Electroplankton to only be sold online and at NYC store

by Dan Choi { Oct 25th 2005 at 8:30AM }

In a follow-up to our last story on this title, Electroplankton has been confirmed for the previously revealed January 9th U.S. release date (in 2006), but only from "major online retailers, as well as the World of Nintendo store [in New York City] and Nintendo.com."

By only making the quirky game available online (and at Nintendo's retail beachhead in the New World), the Big N may have solved brick & mortar store allotment issues and created a good use for the official web site in one swift (but delayed?) blow.

One can only hope for a good online sale or clearance on this game in the future, however, so that all young, budding musicians can get to try their hand at this piece of multimedia art.

[Thanks, groovy guy]

Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)

Mr. Clark @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

Well, I suppose it'll give me a reason to try and pay off some of the charges on my credit card after it gets its annual raping from Christmas.

Lucian @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

New York can keep it.

Glenn @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

Limited release means they're not confident it's a good game and if released nationally, it would not sell it any great numbers.

Lolersticks @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

This makes me very angry...

And you won't like it when I'm angry!

DarthKoRn @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

I dont know why anyone would be angry, we're at least GETTING the friggin game. And its alot easier to order it this way then to import the Jap version.

I say bring it on.

CapAmerica @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

@2, I's more like the don't think its a good game for the US. The Its more like the don't think its a good game for the US. The game is really fun, but most likely won't be a huge hit with the American audience. I'm kind of surprised a few other games didn't get this treatment. Oh well at least its coming to the US after all. I hope they start to do this with other JP games cause there are a few I would enjoy playing.
game is really fun, but most likely won't be a huge hit with the American audence.

djSyndrome @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

Think outside of the envelope, people. This could be a whole new distribution model for Nintendo. Nintendo is obviously using this as a test to see if they can distribute software themselves and cut out the 'middlemen' of GameStop, Wal-Mart, etc. for smaller titles. This and the Black DS' on sale at Nintendo's NYC store are a signal that we might start seeing even more and more Japan-centric product over on our shores.

isuma @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

This is a good thing. In the past, titles such as this would not even be availble here due to limited market and costs of distribution etc. Everybody wins since gamers get the title while Nintendo has little to lose and all to gain. People shouldn't be complaining.

delerious @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I want to purchase it at my local Wal-Mart.
Damn Nintendo and their money making schemes.

Lectoid @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

@djSyndrome. I sure hope that if Nintendo is cutting out the middleman that we, as consumers, will see the savings. Anyone have an idea on price?

GlitchCog @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

#3: "Limited release means they're not confident it's a good game..."

Not true. Limited release means they're not confident it'll sell. Unless you're willing to define "good game" as "a game lots of people want to buy," you're wrong. I think having mass-appeal can actually hurt an inovative title. The newest FPS titles sell like hotcakes even though there's nothing new and interesting about them. I personally would never call most of those "good games" even though their sales are high.

WizarDru @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

I still think this is something of a mistake. I find it hard to believe that the audience that embraced Nintendogs wouldn't at least TRY Electroplankton. Would it sell in gangbuster numbers? Probably not.

But by that reasoning, none of us would be enjoying Katamari Damacy, another wonderfully odd entertainment that had the potential to flop, but didn't.

I think this is a good compromise, but it's not the ideal.

djSyndrome @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

"@djSyndrome. I sure hope that if Nintendo is cutting out the middleman that we, as consumers, will see the savings. Anyone have an idea on price?"

I was thinking the same thing -perhaps we'll get it for 20 bucks?? - but I'm sure that would be giving Nintendo too much credit. >.<

However, given that people are paying upwards of $50US to import this, I think $30 is a *relative* bargain.

isuma @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

Thinking about it a bit more. This is part of Nintendo's CEO (forget his name) talk at TGS ..in particular, the 'sales drive' .. i.e. with hyped games the largest proportion of the sales comes in the first week then things die off very quickly.

With a title like this, the sales start out smaller..but, they are sustained in the long term (ie there no huge drop off) .. the sales may even rise over initial week sales as in the case of Brain Training in Japan.

R @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

Any chance we'll see more of this from Nintendo in the future. Will you be able to order Revolution games via the console itself? Not download obviously, but order? That'd be great.

Todd @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

I imported it shortly after it came out in Japan. I really enjoy it and have played with it many hours. However it seems to matter more if you are into music, and more importently music creation, than if your a gamer. I've shown it to some gamers and they've had their fill after a short while and aren't very impressed with it. While others that might not be gamers have taken to it more than they have any other "game". My neice who hates her sisters PS2 wouldn't give it up shortly after seeing it and played with it the whole visit. I know it imported well, but it wasn't a top seller in Japan. I can't imagine it'll do really good here, but the people that understand it are really looking forward to it.

robotplague @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

I really don't have a problem with that. I really can't imagine the game being a gigantic seller (I think it really only appeals to a specific niche audience). If they feel more comfortable releasing it this way then I see no problem. Obviously with more traditional/hyped games they would be nuts to do this. I think this is a good sample game to see if this is do-able and see how many copies they sell. Online or not, I'm gettin' it.

Snap @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

"Think outside of the envelope, people. This could be a whole new distribution model for Nintendo"

They've done this before: Pokemon Box. It sold out super fast and is now considered rare. Thankfully I bought a copy the day it was available. I'll be doing the same for Electroplankton.

Snap @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

FYI ~ Pokemon Box is going for over $100 US on eBay with upwards of $200~300 sales. Nintendo released this game only in the US via their pokemon.com web shop for $20 US. What a freaking deal. Pretty worthless for a game but a great investment for sure.

syco @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

I've played this.

EVERYONE MUST BUY IT.

That is all.

Take2 @ Dec 18th 2005 9:37PM

I dunno. Games that are limited to certain stores are available through online order only seem to sell in low or limited quantities. Toy R Us experimented with this a while back with titles that have entered obscurity.

I don't think this is exploring a new distributon model as it is no-confidence in the American market by Nintendo for this particle title. If you want to test a new distribution model, you use game with a pre-built in audience like Zelda or Pokeman, and then only distribute online. If it's a known and popular series, you're guaranteed to sell in large numbers.

To make a lot of money though, you're going to distribute as wide as possible, and that means selling through Wal-Mart, BestBuy, EBGames, etc etc.