Pokémon Rumble World has been one of Nintendo's key free-to-play experiments on 3DS, and was recently reported by the company to be one of its most successful download offerings to date. Perhaps keen to capitalise on that success a remixed version was released as a budget retail title in Japan; that same version is now heading to Europe and Australia on 22nd January and 23rd January respectively.
As expected this retail version strips out all microtransactions and makes some adjustments to accommodate that change. It sounds workable, and the relevant excerpt from the press release is below.
The packaged version includes newly reconfigured features such as Poké Diamonds, the Poké Diamond Digger and VIP Cards, whilst removing the paid content component.
Poké Diamonds make your adventures more fun and help you along in your mission to discover Pokémon for the king. After completing the tutorial, visit the shop to receive your allotment of 3,000 Poké Diamonds. In addition, you will also be able to access the Poké Diamond Digger. The Poké Diamond Digger will provide you with 40 new Poké Diamonds every day. Once you obtain 3,000 Poké Diamonds and the Poké Diamond Digger, a special VIP Card feature will open up. There are two VIP Cards, the Balloon VIP Card and the Timing Stop VIP Card and they can be used to more easily voyage through the wonderful kingdom of Toy Pokémon, collecting more Pokémon for the king!
We rather enjoyed the free-to-play version in our review, praising the blend of accessible combat and decent connectivity features, even commenting that we managed to play for free and be perfectly happy with progress.
Whether this packaged version achieves any success at retail in the West will be interesting to see; we'll keep our eyes peeled for any North American release details.
Comments 20
I doubt this'll sell very well given that the digital version has been out for a long time, and is effectively no different in buying the 3000 diamonds.
But it's still nice to have physical options.
Cool. Hated the F2P version. I played it once or twice, never to play it again.
I quite enjoyed Super Pokémon Rumble, so if the price is right, I'll consider this. I only wish that they had issued a similar physical release for Pokémon Picross as well. I'm sick of Pokémon being dragged through the dirt to make a quick buck via microtransactions. It's disgusting.
@sillygostly It's the equivalent of $30 in Japan.
@sillygostly The digital version of the game is the same. As soon as you've purchased a total of 3000 Poké Diamonds you 'unlocked' the full version of the game, in which microtransactions are no longer a part of. Pokémon Picross works the same btw.
I stopped playing Rumble World because unlocking was so slow. I'll get the physical version if I ever see it for 20€ or less.
Aww, too bad I caught all avaiable pokemon some time ago. I would prefer this over the free-to-play version. I wonder if the retail has similar price to the money you have to spent to unlock the daily free diamonds. Those VIP options sounds helpful though.
@Late
Again, there's no difference between buying the physical version, or buying the 3000 diamonds in the digital version.
@RupeeClock some people just don't want a digital copy
I might have spent money on this game if only the full version was available. I'll almost never spend any money if there's a free to play option available.
No way we are getting a physical release in NA!!! If we get it, they have something personal against Fatal Frame, there cant be another answer...
you had to announce this when I just bit the bullet and purchased the 3000 diamonds. Wonderful...
I brought the 3000 diamonds in the digital version 2 week after release, now I got more diamonds than I ever need. Wish there was a update to convert diamonds into Pokedollars since that what I need the most.
In any case, I'm curious to see how well it sells with people against digitals and/or against f2p. My paranoid side tells me it's a test.
Giving players a choice between Free-To-Play games and traditional, full-priced games is a step in the right direction.
@ultraraichu
It most likely is. Which is a good thing, mind you - we're allowed to "vote with our wallets", as people say a lot here on NL.
I'm assuming this will be £24.99 (like Chibi Robo), which isn't too bad. I may pick it up if it his £15.
@AlexSora89: Agreed. I'd love to see a non free to play physical version of Pokemon Shuffle. I'd buy a non F2P physical version of Pokemon Rumble World if it ever releases in NA.
@RupeeClock One major difference is that you own the game card. (= no more linked to your console)
@Rei That's true! You'd also be able to perform a system transfer, and you would not lose your Poké Diamonds, since the balance is on a retail game card instead of a digital title.
Great move by Nintendo! I havent bought this due to its payment model, but now I will! I hope they will do this to Pokemon Picross too!
@RupeeClock: Noticed your reply a bit late. I know there ain't really a difference in the game itself but I said if I can ever find it for cheaper. Getting the Pokédiamonds digitally costs 25€ (not sure about the price) but I want to save some money and I think the physical version will get a sale at one point or another.
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