If you don’t count my childhood experience with the Subor, I can be considered a Nintendo game enthusiast with more than ten years of history. After the release of the game a year ago, I immediately traveled to Okinawa and finally bought one on Taobao in my country.
Although I am often addicted to the world of Zelda and Stardew Valley, I still find that Nintendo has made many changes and innovations in this generation of game consoles. Two of these changes are very important to players. One is that Nintendo no longer locks the game region, and the other is that Nintendo has greatly increased its attention to digital games.
The change of not locking regions brings convenience to players and brings great benefits, because players can get the lowest price of games by changing the region of the eshop account in the game console (the price of games in each region is different). In addition, because Nintendo pays more and more attention to digital games, there are more and more discounted games on the eshop, and the frequency is getting higher and higher. So if you want to buy games at a price less than 50% off, you need to master two important tricks: low price zone + discount.
This article will be divided into the following sections:
1. How much cheaper can games be in the low-price zone?
2. How do I know which region the game is cheapest and how much does it cost?
3. Which regions have the cheapest games?
4. How do I know which games are on sale?
5. How to buy digital games in eshop?
6. How to switch the region of eshop
VII. Conclusion
1. How much cheaper can games be in the low-price zone?
Take Stardew Valley, my favorite classic game, for example. The lowest price in the Mexican region is only 50 RMB, which is 43% cheaper than the Japanese region, which is 88 RMB. The poster's eyes were wet after learning this fact, because he spent nearly 100 RMB to buy Stardew Valley.
Mexico server 50 RMB, US server 95 RMB
When a friend asked me which region to buy The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild from, I also found a huge price difference between Japan and the United States. Breath of the Wild is sold for 450 RMB in Japan, but only 380 RMB in the United States, which is 70 RMB cheaper.
The US version of The Legend of Zelda is 70 RMB cheaper than the Japanese version
There are many similar examples. According to the author's statistics, the lowest price of eshop games is generally 10-70 RMB cheaper than the average selling price.
2. How do I know which region the game is cheapest and how much does it cost?
The first website I used was a foreign website called eshop-, which displays the current prices of all games in each country in a table and is color- coded , which looks more intuitive. But this website also has its problems. First, it is very inconvenient to use on mobile phones. It is difficult to find a game, after all, I rarely use my computer at home. Second, the access speed is very slow. Sometimes it takes half a minute to open a page, which makes me want to rush into the sea and merge with the submarine optical cable.
Later, someone on the S1 forum recommended a small program called "Assistant" to the author, which seemed to open the door to a new world. Because it is a small program, the author can easily check and search for the lowest price of the game through WeChat.
It's clear where the cheapest is
In addition to easy viewing and barrier-free reading, it has many more advantages than eshop. For example, the price of each game has been converted into RMB, and you can check which games are currently on sale, when the discount will end, the game's MC rating, and whether the game is available in Chinese.
However, the author feels that the "Assistant" applet is still a bit simple in terms of functionality. Sometimes when I see a highly rated game, I don't know the detailed information about the game. It also lacks functions such as discount reminders. I hope it can be improved in the future.
The mini program QR code shared on the forum has been proven to be effective
3. Which regions have the cheapest games?
The author has made a detailed statistics of the prices of all current games and found that the United States/Canada, Japan, Mexico, and Norway account for the most low-priced games, totaling more than 90%. South Africa, which was often discussed by netizens before, actually only accounts for about 3% of the low-priced games.
In addition, due to the fluctuation of exchange rates, sometimes there are more low-priced games in Canada, and sometimes there are more low-priced games in the United States. However, the price difference between the two regions is very small. It is recommended to use the United States instead of Canada when registering an account
4. How do I know which games are on sale?
Discounts are actually another very effective way to save money. The discount list of eshop is often occupied by 30-40 games, and most of the discounted games are discounted by -20% to -50%, and sometimes there are large discounts such as -70%. So friends, don't miss the game discount as a way to save money.
The way I checked the discounts at first was to log in to the eshop. Because the discounted games in different regions are different, sometimes I have to check the discounted games in each region one by one, which is very troublesome. Here I have to introduce the "Assistant" applet. Its homepage shows the games that are discounted in all regions, as well as the discount range and expiration date. It is very convenient to know which games are discounted. I just hope that this applet can add functions such as wishlists.
5. How to buy digital games in eshop?
When I talk to many people around me about low price zones and discounts, they often say that they don't know how to buy games on eshop. Since this is the strongest eshop usage guide, it is very necessary for me to explain how to buy digital games on eshop.
There are currently three ways to buy digital games on eshop, namely "credit card", "eshop recharge card" and "". Next, I will explain in detail how to use each method and the precautions:
1. Credit Card:
Currently, eShop only supports VISA and these two credit cards. I use VISA and it is very convenient to use. It should be noted that eShop does not support UnionPay or JCB at present.
Currently only VISA and
As long as you choose credit card settlement when paying, enter the interface and fill in the credit card information correctly, you can use the credit card to purchase eshop games. When you use the credit card to purchase games again, you don't need to fill in the credit card information again, which is very convenient.
To be careful of:
①Avoid tax deduction. If your account is a US account, then when choosing a region, you must choose a tax-free state, such as Oregon with a zip code of 97219. If you want to change it, click on the avatar in the upper right corner of the eshop and select it.
②Avoid balance. When using a credit card, it is best to choose direct payment instead of recharging, because recharging may result in a balance. Except for the Japanese region, as long as you have a balance in your account, you cannot switch regions. If you switch from the Japanese region to other regions, all balances in the account will be cleared.
2. eShop recharge card:
Eshop point cards are similar to Apple's. They are recharge cards specifically for Nintendo accounts. There are many channels for purchasing them, usually Taobao. In addition to Taobao, there are also many websites that specialize in selling recharge cards. This method is suitable for value friends who do not have VISA or credit cards.
After buying the eshop card, enter the store and click the last item in the left column. Enter the number and confirm to recharge successfully. In addition, you can also recharge in the payment method selection interface.
To be careful of:
①Avoid black cards. Sometimes you will see eshop recharge cards purchased by stealing credit cards on Taobao. Using such recharge cards will cause great risks and lead to account closure. Therefore, you must carefully distinguish when choosing eshop recharge cards, and don't be greedy for the momentary cheapness.
② Choose the right country. Different countries only support corresponding eshop recharge cards, so friends, please don’t buy Japanese recharge cards to recharge in the US.
③ Unable to change regions. Basically, after purchasing games with a recharge card, there will be a balance. Except for the Japanese region, accounts in other regions cannot switch regions when there is a balance. Therefore, non-Japanese accounts that have used recharge cards basically say goodbye to switching regions.
3.:
Similar to Alipay, the biggest advantage is that you can directly bind UnionPay cards for payment, and now it fully supports Chinese. Registration and adding bank cards are much more convenient than before. Therefore, this method is recommended for friends who don’t have VISA/credit cards and find it troublesome to buy eshop recharge cards.
It is particularly important to note that:
Avoid high exchange rates. The default exchange rate conversion is very uneconomical, about 5% higher than the normal exchange rate, so if you want to use payment, you must make corresponding operations on the official website to convert back to the normal exchange rate. Here I will write in detail how to switch the exchange rate
I. Log in, open this link, and click "Redeem Options"
II. Select the second option – "Use the currency listed by the seller in my bills" and submit
After the operation, you can use the normal exchange rate to pay for the game
Finally, the advantages and disadvantages of various payment methods are compared:
6. How to switch the region of eshop
Since some games are cheaper in the United States, some games are cheaper in Mexico, some games are discounted in the United States, and some games are discounted in Japan, then if you want to enjoy the lowest price, you must know how to switch eshop regions. Next, the author will introduce in detail how to switch eshop regions.
1. Set up multiple accounts, one account per region
That is to say, you can create multiple users on the platform, each of which is associated with a different Nintendo account. The regions of these Nintendo accounts belong to different places. When you need to switch the eshop region, you only need to select the corresponding account.
The advantage of this method is that it is more convenient, because you don't need to switch regions back and forth. If you want to change regions, you only need to switch different accounts on the APP. This is also the method the author is currently using. In addition, it is recommended that value friends register accounts in the United States, Japan, Mexico, and Norway, which can cover more than 90% of the lowest-priced games.
2. Set up an account and change the region of the account on the Nintendo official website
This means that you only need to prepare one account. When you need to change the region, log in to the Nintendo official website to make the change. Here the host pastes the change link to the value friends for your convenience (click me). After changing the region on the official website, the eshop store you log in from will also change accordingly.
The advantage of this method is that you don't need to register multiple accounts. The disadvantage is that the country and region settings can only be changed from the web page, not directly from the host.
To be careful of:
①Avoid balance. As long as you have balance in your account, you cannot switch regions unless your account belongs to the Japanese region. If you switch from the Japanese region to other regions, all balances in your account will be cleared.
②Avoid Hong Kong and Taiwan. Currently, the Hong Kong eshop does not support the purchase of games, and the Taiwan eshop is not open yet, so when registering a Nintendo account, please do not choose Hong Kong and Taiwan as the region. If you have already selected Hong Kong and Taiwan, you can click the link to modify it (click me).
VII. Conclusion
As a person who grew up playing Nintendo games, I am very happy to see more and more people playing masterpieces like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. I also hope that Nintendo will pay more attention to the Chinese market in the future and let Chinese players play more first-party Chinese games.
Finally, I hope this article can help all of you. If you have any questions or suggestions, please feel free to discuss in the comment section and I will try my best to reply.
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