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Namco Bandai denies collusion with eBay reseller amid Ni no Kuni Wizard's Edition shortage
After some orders for the Wizard's Edition of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch started being mysteriously cancelled, Namco Bandai stepped forward to clarify that the special edition had been oversold, that the issue was caused by an error in its e-commerce provider's software and that said provider would be in touch to work things out.Shortly thereafter, Wizard's Editions were found on PlayCanada's eBay store, marked up to an astronomical $400 each. The Internet, being the Internet, quickly jumped to the conclusion that Namco Bandai and/or Digital River had entered into a clandestine agreement with PlayCanada, removing inventory from its official site in order to maximize profits through an eBay scalper."NAMCO BANDAI Games America is not, nor has it ever, worked with or in conjunction with the EBay seller known as 'PlayCanada' to sell units of Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – Wizard's Edition at a price premium on EBay," Namco Bandai has told us."According to our records, this individual or group of individuals purchased Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch – Wizard's Edition during the NinoStarter promotion period (August 2012); at which time, no limits were placed on how many units an individual could order. PlayCanada's claims that they officially worked with NAMCO BANDAI Games America to obtain their stock is entirely false."Namco Bandai is still attempting to make it up to fans who pre-ordered the Wizard's Edition and aren't going to receive one; every affected person will receive a 400-page hardbound strategy guide that includes a code for an in-game "Gold Hurly Familiar," as well as a $20 clubNamco voucher.
Ni no Kuni Wizard's Edition oversold, some orders being canceled
The special "Wizard's Edition" of Level 5's Ni no Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch, available exclusively through Namco Bandai's online shop, has been oversold, resulting in a multitude of issues for those that placed orders while the package was supposedly still in stock.Digital River, the e-commerce middleware provider that powers Namco Bandai's shop, experienced an error in its ordering system that resulted in the Wizard's Edition's erroneous post-sellout availability. As a result, some orders have simply seen shipping delays, while others have seemingly failed to process at all or have been cancelled entirely. The number of non-existent packages sold is unknown."If your order(s) has been cancelled, we will be reaching out to you by email with additional information as soon as possible," an official update reads. Affected customers that feel proactive about resolving their issue can also contact Digital River directly by emailing namcobandai.en.cs@digitalriver.com, or by calling 952-392-2057.It's also worth mentioning that while Digital River says it will be addressing the issues of everyone affected, the update does not go into detail about what that resolution may look like. To be on the safe side, we recommend tempering your expectations towards a refund and an apology.[Thanks to everyone who sent this in!]
En Masse's response to microtransaction speculation: TERA is not a microtransaction game
In one of our recent TERA articles, we speculated that TERA may be going towards a microtransaction/subscription model thanks to the wording in a press release sent out by Digital River, TERA's online shop service. However, senior producer Brian Knox has sent us a statement that sets the facts straight: TERA is not a microtransaction game. "After a press release by Digital River announcing our e-commerce partnership a few players expressed concerns that TERA would be a micro-transaction game in addition to requiring a subscription fee; that is not the case," said Knox. "TERA is not a micro-transaction or cash-shop item game. The game is built and designed to function as a subscription-based game. We would have to make dramatic changes to the game's design to support micro-transactions and there is no intention of doing so."
Updated: En Masse signs agreement with e-commerce company Digital River
En Masse the company responsible for TERA, is going to be working with Digital River for the next few years as part of a global agreement. In the immortal words of Paul Vasquez, what does it mean? Well, we know that TERA will have a subscription-based business model, but Digital River's press release points to a bit more than that: "Digital River will manage in-game commerce and launch an online store to support North American sales of En Masse's soon-to-be-released flagship action MMO, TERA." It's almost standard these days for MMOs to offer microtransactions even on top of a subscription fee, so while nothing has been officially announced, the mention of in-game commerce looks like our first indication that TERA may be going in that direction. The agreement will run through 2014. [Edit: Senior Community Manager of En Masse Entertainment has responded to some of the player concerns: "A few folks have expressed concerns that TERA users are going to have to pay micro-transaction fees in order to play TERA; that's not the case. We'd like to clarify that TERA is a subscription-based game, not a micro-transaction-based game. As gamers ourselves, we believe that our fellow players shouldn't be required to pay micro-transaction fees in order to have a great gaming experience."]
EA Store's 'extended download' perk comes at a price
In a desperate attempt to play Spore while visiting family in Tahoe, an Ars Technica writer stumbled across a disagreeable little caveat in purchasing products from EA's online store. He was charged an extra $7 for the "extended download service," a nasty little program by EA's digital distributor, Digital River. The company only allows purchases to be redownloaded for a certain period of time (which varies), but to enable the option to download the product again within two years, the customer will have to pay the fee. Apparently, there's no indefinite download option.Ars went down the rabbit hole to get some answers from Digital River about why the company does this, but was met with a perma-hold and disconnects when calling. Considering that we haven't heard of "extended download service" fees on independently-created digital distribution services like Steam, which now sells Spore, it's probably safe to stick with that if you're a PC user. Feel free to let us know if you've seen "extended download service" fees from other distributors, because what Digital River is doing sounds like shady business.
Midway launches online arcade, digital storefront
As if we didn't already have enough ways to purchase Joust, Midway has launched the "Midway Arcade," which offers just as much quarter-pumping excitement as the name implies. The online store -- really, it's just a store -- features 14 ancients for purchase and download in preset bundles, along with, oddly enough, $5 PC versions of select games from Midway's TouchMaster compilation for DS. Midway's also selling some of its contemporary efforts -- in another location -- for direct download to PC, highlighted by titles like Unreal Tournament 3 and ... what's this? Midway Arcade Treasures! That's right, today alone, we've got two new ways to own Joust. You know, just in case. The full list of releases is posted after the break.
