Take More Risks With Your eShop Purchases, Pleads Nintendo's Damon Baker

Right now, I need to take more free space. z_z
I know I can re-download previous purchases, but I like to have all things with me at all the time since I never know when I might be out of Internet (especially during vacation) and as such, I need to get me a hard disk drive exclusively to store eShop purchases. Besides, I always pick up NL recommendations to make videos for my channel.

I wish more people bought the Guild games. those were so random and strange.

Attack of the Friday Monsters is one of my favorite eShop games and I wish there were more games like it.

I'm not sure nostalgia explains the success of games like Pushmo and Steamworld Dig.
I think Nintendo fans are much more swayed by art style.

Ha ha ha, if Nintendo fans were known for taking bigger risks in their purchases, Nintendo likely would not be in the situation that has plagued them for generations as the place where 3rd parties go to lose money.

No doubt, Nintendo fans will be angry about this and rattle off long lists of excuses for why they refuse to support any game that doesn't come straight from Nintendo's tanooki bag of surprises. And then they complain when those developers jump ship to actually go somewhere they can make money.

If i'd take any more risks, i'd need a new insurance policy!

@Spoony

Yeah, because Urban Champion and Donkey Kong Jr. Math are the epitome of quality and nostalgia.

Ha, he was bound to be right at least once:

I have been but until recently I had space issue on the Wii U. Also I'm not about to dive into an studio's game that I have no back ground knowledge about quality until I hear more about it, mostly reviews and money is tight.

Off the top of my head I'd say 90% of the worthwhile games on the Wii U Eshop are platformers and puzzle action games.

Maybe if the system space were a bit more sufficient...

First - demos. Maybe they would turn some people off, and I know it's a risk, but people like demos more than they like paying for and then downloading unknown games. I've never owned an Xbox but I've read that every game on X1 gets a demo. Every one. Could be wrong, but that's what i've read.

Second - Where's the New Club Nintedo? We want our points and stars and coins we can use to get free stuff. I'm willing to fill out the surveys.

Third - You ended the digital deluxe promotion. You can't just tell people they get 10% w/ every game purchase and then take that away and then expect them to keep downloading as many games as they were before. When the promotion ended on Dec 31 on Jan 1 you should have opened it to everybody who owned a Wii U. Even if you lowered it to 5%. But you can't just take things like that away and expect people's behavior not to change.

If you want people to buy more games, give them a reason to buy more games, just don't keep taking reasons away.

@Quorthon
In fairness, Urban Champion and MK Jr Math aren't exactly top sellers either. Most people avoid the crap, I know I do. But there are more than enough actual quality 1st party releases to drain most people's bank accounts. When it's a choice between Fire Emblem Sacred Stones, or Tipping Stars, or Stretchmo, or [insert quality VC/digital release here] and some $20 indie game no one's tried before, I go with the 1st party release every time.

With that said, I have a whole crap load of indie games on both Wii U and 3DS. Armillio, Art of Balance, Guacamelee, Edge, Toki Tori 1 and 2, Blek, Swords and Soldiers 1 and 2, Castlestorm, Olli Olli, Shantae Pirates Curse, Shovel Knight, SteamWorld Dig, Stealth Inc 2, Scram Kitty, Nano Assault Neo, Tengami... And that's just Wii U indies, and just the ones I can rattle off the top of my head.

Maybe market the games better by giving us some freakin demos?!

With all due respect, I buy my Nintendo consoles for Nintendo games. I'll "take more risks" on Steam, where games are dirt cheap and there are crazy sales all the time. It has been like this (for me) since the GameCube and I am very happy with this "stategy". I do buy and play third-parties on my Wii U, but only if they offer something special, like Affordable Space Adventures.

@rjejr

All good points. However, I think there is some validity to his statement. While all your points hold true, Sony and MS gamers have none of those benefits (no it's not true- not every game gets a demo), no 10% discount, none of that, and yet they buy enough for most indie devs to see reasonable success.

While less purchases after removing DDP is to be expected, you would still expect an equivalent number of purchases as other systems.

I do agree fans play it a little conservatively. However, Nintendo fans have a bottomless pit of quality 1st party VC and digital exclusives competing for their dollar as well

Kind of ironic that he's wearing an 8 bit Mario shirt on the picture, though.

I need to hold off on buying games for a while, at least until Super Mario Maker and all the other other holiday titles arrive. I gotta play Earthbound, the Wii U's Humble Bundle games, and some 3DS Eshop discounts like FE:A and AC:NL

If they released more demos it would be nice - I'm not willing to spend money on games I'm not sure of!

@JaxonH You get a lot of discounts with PS Plus and a lot of free indie games as well.

@rjejr Exactly! The 10% reward system from the DDP was a huge incentive for me to not only go digital but to buy more games. It seems like such a no brainer for Nintendo to continue this strategy or something similar. Did they think that once this promotion ended that people would just keep buying the same amount on the eshop? I have definitely spent less since it ended....

"If I had one wish to be fulfilled, I would love to see Nintendo fans and consumers take more risks on eShop."

Yeah, and if I had one wish, I would love to see the standard New 3DS here in North America, as it is in every other region. But Nintendo clearly doesn't care about what the 33% who prefer that size want; hence, I couldn't care less what they want. And if I recall, Baker was the guy who "explained" the absence of said New 3DS by saying that it would be too confusing to NA consumers to have five different systems (3DS, 3DS XL, 2DS, New 3DS, and New 3DS XL). He said that this way, we'd have three options that each offered a unique experience--the 3DS (OG), 2DS, and New 3DS XL. Funny thing about that, though: the OG 3DS hasn't been an option for a long, long time. Which is why, when--following E3 and seeing that the standard New still wasn't released--I decided to finally switch back from my old XL to the OG (I have good reasons), that meant I had to get one off ebay, the only way to buy any 3DS system of that size for me.

Anyway, yeah, Damon Baker is one guy that I can't take seriously. Sorry.

@willford81 For retail titles the DDP was pointless for me, even with the discount the games are more expensive to download than the retail versions.

I've bought plenty of indie games on the eshop.all the curve digital games,swords and soldiers 2 ,retro city ,Ultratron,nano assault master reboot etc.i get paid weekly n usually get at least 1 game a week.ive also got the demos and can't wait to get lovely planet,rive and forma 8 which are the only ones I've tried so far.
Maybe it's more of an American thing Everytime I check the eu eshop whatever indie games are promoted are in the charts.affordable space adventures hung around the top 5 with mario and donkey kong 64 among others for weeks.elliot quest is the only one I didn't see make much impact and that's because after it got in at 19 nintendo decided to run a fortnight of kirby discounts.

A lot of us would take more 'risks' if the same games weren't available on every platform. Why would those of us w/, say, both a U and a PC pay more for what is generally an inferior experience on U? And then those of us w/ PS+ or XBL also have subs to those services and get buried in free indie games constantly, thus creating even less incentive to buy those games on U and/or 3DS.

Furthermore, if they don't want to do timed exclusivity, there is no incentive for just about anyone that owns any other platform to opt for the U versions of those games. The vast majority of ports to U don't even make any real use of the gamepad, and too much of the time the 3DS ports don't even use 3D, thus creating zero incentive to pick up less graphically pristine (generally sub-1080p, unlike on PC/PS4/1) ports. People pay for exclusivity, something Nintendo gets in all other facets of its business ("software dives hardware") but, for some reason, can't get their heads around this in the indie space.

(There's also the issue that, like it or not, indie games are several steps below Nintendo-branded games, quality-wise, even if the scores for them on sites like NL give the illusion that many of them are on par (which might be a knock against numerical rating systems), but I find it very difficult to believe that when presented with a $15-20 indie game that most people, having limited resources, aren't going to opt for the Nintendo option as it's far more of a sure thing than indie game 'x'.)

@manu0 What country are you in? Retail prices in the US aren't better than the eshop. I know it's a different situation in other countries with the pricing...

This sounds like nonsense to me, if a game is good people will usually buy it. Its all well and good saying take a chance but if the game is rubbish then it will put you off future purchases.

I tend to make my eshop decisions based on using my eyes, i look at videos read the reviews (mainly on here) and then make a decision based on price. I tend to pick up most of the games i want during eshop sales and pick up a select few full price on release.

@JaxonH - I don't want to go look, not even for you, but I assure you over the past several years the same game on PS3 has gotten a demo when on Wii U it has not. Or the demo has come later on Wii U. PS3 has been a little light of late in the demo department but it is much better at it. And even if not every Xbox game has a demo I'm willing to bet more of them do than Wii U.

PS and Xbox also have a big heads up. PS3 and Xbox360 were heavily promoting digital indie games while Wii had that 40mb limitation and very few indies. I think gamers on those systems have just gotten into the habit of buying indies on them. Maybe indies will do better on NX if Nintneod keeps promoting them on Wii U?

When 60% of the stuff on there is crap (personal assumption based on my risk taking and buying a lot of eshop games), it's not worth taking risks. Unless you research the game before you buy it, there's a solid chance it's gonna suck. Demos would be useful, but it would also be useful to just have better quality control. Has that game destroying bug in Grinsia ever been fixed? That's what Nintendo should be focusing on, not begging their fans to take risks and waste money. This is just pathetic.

@manu0
Only if you're a paid member of their paid subscription service

I have a family and I can't afford the time or money to take more risks, unfortunately. In saying that, I have Armillo, Steamworld Dig, Gunman Clive, some Curve titles and a few more. I was also that bit happier taking a risk when I knew I was slowly but surely getting closer to £5 back via the DDP, they really shoulda continued that... But yeah, I'll give the indies a go, no problem, but I have to be as sure as possible of the quality. So far I've been more than happy, too, bit.trip Runner2 being a particular highlight.

32GB is not a lot of space and I can't waste money on games I'm not sure I'll like

I have bought so many indy titles my hard drive is basically full, despite the fact I buy retail whenever I can. So sadly I can't download the 9 demos right now, since I need to find a cheap external hard drive to install in my WiiU.

Loading times and hard drive space... 2 huge negatives to the current generations.

But yes people, try out some indy games! Maybe Nintendo Life should do a story in the week about the best 3DS and WiiU eshop games that have come out in 2015 so far.

I always go by reviews on hear and they are never that great apart from the odd exception

Back at you Nintendo - Take More Risks With Your eShop PRICES...

@rob955 A fair number of games get a 7 or higher. 7 means GOOD! 8 means GREAT. 9 means SPECTACULAR. 10 means LEGENDARY.

Stop thinking like 7/10 is 70% on a test in school and is bad.

@datamonkey A ton of games are on sale right now. Just stop.

I understand people's criticism - sometimes buying stuff from the eShop is risky, and although I do my researches well, I bought many games I wouldn't buy again, even at a sale.
On the other hand when you see the charts and notice that stuff like Paper Mario, Super Mario 64, Super Mario World, A Link to the Past etc outsells every single indie game on the console you ask yourself "Aren't people supposed to have these games already?!". How many times can you buy SMW in a lifetime?!
So yeah, buying from the eShop is risky but I'd rather take the risk on something new than spend 8 bucks on the same game I've been playing for 20 years.

My Wii U and usb stick are full, 10gb of my Wii U space is taken up by DKCTF which I couldn't find physically anywhere. Deluxe Wii U should have had 250gb of storage, eshop games should be cheaper than physical, more demo's should be available etc.......

Unfortunately, only a few of the acclaimed indie games of the past 5 years have come out on Nintendo platforms, and that situation isn't going to get any better until the next console due to the difference in power/ability to run different engines or programming languages. On top of this, almost all indie games these days are Metroidvania types or puzzle platformers.

Part of the problem is the Nintendo consumer, but I would say Nintendo itself is the bigger problem.

Businesses take risks not consumers. Consumers are sold on sure things because that's what they can afford and any risk is hidden or in the fine print. He'll need to tackle the challenge using different wording and approach than that.

I LOVE the indie games, they're so cool. Mainly the Wii U ones though, I didn't find that much enjoyment in the 3DS ones that I've played.
I tried that Nindies@Home thing and most of the games I found boring, but Freedom Planet is my favourite because it feels just like a classic Sonic game and it's so cool! I love it!
Child Of Light is cool too.

I have never bought an eshop title. None have ever interested me...

Well based by my exposure to the Humble Bundle, it appears the eShop is full of..... platformers (puzzle and survival) and endless runners. That isn't to say there are not fun indies on eShop, just that don't complain about favoring a single genre then mainly feature that genre in your big push.

The other issue is when you are releasing games that are already old, don't expect people to rush out and repurchase. Especially at a full price when they are regularly vastly cheaper elsewhere.

Most of the eShop games on my 3DS are not in genres I have ever played. I have like three Virtual Console games. None of which I have ever played before (and one was free from Club Nintendo).

I don't think I'm the only one like that, but some of the louder Nintendo fans make it seem like all they ever want is more VC and remakes of stuff from when they were kids or pixel art indies.

But at least in my experience on Nintendo Life (and with my few 3DS owning friends), the tendency IS often to get hyped for something new (Like that train sim that came out a few weeks ago? I had some good conversations with people on here, and my old-school RPG-loving fiancee decided to buy it too). And then there was this guy I know who grew up with NES, but bought every one of the Guild01 games because they looked "weird and awesome."

So it's not like every gamer just wants Mario all the time. It's just that maybe those who'd rather play Liberation Maiden or Steamworld Dig or whatever aren't shouting as loud?

I used to be a big supporter of indie titles but lost some interest in them along the way. I think the problem was playing so many very short games that were made longer just because of extreme difficulty. That having been said, I will be buying Never Alone when it launches.

I don't avoid purchases on the eShop because I don't want to take risks on games. I don't buy much on the eShop because nearly everything can be scored on Steam for a small fraction of the price. If there were more exclusives that I were into, I would be buying them.

I have so many games I haven't finished yet, that buying more would be foolish. And I am just one person. I do buy indies, even ones rated poorly here on this site, and it doesn't even matter anyway.

Well, if the WiiU appealed to more than just hardcore fans by having more quality third party titles, maybe that install base would improve the selling of Nindies. After all, if you make a platform that appeals to a certain sector, then why should you be suprised that they don't take risks? Market it as a machine to play Nintendo first party games and that's what it will be used for. NX needs to fix that issue if they want it to be a big hit to appeal across the board.

Anyway, I have tons of eshop games on the Wii U and 3DS. They're brilliant for the most part, but pricing is cheaper elsewhere and that means I have some titles on competing platforms.

Easier said than done, especially when money doesn't grow on trees. (yet? )

For me the problem isn't money that much, but instead time . I have already planned to buy Legend of Kay and Art Academy: Atelier this month and those two titles are both kind of long and expensive for a eShop title ;^^. I think I have enough for this month, I do have games indie games I want to buy, but unfortunately I never have time for them all even if I wanted ;^^.

Still I do appreciate the number of indie games available and I wish them the best of luck .

So many indie games are either too short to justify the price or just not high quality enough compared to other titles available. If demos were available or sales were more often, I'd probably buy more indie games.

@manu0 I just noticed that. That is really hilarious. I'm pretty sure the pic is unrelated to the interview, but that is funny.

A couple problems I can think of with that: 1/ the system has barely any space, especially if you only have the 8gb system, 2/ alot of your indie games are pretty expensive, for whatever reason, and 3/ you never offer demos. PlayStation and Xbox offer demos on ALOT of there games, you have definitely neglected your demos section on Wii U!

@Quorthon A box that says Nintendo on it would still be of high quality and likely contain much more fun experiences than I am having with the PS4 right now.

@FragRed You could wear it as a hat and it probably would look cool. You can't do that with the PS4, it'd fall off.

New amiibo: "take my money & left testicle!!"
Taking a risk on new eshop purchase: "hmm i dunno, money's tight, I played a short game once & I only have enough storage for the next 8 years worth of Pokémon releases so I'd rather not"

Why should I do that when Sony offers crossbuy?

Vita is an indie paradise. I'm not going to spend money on indies on Nintendo systems when I can get them cheaper (or free) on PSN.

The sticking point for me is that I can get almost all these games on Steam for less. Plus, they won't be tied to a single console there, either.

They should make better games maybe?

More risks or more money?

Should I buy indie games on a platform where I have no garantee of its future or should I buy them on PC where the ecosystem hasn't changed for many years and let me play my games on several devices?

I gravitate towards stuff i can afford, and since that is not on a "give me everything on the menu" basis, i tend to go for titles i know i will enjoy.

Taking risks is one thing, having enough money to do that is another.

I bought lots of eshop games on the 3ds then they decided to put them all on wii u instead. And than the quality of the ones that did make it to 3ds started declining, so i decided to not buy them, its as simple as that, when a company starts to overly support one console and ignore the other i tend to stop caring... also the one they stopped supporting was the one that sold well. I guess it makes sense they can sell the same crappy game on the wii u and charge more for cause its hd or something i guess, Wayforward proved that one pretty quick. A company that makes 8 dollar games thinks they are worth more than twice that on new hardware? If i didnt feel like i was being ripped off by 90% of these indie developers i would maybe by more.

@maneauleau my thoughts exactly , plus on steam you can usually get the same title for a lot less

Haha! Don't tell me I haven't taken a chance with over 200 downloads on my 3ds alone. So dude your dream is complete! Oh BTW there are many people right here on Nintendo life who also have their 3DS jam packed with downloaded content. The only thing I won't do is download A retail game. I'm buying my cartridge. Its mostly for trade in value when I'm done with a title. Oh then there is this one little issue...... Games on android .99 cents....same game on Eshop....9.99 to 34.99 seriously I don't like this article. I could kind of scream at this guy. I'm not buying that game with the huge price difference if your reading these posts. This last issue drives me nuts. WRC Rally is a perfect example 4.99 on android and 34.99 on Eshop....what the heck! I'm not taking that chance and don't remind me that the publisher sets the price. Somebody do the research and start putting the foot down on this issue.

I buy a fair number of indie titles, and some of them have been very pleasant surprises. I do think the storage issues on Wii U especially hinders what people decide they can and can buy and have room for.

But a lot of commentors on this thread aren't wrong. Nintendo gamers (for whatever reason, whether it be quality or price or they don't buy digital) tend to gravitate towards Nintendo games and little else. Most of the biggest third party sellers on Wii U and 3DS were heavily promoted by Nintendo themselves. I've seen many people say they only buy Nintendo platforms for Nintendo games, as well.

"Baker says he's very pleased with how the Humble Bundle preformed".
I think you mean "performed".

How about you just shut up make games consumers want to buy and things will look after themselves?

Getting pig sick of this 'we know best' attitude shown by Nintendo lately.

Yeah, no. I don't just buy games for no reason no matter how cheap it may be. Demo and I'll consider it. This indie push during E3 is a great start.

On a related note, I've been waiting for Runbow for more than a year now, when is this finally coming out?

I spend more money on Wii U eShop games than Nintendo's first party releases (I like more gameplay and less amiibo), so I'm not part of the problem.

My collection:
25 Wii U retail games (15 from Nintendo / 10 from 3rd Parties)
VERSUS
102 Wii U eShop games
(14 made or published by Nintendo,
7 made or published by 3rd parties like Sega, Capcom, and Ubisoft,
and the rest are indie games. 81 indie games. 81 INDIE GAMES you hear that?)

Oh, and 43 Virtual Console games - 28 from Nintendo and 15 from mostly Capcom.

I'm not a fan of 2D puzzle platforming games, so basically 90% of eShop games don't appeal to me. I will admit that I have bought many VC games though.

@SKTTR you have completed that guys dream. He can rest easier now that he knows you and I are taking chances lol I don't know why but this article annoys me.

The HUGE majority of "indie" games are very creative and terribly boring. so nope sorry but that's not how things work. if they cannot make a game that can be better than a 30 year old one then they should stop wasting money and find another job.

@Quorthon Before the disappointment with the Digital Event there was a slight art to the nonsense in your long winded posts - now you are full on trolling.
" One way that Sony and Microsoft have attracted indies to their systems is by offering partial funding or paying for timed exclusivity "
So , having shrunk the amount of third party development over the past two generations with palm greasing and back handing , they are now doing the same with the indies. To Damon Baker ; consumers need to buy clothes and food , they don't need to buy games. It is up to us how we spend our money. If you want to help the indies shift some games why didn't you do a sizzle reel in your E3 presentation ? Instead of showing Skylanders and Amiibo that will sell whether you feature them or not. Better still , why don't you have a word with your boss and try and sort cross buy out ?

I'm with @Spoony on this one, only because I also want to say BONE!

I still can't believe how many people think indies are not worth their time and money. This is absolutely false. Stuff like Cave Story, Stealth Inc., Shovel Knight, Guacamelee etc is miles better than most games you end up paying 60 bucks.
Taking risks doesn't mean you have to get every stupid 2 dollar puzzle game that gets released. Guess it means being open minded towards gaming experiences that you might not be entirely familiar with.
And yet when given the choice, the average Nintendo fan seems to stick with the 20 years old overpriced .rom he already knows inside out, or with the overrated piece of plastic that does absolutely nothing but sits on the shelf and looks pretty.

All of the time I have available for gaming is allocated between Monster Hunter 4 and Smash Bros. If a game isn't considered a must play and/or it's not made by Nintendo I usually won't bother since it is usually taking time away from a better game I could be playing. Also I can't play another 2D platformer, if you've played one you've played them all.

If I had more money and a unified account system sure

I am a happy day 1 supporter of Scram Kitty, Armillo, Flowerworks HD, to name just a few. I take risks if the game is good.

I buy a ton of eshop indie games. Three of my favorite games on WiiU are 1001 Spikes, Teslagrad, and Shovel Knight. I buy all sorts of genres but as a Nintendo fan of course I gravitate toward platformers.

Maybe the Humble Nindie Bundle would have worked better if it wasn't exclusive to just one region. It's like Nintendo forgets that they have a region lock and that the PAL region exists.

@twadezelda3dsxl They didn't forget. Baker full on said they tried for months to get the deal globally, but was unsuccessful. Most of it coming down to licensing issues and Nintendo of Europe not cooperating.

WHAT?! "Take more risks"? Okay, I'm glad to see he refers to trying new stuff, but seriously, that's yet another case of a poor choice of words. Buying anything on the eShop is taking a risk, because the account is stupidly tied to the console. If a consumer buys a digital game, may it be retail or downloadable-only, and if anything happens to the console, boom, game over. And after the Wii, yet again, Nintendo didn't learn with the 3DS entries of Mario Kart and Smash, as save files can't be backed up. Seriously, I'm starting to realize Nintendo has a lot to catch up on.

I have a limited amount of money per month for spending on gaming. Physical releases take precedence. Some is set aside for my bargain hunting in town for older vidya. When it comes to digital, it takes a lot to get me to part with my cash.

It's a shame to admit it, but I don't value digital games as much as I do ones that I have a physical copy of. I don't truly 'own' them, if I don't like it I can't return it or sell it on, and digital content can be all too ephemeral.

Still, I do own a lot of eShop games on my Wii U and my 3DS. I've got 2 and a bit pages in a folder on the Wii U filled with eShop games. I've got all the GUILD series games on my 3DS, the SEGA 3D Classics, the -blox/mo games, Gunman Clive, Dillon's Rolling Western, Harmoknight, Sakura Samurai, WayForward stuff, Shovel Knight and more. It just takes a lot more to get me to take the risk of a digital game purchase.

The cessation of the Premium promotion on the Wii U also made me less likely to pick up a game. It was nice knowing that my purchases were getting me a little more bang for my buck.

Still, the Nindies @ Home idea of a discount on release for having the demo will tempt me more and those titles look fantastic in their own ways. Not to mention FAST Racing NEO, which I can't wait for. But I suppose in Europe we get spared some of the things that the US gets, like Meme Run. There are others previously out I want to get at some point, but it's all down to disposable income and other demands on it.

I took a risk recently with buying High Strangeness - sometimes the less I've heard about a title the more interested I am in it. Its a pretty neat Lttp-style rpg which switches between 8bit and 16bit graphical styles, I've not played enough of it to be able to recommend it but I'm glad its on my WiiU. Its a shame there aren't more free demos of eShop games so we can try them out, I'm loving the E3@Home set of trial games that I'm slowly working my way through. More of that please, developers!

People tend to buy games with specific gimmick whether people want to admit it or not. 3rd party games, more so than Nintendo games, have a lot more to prove on Nintendo platforms to get sales. Unfortunately we get too many platform games. It's becoming overkill. We'll take risk when the developers take risks. Apparently Affordable Space Adventures is doing well. Runbow will like find success as well.

Also marketing is still a big factor. I was on the fence about FAST Racing Neo for example, but after Treehouse, it's reached my must-have list.

@Quorthon Youve hit that nail on the head

"Nintendo is pretty famous for being pretty tight with our money; we want to be efficient with our funds."

Me too, man, me too.

The problem isn't us Nintendo, it's you. Your promotion strategies for Indies are pathetic, E3 is a perfect example. Microsoft and Sony both had a significant indie focus in their press conferences but Nintendo decides it's better to show the same first party titles they shown a year ago. Sorry but Yoshi's Woolly World, Super Mario Maker and Xenoblade X should've been either cut or shortened in the digital event to make way for an indie reel in addition to possibly even a full segment on FAST Racing Neo.

As soon as I saw this article, first thing I thought was 'I bet there's some anti Nintendo troll with a name beginning with the letter Q saying Nintendo fans don't buy any non Nintendo games'
Oh look, post number 6.
He or she must be loving this week

Maybe produce a better account system and better prices on your offerings. May be a start, that might help, Nintendo.

@XCWarrior I must only like spectacular and legendary games lol

Too many of the games on the eshop are first timers or developers with a lousy record. Then they toss a new game on eshop for way more than their reputation would allow them to get away with, and then they complain when they don't sell. You have to build a fan base before you can start making the money, because no fans equals nobody wanting to give you a premium price. If you can't build a fanbase with cheaper games, then maybe you need to look at how you make games and if they are fun or shovelware.

@Grumblevolcano I disagree with that. Nintendo does promote indies more than Microsoft, with the exception of E3, which is the only place Microsoft promotes indies. Plus Microsoft is still trying to damage control after Don Mattrick abandoned Xbox Live Arcade and told indies to f*** off.

Sony of course blows both Nintendo and Microsoft out of the water when it comes to indie promotion - perhaps too much as people are sick of indies being the monthly stuff put in PS+.

With all due respect Mr. Baker, how about you guys sort out an actual account system and cross buy first before asking people to be riskier with their eshop purchases? There's still people who are reluctant to support the eshop for something that is very much in Nintendo's hands.

I think some here oversimplify the issue with Nintendo fans supporting more indies and 3rd parties. There ARE indies that have found success on Nintendo platforms such as Steamworld Dig, Affordable Space Adventures, Gunman Clive, Mutant Mudds, Mighty Switch Force, and Shovel Knight. There are also 3rd parties that have success on Nintendo handhelds, the 3DS is virtually unchallenged in the dedicated handheld market because it's home to stuff like Monster Hunter, Yokai Watch, BokuMono as well as Nintendo's staple of IP's. The home console situation is different and has a more troubled history but I think generally what the Nindies/3rd parties that find success on Nintendo platforms have in common is a certain aesthetic, level of polish, and type of gameplay that appeals to the Nintendo fan's palette. Stroking the nostalgia buttons and promotional backing from Nintendo usually helps too.

I'd say most of my 3DS eshop/retail purchases are from indies/3rd parties. But it's not out of obligation or some need to support the little guy, it's because I personally have found a lot of quality and interesting titles. Make'em good and I'll buy.

The reality for me is most indie titles just don't interest me. I like indies but I'm not crazy about them and I have bought some on the Wii U.

@IceClimbers Sure Nintendo used to back when Don Mattrick ruined a lot about the Xbox brand but nowadays Nintendo's playing the Don Mattrick role. Shoving indies out of even standard Nintendo Directs so they spend more time with the first party titles, putting treehouse segments really late or sandwiched between first party games which have been very negatively received, the list goes on.

I do agree though that Sony treats indies much better than both Microsoft and Nintendo though.

@Grumblevolcano Eh, I'd say that Nintendo's done a better job at promoting indies in Directs as of late (not counting E3). There's definitely room for improvement when it comes to indie promotion though - and that goes for both Nintendo and Microsoft.

I will say though that Nintendo has definitely made great strides when it comes to supporting the indie scene this generation. Major improvement over the WiiWare days.

The problem is, these games are a bit pricey, and discounts aren't a common thing. Yeah, Shovel Knight is a fantastic game, but I think that 15 euro is a bit too much, same goes for Shantae.
For less, I think I would be eager to buy indies without a thought and regret. Or, please, make Humble NIndie Bundle for Europe, too.

I can't help it if that's all I enjoy Sorry Damon!

Of course people will stick to what they're familiar with. If you want us to "take risks" with our own money, how about bringing in more demos without glorifying them with stupid events like "Nindies@Home"?

Nothing in the Eshop really draws me attention, never mind I've only got 15 GB left to use, I'm considering mother 1 but I'll probably wait a little bit for it.

Unfortunately demos are a pain in the ass to make, and there's some statistical evidence to suggest they actually reduce sales overall.

The comments are probably not aimed at people here, but the 95% who will buy MK8 and a couple of other retail titles and leave it at that. They probably don't browse the eShop and don't follow the latest Nintendo happenings on twitter or through sites like NintendoLife. So the challenge for Nintendo is how to match them with the games they are willing to buy / will enjoy

I bought an external HDD and I actually pay attention to Indie releases on eShop, so I'm not part of the problem. Of course, the question is whether it's a problem or not for Nintendo fans.

@Spoony @Spoony_Tech Huh? You two aren't the same person? I'm having trouble processing this information.

OT: I'd take more risks if I could find a $50 eShoo card where I live. I know I'll milk a lot put of A-Train 3D and that train sim on the 3DS eShop.
I'd also take more risks if Atlus stops its ridiculous release schedule. I swear, I'll end up buying more games from Atlus than every other publisher combined this year at this rate.

@Spoony
Nice one man!!! Hahaha
@ellenjwhatever you practically described my collection
@king of the soufflé I agree

Nintendo should be happy with me, I love supporting the indies.

Just bought Don't Starve 30 minutes ago actually!

@TheWPCTraveler You should've seen it a while back when he was posting in the same topic I was with the same avatar lol. I was more confused then you. I looked at his post thinking I never typed that. Funny thing is I found out he pre-dates me on the site.

Argh... "Just buy things, don't think about it, do it! Buy this digital product you'll never own with your hard earned money"...

Yeah. No.

I'll buy it if I see enough gameplay videos that demonstrate what it is well.

If there were more 3rd party games on the eshop then I'd be more inclined to buy non-Nintendo games. Also, if there were more demos for games, then I'd be able to try it out and this would decrease the amount of risk for me.

I'll sum up his comments ; "everyone should buy and love The Letter."

@JamesCoote
Exactly

I have no problem buying indies as long as they look cool and appeal to me. Part of the problem falls on Nintendo but part of the problem also falls on the people who like to dismiss indie titles for silly reasons.

Contrary to a few people, I actually avoid buying indie games on my Vita. The sales are nice and all, but the memory card prices are still outrageously high.

1. It is stupid to purchase something you can not hold in your hands while the power button is off.
2. Concept of ownership is real.
3. If people stopped purchasing DLC right now, most of those "Indie titles" would have gotten physical releases.
4. It is the fault of using CD's to begin with to store videogames on.
5. Nintendo has committed acts against it's own consumers that is inhuman. Why help them hurt you more. Same with SONY and Microsoft. ( Especially Microsoft ). Apple can join that barrel as well.

6. More chances, more chances, it would be an safer bet to purchase something physical like an piece of metal of some sort. At least with my Gameboy games I know I will always have that and not fear my items being seized through civil forfeiture.

7. So tell me how is it an risk? It is sad because many of these new consumers ( many kids and sadly young adults ) are just begining to learn how to spend money and what they are learning is how to purchase items for "2nd life" and the "SIMS".

Buying DLC is like buying something for nothing. The only binding agreement is to play online with some random person. Pretty soon the only thing an person is going to own is there medications and hygienically products just like in that movie "THX".
That is what this is leading to.

If comment threads continue to be like this one, where person after person misinterprets what is actually said and meant as a means to launch into a negative tirade, I'm just going to stick to the articles. A majority of the comments offer nothing meaningful, and even those that do are wrapped in the sort of certainty found only in those who, rather than putting thought into their words, channel their unprocessed emotions.

This reminds me to play Rising Board some more this weekend.

He's kinda right.
The only game right now i am gonna get is Freedom Planet.
A very sonic inspired 16 bit 2D platformer.
But the reality is, i just prefer those kinds of games, and i always have.
Maybe Nintendo should stop complaining, and just put more of the types of games that sell.
I just REFER 2D games over 3D.
There are a lot of eShop games i look at and go "looks boring" or "i don't get the gameplay, what kind of game IS this?".
Freedom Planet i can take one look at a screen shot and go "oh! a platformer like sonic!".
Sorry fella, i'm just a VERY picky gamer, and i happen to prefer games i can wrap my brain around and enjoy more easily.

Um. Doesn't Nintendo already do the timed exclusivity thing? Like, a lot? I recall Stealth Inc 2 getting 6 months exclusivity from other consoles, and I remember Steamworld Dig and Little Inferno (BGE) being exclusive for about the same time.

@AlexSora89 and then there is what Alex mentions thumbs up

@PanurgeJr I agree with you I don't like negativity myself. But there is an obvious problem that's why there are so many negatives flying up on this one. Telling people to take a chance when things are kind of messed up is kind of annoying to the people complaining. The majority of the posts are kind of complaints there is an obvious issue. Charging 34.99 for a 4.99 Android game? I'm not taking that chance. That is a valid complaint.

@RegalSin you know I kind of agree with you. Why does the apple store and Android market offer so much for free or at low low prices? It's to get you hooked. Then later on They will just jack up the prices even though they makes millions with the current business model. To me Nintendo has gone middle of the road with this model. They are the most expensive market of these types but they will do the same and already have really. Charging full price for retail downloads is down right wrong. No packaging, booklet, cartridge.....shouldn't the download be cheaper?

@IceClimbers When I said that it's like they have forgotten about the PAL Region, I'm not just talking about the Humble Nindie Bundle. I'm also talking about all the games we have had delayed for a long time for no reason, and with no explanation other than "Please Understand".

Indies on eShop have made Wii U and 3DS my favourite Nintendo generation. But they need to address:

1. Memory
2. Content locked to consoles
3. Marketing

I'm not sure how many downloaded games I'm going to put on my Wii U now that I think they're replacing it and haven't said what's happening with Club Nintendo.

p.s. Mr Baker, could you find out what's happening with 3D OutRun on the Australian shop? Bless you.

Sure, when we have a better account system and better sales. Affordable Space Adventures was good. And it needed to be, it was 20 euros! I won't be taking too many risks if I can't sell the game after I've had enough of it. Oh, and 32 GB is a pathetic amount of memory space, NX needs to have lots more.

We need more demos. The eshop in my opinion are limited compared to Xbox one and PlayStation 4.

When money is tight it is only natural for people to gravitate towards a game genre they know they have some interest in rather than gambling with a new type of a game. If I was rich then yes I would try different things even if I had no real interest in the concept but the reality is that I have only so much money and time to dedicate games to and I want to make sure I spend those wisely. I do try out many different indie games though, they just need a concept that peaks my interest.

Be the first console to offer a refund system on digital purchases and Im sure youll see a lot more people taking risks, could win you some new customers as well

@PanurgeJr

Amen. Well said.

The main thing I got from this is Damon Baker seems like a cool guy to hang out with plus play games. Also he is a good looking man but still has a nerd quality that would make him a good PR or interview guy over the people on the direct.

Also the brunette from the treehouse was very good looking and natural on live camera.

I know it's horrible but good looking yet still nerdy eough people are what is perfect for selling games or getting peoples attention. Nintendo seems to be learning that with sending Ali Rapp to ign though Brian falling in love with her in the vids was kinda embarrassing(I don't blame him though).

Plus unlike an Audry Drake she isn't a total Nintendo fangirl and showed interest in stuff like Fallout 4 on her twitter during E3.

Don't get me wrong, I love Iwata and company in the directs but cmon. Attractive young adults to the same in their 40's(just a wild guess) people that still seem real and obviously enjoy video games.

I'm not talking just sex sells. These are people a lof of gamers would like to hang out with or game with. Plus seem cool enough that kids (teens) would listen to what they have to say.

I think besides showing awesome gameplay these far too infrequent treehouse events show Nintendo has another thing to add to the lisf of assests they don't use enough.

I know this really has nothing to do with this article but it just came to mind while reading. On youtube there are lots of people with tons of views without the charisma of these folks.

If Nintendo wants to stop youtubers from having let's plays with Nintendo games they have something better to replace it with RIGHT THERE!

@Shiryu I completely agree with you. I haven't downloaded any of my humble bundle games due to space constraints. For that matter I haven't downloaded crap due to that. I've got about 7 or 8 games I've already erased from my system so it really sucks. On my 3ds though I've been buying all sorts of stuff because my 16 gig card is nowhere near full. I really wish Nintendo would just release their own 1TB or 500GB hard drive for the system. I know they can but I'm sure they wont.

@whanvee I recycled one of my old 2.5" HDD drives and I moves all the eShop games to it, so I know sit comfortably on 12 gigas of internal Wii U space. Bring on "FAST Racing NEO" and "Xenoblade Crhonicles X" installations.

@rjejr I think it was stated from its inception that the promotion would only last 2 years. Also that it was excusive to those who bought the deluxe version of the wii u (32gb).

I gambled on "The Starship Damrey" and "Dillon's Rolling Western" now I call it bought experience. I am through with the indie game scene. Dillion has the potential of being an awesome New IP but not with that gameplay mechanic. If you could just move using the circle pad it would be an improvement.

I am not sure which is worse this guy or the Sony exec saying they were no longer making first party Vita games because people demanded better graphics than the Vita is capable of all while Sony shoves indie games down your throat on the PS4 and Vita.

I am not sure who spent $300 on the Vita at launch to play mobile phone games.

@manu0 #14
"Maybe market the games better by giving us some freakin demos?"

DEMOS! I second that! Every game should have a demo.

I wait until sales before purchasing any eShop games considering they are horribly overpriced compared to alternative stores like STEAM.

I also feel horribly ripped off for purchasing Donkey Kong 64 when they can't even be bothered to enable the games 16:9 and Surround Sound support through their emulation.

After this years E3 I hate the sight of them.

Not to mention the eShop is drip fed.....

@whanvee - I know the deluxe promotion was scheduled too last 2 years. And when the 2 years was up, when they saw Wii U wasn't selling very well and eShop game sales were even worse, they could have started a new idea. They also got rid of Club Nintendo a few months back. They should have at least kept that going until closer to when the new 1 was ready, this is just ridiculous.

I usually pick up a game if it even mildly interests me and gets decent reviews. Deal is- I have a huge back log, so a lot of times i wait until there's a sale.

After reading most of the comments, it really boils down to:

1) wiiu has no space, why buy it on the eshop?
2) ps plus and xbox live give you free indies almost weekly, why buy it on eshop?
3) steam, psn, and live arcades have a lot more sales and deals for these games, why buy it on the eshop?
4) with no demos, they're a risk, why buy it on the eshop?
5) the games are all available on steam, psn, and live arcade, and these games typically don't utilize the gamepad or 3D, why buy it on eshop?
6) people who only have a wiiU got it for exclusive titles and don't have the extra funds to go sony or microsoft as well. Nintendo's exclusives drain their wallets!

Ultimately, nintendo's fans are taking risks with indies, just not on the eshop.

Nintendo really should have put more than 32GB of memory on the Wii U. That was one of my major complaints when the Wii U first launched. They still could revise it now to have more storage, probably with very little increase in cost of production, but with the Wii U winding down they aren't going to.

It's not a matter of "nostalgia" with me, it's quality, and finding interesting titles. You want me to buy more eshop titles? I need one of two things: demos available for every release, or a 2 hour refund period like the Android app store. When so many reviews I see for eshop games that are on the fence about whether or not there's enough to recommend it, I want to be able to play a game without risking money. Call me cheap all you want to have hesitations on a $5-$10 purchase, but I hate throwing money to the wind.

If i had one wish to be fulfilled, Nintendo would sell boxed versions of games all over the world and give up this stupid region lock system put in place only since 3DS (eg i will never purchase Ace Attorney Dual Destiny here in France where we have only eshop version vs the rest of the world which has boxed version). Plus link game downloads to an account instead of a console like on every other system making sense.
This guy is just another commercial trying to sell stuff to fans he knows everything about (easy generalization as always). Usual industry guy.

Unfortunately, I have tried buying a variety of different eshop titles in these past two years (and indie games on Steam), and a majority of them I didn't like (even some highly praised ones like shovel knight). It doesn't help if the game in question is pricey.

I am finding more what my particular tastes are, and those tend to be platformers / puzzles, more cartoony /creative and generally family friendly games. I am a huge fan of gameplay mechanics, something Nintendo does particularly well, if that isn't there I tend not to enjoy the game. That's what Nintendo does best, and I imagine that's what a lot of fans of Nintendo enjoy about them, so it's to be expected that that is the preference.

If other games want to step in, they need to get closer to the gameplay quality that Nintendo has (imo) or adjust their prices accordingly

@Windy you are right. The Download version should be cheaper. I am agreeing with you on that 100%.

However what happen now, is that people have become so lazy and disoriented. It is like an five year old talking about how regular tvs were better with an sixty year old.
The two do not add up with this subject matter.

The reason why any Download is more expensive is the excuse of content. More importantly FORCING THE IDEA OF PURCHASING SOMETHING WITH NO TRADE VALUE.

Example. An X manual from the 1930's is worth hundreds of dollars compared to an X manual from 2020 in PDF format. Not because of the context but because of the fact that it is an physical product and not DLC.

When I was in college ( great place ) they did not have physical textbooks and instead they had us go on to an website where our purchase was not valued.

I spent over $160 dollars and both those classes I failed. Next time I make up those classes ( which is very few chances, mostly one time in an graduate school ) I will have to re-purchase those things again. Guess what?

I did not get an textbook. They wanted to sell us Looseleaf pages as an textbook.
I did not get an PDF. They forced us to log into an webpage to read the text online. Then to pay for the class also cost money like around $600 ( inbound where outbound students are more ).

Another example. My bank tells me they will give me $5 dollars if I switch to electronic statements? In order for that to work I need to know computers. Therefore banks are discriminating non-computer users and forcing people to have an piece of hardware they do not need.

The evil master plan is to force people to purchase things with no value and then force them to learn something that not all people can learn how to use.

Back in the 1990's we had this fight to protect disabled people. Disabled people are people who can do one good thing but the other thing they are unable to do. In college I knew an disabled person who was great at math but was unable to communicate with other subjects.

Nowadays they are calling normal people disabled and want to get them with drugs and prevent them from own firearms. They even have medical science where they want to prevent people from being born if such disabilities are found within the gene pool.

Please Windy, please please please please please Windy, go and find an copy of THX ( go and look up THX right now. Because that is the horrible future the world might end up being ( asides for Logans Run ).