Current Events > Shigeru Miyamoto Warns Gaming Industry: Don't Be Too Greedy

(+) Yeah! (+)

The legendary video-game designer who created Super Mario and Donkey Kong has a word of advice for todays industry: stop nickel-and-diming users.

Shigeru Miyamoto, 65, said Nintendo Co. is exploring different ways of charging people for games, shunning the free-to-play model thats become a moneymaker in the $140 billion gaming sector. Instead, he called on his peers to deliver titles at fixed prices without over-charging players, which will create more sustainable businesses over the long term.

Were lucky to have such a giant market, so our thinking is, if we can deliver games at reasonable prices to as many people as possible, we will see big profits, Miyamoto said at the Computer Entertainment Developers Conference (CEDEC) on Wednesday in Yokohama, Japan.

Miyamotos criticism comes as the free-to-play model including loot boxes and microtransactions drives record profits. Instead of charging an up-front one-time fee, publishers are increasingly giving games away or selling them at discounted prices, and then nudging players to continually buy in-game products such as virtual outfits or encouraging them to bet money on winning rare items. The revenue model is especially common among mobile and personal-computer games.

Proponents of the free-to-play model say that it increases the longevity of individual titles and creates more predictable businesses, which attracts investors and boosts employment. But opponents say it stunts creativity in game making and promotes gambling-like behavior, which resulted in lawmakers in Belgium and Netherlands banning loot boxes this year.

I cant say that our fixed-cost model has really been a success, the usually candid Miyamoto said. But were going to continue pushing it forward until it becomes entrenched. That way everyone can develop games in a comfortable environment. By focusing on bringing games to the widest range of people possible, we can continue boosting our mobile game business.

The comments come almost two years after Nintendo unveiled Super Mario Run, the first smartphone game it developed in-house. The title charged a flat fee, which many users criticized as being too expensive for the amount of content provided. The company then switched to free-to-play for the next two titles. One of the games, Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp, has received criticism for being too focused on profits over fun gameplay.

Miyamoto also said game developers should heed lessons from the music industry, which is still struggling to recover after consumers learned to consume music for free through MP3 file sharing, as well as YouTube and streaming services. He said subscription-style services should play a bigger role in games, but said the key is to develop a culture of paying for good software.

Its necessary for developers to learn to get along with subscription-style services, Miyamoto said. When seeking a partner for this, its important to find someone who understands the value of your software. Then customers will feel the value in your apps and software and develop a habit of paying money for them.

https://www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2018-08-22/super-mario-creator-warns-gaming-industry-don-t-be-too-greedy

Interesting perspective. Nintendo isn't perfect but I don't disagree with any of his personal reasoning here.
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Also nintendo:

*takes down roms*
*launching a paid internet subscription next month*

inb4
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Tappor posted...

Also nintendo:

*takes down roms*

which has technically always been illegal

not that I'm saying rom sites should die, but come on. at the end of the day Nintendo is still a profit-driven company
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Keep in mind Miyamoto is the 'Creative Fellow' for Nintendo.

I don't think he would have anything to do with a lot of those kinds of decisions. Perhaps he does try to avoid business models like that in games he produces though.
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Darmik posted...

Keep in mind Miyamoto is the 'Creative Fellow' for Nintendo.

I don't think he would have anything to do with a lot of those kinds of decisions. Perhaps he does try to avoid business models like that in games he produces though.

This could even be his light way of telling Nintendo higher ups that he isn't in favor of chasing the money like this.
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Tappor posted...

Also nintendo:

*takes down roms*
*launching a paid internet subscription next month*

Illegally hosting ROMs for all these years hasn't changed it's legality status.

The internet service that Nintendo provides does cost money to operate.

They have to recuperate it somehow.

It's better for everybody in the long run to get used to paying for stuff.
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Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

This could even be his light way of telling Nintendo higher ups that he isn't in favor of chasing the money like this.

Or he's wise enough to see the bigger picture.
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one of the reasons I've stuck with Nintendo is their shunning of the atrocious "free-to-play / pay-to-win" model, which has been the bane of mobile and online gaming
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Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

Darmik posted...

Keep in mind Miyamoto is the 'Creative Fellow' for Nintendo.

I don't think he would have anything to do with a lot of those kinds of decisions. Perhaps he does try to avoid business models like that in games he produces though.

This could even be his light way of telling Nintendo higher ups that he isn't in favor of chasing the money like this.

Yeah maybe. Wouldn't surprise me if he's not too happy with the Nintendo Online subscription considering these comments.
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>Nintendo

>Don't be greedy

Lmfao
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Lord_Wombat posted...

>Nintendo

>Don't be greedy

Lmfao

I don't agree with everything they do, but they're fucking saints compared to the shitty practices of other game developers/publishers
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HylianFox posted...

one of the reasons I've stuck with Nintendo is their shunning of the atrocious "free-to-play / pay-to-win" model, which has been the bane of mobile and online gaming

Agreed, though I'm sure that even Nintendo will eventually succumb to that model.
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Good
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People complain about Nintendo taking down ROM sites or keeping their games at full price but both of those things support his argument really.
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HylianFox posted...

Tappor posted...

Also nintendo:

*takes down roms*

which has technically always been illegal

not that I'm saying rom sites should die, but come on. at the end of the day Nintendo is still a profit-driven company

No, FUCK nintendo for doing what's in their best interests
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Tappor posted...

No, FUCK nintendo for doing what's in their best interests

You aren't serious are you?
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Also Nintendo

Amiibos
Sell last gen hardware for current gen prices
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Tappor posted...

Also nintendo:

*takes down roms*
*launching a paid internet subscription next month*

inb4

All of the people bitching about ROM sites being taken down dont realize how lucky theyve had it, with them being up all these years. Nintendo never pursued their rights like this before is all
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tldr- so does this not apply to their mobile games??
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This coming from the company with by far the most expensive games that should be no more than $40 that NEVER GO ON FUCKING SALE

SSJCAT posted...

tldr- so does this not apply to their mobile games??

Miyamoto doesn't run Nintendo. Like I said, I think this is his polite way of trying to tell Nintendo to knock it off. He is a creative head, not the head of business.
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I wish this man could live forever.
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Tappor posted...

Also nintendo:

*takes down roms*
*launching a paid internet subscription next month*

inb4

My first thought.

He literally references MP3s in his interview.
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Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

SSJCAT posted...

tldr- so does this not apply to their mobile games??

Miyamoto doesn't run Nintendo. Like I said, I think this is his polite way of trying to tell Nintendo to knock it off. He is a creative head, not the head of business.

maybe. i mean im a nintendo fan (my friend code is literally in my sig) but this seems pretty hypocritical
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I would like to point out that Nintendo did try just getting thier ROMs removed with a DMCA request around the time the SNES classic launched.

But the sites put them back up after a few months once they thought Nintendo wasnt looking, so the sites only have themselves to blame.
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SSJCAT posted...

Jeff AKA Snoopy posted...

SSJCAT posted...

tldr- so does this not apply to their mobile games??

Miyamoto doesn't run Nintendo. Like I said, I think this is his polite way of trying to tell Nintendo to knock it off. He is a creative head, not the head of business.

maybe. i mean im a nintendo fan (my friend code is literally in my sig) but this seems pretty hypocritical

Why do you attribute the actions of Nintendo to Miyamoto? Look at the games he made. None of them have ever had this bullshit stuff going on.
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His words fall on deaf ears asking a corporation to stop being greedy is like asking a politician to stay 100 percent honest and forthcoming. It doesn't happen, capitalism doesn't allow it. And everyone surely remember the "Greed is good" speech,right?
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Nintendo is the only major video game company that takes money from youtube videos

TheMarthKoopa posted...

This coming from the company with by far the most expensive games that should be no more than $40 that NEVER GO ON FUCKING SALE

Haha, this so much.
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Lord_Wombat posted...

>Nintendo

>Don't be greedy

Lmfao

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Remember that Miyamoto isn't Nintendo.
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Nintendo Switch paid online
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Doe posted...

Nintendo Switch paid online

With no improvement over the free service to boot. Also 60 bucks for a pokemon
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If a company is fucking the consumer people will stop buying their products and they will go belly up. One of many advantages of capitalism.
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Lord_Wombat posted...

>Nintendo

>Don't be greedy

Lmfao

He is warning the gaming industry. Last time I checked Nintendo is part of the gaming industry.
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He said as Nintendo re-released every Wii U game on Switch at full price
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ShieldSmasher posted...

TheMarthKoopa posted...

This coming from the company with by far the most expensive games that should be no more than $40 that NEVER GO ON FUCKING SALE

Haha, this so much.

This supports what he's saying. He doesn't want the value of games to race to the bottom so they can push more DLC and subscriptions to consumers.
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Tappor posted...

Also nintendo:

*takes down roms*
*launching a paid internet subscription next month*

inb4

HylianFox posted...

Tappor posted...

Also nintendo:

*takes down roms*

which has technically always been illegal

not that I'm saying rom sites should die, but come on. at the end of the day Nintendo is still a profit-driven company

Also, it turns out that it was the old creator of Retrozone who pissed off one of the admins of the old site and hacked those sites. Nintendo just got the blame.
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tremain07 posted...

Doe posted...

Nintendo Switch paid online

With no improvement over the free service to boot. Also 60 bucks for a pokemon

60 bucks for any game is just the industry standard. Even if LGPE doesn't deserve to be sold at all

KamenRiderBlade posted...

Tappor posted...

No, FUCK nintendo for doing what's in their best interests

You aren't serious are you?

I'm always serious. 110%
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Its hard to disagree. I just wish that game developers, as a whole, would make decisions based along the peramiters of what the people want, rather than what they want to make.

This opinion goes across the board. I felt like Nintendo has finally started to take some big steps in the right direction, but I wasnt a fan on the way they were running things for about a decade.

They tried the Wii and it was what it was. General consensus said that people wanted the next console to be normal, like the GameCube or N64, and their response was to release another underpowered console with gimmicky controls, crappy online, and a highly disappointing library.

It seemed like they just released port after remake after spinoff. The original Wii was a complete joke in terms of a game library and its saving grace was its backwards compatibility with the GameCube and its virtual console.

Nintendo may be on the right track, but the lackluster game selection made by independent game developers is really killing my desire to use Sony or Microsoft. Lack of central control over what is released makes purchasing the system a gamble. I feel like Squareenix knows what direction to take, but they need to fully commit to making games like Octopath and Bravely Default again.
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Darmik posted...

shunning the free-to-play model thats become a moneymaker in the $140 billion gaming sector

Fire Emblem Heroes?
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Nintendo is letting their switch success get to their heads
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Miyamoto speaking the truth
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He really should have just stepped up and became president when the position opened. Nintendo is going full on Xbox
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He ruined Paper Mario, I don't care what he thinks anymore.
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Doe posted...

Nintendo Switch paid online

$40 cheaper than competitors and 20 free classic games WITH online enhancements right off the bat.
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voldothegr8 posted...

20 free classic games WITH online enhancements right off the bat.

I can already get that without an overpriced tablet and subscription
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