Why Nintendo Stopped Working With Amazon During the DS Era

Former Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aimé has revealed that Nintendo ceased selling products to Amazon during the Nintendo DS era after the e-commerce company pressured the gaming giant to engage in illegal pricing practices.

Speaking at a recent NYU Game Center lecture, Fils-Aimé detailed a conversation from the late 2000s with an Amazon executive. According to Fils-Aimé, Amazon was attempting to aggressively expand its presence in the video game market and sought to maintain the lowest prices in the industry, specifically aiming to undercut competitors like Walmart.

Pressure to Undercut Competitors

Fils-Aimé stated that Amazon sought an obscene amount of support, financial support, to enable the retailer to offer prices lower than those of other marketplaces. This request, according to the former president, would have required Nintendo to violate the law and jeopardize its existing partnerships with other retail entities.

I literally said to the executive, “You know that’s illegal, right? I can’t do that.” Reggie Fils-Aimé, former President of Nintendo of America

The conflict occurred during a period of massive success for Nintendo, as the Wii and DS were the best-selling hardware systems in the company’s history. While Amazon was rapidly expanding its catalog beyond books during the 2000s, its relationship with Nintendo deteriorated following this exchange.

Impact on Business Relations

Fils-Aimé confirmed that the company took the decisive step of stopping sales to the platform. He noted that the decision was based on a refusal to commit illegal acts or damage the trust Nintendo had built with other retailers.

Literally we stopped selling to Amazon, and it’s because I wasn’t going to do something illegal. I wasn’t going to do something that would put at risk the relationship we have with other retailers. But it also set the stage to say, look, you’re not going to push me around. This is the way we do business. And so that’s how over time you build respect. Reggie Fils-Aimé, former President of Nintendo of America

This historical friction has had long-term effects on the availability of Nintendo products on Amazon. Industry observers have noted a recurring pattern of first-party Nintendo games being unavailable on the platform or pre-orders being cancelled without notice.

The tension remained evident as recently as last year during the launch of the Switch 2. Despite the high anticipation for the new home console, pre-orders appeared at competing retailers while the device was notably absent from Amazon’s platform.

Broader Context of Amazon’s Gaming Efforts

The rift with Nintendo exists alongside a broader history of inconsistent results for Amazon’s gaming ambitions. The company has struggled to translate its significant financial resources into successful game development, leading to thousands of layoffs.

Further setbacks include the departure of leadership for Amazon’s gaming wing at the start of the year and the closure of its cloud gaming service, Luna, which was sundowned last month without providing refunds to users.