Top Story
German court rules in Nintendo’s favour over eShop pre-order refunds
Nintendo has been involved in a two-year legal tussle with Norway and Germany over the inability to request refunds for pre-orders made through the Nintendo eShop.
Norwegian and German consumer protection authorities argue that Nintendo should offer refunds, but Nintendo has managed to convince a German court that once a purchase has been pre-loaded the ‘contract has been fulfilled’ and refunds no longer applicable.
Nintendo is more family than consumer friendly
The current verdict says Nintendo is not doing anything illegal by refusing to offer refunds, but neither the German Consumer Protection Authority or the Norwegian Consumer Council are thrilled about this. They have launched an appeal to overturn the decision, so the legal skirmish goes on – and is likely to continue for another year.
A game pre-ordered from the Nintendo eShop can not be refunded even if the game has not actually been released yet – which is the very definition of a pre-order – as long as any data whatsoever has been pre-loaded.
Time For A Quick Daily Quiz?
Ninja Theory debuted in 2007 with which PlayStation 3 exclusive?
- inFamous
- Resistance: Fall of Man
- Heavenly Sword
- Starhawk
The answer will be revealed at the bottom of today’s issue. Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss what the answer could be.
News Bits
Paradox Interactive tests subscription model for Europa Universalis IV DLC
If you play any of the grand strategy games from Paradox, then you know there’s a ton of DLC for most of them. Years worth of DLC can prove a bit of a barrier to entry for new players, so Paradox is trialing a subscription model “to see how popular such a service would be.”
The community response was initially mixed, but Paradox insist the two models will co-exist peacefully and that their customers can choose how to pay for their games.
Super Lucky’s Tale creator downsizing
Sad news coming out of Playful Studios: Founders Paul Bettner and Katy Drake Bettner have announced that they’re restructuring the company, which means laying off a lot of staff.
“We are truly heartbroken to be parting ways with many of our friends and colleagues,” they said in a joint statement. Super Lucky’s Tale launched for PC and Xbox One in 2017, and for Switch last year.
Daily Fact
Rare got too cheeky for Microsoft
This isn’t the first time we talk about Rare’s vulgar masterpiece Conker, but there are simply too many good stories about the game. You may recall that Nintendo weren’t happy about all of Rare’s ideas, and neither was Microsoft.
Rare wanted to replace a giant talking crate named Burt with a gate named Bill. Yes, as in Bill Gates, the billionaire founder of Microsoft. Rare wanted Bill the Gate to complain about how all the windows in his barn were broken and that his barn kept crashing.
Achievement Unlocked: Bite the hand that feeds you
Perhaps unsurprisingly, Microsoft weren’t amused by jokes at their expense and thus Rare found themselves censored once again.
Join up with our community on Twitter and Facebook to discuss today’s fact.