Nintendo: Publishers will decide whether to make their games available as downloads

Nice to have options.

In an interview with 1UP, Nintendo product manager Bill Trinen was asked about the company's plans for making games available as downloads on the eShop in addition to physical copies. In regards to Nintendo themselves, here is what he had to say:


Trinen: Obviously we've just started that on 3DS, and New Super Mario Bros. 2 was the first game to do that. We're going to be going forward doing that with the first-party titles. For Wii U, eShop is one of the things that is going to be available Day One. The plan is that the first-party games that we're launching at retail will also be available digitally through the eShop at that time. The only exception to that is if a game requires an accessory. So, for example, Sing Party, which we revealed at E3 under the temporary name Sing -- that game requires a microphone for you to be able to play. It doesn't really make sense to try to sell that digitally, because you need the microphone anyway. From a first-party perspective, the goal is that, unless there's an accessory required to play it, it'll be available digitally as well.

Trinen then went on to explain that it is entirely up to third-party publishers to decide whether they want to release their games via digital distribution as well.

Trinen: For third parties... One thing that we don't do is try to force their hand. We don't want to require them to do it. It's really a decision that's up to them, and so it comes down to what their interests are and how they want to offer it.

While I prefer physical copies myself, a substantial number of gamers prefer to have everything available at the click of a button, rather than having to switch discs. I'm glad to see Nintendo is starting to cater more to the individual preferences of the gaming community, and is giving more freedom to third-party companies to make decisions for themselves. I hope this trend continues, and I know I'm not the only one who feels this way.

Source: 1UP