If you're a regular Nintendo eShop visitor, you'll no doubt be aware that countless demos litter the Switch's digital store's pages offering a free taste of a healthy selection of games. These demos act as a way for players to understand what the game is about and, essentially, whether or not they want to part ways with their hard-earned cash for the full course. It seems that Amazon UK has other ideas, however.
In a bizarre twist, the mega online retailer has several Switch demos listed on the site as download codes, all being sold for a penny each. Yes, that's right, the free demos that are easily accessible directly from the Switch itself are being sold by Amazon for actual, spendable money.
Don't believe us? You can see the products for yourself. There's one for the Octopath Traveler Prologue demo, Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker and Sushi Striker, sitting there all smug as they rake in their tiny profits.
Naturally, the product reviews are 100% negative, with multiple users informing others that these demos can be found for free on the eShop, with a couple going as far as to call the practice a "scam". It certainly is an odd one - the images on the listings even call it a "free demo", so why on Earth is Amazon charging any money for them?
We'll let you ponder this one over in the comments.
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[source amazon.co.uk]
Comments 42
Amazon proving once again that they're part of the 1%.
@AlexOlney yet you lot will publish an article about “great” things to buy and link them even when there are cheaper alternatives.
But that’s none of my business.
To quote a famous tea drinking frog
@AlexOlney That's why they're only charging 1 penny. Imagine if they were part of the 99%. That's 99 pennies.
Yes, I feel bad about making this comment. But here it shall remain.
I never understood why anyone would buy a download code/prepaid card for a particular game that cost more than it does from the e shop directly- especially when you think it doesn't take that long for e shop discounts these days.
This is just an extension of that practise and you would hope people would be smarter than that.
@MrGawain Sometimes the download codes are cheaper via other retailers due to promotions, discounts, to earn reward points, or maybe it's a way for people to use a store credit that can't be spent on the eShop.
Well I guess the processing stuff that Amazon does could add up to 1p....but it's not worth it for anybody
I assumed that this was for charity or something, but nope! Why do these demos even have download codes? There free demos on the store who is making the codes?!
@HappyRusevDay QFT. Call out the BS.
Also, that's very low of Amazon. Can't stand them.
Perhaps the whole idea of this is so that you can have it downloaded to your switch console before you get to it. However, you can just simply download the demos from Nintendo's website! Above the yellow 'proceed to purchase' button there is a grey 'download demo' button! Check for yourself: https://www.nintendo.co.uk/Games/Nintendo-Switch/OCTOPATH-TRAVELER-1275922.html
@EVIL-C best part is, they just smegging did what I said.
There’s a new guide to the best co-op games on Switch and every game that can, links to Amazon to buy it 😹😹😹
Great scruples NL.
1) Amazon are fast becoming the most expensive place to buy from.
2) I wish Nintendolife would stop endorsing them.
#amazon MHGU £49 and at 365.com £39+free figure.
@HappyRusevDay Don't forget when they make lists specifically for the summer, but then the list just goes on and on with titles not coming out for another 6 months or so.
Some of those "great" items definitely aren't great...
@HappyRusevDay You're right, that is none of your business, and a really petty thing to bring up. Maybe these cheaper websites just don't have affiliate links? This is a small independent website trying to keep funded after all. Using affiliate links to get a bit of extra money from your traffic is standard practice for sites like this. To leave that money on the table just to provide links you're more happy with would be idiotic. There are sites out there like HUKD dedicated to finding games for the cheapest prices, this isn't one of them, nor would anyone logical expect them to spend time doing that.
Hate Amazon. I’m trying my hardest to never buy from them again (even though it is very difficult, they always have the best stuff).
@PorllM This site is part of gamer network. Not as small and independent as you think. Maybe if they actually did some journalism too, it wouldn't feel like such a forced cash grab every time.
Well, they've got to make money somehow - if they offered these services for free, how are a small family run business like Amazon supposed to survive in such a competitive environment? Reminds me, I need to buy some more fresh air from them.
Well does Amazon's system allow listing items for zero pounds? Maybe for some reason someone at Amazon UK thought it was a good idea to list the demos where they're available, and they couldn't list them for free, a technical limitation of the system they have.
Jeff bezos is known for being one of the most greedy ceos in the world, not surprising
@EVIL-C "Maybe if they actually did some journalism too, it wouldn't feel like such a forced cash grab every time."
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/07/feature_sitting_down_with_panic_button_nintendo_switchs_most_important_third-party_studio
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/07/feature_meet_the_man_who_gave_nintendo_tetris_and_got_hiroshi_yamauchi_gaming
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/08/feature_take_a_peek_behind_the_curtain_at_rare_with_this_new_exhibit
https://www.nintendolife.com/news/2018/07/feature_5_observations_from_playing_super_smash_bros_ultimate_with_bill_trinen
Take your pick.
Amazon is such a lousy company, they stoop lower than many ever dream of, and this is just one tiny speck of it. Just knowing what Jeff Bezos does with his excessive profits turns my stomach, let alone how abusive they are to their employees in the higher ranks.
this is crazy that they'd charge for a free demo?? just had a thought though maybe they need to have a price assigned to it to list it, as in it wouldn't appear on their site if it was zero value?
@gloom I haven't used Amazon for a single purchase since November 2017.
@PorllM as someone who’s been here since Damo used to hack people profiles to change there avatars.
Delete comments that disagree with reviews.
Ban mods just because they stood up for people like Neuzd...
Who saw them shut down the fan made forums that was funded by the same mods they banned the moment they pulled there finger out and made a forums themselves JUST before merging to become NLife where they could make some money... Unlike the failed magazine they tried to start.
Trust me when I say I know EXACTLY, what type of site this is. And all they ever cared about was money.
Bet you don’t know though.
www.vc-reviews.com
www.vc-forums.com
#NeverForget
P.S if you think I’m lying, goto the top link and see where it redirects you too. Hint, here.
@AlexOlney Thanks, Amazonlife.
This must be one of the stupidest things in existence.
Why? Just... why?!
What an idiotic waste of time and resources. Downloading demos is ridiculously easy and this just makes that process stupidly convoluted and time consuming.
I'm really confused
@HappyRusevDay - You forgot to mention they also remove comments when there is incorrect information by authors. I remember, when one of staff back in vc-reviews days removed a user pointed out that had corrections for a SNES being released in Europe.
loved vc-forums.com though. Was run by people who actually cared about gaming.
@Lord For me Amazon is the cheapest place to buy games from brand new with the pre-order discount. Especially since I live in a smaller town where the only place we get new games at is Walmart, and if they get it then it's most definitely full price. Also unfortunately we've only got 1 used game store here, and they are lucky to get brand new games a couple times a month, and their switch stock is never good at all. However selling demos for a penny while trivial is stupid.
why are demos even offered on amazon?
@HappyRusevDay Thanks for that, I hadn't heard about a lot of those things despite reading here for almost a decade. I will look into it for sure! You have to realise the fact you're still here makes all those criticisms feel pretty toothless though. And if "all they care about is money" is a valid criticism for a business, I bet you don't deal with 99% of companies.
@HappyRusevDay sure, I have no idea why gameflip doesn't get big advertisement for the on sale Nintendo eShop cards. Even with the processing fee you can sometimes save about 10-15% off. There are even store credit promos as well. I just use prime for the free movies, books and twitch games. Unless you need that preorder bonus, waiting for a price drop or buying yesteryear stuff (I pity those who bought the new 3ds with hardly any support/3d in its twilight) for much less and hopefully helping individuals pay bills rather than feed a machine. Some lots and prices are nice too. If I had more free time I may even get rpg maker fes, though I feel PC's for a bigger interface and using custom sprites is far better. I did see eBay once had someone sell Metroid 2 Samus returns with the amiibo codes already in the game, so you wouldn't have to buy those. Just a point.
Could be an error. Demos are only avaliableon the Eshop. Plus, who ever charges for Demos?
Lol: I wonder what Nintendo thinks about these scandalous practice!
That's pretty stupid although I'm curious as to how much money Amazon will make from this.
@AlexOlney This is a little off topic, but I just wanted to tell you that I love your videos. It's how I found this site. Thanks for all that you do!
This must be a error on Amazon’s part, as a penny sale makes no difference to their profits. This is a multi billion dollar company, so this makes no sense.
I personally love Amazon as they offer the largest selection of goods & services at really low prices. They also have excellent customer service. They’re my go to retailer.
@Alundra-1998 Bravo!! Such dedication to the cause.
@Nintendo_Alski @Saemon they can list items with no cost though, look at the Pokémon Quest download codes on there. They’re free. Clearly the system is perfectly capable of listing items for free.
May be the free demo is not available in other eshop markets and by buying this cheap code you can actually download the game. This same thing (games only available in certain eshop countries) happened with WarioWare 3ds demo.
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Geez Lol i wonder how much Amazcon will charge for Dragon Ballz Z fighters Demo? Hahahahaha idiots and for Super Smash bros Ultimate demo when released this fall or even the one Demo we've all been waiting for wait for it...........Dark Souls remastered beta test network!!!! Hmghhhhh well this is getting ridiculous now cause we as consumers don't except this kind of nonsense bs now.Even from Nintendo this wouldn't be acceptable or even tolerable in a gamers,fan perspective.
1p doesn't leave much for the site in affiliate links...
Due to them being a retailer they cannot offer them for free, a penny is obviously the smallest transaction acountable to allow them to do this. The biggest issue here is surely having to complete a transaction and enter a download code. Pretty sure nobody is outraged by the 'penny' . Another silly article.
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