Super Mario Odyssey for Switch is not far away now; it's hard to imagine but on 27th October the game will be out in the wild. While collecting the physical version of the game will be nice (who doesn't want this box on their gaming shelf?) - changing the cart in your Switch won't be as much fun. Given that Super Mario Odyssey is a game that you will likely be going back to for months, if not years to come, perhaps a digital download is in order.
Annoyingly the digital version often costs more than the cart version, with ARMS and Mario Kart 8 Deluxe both costing £49.99 for the eShop version, when you can often buy the boxed edition for less.
If you fancy going digital this time, however, you are in luck; Super Mario Odyssey costs exactly the same on Amazon UK to buy on a cart or download, something the retailer hasn't done often before now.
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Remember, Prime customers will get an extra £2 off their order, so you could get the digital version for only £39.99. We can't say fairer than that!
Comments 73
@Banjos_Backpack told Amazon about this and they price matched for me! Gotta love Amazon customer service
Ok but for how long ?
I got it for $47.99 digital preorder from Amazon US
@Banjos_Backpack Just hope the UK division doesn't go under between now and launch
To be fair this is exactly how it should be when downloading a game, if anything it should be slightly cheaper but that's an argument for another day.
I've never understood how a download can cost more than a physical cart, and more importantly I've never understood why there are people out there prepared to pay more for it.
If money is no object to you then fair enough but otherwise why pay more when you're getting less.
@Marios-love-child Nintendo wants to keep physical versions of games. This is why downloaded games are never cheaper.
But there are so many down sides, especially on the switch:
@Rhaoulos
Agreed.... if you read many of my comments on here you'll see I'm very much against digital downloads and always prefer to buy a physical carts.
Mainly that's down to price but I just prefer having a physical copy. If I carelessly lose it then that's my problem but I just prefer having something to hold for my Money so to speak
Edit: to be fair it's not just a Nintendo issue, if you go on the PSN store its exactly the same on the Playstation. Unless something is in the sales the prices for a download game can be insane in comparison to a physical retail copy
Buying it digital right at mignight, or whenever it releases in the CEST timezone, and physically because never owning a physical copy of the OG Mario Kart 8 has always been a thorn in my eye.
This code would work just fine on EU consoles, right?
No Cappy Hat no buy
Digital Downloads should never be more expensive than physical - it is absolutely a con. There is significantly less outlay (no manufacturing or shipping) and there is no resale opportunity for the customer. This is simply an unethical and unfortunately common greedy trend in modern technology businesses (Amazon Kindle, Google, Apple, Microsoft, Sony - there all at it). I will buy physical whenever I can now.
Nice "disguised" advert.
Wow! I was going digital anyway, but this sweetens the deal!
So wait, this would give me exactly the same end result as purchasing it directly in the eShop but is cheaper than in the eShop? Have I got that right? And if so, how does that make any sense?
Pre ordered Digital today for little Me, and pre ordered physical for my son who likes collecting stuff. Looking forward to this game big time.
I always sell my games back to amazon for credit. If I include that credit It never makes sense to get Digital.
Except on Steam sometimes - I got preorder of Wolfenstein2 for $36 dollars for PC. Even with credit back on console it would be about the same.
My console is in French (and has the French e-shop on it). If i purchase this code on Amazon UK, would that work?
Like others have asked; is this a UK-only thing, or will it work on EU/PAL systems from different countries, too? The article doesn't specify.
@AlexioC nope. But the game is cheaper at Amazon.fr, only 40,61€ plus shipping. I live in Germany and I bought one.
Wow. As a digital only dude, this is great news.
This is how it should be really.
@w00dm4n Digital still shows my check out at full price how did you go about it?
Physical retail as always.
If i'm Lucky enough, maybe I will get on Sunday, 29 October 2017 USA region with price under US$ 60 , 1 day before my Birthday on 30 October 2017, I will going 33 years old.
Like others have said,digital being more expensive than retail is ridiculous and is just not on.But I'm not going to whine about it..
I'm torn on whether I want the physical or digital..I usually go physical as the carts are nice to have but I'm a lazy git and really can't be bothered to keep changing the Carts.
@citizenerased There is no region-lock on Switch. Anything will work anywhere. You can use japanese e-shop for all Nintendo cares. So do not worry, you can preorder any code, just open the corresponding region e-shop.
@MaSSiVeRiCaN
I have Prime at the moment maybe that's why.
It hasn't shown with any other digital preorder
I'm lucky I live in Jersey, where VAT doesn't apply.
That way I can buy the retail version for less than £40. Sorry if that's a bit pretentious of me to say.
@w00dm4n I have prime as well. I'll have to call them and see if they'll do it for me.
@RainbowGazelle Why is it that that annoys some people like yourself, at least enough for you to leave pointless comments like the one you just left and several other times in the past?Never understood that.
Heaven forbid a Nintendo website that tells us about offers and then have the audacity to include affiliate links to them and clearly disclose that they are. I mean how dare they try to raise some funds to help with the running costs.
Does digital version from UK store work just fine with US bought Switch? Would you just redeem it like normal?
This just has to be physical for me.
And I spent £50 more to get that stupid hat in game compared to the £40 I could have spent on amazon. Darn it.
@RainbowGazelle your avatar always makes me think you're a really fun person but your comments are pretty negative! Nintendo give you a wedgie or steal your lunch money in the past?!? Lol I jest, but you do seem to have a bit of a chip on your shoulder...
"Note: Currently, this item is available only to customers located in the United Kingdom."
Physical with cappy from Nintendo uk
@RainbowGazelle LOL good point
@setezerocinco Thanks!
I wonder if there is a special tax in the UK for digital download stuff, for products technically considered as imported? And Nintendo doesn't compensate for the...tariff, when pricing it on the eShop? Can't imagine Nintendo actively discouraging digital downloads since it costs them zero in added physical production. Same price makes sense, to be fair to retailers, from a business outlook.
I wish the Prime discount always applied to digital game purchases.
Called Amazon. Wouldn’t price match or offer discount on digital version if purchased through US store. After much negotiating they did offer me a $12 credit towards my purchase, so I was able to nap a digital preorder for same $47.99 price.
I'll probably still get it physical. I got Zelda BoTW physical.
Always physical, especially with Best Buy GCU
@MartyFlanMJFan I like to think that I'm a fun person, but I don't just blindly accept everything a company does, and to me, Nintendo has been doing a lot of pretty anti-consumer things over the last few years.
@OorWullie I don't recall it being marked as 'deals' when I posted. If it was, and I missed it, I'll gladly take back my comment. I have no problem with a website posting affiliate links, it's just if they try to disguise the fact with click-bait articles that bothers me.
gameseek cyclonic deals 29.99
@RainbowGazelle Apologies for how my comment come across. It's just I've seen many complaints in the past about NL including affiliate links and I just don't understand why it would bother someone as long as they're disclosing they get a percentage.The percentage they would get is probably tiny anyway but every little helps. With NL being one of my favourite sites I'm happy to help them out.It's the only website I visit where I have my ad block turned off.
Nice, that's about 8€ less than at Gamesrocket. 👍
Nintendo having us download the game ourselves when we buy the Switch Mario bundle for $380, including a case, has me rethinking my bundle decision.
@Wazeddie22 I hope you have a wonderfull 30th birthday, friend
@rjejr I see your point, I have the same issue with my sons Splatoon 2 hardware bundle, but I guess it guarantees new customers will visit the eShop? Downloading from an online, digital storefront is probably still alien to some, this forces them to experience it. I guess it means you can do what you want with the download code too, gift it or whatever.
@w00dm4n How did you get that price? As far as I've seen Amazon only does Prime discounts on physical games, not digital.
@Steel76 Retailers rejected that model unfortunately. So, while developers may have earnest intentions, publishers still need to have a physical presence. Particularly Nintendo.
So, in a nutshell, we don't have nice things because of the need to maintain retailer relations.
@Banjos_Backpack Maybe in 5+ years. I really don't see gaming going the same way as CDs though. The business models are totally different.
@MartyFlanMJFan "Splatoon 2 hardware bundle"
But then the money should come out of Ntinedod's marketing budget, not out of our pocket. I can buy the game for $48 w/ my Prime discount, or pay $60 to have to download it digitally int he bundle. The least Ntineod can do is bundle the $60 game for $50 bc/ they don't need to make it or even advertise it, it's already a code in the box. But instead of selling a $300 console w/ a $60 game for $50 b/c it's only a code they throw in a $20 case and charge $380 for the bundle. Which is something years ago people would be yelling at Gamestop and Walmart for doing with a hot product, forcing people to buy a bundle w/o even giving a discount. There are plenty of $15 cases at Target and Amazon, they should be giving people a discount b/c we are buying it in the Switch box, they don't have to market that item separatly either.
I'm all for bundles, but bundles should save consumers money b/c they save the company making them money. The very least they should do is include the game pre-installed so I don't have to mess around w/ Wi-Fi, even the dock doesn't have a LAN port. Look around this upcoming holiday at all the PS4 and Xbox One bundles that will basically include the game for free, the console is the same price w/ or w/o a game.
If I wasn't getting $100 to trade in my Xbox I'd be seriously reconsidering the bundle. And I already pre-paid $50 for it at Gmaestop. But if I find a better offer in next weeks Sunday paper ads I'll buy the console and game separately and worry about the case later. I check Target Cartwheel every week looking for a deal. I may buy a PSVR this week b/c it's 25% off of $299.
BTW, did you get a screen protector in the Spaltoon bundle? Best Buy, Gamestop and Amazon websites all say the Mario bundle comes w/ a screen protector but it isn't mentioned on the box (that I can see).
Got this over a week ago so been around a while. They did similar with another Switch game. Cant remember off the top of my head what it was though. Maybe FIFA. It went as soon as the game was released so I guess they only have so many codes. Would imagine price will go up again after release
@rjejr Screen protector, I don't believe so... My boy will go ballistic if he gets a Switch Christmas morning, adores Splatoon on Wii U, so the Splatoon 2 hardware bundle was just perfect for him, he'll freak... We were struggling to get one though, Nintendo themselves let me order it from their Official UK Online Store only to cancel, so when I managed to get one put aside in a Smyths after thinking I was out of luck we went straight to the store, hid it at home & not looked at it since.
@MartyFlanMJFan "not looked at it since."
My kids have both reached the age where they don't believe in Santa, so that puts a crimp on things like that. Plus this year we're doing Christmas at my sister's, a 12 our car ride away, and Thanksgivings at my brother-in-law, a 5 hour car ride away, so we're doing Christmas Oct 27. Oh and again early Dec before my other sister's family goes to California to be w/ her husband's family, so we'll be doing 3 or 4 this year. Plus my wife is Jewish so we do 8 nights of Hanukkah. It's all gifts all the time for 2 straight months. Then my son's birthday mid Jan. Then I hibernate and pay bills.
@Toads-Friend Hey thanks for the birthday wishes but my birthday isant until late November and unfortunately I'll be 44 not 30 but I think you meant to reply to @Anti-Matter ?lol
@G0dlike Is price matching limited to prime members? I've never been able to justify the fee!
@ledreppe Have a look at Prime on your Amazon account, they usually offer a 30 day free trial every now and again. You get full access to all its features and won't be charged until the 30 days are up. Just make a note to cancel it before then. Even if you forget to cancel it as I've done in the past, providing you haven't used any of its benefits past the trial period they will refund it back to your account.
@Marios-love-child I agree.
@RainbowGazelle Ya, that's what I thought. We all know and have known for some time that Amazon are selling it for £42.
@Marios-love-child As long as people keep buying digital version, they'd be stupid to lower the price. Especially on switch when producing a cartridge is more expensive than pressing an optical disc. Also they are cutting the middle man so they're making way more money out of it.
Also worth pointing out this Amazon Top Up Offer. https://www.amazon.co.uk/b/ref=amb_link_2?ie=UTF8&node=11301833031&pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&tag=hotukdeals062-21 If you qualify, you just need to add £25 credit to your account and they'll give you an extra fiver. Even if you've already placed an order for the game, you can go back into it and update your payment options to use the promotional balance.
@Rhaoulos
I'm sure they are and it's great for them as a publisher, it probably costs them virtually nothing to supply a game digitally. almost like printing money.
Not so great for us as consumers, but as you say if people are silly enough to pay it then it'll never stop.
Edit...... on the flip side you could argue that if they did drop the digital price then they're likely to sell a lot more.
@brunojenso I agree. I always try to buy physical. It just makes more sense. Like recently where I read that the original Wii e-shop is shutting down, and we will no longer be able to re-download games we have purchased. That means those purchases will be poof, gone if anything ever happens to my Wii. But physical disks I'm still good with.
What are you guys talking about? Downloads are always cheaper than physical. Atleast from my experience...
@SoIDecidedTo Yeah that sucks big time. I like the idea of going back to classics I've enjoyed years before and there is less and less of a guarantee that you can with digital. That's why I will not buy games on iOS and Android anymore. Despite the hate on mobile, I've enjoyed some incredible games on those platforms - but not anymore - they have removed so many old games I enjoyed from the app store without so much as a 'do you mind'. It's kinda close to theft. I think digital has it's place for some Indie's and especially for things like Minecraft and Stardew Valley that you want on tap. Those aren't the sort of games I want to swap carts for.
@Redremedy Check again - generally they are not - and Nintendo are particularly naughty with their digital pricing.
@Banjos_Backpack Doesn't work well for video games. Or put another way, there isn't enough alternative revenue.
Game development budgets run over hundreds of millions of pounds. Recording an album is far far cheaper. I'm simplifying of course.
@Redremedy
Are you serious? I'd love to know where you do your shopping. I appreciate being in Sweden you will have a different currency but to give you a few examples
Fifa 18 eshop price.. £54.99
Fifa 18 physical game on Amazon £44.99
Mario kart 8 eshop price.. £49.99
Mario kar physical game on Amazon £42
Arms eshop price... £49.99
Arms physical game on Amazon £42
Same for splatoon, same for pretty much any game you care to choose.
If you care to shop around you may even find games cheaper than Amazon but eshop prices are Always a rip off in comparison
Just out of interest can you give me an example of a game you've found cheaper in the eshop because I'm sure as hell yet to see one
@Marios-love-child I totally agree with you there. I have an Xbox one as well as a switch and the digital game prices are horrendous. I think they do that to get one press buys. Its too easy to buy digitally and i guess some folks have more money than sense.
I suspected the price of the download-versions to be the same, like the way it was with retail-downloads on the Wii u. Now with the Switch this doesn't seem the case (this game being a exception). Even more reason to buy the retail games at retail!
@brunojenso I agree 100%. I still have all of my old games from the Atari 2600 through Nintendo (all the systems, Eternal Darkness on the Gamecube still being my favorite game ever), and although it is rare, when I get the urge to play something from the past (looking your way WCW vs NWO Revenge), it's fun to get to go back and play. I agree with you that not being able to play with what I've paid for is akin to theft.
@SoIDecidedTo Eternal Darkness - Nice!
@brunojenso Count me as one of those that wish this game had a 2 coming out on switch. Or just re-release the first one remastered. Somehow Nintendo should make this happen!
That and a re-imagining of Geist. (OH wait, is that what they did with Mario Odyssey and "Cappy"? haha)
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