Throttling the content, because Nintendo thinks we're stupid

Is there any product in the world where the business throttles how the consumer consumes it? Restaurants do not say, “That is enough to eat for the day. Come back tomorrow.” No. They serve you as much as you want to eat. Book shops do not say, “That is enough books for you to read. Come back tomorrow.” No. They give you as much books as you want. You see where this is going.

The only business I know that does throttle consumption would be serving alcohol. “Yeah, you cannot stand, buddy. I think you’ve had enough.” But that is different. You literally cannot consume more of that product.

This is one of the dumbest business moves I’ve ever seen. And it is all born from the thought that ‘the public is too STUPID to understand all this. We must give it to them in piecemeal.’ The arrogance is incredible.

So I have a MODEST PROPOSAL for Mario Maker. Are you listening gamers? Here it goes.

You should only have to pay one ninth of the cost of the game for the first day.

Sixty divided by nine is about seven. So gamers should pay $7 for the first day.

Then on the second day, Nintendo gets $7 more since another ninth of the tools become available. This continues until all nine parts are given out.

I think this sounds like a great and wonderful solution. If Nintendo wants to throttle the content, we should throttle the payments.

But note how Nintendo wants all the money up front. They want me to pay for the entire meal but only deliver it in piecemeal.

This is actually a very big deal. Do you think this is going to stop here? Oh no. Excited about Open World Zelda? I can guarantee you that Nintendo will deliberately block off the game’s content so you cannot ‘blaze’ through it. You laugh now, but you will see.

Imagine a new Metroid game where Norfair is blocked for a day because Nintendo thinks you should appreciate Brinstar some more. Did I say ‘imagine a new Metroid game’?

Oh we’re fucked.

Lol.

I agree, this is a very stupid business practice.

Mmmm...what? this makes no sense at all...and no, i'm not talking about the video nor Mario Maker.

Wish Ninty stopped thinking they're our babysitters.

If you have to wait for 10 days to gain access to certain tools, then why even bother paying full price?

Why not? i still have the full game even if i have to wait for several days...it is a good practice? no, is pretty dumb...but is far from a huge deal.

Okay, when they start incorporating this on the new Zelda, don't come crying to me :P

Treating gamers as if they were stupid is not something nintendo does exclusively.

*Cough* Super Guide *Cough*

I'll just wait to download it for 10 days then.

Make more games that are 3D or with a story or both Nintendo. Also, what is this?

You’ve Got A 9 Day Wait To Unlock All Tools In Super Mario Maker

That's what I'm talking about, sadly a lot of sheep will say that they can wait.

How would you feel about a new 3D Donkey Kong game? Or a new Wave Race game? What would a 3D Kirby game be like? And I notice that they haven't made that many Mario sports games this gen too.

That game looks absolutely amazing... not sure I like the whole training wheels thing, but amazing none the less. The 100 life challenge is awesome as hell as well. A never ending supply of levels... too cool.

Shit's lame, but the gullible see it as Nintendo supporting their games and giving out free DLC.

Of course I want a new Wave Race and F-Zero.

Yeah. Can't stand that crap, and even more so since we can't turn it off. That's another thing, Nintendo isn't big on in game options.

That super guide stuff was why Skyward sword was such hand holdy bullshit. I wish that side of Nintendo dies and never comes back.

Because that's clearly a deal breaker that will make the game unplayable at launch...oh wait.

Such a practice warrants the following meme response

Fast Racing Neo is the closest thing you can get to an F-Zero game.

How many days did it take DriveClub and Halo MCC to work? I will be ok with 9 days.

So is this all on the disc, or will there be 8 patches?

Can't wait to try out all the tools!!!

Oh wait....

The tools are not DLC, but in the disc yet you're still okay with this?

Not only the hand holding shit, but everything else ins Skyward Sword was horrible! The High School Japanese Drama plotline, the padded puzzles, the annoying souless character Fi, the bomb rolling, swimming, and flying mechanics, and a very limited over world with pointless sky islands and fetch'd quests.

Even though its weird and annoying its only for 10 days of not having those tools.

I think you're making a bigger deal out of this than it is. LBP forced you through the terrible campaign to get most of the materials. It's a bitch, but I can spend 5 minutes dicking around the editor for just over a week and play other courses in the meantime.

So you'll wait for Nintendo to give an okay for you to stop exploring Brinstar after 10 days for you go explore Norfair?

Nintendo knows we are stupid. Uncharted and MGS get praised in the community when a hamster with 1 leg could complete those games. Nintendo has deployed a easy mode of their own to assist gamers. There was literally a Gaf thread about how SMB 1 was too hard today. Gamers today are bitches plain and simple. Enjoy your checkpoints and saves, folks. I remember a better time.....

#retrogaming

Again, is merely annoying...nothing else, and you are making a huge deal out of nothing...if Nintendo would be like...well we have all this tools, but you gonna have to pay for them...then we would definitely have a problem, but a 10 day annoyance? also the game is perfectly playable and load with content from day 1, and still are you telling me that you have a problem by not having a few tools available right from the beginning? ****, some games have in disk DLC and others have unlockables that will take you weeks to unlock...and yet you choose to make a huge deal about a minor annoyance.

I'd say that's a fairly accurate assessment of all Wii U owners.

Nintendo introduces a feature that does absolutely nothing but annoy and waste people's time.

Fans defend it anyway.

Okay, Minecraft! You get all the tools you need on Day 1, yet fans are still able to to create massive worlds and games out of it with all the tools available with DAY 1 purchase.

It's a stupid move no doubt but you are going WAAAAY overboard with the Zelda and Metroid stuff. Theres absolutely no way that'll happen.

People think SMB 1 was too hard? lol I think it was probably just right. They should try SMB 3.

Good for them...don't see the relevance since is a very different game and i'm agree that it makes no sense what Nintendo is doing, but if you think that a 10 day wait is such deal breaker on a game filled with content, then by all means, play Minecraft i guess.

@SpinoRaptor24: Not defending it, it is indeed a useless feature that shouldn't even be there...however i'm not going to make a huge deal out of it, and of course i'm not going to "cancel my preorder" like everyone does it when they see a tiny minor annoyance in a game, i know i'm going to play the game left and right since day 1...probably won't even notice the lack of those particular tools at first.

Super Mario Bros 1 is damn hard for the modern crowd who mostly plays Game of War on Android.

Let be the first one to say it......... Nintendo copying Little Big Planet.

This would probably be better than LBP tho, LBP had terrible controls and is pretty slow pace for a platformer.

But LBP had co-op tho...

I'm really not all that interested by MM so it's not a big deal to me.

Many games withhold content early on. Mechanics aren't all present at the very start, nor is all content. It's why NG+ exists. What's bothersome here is that this is a game that is touting itself as a creative tool, and to go and withhold those tools for some arbitrary period is strange. What's Nintendo's purpose? To not overwhelm people and play nanny as usual? In that case, why not make the blocks unlockable with stages that demand proper utilization of them? And if not wishing to overwhelm is the reason, what about all those who buy the game after 9 days? What's the reason to have Nintendo hold the keys instead of placing them in the player's hands?

This doesn't make much sense.

Honestly man..... it's weird but it's not worth all that bitching.

How dare Nintendo make me wait to unlock content, i want that shat now. Wait you say? Beach please, give me my content right this second.

I cant beleive Nintendo is making me play the 100 levels with 100 lives to unlock mystery mushroom skins. Also they making me have to work to unlock all the Amiibo skins that can be unlocked with each Amiibo? Wtf is this devil nonsense.

Where be my cream. Ahh yes.

I can't believe there are still idiots who do not understand the magnificence of the Super Guide. Having it allows more people to play the game the way they want, and for more difficulty to appease hardcore gamers. Without it, the devs would have to tone down the difficulty to appeal to a wider audience, but since it exists they have more freedom since the Super Guide is absolutely optional and totally ignore-able.

It's really stupid, not quite sure why they're doing this. People buying a level design game want absolute freedom.

I wasn't even going to get this game at first but watching all the videos has convinced me. Will just have to put up with this I guess but it's definitely a mark off my score.

Yeah it's stupid to gamers like us, but from a legal standpoint it makes sense. There will be some obsessed people out there who would make levels for ten days straight without taking a break and die, and their families would sue Nintendo.

I guess Nintendo is right, people really are THAT stupid.

Except it's not totally ignorable, since it keeps bugging the shit out of me on the harder levels. If I could turn it off in the options, it wouldn't be so bad. Just the fact that it asks me if I want the game to play itself bugs me a little. Idiots? Calm down.

Why would anyone want the game to be played for them? Go watch a movie or something if that's the case.

And I don't believe that shit about the game being harder because of the superguide, Tropical freeze is harder than retrurns but has no super guide. I don't just listen to what developers tell me is great, It's an absolutely pointless feature.

Making something more accessible while at the same time being totally optional is brilliant, no matter how anyone tries to spin it. Period.

Yes it's optional (though not optional to be notified by it), but I can't wrap my head around why you'd want a game to play itself. Maybe there is, but I can't think of another genre (or even non nintendo game) that has something like this. And it certainly doesn't make the games any harder.

If one of their games doesn't have it I think higher of it just for that.

The feature isn't in tropical freeze or Luigi U, so it seems like Nintendo is done with it. And I like what they do with Yoshi's wooly world - there's no super guide, but given that it's a game for smaller children there's a "mellow mode" separate from the the original game.

@Chozofication:

Yeah I like how they approached Woolly World as well: it's easy to go from a to b and simply move forward, but challenging to find all the collectibles and hidden areas. I guess some games can't do that based on how they're designed.

As to why they don't use the Super Guide any more, maybe the hardcore were more vocal than new gamers. The notification of it was super annoying, I'll give you that, and I never even considered using it, but I know some people who were new to the genre and appreciated having it. It actually helped them grow fond of platforming, and subsequently more enthusiastic about the genre.

Agreed. Certainly I can see that side to it, and I would've never complained if they just gave me the option to turn it off.

Well, it seems to be gone now, so that's that :P