Wii Speak Only Speaks To New Buyers
If we've learned anything these past couple of weeks, it is that publishers hate when gamers buy used games. Well Nintendo has taken this one giant leap forward with the release of their Wii Speak peripheral. Bundled with Animal Crossing City Folk, the Wii Speak allows gamers to chat with their friends both in game as well as out of game using the Wii Speak Channel. Sounds fun right? Well you'd better hope Santa doesn't try to save a few bucks and bring you a used Wii Speak. If that happens, the only friend you'll be talking to is the one at the other end of you soup can/string phone. MTV Multiplayer reports:
There is a pamphlet packaged with the peripheral that includes a 16-character code, a "Wii Download Ticket Number," to be used for downloading the Wii Speak Channel. According to the pamphlet, this code "cannot be replaced by Nintendo or your retailer if it is lost or stolen."
At least you could call for extra Spore installs. Now currently it is reported that this has no effect on in game chatting, but if you want to chat with friends outside of the Animal Crossing world, you'd better have that code.
Frankly this borders a bit too close on the ridiculous. It is one thing to use codes to prevent piracy, but this is aimed squarely at used game sellers, and more importantly, at gamers who maybe can't afford new games. Can you imagine if in order to chat on the PS3, you needed a spanking new Sony-brand headset? Will this little attack on used game stores have any impact, or will the peripheral be so hard to find that nobody realizes the problem until early next year?
Wii Speak Channel Only For Wii Speak Purchasers, Don't Buy It Used [MTV Multiplayer]
TheDoctor
Posted to Video Games on 13 November 2008
· Comments (10)
Other stuff like this: animal crossing city folk, nintendo, restrictions, used games, wii speak
We all know and accept that 360 and PS3 are subsidised to the point of being affordable. It strikes me as odd though, that Nintendo, who often boasted that their console actually earns them money and who sell about half as many games per system as their competitors would have such a strong interest in running afoul of the used game market. Especiall with a gimmick (there's that word again) such as this.
I never buy used accessories....
Yeah, I am so done with Nintendo.
I am not 100% on this, but I think there is a law against this. Honestly I couldn't cite it or its reason for being, but i am pretty sure that it exists.
How about selling new codes for 2000 wii points. So they would at least recover 20.00 if a used accessory gets sold.
I guess I'm in the minority here--I don't see the problem.
I mean--first off, this is for downloading the channel. I would imagine that while you can't get a replacement code from Nintendo, I'm sure that they'll eventually sell the microphone separately and will likely have the channel for download (at $5-$10) available through the Shop.
Secondly, this is only for the channel--you can still use the microphone in game (and in any other games that adopt the microphone). So, it's not like they render the microphone useless. Frankly, I can't imagine ever using the channel--why not just pick up the phone?
Finally, it's not like Nintendo makes money off of used games. This is a pretty minor way to discourage that. They could do a lot more.
Brer Dan
I'm suddenly very glad I have zero interest in buying one at all...
Has Nintendo actually confirmed that there "will not" be a separate, downloadable Channel in the future? Why all this fuss and hate for something that isn't even confirmed - by either the company or their method of releasing accessories?
Last time I checked, they were always releasing new Channels and updates to old ones, and most of these were free (barring late-Internet Channel shoppers).
This is pretty silly, folks. There's plenty of websites willing to jump on this ludicrous rumor (if you can even call it that) that Nintendo is 'going after' the used game market. Based on what? What proof is there? History doesn't even support this silly claim, and in effect its a non-story.
This is why the general public hates blogs, and why I'm starting to as well. Get the facts, do the research. Blogs and websites are happy to accept free games and call themselves 'journalists', but have no problem skipping the research when it comes to something they don't like.
s'funny, there's an article on this very site about the naughty people that pirated World of Goo meaning the developers made nothing on each of those stolen games.
OK so we're not talking theft here, but the developer stands to make NO money on each second hand game sold by a big retailer. So therefore should a company wish to take steps to stop trade-ins then they should be applauded. I am very much into supporting the gaming industry (but not the retail aspect of it) and I think as gamers we all should too.
Doesn't mean I don't like to save the occasional penny, but I'd rather wait for the sales than take another penny away from the developers.
More money invested in developers = bigger and better games for us in the future.
People tend to forget that used games are already paid for, which means that the publishers shouldn't get any money from them (since they've already gotten their share of the money). There's nothing wrong with buying a game that someone has traded in or sold to someone else, since that person probably took the money he/she got from the game and bought, big surprise, another game.
I don't see what the fuss is all about. You can't expect a game to sell better if you make it harder to trade or sell second hand. Gamers who hasn't got the money will just wait until the price has dropped or ignore the game.
The publishers aren't losing any more money (potential money isn't real money, yet. Because it's, well, potential) because of used games, but they've realized that they could be making more money by forcing people to buy brand new games. Greedy bunch, aren't they? ;P