After yesterday’s fantastic Nintendo Direct, it seems like there was one thing fans couldn’t stop focusing on. No, notMario Kart WorldorDonkey Kong Bananza, asit seems many fans were instead focused on the console’s price point.
The base model without any games included will be sold for $449.99, making this Nintendo’smost expensive console to date. Additionally, games are being sold in the $70-$90 price range, withMario Kart Worldcosting $79.99 when it launches alongside the console.
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While you can get the pack-in console edition, which includes a digital copy ofMario Kart Worldat a $30 discount,fans have been wildly upsetabout these prices, especially considering that Nintendo appears to be making physical games cost more than the price of digital releases.
However, in a recenttalk with TheGameBusiness, Nick Arran, the managing director of the UK retail chain GAME, explained howthe increased price of Switch games, while expensive, is generally reasonable considering the state of our market.
Arran begins by explaining how, although “it seems expensive… I remember walking to Woolworths spending £50 on Nintendo 64, and that was nearly 30 years ago.” Game prices, quite frankly, have remained remarkably stagnant for the past few generations.
So, for many years now, a mix of retailers anddevelopers have explainedthat the price of video games will inevitably have to go up.Even back on the original Switch, games like Tears Of The Kingdomlaunched at $70, with Nintendo likely testing the waters for the eventual price hike of the Switch 2.
As a retailer, we’re selling games for the same price we were selling them 10 years ago, but our costs keep going up [and] publisher costs are going up. Bold move [to go to] £75, but it does need to happen.
Things may be a bit more complex for retailers like Aaron as they enter Nintendo’s next generation, especially considering rumors ofphysical copies costing morethan digital. According to Aaron,“it’s a bold moveand it will be a bit of a challenge for us as a retailer.”
But it’s also important to remember that the Switch still sticks with relatively expensive game cartridges compared to the disk-based formats of other consoles. Aaron states, “It’s a tough message for a customer when there are differences in prices if they prefer physical. It’ll be interesting to see how it goes.”
Is The Switch 2 Price Reasonable?
First, I think the main concern about the Switch 2 is not necessarily any individual element but a combination of the console and game prices.Even back for the original Switch, Nintendo’s prices remained high but not egregious.
While $80 games are expensive, they wouldn’t be as heavy-hitting if the console launched around the original Switch price of $300. The same goes for if the console was expensive, but games remained at their $60 price tag.
It’s also important to note that the Switch 2’smassive upgrade from the originaldoes seem to warrant a higher console price.Like other current-gen consoles, Nintendoappears to be losing moneyon each console sold, if not breaking even, instead grossing money in software sales.
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The Nintendo Switch 2, however, is not only Nintendo’smost expensive console to datebut also marks the first time the company has raised the cost of all its first-party offerings. This, alongside Nintendo’s traditionally high-priced add-ons such as extra controllers, makes the Switch 2 feel more like a sting to your wallet.
The thing is, the industry is changing, partially due to tariffs, hardware upgrades, and general shifts to the market and inflation; as Aaron stated,there is a gut feeling that these price increases “need to happen.”
At least from an analyst’s view, these prices are reasonable, but that doesn’t mean you need to feel satisfied with these prices yourself.Even though the original Switch felt like the hot ticket item everyone needed to get, I think we’ll see people being a bit more reserved at the launch of the Switch 2.
Nintendo Switch 2
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