a head with Nintendo, not through any fault of their own necessarily, but how hopelessly messy it all is.
This is what.... 4 articles in 2 days about the humble bundle? lol
There is no excuse. The process has worked for deep silver who have region locked Steam keys.
Great Interview. I would remain optimistic for any countries excluded from this bundle. I think more will come. Glad to see Nintendo take initiative with indie exposure.
@MarioPhD This is why we need a method to enter foreign Eshops to get involved into such events. In the age of the internet, it should no longer be a problem, no matter where you live and where you want to buy a game. The possibility to choose the customer to buy wherever he/she wants, must be given. I agree that importing games back in the 80s was a hazel, but now that the world is connected, this kind of blockade must vanish. It only hinders customers from getting what they like to have and no one can tell one what they can or can't do as long as they don't go illegal or harmful ways for the community in which he/she lives. Heck, even our laws in Europe Germany allows us to import games, that are forbidden from the law; we can buy and keep them, but they are not allowed to be sold in public or shown.
I wouldn't be surprised if Gunman Clive were added. Shovel Knight, as previously mentioned is likely too. I'd like it if they added some 3DS themes.
@Sceptic LOL, no I left my tinfoil hat at home today. Thanks for asking though. My only "theory" is that likely licensing or something along those lines caused Nintendo to have issues with brokering a region free deal. However, I suspect they will either have each branch broker future bundles under each region or they may work their licensing agreements in the future to make this easier to implement later on down the road.
In short, I'm not going to engage in melodrama over some games...most of which can be purchased normally in other regions.
I am waiting patiently for the other games to be revealed, then I will most certainly jump on this deal!
I am very unhappy about this not being available in Europe.
European gamers, there are articles everywhere about Nintendo trying to get this bundle in Europe. Obviously there were some obstacles preventing it from happening right away. They have gone on record to state they are continuing to push for it and hope to see it released in the not-too-distant future.
You know, that sounds like sweet deal for a cool cause, might have to spend $10 and get them all! Inever played any of the games other than guacamelee, but that game alone is worth the $10!
I hope it's the one and only bundle, that goes down the way it did. As excited as I am about Nindie Bundles in general...I really do hate when a region is left feeling out. I'm still waiting/hoping for a n3ds. None the less, this is still all good news, and I'm stoked to see what comes next.
One giant step for man kind.
Are you given a code per game? Or one code for a batch of games? I already have 2 of the games, so I want to be able to give those codes to my brother if they are separate codes.
@Setrodox You get ten codes, one for each game.
I just read 'Nintendo's Deamon Baker on Humble Bundle' and thought Nintendo would have created some monster slashing download game ;D
I'll be buying this bundle when i get home at some point!
Plus I'll get 2 olliolli codes and only need to use one, so I can give one to my friend and use the wii u one on my self.
There needs to be a Humble Nindie Bundle 2!
AGH! I've already spent SO MUCH MONEY on games this past week with the Humble Bundle, Splatoon, and finding a working PlayStation at Goodwill, I'm almost BROKE!!
But I have to grab Don't Starve before I actually stop murdering my wallet.
If there's any mumblings of what might could be included in this week's BTA unlocks, might I point out there's a "Game You Should Be Playing" section in the American eShops, whose header images are emblazoned with "Nindie" and a lineup of the current games' characters.
Aside from those, the Wii U's section lists: Sportsball, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, Mighty Switch Force!Hyper Drive Edition, Mighty Switch Force! 2, Ultratron, Lone Survivor: The Director's Cut, Thomas Was Alone, and Mutant Mudds Deluxe.
On the 3DS side, included are: Retro City Rampage: DX, Mighty Switch Force! 2, Shantae and the Pirate's Curse, Titan Attacks!, Xeodrifter, Mutant Mudds Deluxe, ATV Wild Ride 3D, and Bomb Monkey.
What say you of these prospects?
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