Nintendo is not interested in free or 'cheap' products

Nintendo CEO Satoru Iwata says that Nintendo is not interested in offering games with the freemium model, where gamers can play for free and are seduced to spend money on optional features, like extra levels, special weapons or other items that are useful during the game.??Nintendo's competitors are currently experimenting with plenty of free games. Satoru Iwata is not bothered by this trend. He believes Nintendo is a completely unique company with unique products and does not like comparing his company to other businesses. "Nintendo is not only a game producer, we make hardware and software."??

"If we were simply going to say OK, the only the way we could sell more products is by decreasing the price, then there wouldn’t be a bright future and the entire industry will fold. When we look at the entire system of freemium, it’s not always that everyone is happy with the offers. Actually, there’s only a limited number of people who are willing to pay and many others are not paying for game titles at all."

"Nintendo is not interested. (…) I'm not interested in giving away quality software for free."??"Of course it is true that when we ask the customer a higher price, we also have to deliver [creative] added value. We do this preferably different from others. This is the mission of Nintendo."

??Nintendo’s main concern related to giving away creative work is the effect of low prices to the perceived value of the product to consumers. People might get the idea that the products have little value, while Nintendo is keen on delivering high quality games. A business where many people make their daily living.  Iwata, originally a true computer game designer himself, doubts whether a free-to-play business model is viable on the longer term, despite the successes that some companies achieve with it.??

Reference: All Things Digital; Read the interview: (part one) (part two)