It looks like consumers can now purchase codes for eShop downloads online from Gamestop’s website. It’s a small start (just two games available at the moment, Super Mario Land 2 and Pushmo) but they’re definitely trying. Gamestop is promoting the launch of this service by offering Rewards Card holders 250 additional points if you purchase both games before April 8th. You can even buy the games themselves with rewards points instead of using your hard earned cash. It will be interesting to see if the added exposure and additional sales methods provided by gaming’s biggest retail outlet will help to get these two titles into people’s hands.
The success of this partnering is less important to me than the promise of where it might lead. The fact that Nintendo has essentially opened up their virtual storefront to another store owner is a big deal. As we have it now, Nintendo’s eShop is the only place on the planet that provides digitally distrubted games to 3DS owners, as the Wii Shop is the only store for the Wii, PSN is for PS3/PSP/PS Vita, etc. For the consumer, that means if one of those storefronts chooses not to carry a digitally distributed game, they’re essentially erasing that game from existence on that particular console. If it can’t exist in their store, then it can’t exist anywhere.
That’s too much power for a store owner to have. It’s also more responsibility than they might want. From all reports, certain parties at Nintendo really wanted to get The Binding of Isaac on the eShop, but in the end, they didn’t want the responsibility (and potential controversy) of carrying a “religious” game in their store. I wonder if Nintendo would be OK with Gamestop carrying that particular eShop title on their virtual shelves?
