Earlier this week, Nintendo president Satoru Iwata revealed that the company was ready to go digital. In an investor meeting, Iwata confirmed that first-party releases on both the Nintendo 3DS and the company’s upcoming Wii U devices would be simultaneously available as physical and digital products. This is nothing new for the industry, with one big exception: Nintendo will also distribute digital download code cards to retail stores, and allow them to set their own prices.
This is, in summary, a genius move. It bridges the gap between retailers and digital distribution, and gives customers several options for acquiring the games they love. Fans of an all-digital future often forget the very critical factor that a large portion of the modern population doesn’t have access to high-speed Internet, and plenty of those who do are stuck with nasty bandwidth caps. Even those users with solid Internet may not have credit cards (or a willingness to surrender their information).
Nintendo’s plan is the best of both worlds—you can directly download games at home, or you can swing by a local retailer and pick up a digital download code. With that in hand, you can simply hop over to a nearby Wi-Fi hotspot and get to downloading. It’s also handy if you’re one of the millions of Nintendo customers (read: kids) that don’t have credit cards. Parents, uncles, grandparents and everyone else can just pick up a download code and give it as a gift. No gift wrap, no confusion, no cartridge to lose.
Additionally, the allowance for price differentials encourages competition in the marketplace. Retailers will still be able to offer sales and promotions for digital products, ensuring there’s’ no bad blood towards Nintendo. They’ll have to keep their prices below those of the Nintendo eShop, but should still have enough flexibility to stay profitable and happy. It’s not ideal for a business model built on slinging used titles, but at least it keeps stores in the loop.
We’re a long way from an all-digital gams industry. It could be a decade or more before people have access to the web they need and the hard drive space they’ll require. But Nintendo’s latest plan shows that when a company thinks about a problem, it can usually find several solutions. By providing customers and retailers with enormous flexibility, Nintendo has secured itself a position near the top of the digital scrap pile.
Sure, it’s not Steam, but it’s light-years ahead of PSN and Live. Once again, Nintendo has shown itself as an innovator and trailblazer—the only question is whether consumers will come along. I’m guessing they will.
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