The best-selling video game at Amazon.com Inc. (NASDAQ: AMZN) is a dual pack called Pokémon Sun and Moon Steelbook for the handheld Nintendo 3DS. Given the near-hysteria over Nintendo’s Pokémon Go, that’s no particular shock.
What is surprising is that the game is not scheduled to be released until November 18, 2016, just in time for Black Friday shopping and the whole holiday gift-giving season. But why not guarantee your order now? After all, at $89 for the package is a lot less than the preorder deposit potential buyers of Tesla’s Model 3. Customers don’t even have to put down a deposit.
Amazon Prime members get a discount of 20% from the list price, which we assume is $89, but because Amazon no longer posts list prices and discounts it’s not easy to tell.
So why preorder something that is four months away? From a consumer’s perspective it virtually guarantees ownership of what is now the most popular game in the world. If it has been supplanted as the most popular game in the world four months from now, you can cancel the order and you’re not out any cash.
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From Amazon’s (and Nintendo’s) point of view, the preorder buzz is another way to sell more product. Making the offer now, months before the game is released, is a shrewd move to capitalize on the wide popularity of Pokémon Go. Another plus might be added sales of the $175 3DS XL handheld game system.
According to the Amazon, the two games will launch in Canada on the same day as the U.S. launch “exclusively for the Nintendo 3DS family of systems.” We assume that is also true for the U.S. product. That could lead to some distress when buyers discover that it does not work on their smartphones. But that problem is at least four months away.
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