I’m glad. Just a couple of days ago I was having lunch with a friend and we were talking about how nice it is that the whole games industry isn’t on this $1 quick fix downloadable game bandwagon. It’s good that there’s some out there still dedicated to making full-budget, lengthy, polished gaming experiences. Nintendo says that they are in the latter camp.
Nintendo’s Hideki Konno says that they’re not going to reduce the quality of their games to meet this popular low price point.
“We’re just going to continually strive to not just maintain, but increase, the quality of the entertainment that we’re providing, and let it sort itself out. Again, we’re not worried about competing at a price point level,” he told Gamasutra.
That’s not quite a full-blown slam aimed at Apple and mobile games, but it’s close. He continues, using an imaginary version of a 100 yen downloadable Call of Duty as an example: “Now of course as a customer, if somebody said to me, ‘Hey, we’ve got Call of Duty on your portable device and it’s only going to cost you 100 yen,’ yeah, I’d be super stoked, really excited about that,” he said.
“And I’d be really excited to see a great game at a really cheap price, but I just don’t think that you could make a game that’s immersive and as big as, let’s say Call of Duty, or any other large title, and sell it at that price point; it’s just not possible.”
And here’s what I like to hear: “As a game developer I’ve put my heart into what I create, and I’m hoping that what I’m putting out there is something that people will be engaged by and entertained by. And as a consumer, I want the same thing.”
Nintendo refuses to compete with $1 title [Eurogamer]
