[Perfectly Right] Nintendo eShop: Still a Long Way to Go (Part 2)
The Nintendo eShop is a massive step up compared to its predecessors, the Wii Shop Channel and the Nintendo DSi Shop. Not only is the interface infinitely more modern (especially on Wii U), but it offers many more features. For both developers and players, the Nintendo eShop is a much better marketplace.
And yet, the Nintendo eShop still has a long way to go before it can be called a proper modern marketplace. Many features are still missing, and some of them are quite simply crucial. In this post, we’re going to try and list features we think should definitely be implemented in the future.
Naturally, with the NX platform right around the corner, we can assume that several of these features will end up in the new version of the Nintendo eShop. And it’s probably too late for Nintendo to make major changes to the Nintendo eShop on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS (not to mention potential technical limitations, especially on Nintendo 3DS).
Still, we hope you will enjoy reading this article as much as we enjoyed writing it. For those who are wondering: this is not a rant article: we’re simply sharing some ideas and suggestions because it’s a topic we’re really interested in. Please make sure to share your own opinion in the comments, especially if you have some ideas yourself!
This is Part 2 (and final part) of our Nintendo eShop: Still a Long Way to Go article. In this one, we’re talking about various features that would greatly improve the Nintendo eShop, along with various other improvements… including a pretty amusing one!
Once again, we would like to thank D-e-f- for his help: not only did he provide useful insight, he also helped us proof-read the whole thing, and even helped writing it a bit. And see that neat banner above? He’s the one who made it, too!
Globeshopper
Right now, you can only access the Nintendo eShop of your country of residence. On Wii U, you can create a separate account for another country, but on Nintendo 3DS, you cannot do so because you can only use one account per system. But even on Wii U, it’s not really the most ideal of solutions, especially for users who want all their games on the same account (like any sane person would).
Nintendo should instead allow users to access whichever version of the Nintendo eShop they prefer, with:
- National eShop (tailored for a specific country, with its currency)
- Regional eShop (giving access to all the content available in a given region without any restrictions. Payments would be in the “dominant” currency, like € for Europe)
- [Worldwide (which would imply Nintendo going 100% region-free, and go beyond what its competitors offer)]
What’s more, Nintendo should let users set the language for the Nintendo eShop, as this should not be dependent on the country of residence. After all, pretty much everything on the Nintendo eShop (such as gamepages) has been translated in several languages, so it’s not like users would end up with a weird mix of languages.
In Europe, if you want to buy a game via the web eShop, you’re automatically redirected to the payment page corresponding to your national Nintendo eShop. For example, with a German account, clicking on the purchase button on the Nintendo France website automatically redirects you to the payment pages in German.
At the very least, the Nintendo eShop on Wii U and Nintendo 3DS should work like the web eShop does. Ideally, there should be just one version of the regional Nintendo eShop.
A similar request: allow users to buy a game from any web eShop, even one from a different region, as long as the game is available in the region of the account you’re accessing the website with. For example, you could buy Kirby: Planet Robobot from Nintendo’s Japanese website, despite using a European console and account, via an automatic redirection (like on the European web eShop).
The most ideal solution (tying in with our suggestions regarding users being able to chose the version of the game they buy) would be to have one global licence for each game, allowing you to download it from anywhere as long as the game’s available in your region. However, such a system would most likely be a logistical nightmare for Nintendo!
Platform agnoticism
Right now, on the Nintendo eShop of the Wii U, you can check out details about Nintendo 3DS games… but not buy them. Alternatively, Nintendo oftens puts up trailer for Wii U games on the Nintendo eShop of the Nintendo 3DS.
It would be pretty interesting if you could buy a game on whichever version of the Nintendo eShop you want. After all, if you’re already buying something on your Wii U, and that particular Nintendo 3DS might catch your attention… being able to buy right away would be pretty convenient.
Of course, there’s always the web eShop, which is why the put that feature in the “suggestions” part of our article.
Est-ce que sie speak Englisch?
This issue isn’t really one for users checking out the Nintendo eShop in English, but it is for those living in Europe who don’t have their country set to Great Britain or Ireland. For many games, the translation of the gamepages ranges from awkward to “you used Google Translate, didn’t ya.” This is a pretty bad practice, because it really puts off potential customers.
Such a shoddy translation doesn’t inspire confidence–quite the opposite. It gives the impression that the game (not just the in-game text) is of poor quality. Since for many users, the description on the Nintendo eShop will be the first details they get about the game (after the trailer and screenshots, if they checked those first), a good translation is pretty much mandatory.
Of course, most shoddy translations are for indie games, as the developers don’t really have the means to get a professional translation (especially not in several languages).
Nintendo could help them by providing the translations themselves (maybe not for free). After all, a better translation (generally) means better sales, and so more royalties for Nintendo–not to mention better relations with indies. Another possibility would be using the same text as the web eShop… or simply keeping the text in English. No translation would be far better than a shoddy translation!
I’ll take both versions, please
Here’s an issue that only impacts the European version of the web eShop, since Nintendo of America and Nintendo Co., Ltd (Japan) have separate pages for games available on several platforms.
On the web eShop, when a game is available on two platforms (such as some Virtual Console titles), you can which version to buy if it is available on both (New) Nintendo 3DS and Wii U. The problem here is rooted in the fact that this choice is made via a list consisting of two options: Wii U (top) and (New) Nintendo 3DS (bottom).
If you visit the page after having bought the game on Wii U already, the selection defaults to Wii U since it is the first item in the list and you get a message saying you already own the game, blocking you from buying the (New) Nintendo 3DS version. If you already own the (New) Nintendo 3DS version of a game, it still offers you the option to buy the Wii U version because the selection still defaults to the Wii U option, which is not linked to your account.
This would of course all be a non-issue if all Virtual Console titles were cross-buy…
While it’s true that most users don’t buy several versions of the same game (either because one is enough for them, or they refuse to pay twice), and that the second version can be bought normally via the Nintendo eShop, it’s an issue that does need fixing as soon as possible. Preventing users from actually buying content is not desirable at all, no matter the reason!
This is but one of the issues of the web eShop in Europe, though the others are not nearly as important (like the details about language “disappering” when the download size is added to the page). There’s a few “bugs” here and there which should definitely be fixed as soon as possible.
Less clickin’, more buyin’
When a user wants to buy something, it’s always better to make sure they can do it as “fast” as possible. Therefore, there should be as few screens as possible between the front page and the payment one. The PEGI logo and the warning about refunds (EU-only) should be integrated into the Confirmation screen, along with all relevant info (download size, remaining size on console/HDD/SD Card, etc.).
And just like on Wii U, the Buy button should be available straight from the games listing, not just in the Details page.
Make a wish
Credit: The Pokémon Wiki
On Wii U and Nintendo 3DS, you can add games to your Watch List. Unfortunately, this feature isn’t really useful as it is. Nintendo could turn it into an actual wishlist feature, with the list of unreleased games viewable by other users (with the usual privacy settings available, obviously). That way, users could easily find out which games their friends are interested, if they want to gift them one.
In fact, the whole account system should be updated to let users see what games their friends own, how long they’ve played them, etc. But that’s not directly related to the Nintendo eShop…
Back to the wishlist, there’s another to make great use of it: notifications. Users could receive them on their console and/or via email and/or via their Nintendo Account (on the web), and for the following:
- when a game is launched
- when a game is discounted
- when a game gets new DLC
- when a game gets an update
- etc…
Naturally, users should have to be able to chose their preferred settings for the notifications, with
Nintendo could even offer some extra My Nintendo coins for adding certain games to the wishlist. Similar the surveys from Club Nintendo, the extra coins would only be awarded if the game is purchased.
Code of Purchase
If they want to, users should be able to buy games as download codes, instead of having games immediately tied to their accounts. That applies to both the web eShop and the Wii U / Nintendo 3DS eShop. That way, users could easily gift games to their friends, or family members, for example.
Nintendo could put several restrictions in order to limit abuse, such as:
- limiting the purchase of download codes (such as 1 per console per month), to prevent mass reselling of codes
- tying the user’s ID to the download code, so that Nintendo can track them (preventing any scam/mass reselling of codes)
- etc.
Up to date updates
When you buy a game on the Nintendo eShop, you get the very first version of the game released to the general public. You then have to download the latest patch separately (which isn’t too much of an issue on Wii U, where it’s usually downloaded automatically… if you have automatic downloads activated).
Nintendo should make it so it’s always the latest version of a game that’s downloaded after buying it from the Nintendo eShop. The gamepages should also display the current version of the game.
Our next suggestion is not strictly related to the Nintendo eShop, but we thought it would be worth mentioning here. Nintendo could have an “update center”, where users could check:
- the current version number of all the game they own. If there’s a discrepancy, it would be clearly indicated on the page, with a button to update;
- the list of games which currently have an update available for download. Users could then check details on the update before downloading the update, or downloading it right away;
- the list of recently updated games.
This update center could also have various details, including patch notes for each update (provided by Nintendo for first-party games, and publishers/developers for third-party games), the update history for each game, and more.
Discounts are of the essence
When visiting the Nintendo eShop, it’s not too hard to find games on sale. And quite conveniently, the discount price is displayed on the listing pages and on the gamepage itself… but what about the expiration date for the discount? Allowing users to see when a sale ends is pretty convenient, especially if said users don’t have enough money for everything for example. It’s definitely something that should be added soon!
On the Web eShop, Nintendo could go the extra mile and display the price + discount + expiration date for said discount on the search page.
My Nintendo (eShop)
On the web eShop in Europe and North America, the gamepage displays how many My Nintendo coins you can get when buying a game. Unfortunately, that’s not the case on the Nintendo eShop of the Wii U and the Nintendo 3DS, or on the Japanese web eShop. This needs to be fixed, as My Nintendo coins are yet another incentive for purchasing a game.
Wanted: Details
Overall, the regional variants of web eShop could be streamlined, in order to show:
- more details (such as number of save files, stereoscopic 3D, more)
- the same details as the other regional variants, and the web eShop. The Nintendo eShop on Wii U, Nintendo 3DS, NX, web, etc. should all display the same details.
It’s pretty important, because the more details a potential buyer can get, the more likely they are to make a purchase (while avoiding any nasty surprises).
Oh, and Nintendo of Europe? Using the same page for all versions of a given Virtual Console game is a great idea, but you have to make sure the controller info is listed separately for each platform! Because no… the GameCube controller cannot be used for Virtual Console games on Wii U, and the way it’s displayed on a gamepage right now can be confusing and/or downright misleading for uninformed buyers.
Wanted: Games to Buy
Another area of the Nintendo eShop that Nintendo could improve: the search.
For example, a suggestion system (similar to what you can find on Google or Steam) would a massive improvement. By simply typing a few letters, users could find the game they were looking for. Not only this is faster than having to type everything, but it also helps when they don’t know the full title of a game or its spelling.
Also, Nintendo needs to make it so users can chose to exclude videos from research results, or at least separate the games from videos. It’s pretty annoying on Nintendo 3DS, where you can end up with the game hidden after lots of videos… not really desirable when users can miss what they were searching for! On Wii U, videos are only displayed last in the search results, so it’s less of an issue.
Nintendo eShop + Miiverse + Developers = <3
This one is more a suggestion than a missing feature. Nintendo could add Miiverse integration to the eShop. More precisely, we’re talking of the dev rooms, where developers post updates about their games. That way, potential buyers would have access to the latest news, patch notes, and more. If they know that more content is on the way, for example, they may be more tempted to buy the game they’re checking out.
Of course, that integration would be limited to the actual posts, not comments. And if really not possible on the Nintendo eShop, having that integration on the web eShop would be pretty neat.
This feature would allow developers to reach even more players than they would via Miiverse alone, or social networks. What’s more, those players would be people actually interested in their game(s), which would be pretty valuable.
Speaking of Miiverse, in Japan, each game community features a link to the gamepage of the corresponding game on the web eShop. This needs to be added to the European and North American variants of Miiverse. That being said, in Europe, the lack of a centralised website for the whole region would make that a tad more difficult (one possible solution would be to add a link for each country).
Let me guide you
A minor suggestion would be a “Help” button, placed on each page, to give various indications and tips to users. Nintendo could even go as far add a “Virtual Tour” (similar to what you can find on some Google services), easily skippable.
Music, Maestro, Please
When you boot up the Nintendo eShop on Wii U and on Nintendo 3DS, you’re always greeted by some pretty cool music. Sometimes, it’s music directly taken from a game (when there’s major release), but very often it’s entirely original music composed especially for the Nintendo eShop.
Wouldn’t it be pretty neat if you could pick up your favourite tune from the Nintendo eShop settings page? Of course, it would be the least essential update for the Nintendo eShop, but it would be one of the coolest!
Conclusion
When we decided to write this article, ideas just kept piling up… in the end, we had to split it in two parts, or it would have been way too long. This shows just how many things Nintendo could do to improve its Nintendo eShop.
The Nintendo eShop is a pretty good marketplace, but good is not enough: it can be even better, accessible, feature-rich, convenient, and useful. Since Nintendo has been focusing on its digital business in the past couple of years, to boost its revenue, improving the Nintendo eShop should be Nintendo’s #1 priority.
Naturally, everything was written from the point of view of someone who has never worked in (web) development. It’s easy to say “you should do this” when you’re not the one who has to do it! Also, it’s not like we’re expecting anyone from Nintendo ever reading this article, we simply wrote it because we’re quite interested in anything Nintendo!
We hope you enjoyed reading this article!
