Aussie Punch-Out release exclusive to JB Hi-Fi

Due to a lack of interest from other retailers, JB Hi-Fi will be the sole retailer selling Punch-Out when it finally releases here in Australia

Even though the Nintendo Channel revealed that Punch-Out!! release date yesterday, it didn’t mention that it would be a JB Hi-FI exclusive, as has been revealed by Kotaku. According to Nintendo Australia’s managing director Rose Lappin, the game didn’t have many requests from retailers apart from JB Hi-Fi.

Speaking to Kotaku, Lappin has said: “To be honest we didn’t have a lot of requests for the game,” she continued. “There’s a few people… there’s a lot of noise but not a lot of sales, that sort of thing. However, there was one retailer that was chasing it, so that’s why we’ve decided to go that way. Of course, if it continues and consumers want it then that’s what we’re here for. At the end of the day if we don’t support consumers then we don’t have a business. We’re certainly here to work with what people want.”

With a lack of interest in the game from retailers, Nintendo simply didn’t feel indebted to get the game out here. However, this is Punch-Out!! – a game with a remarkable heritage, so if Nintendo isn’t willing to bring one of its premier titles out here despite the roaring success of the Wii, what chance do less known brands like The Legendary Starfy and Excitebots have? We’d say very little.

So you better hope you live near a JB Hi-Fi or otherwise you won’t be able to pick this one up, which is certainly going to impact sales. How will Nintendo interpret this?

They may see that interest was lacking and put off further releases. This could also be a consequence of everyone importing, as the Day 1 players – the people who are likely to spread the word about this game- have bought it from other places and just told everyone it’s not available in Australia. We’ll leave it up to you to decide what to do.

Source: Kotaku Australia