Nintendo: Used games aren't in the consumers best interests
"We just think it's a bad idea," insists NoA president Reggie Fils-Aime
Nintendo of America's Reggie Fils-Aime has said the company does not believe second hand game sales are in the best interest of consumers.
He said that consumers prefer brand new products, and claimed that sales of second hand goods in other entertainment mediums has not been successful.
"We don’t believe used games are in the best interest of the consumer" Fils-Aime told Venture Beat.
"We have products that consumers want to hold onto. They want to play all of the levels of a Zelda game and unlock all of the levels. A game like Personal Trainer Cooking has a long life."
He continued: "Describe another form of entertainment that has a vibrant used goods market. Used books have never taken off. You don’t see businesses selling used music CDs or used DVDs. Why? The consumer likes having a brand-new experience and reliving it over and over again. If you create the right type of experience, that also happens in videogames."
Fils-Aime suggested that some retailers can't make the second hand business model work, despite trying to copy competitors who have made it successful.
"We just think it’s a bad idea," he insisted. "The one retailer that has a substantial business in this has figured out a way that is effective for the consumer.
"That’s tough for other retailers experimenting with this, in part because their employees don’t have the expertise in this market."