Nintendo Switch Online Users Can Now Buy Two Games For $99

Yeah, this is a really good deal. I notice it's going live close-ish to E3. Smart. I'd love to see this become an annual thing.

You even get gold coins for the purchase!

It's a pretty good move, I like it. Not going to bite just yet though.

And clearly it's for 2 digital games only correct? Can't do 1 physical and 1 digital I assume?

@Ralizah it did not appears to be seasonal but a permanent option for subscribers

@Ralizah It's already live And you can buy up to 8 vouchers at a time and they will add new games to the program.

@NintendoByNature these are valid only in the eShop.

Well, I mean I want to play Astral Chain and Luigi's Mansion 3... And I guess a lot of players have the upcoming Pokemon on their radar.

And with the codes being valid for one year after purchase, I think this might be even a great gift during Christmas.

In addition with being able to redeem them separately, there seems to be no drawback, other than not buying physical.

@NintendoByNature Yes 2 download versions of Nintendo published retail games.

This is a good deal for people who buy games digitally as there is a saving however you can still buy 2 first party Nintendo games physically cheaper

@NintendoByNature yes, you buy the voucher on the e-shop and use it to buy the games online

So this voucher essentially pays for the NSO service itself...

Sounds like a pretty good deal.

@sanderev @Balta666 @Morpheel thanks got it

@westman98 Yep buy 2 60 euro / dollar games and it gives you an actual discount of one year NSO (20 euro / dollar)

All of these larger titles are ones that I’d much rather have physical. I do like this idea conceptually, but this particular one isn’t for me.

@sanderev I can see it on the rewards page, but it isn't actually live to allow you to see the available games and buy some.

@twadebarcelona It's in the eShop, go to "Nintendo Switch Online" and it will appear as an option.

@ReaderRagfish Given that they have the new Marvel game shown in the graphic above it seems like new games will be included too.

if Animal Crossing and Pokemon Sword & Shield are part of this offer. i'm using this ASAP!

@sanderev Oh. I was trying to do it on the website because the button is available there, but does nothing. Thanks for the heads-up.

I am tempted to get the Marvel one and SMM2. I either have everything else physically, or am not too interested. Also, Bayonetta 2 is in the list, and it's on sale right now, meaning you'd end up spending more if you got it and a game less than £59.

Save about $20 for two games? Not bad.

I prefer physical games, so I probably won't use it, but it is a good move on their part.

I might take advantage of this offer. There are some games I want to buy on my Switch (New Super Mario Bros U Deluxe, Donkey Kong Country: Tropical Freeze, and Bayonetta 2), but the $20-off savings thing could've been a little bigger. Plus, $99.99 is something I could barely stomach for a game purchase, even if I could get two out of it.

Hopefully I'll need this in the future before July then.

Mario maker is a great digital game in my opinion as I'll play it in short spurts. But I'm trying to think of the 2nd game id redeem the code for. That's my dilemma at least

@NintendoByNature luigis mansion 3

@Balta666 You only appear to be able to buy these until July 31

It's good to see that they're finally taking steps to make the online service worthwhile.

This works for me as I'll get FE and MM2 digital so woo!

i say good deal for digital users for me im all physical copies but if some digital games peak my interest then ill get them for sure.

@1UP_MARIO I'm getting luigis mansion 3 for sure but physical. After seeing the list. I wouldn't mind a digital copy of super mario party. That's another one playing on the fly would be nice

Great deal.
But i still on Physical All the way.

Decent idea, not a great deal. A lot of the eligible games listed are only $50 anyway. Actually even some of the $60 games are cheaper on Amazon. Good for anyone who already knows they're getting Fire Emblem, Astral Chain, or Super Mario Maker 2

I’m all in if this code works for two switches! My kids both have a switch, so can i split the codes across two systems? For example buying 2 Mariokart codes, 1 for each of my children?

I just got this email! Came to see if any news on NL.

Octopath not worth it because $49 at Target right now for Physical.

Also Amazon US has Smash, xeno2, MK11, Mario Deluxe and Yoshi for $49. And Fire Emblem Warrior is $21

So save those vouchers for new E3 Announcement pre-orders (if they make the list) 😀

Canadian vouchers costs $133. Its worth it if you're buying a couple of $80 games, but with anything below that you could actually lose money.

I'll be getting 2, as I'll likely buy Astral Chain, Fire Emblem, MUA3 and Mario Maker 2 anyway.

I was super excited about this since there’s a lot of games I plan to buy this year- Luigi, Animal Crossing, Pokémon, “new” Zelda. However when I looked at the eligible titles I was underwhelmed- if they add more eligible games this would be worth it. They state you can save one for an upcoming release but they don’t mention what those may be- that would be a huge selling point imo.

I’m Digital all the way, so this is amazing!!

@Bombjak I thought you could share games between the systems if they were yours and had your Nintendo account linked to both? I would look more into that before dropping that kind of money on the same games.

Actually I’m surprised there’s no mention of the other deal - Mario Maker + 1 yr of Nintendo Online for $69.99 USD. That will be a big draw for subscriptions. $10 for a year of online service? That’s awesome.

I came here expecting mockery and instead found jubilation. I'm confused, this is the worst sale I've ever heard of. "Save $0-10 on games, must buy 2, only valid for annual subscription club members.".

It's not great, but it's something on the $60 games, but others like sushi striker it's literally, buy 2 games for $99, a $99 value!"

It is an ok deal. Though I could get some physical games already for €50 though they can go as high as €70 though they are normally €60. So for me I can be saving anywhere between €0 - €40.

I normally go for games physically but if there is a game down the line that I want to get digital and it is €70 then it is worth it to spend an extra €30 to get a second game (within a year) for that extra price.

Ugh I wanted to cut back on my digital game purchases but... given Amazon no longer gives their discount on preorders, this is a really good deal, considering MM2, FE, and MUA3 are must haves for me and I could save $20 there. $20 is a pretty big deal for me right now...

@Balta666 definitely not permanent, the website says the offer ends July 31.

I guess this is Nintendo's way of getting more folks to buy Digital. Might not be best for older games but for newer ones it could be good for. You'll regularly want to check back on games like Mario Maker 2 and the upcoming Animal Crossing often so saving some money, getting a fiver back in Gold coins and eliminate the need to swap carts just to check if your Mario Maker levels got any hits or check your village will appeal to some.

@Mamabear if you look at the fine print it does say more titles will be added over time. I imagine titles releasing later simply aren’t listed because they don’t have solid release dates yet and are subject to delay - given the tickets are usable only for a year, it would be a liability for them to list games that even have the slightest risk of being delayed to outside the next year. I am guessing all first party games will be available though. Third party games are a gamble.

“purchasing with Game Vouchers would save you £25.98”

That’s assuming you already have the membership, which is £17.99. So £8 saving, if you buy one game worth £60 and one for £50. The vast majority of games on there are £50, or even £40.

In theory, you could spend £102 to buy membership and vouchers, then spend them on World Ends With You and Dragon Quest Builders, which are worth £80 together...

Of course no-one would do that, and the Online Membership is annual rather than per voucher (and less with the family option) but having £40 games in there does somewhat devalue the £84 voucher cost, doesn’t it?

So you save around $20. Big whoopdedoo! Just enough left over for you to resub again. Clever but you ain't fooling everyone Nintendo. Offer those of us that play dominantly offline backup save options and an alternative to nes online (in other words virtual console).

I'm gonna need a bigger SD card

Eshop is full RRP prices so is inflated compared to major chain retailers. Example in Australia is $90 for a first party game compared to $70 for a physical copy in store. Sorry, this voucher system, especially with an expiration, won't entice me to get Nintendo Online!

@Agramonte
It’s still worth it, even at $49 physical prices.

1 Buy $100 eShop credit from Target with Redcard for 5% off (or BestBuy/Amazon/wherever using their store card 5% back)
2 Buy vouchers for $100, earning $5 back in gold coins
3 Use vouchers on new $60 titles (Mario Maker 2, Fire Emblem, Astral Chain, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3) or upcoming titles that will be added later (Luigi’s Mansion 3, Pokémon Sword/Shield, Animal Crossing, Zelda Link’s Awakening, Dragon Quest XI S [maybe], etc)

Profit at $45/game day one digital. That’s even better than my BestBuy GCU 20% off discount + 5% back in rewards.

@NEStalgia yeah, what is the point of adding a $50 game?

@NEStalgia
worst sale I’ve ever heard of

I don’t know what kind of sales you’ve been hearing about for buying new $60 games day one, but the ability to buy Mario Maker 2, Astral Chain, Fire Emblem, Marvel Ultimate Alliance 3, etc (more to be added per Nintendo- basically ALL Nintendo published games) for $45/each day one digital it’s probably the best sale I’ve ever heard of.

Even my BestBuy GCU 20% discount with 5% rewards on top of it can’t touch this. And that’s the best physical deal I’ve ever heard of for a new $60 game day one, physical typically being touted as having the better deals.

So ya. I don’t know what sales you’ve heard of, but by all means continue buying your $60 Nintendo games for less than $45 day one at wherever you’re doing that right now

edit
And if you’re simply unaware this deal makes $45 day one digital releases possible, please read my post several comments above this one for all the splendid details

Too as in my Mexico they’re useless since most of First Party games in the eshop the prices are ridiculously expensive and in physical retail stores they sell them at the same discount price from the vouchers as regular prices

Isn't this pretty much the price they cost at retail anyway?

I never spend over £40 on a game in UK money.

I wonder if you can use it to purchase the same game twice. My kids are going to want Mario Maker as well. It would be nice to save $20 on that.

EDIT - Ooh, I just saw someone mention Animal Crossing. That would be another game worth a digital purchase, only because it would save me the trouble of swapping carts all of the time.

@JaxonH the gold coins do make it a little better, i forgot about that. Though i wouldn't factor in the credit card kickbacks, since that a) has nothing to do with this sale, b) applies to the purchase anywhere at any price, and c) personally i don't go for store credit cards.

Still the $50 games aren't a sale at all. The $60 games are really only better than gcu because of gold coins, though i don't hold that against this since gcu is dead. So it's the standard $10 discount Amazon still offers on select games, plus the gold coins. (Cc antics not included and apply to physical too.)

I guess it's not awful but considering were talking about a relatively average sale that only applies to paying subscribers, while PS and XB often run sales where subscribers get an extra 10, 15, 20% on TOP of the sale price (and you don't need to buy 2)..... It's still Nintendo being Nintendo.

Personally, all the new games though I'll want physical except mm2 which I'm not entirely sold on yet, and i still have gcu until November as well, so I'm certainly going that route for now.

I just bought eshop credit for 25% off not to long ago so bundling it with this I can get two nintendo games for only $75 and still get $5 gold credit. Hopefully they continue to do stuff like this.

@JaxonH
You can find good deals online from time to time too. Getting harder to find but they do still happen. Great for people who can afford to stock up when they become available.

@JaxonH I didn’t realize you could get Target discount on gift cards so that’s neat. I don’t know if many have Costco memberships but I think you can pick up a $50 eshop card for $44 or $45 which would eek out a little more savings $90 for 2 games plus the gold coin incentive. I agree people could definitely make this work in their favors. Plus most first party Nintendo games don’t see significant sales for quite awhile.

@NEStalgia he's countering people who say physical is cheaper and showing how thats not true. So yes, credit card points, gold points everything should count because in the end it is what the person is actually paying.

@Lemmy_the_Koopa Not to mention Animal Crossing, Town, The Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening, Daemon X Machina, anything they announce at E3 and possibly Dragon Quest Builders 2 and Dragon Quest XI as they're both being published by Nintendo. And since they last a year, that brings us halfway into 2020 which means another 4-5 games by Nintendo alone at that point.

There won't be a shortage of titles people want to use these on.

I wish Nintendo would stop delaying the inevitable and raise the price of the online service. These gimmicky coupons aren't going to convince any new people to join the service... however, I'm sure a $10 increase to the cost of the yearly subscription with the promise of SNES game would bring a multitude of new subscribers.

@JaxonH That is some creative financing 👍

But I do not collect things or play games over once I finish them - so rarely keep them (if I do, it is on PC). Retail for me is still king.

I can get OT for $49 at Target. Amazon gives me $25.62 gift card credit for trading it in (Plus my 5% cash back on whatever I buy with it). So Played it for $23.38

Why back when Amazon Prime 20% discount I came out like a bandit. Would pre-order the game at $47 and trade it back for another $47 pre-order (plus my 5% cash back on my 3rd or 4th game).

Your way is still great for people who are building their digital collection. Especially for Nintendo games.

"... Dragon Quest XI S [maybe]"

This was the first thing I checked for. Hope it makes it on the list.

Couple of games I've been on the fence on, and this has persuaded me.

Shrewd business.

It's not a great offer and perhaps should even be a bit lower, problem is some of these games have inflated prices on the eshop in the first place such as Zelda and Smash. A quick look on Amazon shows Mario Maker at £40 and Smash at £45 which is basically the same as this offer and means in reality I'd only be saving £1 and not the £26 that it seems

Damn, not even Mr. Krabs would be this desperate...

Don't be stupid people... base.com... Mario maker 2: 47€, fire emblem: 47€, that makes a total of 94€ with the possibility to sell it again.
This is just a lame attempt to discourage good old physical sales.

Stellar. Ill use this offer for Mario Maker and either Marvel UA3, or Fire Emblem 3H. If I still have my second voucher come Aug 30, Astral Chain will then be the obvious choice for myself.

@Agramonte not sure about internationally, but Amazon suffered sales tax in the states, which dampens the savings in my point of view.

The online deal is just like with all digital titles,the discount still makes it more expensive than buying physical copies.

This has always surprised me as there is no cost to Nintendo for the box,artwork,game cartridge,and the cost of getting the game to retailers.

Digital games should be cheaper imho.

Interesting! Might cancel my Amazon pre-orders of Astral Chain and Fire Emblem: Three Houses and buy those this way instead.

Well, it's not a particularly good deal, if you're not an online subscriber already. Then you'll have to add the subscription on top of that. The way I see it is: pay for a lackluster online service, so you get the rights to pay for two games at a slightly reduced price.

@Mamabear yeah I did check, you can download the same game on another switch but you can't play multiplayer. So across two switches if you play the same game it pauses on one and continues on the other... nintendo more than anyone need to incorporate the game share system that xbox and playstation have.

@johnvboy Physical will always be cheaper while retailers exist because physical being more expensive would put Nintendo on bad terms with the retailers at which at that point the retailers may stop selling Nintendo stuff completely. Note that the same would be true for all 3, not just Nintendo.

@NEStalgia
Ya but keep in mind this applies to new, day one games. Not just older games. You won’t see any other system offering their brand new first party $60 retail titles on sale day one.

I still have GCU til March 2020 myself, but I buy every major release digitally for convenience, especially now that I have a 1TB SD. And for someone who wants to buy digital this is as good as it gets. Even for games that aren’t new, 1st party games don’t really drop in price much and even now I can’t find most of those first party games on sale anywhere physically.

@Grumblevolcano,

Totally agree it's not just Nintendo.

Maximum voucher saving in EUR and USD is exactly the cost of a 12-month subscription. So basically, if you're ready to splash out for two games at once, the online is free. Nice.

Also, I'd like to remind the commenters that not all countries have Best Buys or Amazon. In my country, for example, Nintendo is not that popular and besides official Nintendo sales, retailers don't discount physical games at all. So the vouchers seem a great offer to me.

It's interesting they say "introducing" the deal and don't cover any of the "limited time" stuff, even though the website says they'll be for sale until late July. It makes me think they're probably testing the waters and we might see these things become available year-round.

Doesn't really amount to that big of a savings after adding the cost of the subscription into things. Large/AAA games I prefer to buy physical also. Still no reason for me to sub to online

@Bombjak You can already do this (with some limitations) because the owner of a game can play it on a second switch as long as they have an internet connection.

Digital, only reducing pricing to other shop levels, and they get your money straight away on pre-orders, mmmm!! I see in the comments it can work for some, but in the main I think Nintendo are the real winner on this deal.

@BumpkinRich hi and thanks for the reply. Your right about the limitations where only the account holder can play on either switch. It’s a shame really. I also called Nintendo and they confirmed that these game vouchers are restricted to the one account, so I cant use the voucher across two different accounts on multiple switches.

Would have been great where there are multiple switches in a household you get some sort of discount in buying the same game, which is what I thought this game voucher would provide... unfortunately not.

WOW something for the switch online that is good

I want to buy Mario Maker and give the other voucher to a friend so he can buy it too, but it seems that won't be possible. Can anyone confirm that information?

actually it's just $95 because you're also getting 500 gold points

@Bombjak This is something I've been wishing for! I have two sons and we have purchased 3 copies of Splat & Smash so that we could play together.....That's a lot of cash for a family! We've basically spent $1260 on 3 systems and 3 copies of those 2 games. This does not include the games we only own one copy of.

I think this deal is only okayish. We may use it to pickup 3 copies of this game and another game later if the tickets can be split to multiple users. Are the tickets just codes? If so they can easily be used on different accounts or given as gifts. As far as the deal goes, if you're patient, you could wait for Target's annual "buy 2 get 1 free" sale. It's a much better deal.

It's hard to consider this a deal. Most of these games have been cheaper digitally. Or there's games line mentioned, the world ends with you, that is just $49.99 anyways. So you're actually spending more to get this "deal". Albeit 1 cent. Or you could just by the physical for $40 on amazon. Why would i pay more for games? Why would they call it a deal to pay more?

@dkxcalibur the tickets can only be used by the account holder and cannot be shared among other users on different switches! I agree with you, it’s probably best to just wait for the sales!

@Dustopolis Yeah here in NY we have sales tax. But everything does. I have to pay an extra $9 of Tax to get these vouchers from the eshop.

But sometimes it does not - the $21 Fire-Emblem Warriors has no tax at checkout. 🙂

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B071X7QQKZ/ref=ox_sc_act_title_1?smid=A222J70A9S8HW2&th=1

@JaxonH For buying specifically day-1 games digitally, sure, it's not a terrible deal. But it's also an awkwardly complicated sale "must be a subscriber, must use the tickets on your own account, must buy two", the CC kickback is irrelevant, and the gold coins, while you get more for digital than physical, you do get some for physical too.

I can see for you in particular how it's a useful sale based on your purchasing habits, but the only thing that make it look like an even slightly above terrible sale is basically because Nintendo is the lone exception in the entire industry that never does sales. A "good Nintendo" sale would still be a "terrible sale" for everyone else. It's still "17% off, must buy two, rewards club members only, no gift purchases." Or "Buy one get one 34% off!" If you saw that hanging on banners all over Sears you'd laugh at their demise.

@MyNameIsRandy Yeah, but the CC kickbacks still don't make sense to include since they are not unique to the digital sale. That would work for digital or physical, and if the physical isn't on sale, you'd get slightly more from the card kickbacks on the physical version. I.E. If the point is to highlight ways that the digital version becomes cheaper than the physical version because of the sale, the CC kickbacks actually work against that goal since they'd provide more kickback on a $60 purchase than a $50 one, and always apply to both.

@NEStalgia
Doesn't matter why it's a good sale (Nintendo being the sale exception in the industry). All that matters is that that's a fact. So it's a phenomenal deal. Doesn't matter what the "rest of the industry" does. We're not talking about the rest of the industry. We're talking about 1st party digital games. And as such, it's a phenomenal deal.

Also, not sure how "complicated" it is we understand it. Who cares if someone else gets it or not. What matters is how good the deal is for you. If someone else doesn't understand it that's just too bad for them I guess.

And it's a simple $25 off two games for online members. Dont try to misconstrue it to be more convoluted than it is. You could word any deal like that. "Oh PS+ DEAL is 20% off but only for members and 10% if you're not a member, no gift purchases".

Hogwash. We're human beings and have the capability to understand a simple $25 off 2 games, members only deal. If you can't, then you deserve to miss out. Dont know what else to say.

It's a phenomenal deal because you can't name one single sale in the history of the Switch where these games on the eShop have been sold for less day one (and for many, at all). I dont care about the "rest of the industry". That's like saying buying gold for 20% off is a crap deal because notebook paper regularly gets 75% off deals. They're two different things. And NINTENDO games rarely go on sale. Given that's what we're talking about, then thats what we compare to.

If you're just buying whatever game in the entire industry thats the cheapest, THEN make that comparison. Otherwise it's irrelevant. Furthermore, even among the entire industry, you never see full $60 titles sold for 20% off digitally day one.

Any way you slice it, its ground breaking.

@Yorumi @JaxonH It's a fun role reversal. Normally I agree with JaxonH's positive view and disagree with Yorumi's negative view, but today on this issue, it's definitely reversed for me

@JaxonH It's $20 off 2 games, not $25 off 2 games. The gold coins are the same with or without the sale...(thankfully the vouchers do preserve the full coinage.) So the whole sale is $10 off even numbered game purchases. No kickbacks, rewards, etc factor in, as with or without the sale, they are the same. So the sale is $10 discount on purchase of 2. There's no way to rephrase that. IS $10 off better than no $10 off? Sure! Is it' a mind-blowing unprecedented amazing moment to be a customer? Not really. It's $7 better than the double coins discounts run in the past for preorders. $7 for me is better than $7 for them, but I'm not going to lose sleep heaping praise for $10 discount that's $7 better than prior promotions.

If they did a simple $20% off sale, no strings attached, even though it's the exact same discount, I'd have respected the sale more. Heck even if it still required NSO. yeah I know this means you can buy future releases with it. In that sense it's more of a 20% eShop Cards sale...except they expire.

The optics for this are just weird, even though if you rephrase it as a 20% off eshop card sale for members it sounds decent.

@Yorumi I still don't think NSO is a "rip off" specifically, but yeah, this sale being only for members, with the strange complexity of "vouchers" just is a bad look to me. What's really annoying is that instead of just putting select games on sale, or eShop cards on sale, or such it's the voucher thing where you spend $99 on 2 vouchers, but then they let you use them on $50 (or less? games.) That alone is weird. Why would their announcement email highlight $50 games to say "buy $100 worth of games for $100 for al limited time only!"

@Well the digital deluxe wasn't so different from the current gold coins. It was a better deal, but, ok, failing product, more incentives, I get it. But yeah, Club Nintendo was a different kind of cool perk. Nintendo, back then was more into loyalty and behaved a lot more like a small company. It was the stupid Wii and DS that changed the functioning of the company to please investors that expected that same mass market growth forever...and at that point...they have the same corporate mentality as Con-Agra, Exxon-Mobile, and Pfizer.

Still, even if they cut all the loyalty stuff...at least they can do normal sales like everyone else rather than convoluted voucher schemes with expiration, conditions, and the ability to actually pay more on the sale than without it. I'll always love Nintendo games, but there's no way around the fact that they're the Apple of gaming now, where you pay a price premium for everything. And I can even be ok with that. But this sale, even if you can make the numbers work to your advantage like Jax, the whole setup just feels kind of insulting. This is the marketing shtick that comes from NCL (The promotion applies to Japan as well)....now I understand why Reggie quit.

I imagine the whole "gambling vouchers" thing looks better in Japan.

@NEStalgia
Whether or not the coins are already part of it, it doesn't change the fact the coins are a sale also and the two combine.

If you're comparing how much better it is than a separate sale price (coins only), then you dont count the coins. When you're literally analyzing the COMPLETE SALE PRICE, everything counts. It's all one giant sale price.

This isn't fanboy wars where "but that doesn't count" can be used as a valid argument. We're literally talking about the price you can obtain digital day one 1st party games for after this offer was put in place.

And you can literally obtain games for $45/EA day one. This offer made that possible. That's the bottom line. That's what consumers care about- the bottom line. Everything else is irrelevant

@JaxonH I think you're segmenting the description of the sale. I'm talking about this sale not "the end price of this sale when combined with other sales and savings." I'm talking about the savings provided by this sale compared to not having this sale. The other savings are there either way and have nothing to do with this sale or it's merits.

@Yorumi Apple delivers a high end LOOKING product. Inside, they've had their problems same as anyone else. But their fawning tech media and adulating fans let their massive marketing engine quickly bury any problems they have. And some of what they offer is just intentionally behind the times (they still don't make a laptop with a touch screen.....not because they can't but because they want you to buy a laptop + iPad.)

I do think the Switch is a pretty solid device. It's not smartphone level, but some of that comes down to nVidia basics. I do think it had some early batch problems however (the pro controller, joycon issues ,etc. I did get hit by those.) Then again PS4 had some terrible launch issues too, so my ire is more against modern electronics. The hardware problems are often overstated on the internet. The machine is solid, regardless of what one thinks of it. The software, I can kind of agree. Some of their full price, or slightly under full price games have felt undeveloped too me, by Nintendo standards.

I'm currently playing Crafted World, though and I don't get the disappointment some had for it. I think it's fantastic. It feels like the Ziplash formula refined into a more complete game. I enjoyed Ziplash, too. But some of their games I agree don't feel like polished Nintendo games we've known. Some of it is just "the times", but some is certainly a much more corporate Nintendo more plugged into the "global monetization trends of a digital economy" (any time I hear a phrase like that I need to punch someone in the face. New rule.)

@NEStalgia
But that doesn't really tell you anything meaningful. At the end of the day, its the bottom line that matters.

The bottom line is I'm buying Mario Maker 2, Fire Emblem, Marvel Ultimate and Astral Chain for $45 each digitally available at midnight. Who cares about anything else.

@Yorumi Yeah. I think they're doing that specifically. They need to crank out high volume today, versus the N64 days when Miyamoto said something about "I think 12 games for each system is a good number" (first party.) Imagine a Nintendo console today that has a total of 12 Nintendo games lifetime? So they do their 12 (or more) good games and then a bunch of filler to plug the cash gap and customer expectations, I suppose.

@JaxonH I see your point, for you specifically. But in the broader sense, the thread is talking about the sale itself, not the combined savings other schemes bring. This specific sale is a $10 discount on even numbered purchases for subscribers. Nothing more or less. It should be evaluated as just what it is, not what other promotions added to it could make. Especially when those other promotions are equally valid without this sale. I.E. with this sale you're paying $45, and without this sale you're paying $55...actually probably $53 or 54, because your CC rewards would kick back a bit more off full retail price. My point is this sale isn't saving $15 per game, it's saving $10 a game. Maybe a minor distinction but it's a 50% difference over the mandatory 2 games.

This will help me get Fire Emblem:Three Houses, Astral Chain, Daemon X Machina, and Pokemon Sword. I will save around $40, which is a really good deal in my eyes.

@NEStalgia
If I go buy a shirt at Kohls, and it says 20% off, and another sticker that says 35% off, are you gonna say "well that deal isn't that good?" Or are you gonna say dang, I'm getting 50% off, what a great deal!

The ultimate savings is the complete deal, and the complete deal is the bottom line.

When GCU is touted as THE best deal physically at $12 off a game, and they're offering DIGITAL for 50 cents less than that, you can't claim that's not a good deal and be taken seriously.

@JaxonH Again, I'm not talking about whether all the combined deals you can locate amount to a good deal or not.

I'm talking about THIS sale. Which is $10 off new games if you buy two. That's what this sale referenced by this Nintendo email to NSO subscribers is for. Not your Mastercard, not your Target card, not the gold coins for digital purchases, that's not the sale that we're discussing. We're discussing the fixed $10 savings per game this sale adds to the equation. I see what you're saying about the final purchase price of combined offers, but I wasn't talking about the final purchase price of combined offers, I was talking about the merit of this particular offer regardless of what other offers are available.

THIS Sale is not $12.50 off. This sale is $10 off. If you have other coupons, savings, and credits. I understand you have additional savings you can use when purchasing, but that doesn't affect discussion of the particular sale in question, that's something else that can be used regardless of this sale.

@NEStalgia
But what does that matter. It's the bottom line that matters.

$3 off in total = not so great deal

$15 off in total = excellent deal

Who cares about the individual components that make up the total deal? It's the TOTAL DEAL that matters. And right now, Nintendo is offering a killer TOTAL DEAL, thanks in no small part to this component of the deal.

And even IF you're only looking at this one component out of some strange curiosity, it's still in and of itself a great deal that dang near rivals GCU.

The only thing I can think when I see this is: Well, that makes it Almost as cheap as buying real physical copies in the store. Buying physical versions where I live would amount to around 90€, so it doesn't seem that big of a deal if it's only digital releases...