Topic: eShop games - very expensive

Some game on eshop are getting quite expensive 8-10€ for a download game is a lot, much more than anyone used to steam would expect it to be for a small 2D or even 3D games.

Funny but in some way good thing I would spend much more money if they are cheaper

This is just one reason people frown upon iOS.

Tut, tut.

Check out this spectacular review/article:

http://nintendoeverything.com/92419/review-art-of-balance-tou...

One game is better than some on iOS.

BREAKING NEWS!! 3DSWARE IS BETTER!!!

It takes a lot more to get a game on the eShop than on the IOS store; not only does the game have to go through the ESRB rating system, but it also has to go through Nintendos approval process, both of which, from what I know, cost a good amount of money. Yes, companies producing eShop games could price their games more cheaply, but it would mean that many more copies of the game had to be sold in order to make the same amount of profit if they priced their game at around the $8-12 mark.

Original Gameboy game prices: $19-$40. (I paid $40 for Super Mario Land in 1989).

Price of Gameboy games on eShop: $2.99-$7

It is not breaking news. It is an opinion based on the hardware and software. Quite perceptive too.

eShop titles are generally better games overall than what's available for iOS. I'm not saying that iOS have completely crap games, I'm sure there's a few gems in there, but probably not on the scale of what's available in the eShop. And as what @V8_Ninja said, all titles have to go through the ESRB and PEGI rating systems along with Nintendo's approval process... and I'm guessing that must cost a lot of money.

I'd rather buy Mutant Mudds or VVVVVV for $9 or $8 respectively (that is, if memory serves correctly), than shell out $40 for most retail 3DS games, even Nintendo's. Bottom line: quality matters more than the price to me.

This is a great argument about game length that may be slightly relevant to the conversation: http://2dboy.com/2010/08/17/too-short/

Not sure about PEGI, but I know ESRB charges an $800 fee to rate each game.

20% off for 10 good games right now on the european eshop
i already got pushmo, zelda link's awakening and i will get mighty switch force tomorrow.

the eshop is still a disappointment though. the dsi-shop was cheaper and frequently got good games every few weeks.

Meh... amazing games (note I didn't say good) games cost money. Look at Chaos Rings, where they launched at a 'whooping' $19.99. Or Infinity Blade, where it launched around $6.99 or $7.99. Amazing games don't come cheap.

I have to say that I honestly DO NOT care for iOS whatsoever. Smartphones and Ipods suck as gaming devices, I paid $16 for Mutant Mudds here in New Zealand Dollars, that's not as expensive as Rolling Western is, but most of the games on the eshop are superior to anything you can buy for $1.29 on the app store. You have to spend more to get a better experience, which is what people don't get. You could spend $20 and buy a ton of iOS games but only play with them for a couple of minutes or you could spend $20 and get a game that may last you 20 hours or more. Mutant Mudds is a great example of what I paid for and got for for a reasonable game at $16 and I enjoyed that over anything i've played on an iDevice, plus the game is controlled with physical controls, where as everything on an iDevice is kept simple and basic and most of the time the games aren't programmed well. Take for example Sonic & Sega All-stars Racing on iOS, I got that for free as part of the "Free App of the day" deal, when I went to boot up the game, it just froze and crashed. However If I had bought the $40 version for the DS (which is cheap, considering most DS games are roughly $80-$90 new), that would never have happened at all. There aren't many games on the App store I can recommend because I don't use iDevices except for music, but any experience i've had with a nintendo device has always been consistantly good, if not awesome.
Anyway back to eShop prices, get over it, Nintendo is trying to provide a good service to all it's users and if it means having to price everything over $1.29, then so be it. If you can't fork out more than $1.29 (or 0.99 for american app store users), then obviously there's something wrong with you, good things don't come cheap guys.

A Nintendo site.

Yep, utterly unbiased publication there. Exactly where I would go for information on whether 3DS is better than iOS.

Aren't most good iOS games (and ones that don't require you to spam your facebook contacts or buy "virtual coins" to completely enjoy them) about the same price or more?

I suppose it depends on your opinion of "good", but many of the games I've played (and would consider on-par with some eShop games in terms of content) have been in the $0.99 - $4.99 range. Granted, this isn't necessarily a good thing for the developers, but I'm of the opinion that you can get plenty of quality games from the App Store on the cheap. And yes, the premium Square-Enix stuff can cost quite a bit more than eShop games or the majority of what's on iOS.

There are also more frequent sales and discounts for the iOS games than what the eShop currently offers. I believe Street Fighter IV launched at $9.99, but was dropped to 99 cents for a promotion after the disaster in Japan last year. That's a pretty significant drop. It has now been adjusted to $4.99.
(Note: I don't use this as an example of "good")

Stop reading untill this line. They dont suck as gaming devices, they're just different froma console. They are mean to have different controls due to the touchscreen. I've played some Android games more complex than Angry Birds or Cut the Rope, and some are really awesome games.

Back to the question, yes, some games are excesively expensive. Two days ago i finished VVVVVV in the 3DS, and it lasted me only one and a half hor. 8€ for two hours of main game (collectibles are a pain in the ass, and extra modes dont bother me very much). Also, 9€ for Mutant Mudds and 12€ for Shantae: Risky's Revenge which is are games i want, that prices are really high for downloadable games when i can find some retail games in Zavvi for that price for Xbox 360 or PS3.

They're expensive, yes. At least Nintendo tried to make some sales for the summer, but they're very weak (just 20% in ten games). Sony usues to have special offers all the wees with some offers like 50% in ALL the Final Fantasy games in PSN.

I know I started this argument so I just wanna clarify what I meant by saying iOS games are good enough but their price tags make people whine about the cost of actual game disks and it's quite sickening.

Yes, maybe to you but in no way are they for core gamers, do you really see me rocking Angry Birds and saying "oh this game is the s**t!". NO. Besides you can't really count Apple as being a gaming company as they don't produce any games for the app store. I can only think of a few games that aren't like angry birds on the app store and those are those nasty ports of Square enix games and infintiy blade etc, while they look good, they really should have stayed on the home console or been on one in the first place. I would rather play Chrono Trigger on my DS, Which cost me $80 NZD when I got it on release, than pay $13.99 for an inferior touch based version.
I understand some people like touchscreen for it's simplicity, but EVERY gamer I've ever known prefers buttons, I don't know why you wouldn't. I'm not afraid of a home console or handheld like the DS or PSP that plays actual video games with a dpad/thumbstick etc.
I know you don't like paying "ridiculous" amounts for downloadable games on dedicated handhelds, but They're made 100% better than what passes for acceptable for the app store. I mean anyone can develop an app or game and say it's been programmed well, but I find games like Sonic & Sega all-stars racing, made by sega, to be buggy and unresponsive for iOS. If you buy a 3DSware/DSiware/VC game, that is almost never going to happen because developers invest a lot more money into downloadable games for that kind of service, due to the game having to go through a rating system and approved by Nintendo, where as apple can't filter out all the dirty, fake and faulty apps they have on their app store.

Angry Birds is the worst game I have ever played. Sooooooo boring. That's not to say iOS sucks, just that particular game. I think I'd rather pay £30 for any Zelda game than 69p for Angry Birds...