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Reggie takes names of retailers, holds off on kicking.
Sharp10r
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I just read an interesting article at gameindustry.biz.
So, how many of you purchased your Wii's in forced bundles? Do you have a problem with forced bundles? Do you think Reggie's hinting at future action with his "reminder?"
Summary: Reggie's pissed about forced Wii bundles, but says Nintendo won't do anything except remind retailers of Nintendo's Power.article wrote:Nintendo warns retail against unofficial Wii bundles
Matt Martin 09:23 (BST) 18/12/2007
Lessens the impact of price advantage, says Fils-Aime
Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has said the company is unhappy with retailers who sell the Wii console bundled with software to make higher margins.
Many retailers are bundling the console with extra games on the run up to Christmas, but Fils-Aime believes it lessens the advantage Nintendo has over more expensive machines from Sony and Microsoft.
"Retailers have already been given feedback that we are not big fans of that," Fils-Aime told Reuters.
"We think it masks some of the price advantage we have versus our competition and, frankly, the consumer should decide what they want," he said.
However, Fils-Aime said that the company wouldn't take action against retail but hoped that the strong relationships it has with the High Street is enough for stores to be mindful of bundling.
"We don't have to remind retailers of the strength we have right now. We are simply making an observation and that reinforces our point quite nicely with retailers," he added.
So, how many of you purchased your Wii's in forced bundles? Do you have a problem with forced bundles? Do you think Reggie's hinting at future action with his "reminder?"
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I bought mine without a forced bundle on launch day. As for forced bundles in general, I think they're bullshit. I'm buying the fucking console, I should be able to choose which games I get for it.
I am a little wary of the "strength we have right now" bit. I know No. 1's a very nice spot to be in, and came make a company lose perspective. I just hope a single year won't be enough to make Nintendo forget about the slamming they took for two gens for that attitude.
Seriously, do we even need to ask if people are in favor of a practice that is so against the consumer's interest?
But I agree, forced bundles are shitty business practice. Unfortunately that's how retail stores do business.
Well, I know we have people in the forum who work retail. I also hear that retailers don't make anything off of console sales. Therefore, it seems reasonable to expect someone to take the opposite side, saying "retailers need to make those bundles to turn a profit." I mean, I guess the retailer could just take the Suggested Manufacturer price and tack on $30.
Nintendo, being the supplier, can always tell retailers to fuck off and not deal with them.
It's not like Nintendo Wiis is all held by one company. Now if there was a monopoly, different story.
Wii's are pretty hard to come by in the greater Seattle/Bellevue/Eastside area, so they'll probably sell them out anyway.
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how will the parents buy their childrens love so they can go back to ignoring them for the rest of next year?!
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A forced bundle that gives you 2 free games? Awesome.
Fair enough but let's consider the audience. Do you really think anyone on these board's (even those who work in the industry) are going to take the retailer's side?
Fuck forcing people to buy Ninjabread Man.
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Yeah, that bundle is pretty sweet. I bought one as a gift for my friend's wedding. Now I am bitter because my launch system hasn't broke (damn you!) and he has a better machine with HDMI. If my TV didn't have a VGA in I would be really pissed.
GameStop ~ $600
GameStop ~ $600
WalMart ~ $700
The last one is a "Customer Choice Bundle" where you choose what 6 games (comes with extra controller, nunchuck, and Mario Party 8) you want from a list, though it actually gives you a decent choice. However, buying 7 games with a console is a bit ridiculous.
Yeah, that loses the $250 price advantage.
but they did... 3x output is no small feat.
PSN: super_emu
Xbox360 Gamertag: Emuchop
See for yourself: http://www.toysrus.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2967682
Edit: And from what I've heard, you can't even return the individual games if you don't want them, in store at Toys R' Us like you can at Walmart.
Recently our store has been doing the gigantic bundles, but at least they aren't TOO bad - a couple decent games and somewhat useful accessories.
Mario Party
Mario Galaxy
Wii Play
extra nunchuk
wireless sensor bar
charge station
and a pack of those useless controller shell things
I think there was something else too but I can't remember.
At least they're putting Zack & Wiki in there.
Oy. Alien Syndrome. I really wanted that game to be awesome. Too bad it was terrible.
But the 360 bundle, yeah. The only reason I didn't get one was because I was able to buy my system for $70 less than the the list price (got the $350 model). Saving 70 real dollars meant more to me than those two particular games. (As good and fun as they are.)
You know what would be awesome? An official Nintendo bundle with 2000 Wii points. I can understand not wanting to package a gem like Zelda or Galaxy, but some free wii (fwii?) points would be slick. Not that they're having any trouble moving the system. Just sayin'.
Hells no!
I've never known a retail employee who liked forced bundles. They make us feel like dicks when we sell them, and make us LOOK like dicks when a customer complains to the manager about them, and the manager suddenly sells the system without the bundle after we refused to.
Luckily, my store hasn't had ANY bundles this year.
But yeah, retailers sell systems so that they can have some one to sell software to, or else they sell them to help push HDTVs, and high end sound systems. Even without high profit margins, they have reason to sell systems.
Walmart is still insane in regards to good bundles. Sure, now there is a decent selection of games. Last January they were forcing you to buy six games with the Wii and the only games they had to choose were kiddie games. I just wish people would not buy from TRU or Walmart bundles if they get outrageous, but corporate knows they will sell within a week of going up.
What can he do? Tell the retailers he won't ship to them?
Fortunatly persistance paid off and I walked into a bestbuy one day to see one Wii in the case and 6 more behind customer service counter. I happily walked out of there that day with Wii in hand and with the piece of mind that I wasn't forced to pay for things I did not want.
He could, maybe. I mean, they'll sell at any store they ship to. Who's to say Nintendo can't sell to Gamestop instead of Toys R Us.
I mean, they can sell a game at only ONE retailer (Chibi Robo says hi) then surely they can freeze one retailer out.
Nope, because despite this positive bit of PR, Nintendo does not actually have the "strength" to do anything except the status quo. While it's all nice and fuzzy that they made a verbal stand, this really is nothing more than the average Marketing/PR scoring positive points with their customer base.
Uh, except that there are still Wii shortages so you probably won't find one by itself while half of them are being bundled. Retailers are taking advantage of the supply issues to squeeze more money from their customers.
When I got my original Xbox many years ago it was in a forced bundle (my PSP as well)
However, it was the type of bundle you mentioned where you choose all of the items you want (I think it was like 3 games and some accessories). I really have no problem with these types of bundles. That being said, when I am forced to purchase set games I get angry. I waited in line for 16 hours for my 360 because the only options online where I wouldn't need to wait forced me to buy stuff I didn't want.
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That's some gigantic fucking bullshit right there.
I have seen nothing to indicate that the tripled output is anything more than PR. Our shipments have gone down since they made that announcement. We've gone from receiving 12-20 per week to 5-7.
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Maybe you just don't sell enough DS?
Now that would be a good reason to stop sending them consoles.
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