In the past year or so we've seen Nintendo make a variety of moves, across different regions, to promote key eShop titles in stores. The UK market has a number of download games available as code cards in GAME stores, for example, while the NES Remix Pack is coming to North America on Wii U. It's a growing list of crossovers, and Nintendo of Europe has confirmed two more retail downloads, albeit with a twist, heading to the region on 16th January next year.
Two separate retail boxes are on the way with eShop titles, though they won't have the games on cartridges. They'll simply be nice boxes with a download code inside, so you're essentially paying out for a bit of a collector's item; from Nintendo's perspective, of course, the presence of the games in stores will raise awareness of the eShop to those that don't use it regularly.

As you can see there's a double pack that contains Mario & Donkey Kong: Minis on the Move along with DSiWare entry Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again; the other option will be a boxed code for Nintendo Pocket Football Club.
It's an interesting move from Nintendo of Europe. Let us know what you think and whether you'd like to see more downloads released in stores this way.
[source twitter.com]
Comments 28
Good for the collectors I guess?...
The design packaging makes it as clear as possible that you're getting a download version, but honestly that limits the appeal of the packaging itself.
On the other hand, it's there to stop people from accidentally buying a "physical" product.
This is pretty inane if you ask me, just make download cards that themselves are so nice that you wouldn't wanna dispose of them, like actual trinkets that also happen to hold a download code.
Putting a download code in a retail box is just what happened with the Vita version of Minecraft. Kind of a ridiculous waste of resources when you could just do a small download card for a fraction of the cost.
Amiibos with unique ID codes on them that allow you to scan them once to redeem a game.
@FernandoMachado GENIUS!
I still think it's pointless to have it as a retail box. Not many retailers will supply these as they take up too much space.
At least with the card slips retailers can buy alot of them and there will be very little storage space.
Somewhat in line with what @RupeeClock said.
Without these big ugly download code blablas i might've thought about it.
I wished the "Mario Vs Donkey Kong" games was on a cartridge. But on the bright side, at least "Mario Vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again" now supports "NINTENDO NETWORK".
1. Does this mean the DSi M&DK will support Nintendo Network instead of Nintendo Wifi?
2. What's the pricing?
3. If it's more than £15 it's pointless
Noo release pocket football in NA
So I can get the puzzle swap puzzle
Even though I'm now behind 2 panels.
@BinaryFragger Yeah I have the vita EU version -can confirm it's an actual gamecard!
What a horrendous waste of plastic. Nintendo download code cards are quite prominently featured on shelves in GAME stores so it seems odd to have a "boxed" version for these games.
No card, no sale. I will not buy digital games. That's as ignorant as buying a box of air.
really? a box, but no actual cart? are they high?
Goodbye 3ds, you just suck and I've got better ways to waste my money than on being exploited by nintendo over and over again.
Nintendo store uk takes ages to list new stuff. they show stuff on youtube or twitter and don't list it on there store for upto 2 weeks.
That said it really sucks to sell a gametes with no game inside ...... only for hardcore collectors as nintendo games keep value.
Seeing I have no more memory space (not even for Smash updates), the idea of buying in this fashion is absurd to me.
If with the next console you could download portable games to a hard drive and transfer them to your handheld I'd be up for that, but the memory on the 3ds is just too small at the current time.
@MrGawain
64gb is too small? my 32 still has a little more than 8 gigs and it has 57 full games (granted 10 are retro). Games are getting smaller with time, but the 3ds file sized are growing faster than the general need for larger inexpensive sd cards, so I can see that.
what a waste of plastic, I would like to be rid of giant useless boxes, (they can be packaged much smaller) I get its for promotional use more than anything, and its not the dumbest thing, but I can't get past the wasted plastic, or the looks on kids/collectors faces that don't read the fine print!
"Boxes with download codes, no cart"
Whut?
On the plus side, this is great exposure for Nintendo Pocket Football Club. It's an awesome game with plenty of depth, and deserves all the attention it can get. I've personally spent 80 hours on it since it was released here in Australia. Overall, I think this release is a smart move by Nintendo prior to the holiday season, given how much passion there is for football (soccer) in the UK.
I would love to see Nintendo eventually give it a chance in the US given the rising interest in the game over there, and I also think a Wii U HD version of it at some stage would be neat. Just imagine watching your matches play out on the big screen.
They say "No more booklets so we'll save the planet" and then they produce this crap. These useless boxes are ugly and have no value for collectors.
Just release NPF worldwide, idiots!
I would very much love the korg DSN 12 and MD1 offered in such a way. Against a fair price
@andreoni79 You hurt my feelings, I very much love the sophisticated look my shelve has with a lot of boxes stacked side by side.
I hope they release games like Harmoknight and Tokyo Crashmob this way too
@Tobias95 @GAMEandASH And what if they sell just cases? In that way, users could just design and print their covers for digital games.
I think I would really enjoy the Football Pocket Club.
This might be one of the stupidest things I've seen yet. I don't want to buy physical copies of games just for the box/case.... I want the cartridge too. Clearly Nintendo doesn't understand that.
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