The back and forth between Nintendo and the NCC over eShop pre-orders continues

The Norwegian Consumer Council has taken issue with Nintendo – as well as a few other gaming companies – with its approach to digital purchases. When pre-ordering any game from the eShop, it’s impossible to cancel. You’re locked in to that purchase, which the Norwegian Consumer Council isn’t happy with.

The two sides have been going back and forth, with Nintendo stating that it isn’t breaking any European laws. PressFire now has the latest on the situation. Nintendo is doubling down and says that they aren’t in agreement with the NCC and says the sales contract is fulfilled since you’re able to pre-load the game immediately after pre-ordering. 

Here’s a translated breakdown of the report, courtesy of Fawesum:

• The Norwegian Consumer Rights Council has officially reported Nintendo to the Norwegian Government for breach of consumer law in Norway and the EU.
• The issue is that Nintendo gives no option to cancel a pre-order even though the game isn’t released.
• Norway is a part of the European Economic Community, which means they share many EU laws.
• Norwegian gaming site PressFire.no has obtained Nintendos letter to the Council.
• Nintendo in their reply say they don’t agree with the council, and that they aren’t breaking any laws. They say that, because you can pre-load the game instantly after pre-ordering, the “performance has begun”, and the sales contract is fulfilled.
• The Council says you can’t claim “performance has begun” until the game is playable, even though you’ve pre-loaded it.
• Quote from Nintendo: “The legal position expressed [by the council] that the right to withdraw cannot be excluded before the purchased game can be downloaded and launched is, from a legal point of view, untenable.”
• Nintendo sends out an email at the time of purchase informing of the right to cancel and how to do it, but since they make you agree that the right to cancel is forfeit when pre-ordering, this form seems to be there purely to comply with the law requiring you to send it out. In a test the website tried to immediately cancel the pre-order, but Nintendo refused.
• Nintendo end their letter by saying “at any time, users have the choice whether they wish to pre-order a game in Nintendo eShop or whether they wish to purchase the game after its release” and “it is ultimately each user’s decision whether they choose to pre-order a game or not”.

Source 1, Source 2