Topic: So, is MKWorld overpriced?

@Misima
I think thats because most people feel life is too short to forfeit the pleasure of indulging in amazing games over a $10 bill, when it won't accomplish anything anyways. Games are going up regardless. Mario Kart could bomb and it still won't change the fact $80 will be the standard by next year.

So given the choice of paying the extra $10 and enjoying the first new entry we've had since the Wii U over a decade ago, 2 generations back, or pocketing that extra $10 and going back to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe for yet another 10 years, most will opt for the former. It's not like skipping the game will impact prices whatsoever. These companies are being squeezed. Squeezed by inflation. Squeezed by tariffs. And that means higher cost, which means higher price.

In fact, if MK World tanked I wager they'd actually increase the number of games selling for $80 in order to compensate. Miss out on the new Mario Kart we've waited a decade for and fast-track the new $80 standard. Ya. Can't imagine why more people don't opt for that.

@JaxonH in a couple hundred words, you illustrated you don't understand supply and demand. You also don't seem to understand that 10 dollars isn't just 10 dollars when every company in the world is asking you for just 10 more dollars.

I mean except for any contractor that is asking for 1000 more dollars and the far right which is asking for trillions from the people that make our products in slave conditions and wages.

If Mario Kart world sold 100k copies in it's first year the price would be dropped on sale dramatically.

I bought Red Dead Redemption 2 in January for 20 bucks while BOTW which is older is going up in price for Switch 2 and hasn't dropped for Switch.

I guess I just see this as a greed issue and you don't. Now excuse me, I have to spend 10 bucks on ingredients for dinner so I don't starve.

@JaxonH
$80 is really big number especially in my country Indonesia with weak exchange rate, $80 game = more than 1 million Rupiah here in Indonesia after with tax and tariffs.
A lot of people will complain with that price especially here in Indonesia with weak economy than other better countries like Singapore at least.
Only the die hard Nintendo fans will defy that expensive price and call it a great price.
I'm not die hard Nintendo fans, I still have some common sense so that $80 for Open World Mario Racing game is too expensive for me when I can see a comparison with other 3rd party Open World Racing game like LEGO 2K Drive that get price cut heavily until 300K Rupiah here in Indonesia (Sealed, not used) that made the cheaper similar games look worthier than Mario Kart World even without glamorizing Mario characters as the only characters to like.
Also, I like to play Nintendo games but I will not sugarcoat everything from Nintendo.
If they made some controversial decision or disappointing stuffs, I will vote with my wallet or I will consider PlayStation games instead.

As for the topic, yes for sure Mario Kart World is overpriced. Nothing should have a $80+ base price unless it comes with an accessory you need to play the game like how Ring Fit came with the Ring-Con.

That aside, I don't think Nintendo's done a good job of explaining the point of the open world either. Forza Horizon justified its open world with the story (there's a main quest and side quests just like in RPGs) but with Mario Kart World after its Direct, it feels like open world for the sake of open world.

It's clearly overpriced, just like the Nintendo Switch 2 editions of Nintendo Switch ports. That some die-hard fans are willing to justify anything that comes from Nintendo's offices doesn't mean that they are right.

Just watched the MKWorld direct again in 4K on a big screen and also a side by side comparison with 8 Deluxe and I have to say … absolutely, yes. The sheer size, attention to detail, the pure mayhem with 24 racers on the track is simply staggering. Maybe I‘ve been around for too long, but compared to games in the 80s, 90s … with prices not too far off from those of today I often come away scratching my head when people react to price increases. There are friggin‘ worlds created for you to play around in. Compare that to the size and scope of games back then. I mean something has to give.

@JaxonH Same mate. I also am very cognisant of wanting to 'pick a lane' (physical or digital) for Switch2... and majority of titles being code-on-a-card or similar doesn't draw me to physical at all. Would have liked to have got CP77 on the cart, but not keen on that being my only physical game. Digital here I come..

@Grumblevolcano Interesting view, nice analogy with iPhone 15 v 16 etc. I just wish N would have introduced a Metroid Prime 4 bundle alongside the MKW bundle (then maybe a third, that contained MKW and MP4) But I suppose they want to go all-in on pushing MKW which is understandable.

Being overpriced does not mean that people won't approve and buy. Most sales are digital and thus intangible, so there is no manufacturing cost. Here comes the funny thing. If Nintendo decided to lower the regular price, they would sell more copies and earn more money. Nintendo has estimated how much people are willing to pay at the most, but they are not always right. The high price and the cheaper bundle is to test the waters with their best-selling series (on Nintendo Switch).

@Misima
I studied economics in college. I tutored both macro and microeconomics as the top in my class. I assure you I understand supply and demand far more than you do.

We're not talking about "every company in the world". We're talking about 1. So regardless of what every other company is doing, it doesn't change the fact it's a tenner more for one game. That doesn't mean you have to like. And you certainly don't have to buy the game. Frankly I don't think anyone cares what you do. But don't lecture me on economics- you'll end up looking foolish real quick.

Nobody's faulting you if you think its too much and want to skip it. I never defended the price and said you're a broke bum if you don't wanna buy it. I said each person assesses value for themselves. And just because one person feels it's too much doesn't mean everyone feels that way. In the end the market will decide. And thats a fact.

And I said the exact same thing about Sony when they sold $80 $70 games (I meant $70). And I'll say the exact same thing for Xbox when their prices go up. Whether something is "overpriced" is determined on an individual basis. If its overpriced to you, right on. Don't buy it. If its not overpriced to you, right on, buy it.

Again, I'm not insulting anyone who thinks it's too much. I'm just explaining how most normal people think, and pointing out that if it's truly overpriced then it won't sell. But if it sells, that means it wasn't overpriced. It's certainly priced higher and nobody likes paying more, but the market always has the final say.

BTW if every company is charging $10 more like you say and all that "trillions of dollars" talk about putting food on your plate, then I dare say you're irresponsible for even thinking about spending money on a luxury hobby, even if the game was just $70. I mean if you're that hard up, you can't tell me the game being $70 instead of $80 would have made everything hunky dory. Furthermore, if every other company is charging more like you say, why are you so shocked this particular company is doing the same?

@Anti-Matter
I agree $80 is a lot of money. It was already a lot of money at $70. Anyone who feels it's too much is more than free to skip it and I'm not blaming them.

I'm just explaining why people are still buying the game. Because if it was truly overpriced for them they would never engage in that voluntary transaction. For some it will be overpriced, and they can skip it. Totally fine. But there is no objective statement that can be made as to whether it's over priced. Being over priced means being priced over the inherent value of the game. If that were objectively true, nobody would buy it. Because nobody trades more value for less. Anyone who buys it does so because the value they receive is higher than the value they pay. Some will perceive the value as being less than the asking price, so for those people it's overpriced. Others will perceive the value as being higher than the asking price, so for them it's not overpriced.

The issue is when people think their personal assessment of value is objective truth for the entire universe. It's not enough for them to simply say, "it's too expensive- I think it's overpriced". They want to strong arm everyone into agreeing with them. I have no problem saying it'll be overpriced for some and not overpriced for others. Because that's the truth.

"Overpriced" is shorthand for "overpriced relative to value" aka "priced over its inherent value". But value is determined by the individual and varies from person to person. Whether or not something is "priced over its inherent value" will depend on how each individual assesses the value. And not just value of the game, but the value of money itself. Because that, too, varies from person to person. If everyone on earth made a million dollars a year nobody would think an $80 game is too much. And if one accepts that truth, it follows that value for price depends on the financial situation of the individual. But since everyone has different financial circumstances, assessments of value for price will vary from person to person. Ergo, a game will be "priced over its inherent value" (aka "overpriced") for some, and not for others.

Depends on the actual contents, I feel like it's a bit too early to tell but so far it looks like it will be

I used game vouchers for all Nintendo games that I bought new.
So I did not pay more than $50 for any switch game, not even TOTK.

I do not think MKW is $30 better than TOTK?

Yeah, I'm not a fan of 80$ games. But to me, MKW isn't an 80$ game, it's a 50$ one cause I got the bundle. Would I have bought it for 80 straight up? Probably not honestly. I'm not the biggest Mario Kart fan and I also don't really want to support the practice. But for 50 dollars, heck yeah, that's a solid price.

Everything is over priced, yes even coffee.

@boxyguy As far as we know, it has less tracks than 8 (32 compared to 32 + 16 extra tracks as DLC; 48 + 48 extra tracks as DLC if we’re talking DX). Of course, it’ll probably be much more than that, but that’ll likely be due to each track having a bajillion different variants like Tour. That’s honestly kind of disappointing after 8DX had 48 without DLC.

$70 would be the sweet spot. $80 is stretching things a little, but not too much. I think it’s okay.

I usually judge video game value on whether I got x amount of dollars of value/enjoyment off of a game, which sucks because you don’t really know that until after you buy it and play it for a while. But if I enjoy World even half as much as I have 8/8 Deluxe over the past 10 or so years (between the two versions, the DLC and having to buy a digital copy on Switch because I’ve lost the physical, I’ve paid at least $200 for this game) it would be worth so much more than a game like Mario Strikers: Battle League that I bought full price at launch and got like 2 and a half hours of content off of.

MKWorld is expensive. I don't know if it's overpriced. Sometimes overpriced is just like over-anything; too far is too far.

Videogamedunkey did a video titled Mario Kart Should Cost More. Watch it for a good laugh. It's just over two minutes.

@larrythumbs Some persistent and repetitive reasoning here about Nintendo pricing being always fair makes the video even funnier.

Some people think nothing could be worth that price while others, who haven't played it, are certain it is worth it. Seems like no one knows what they're talking about.

@NinChocolate
Insightful, nuanced takes like that are why I come here.

It's a pretty easy pill for me to swallow given the fact I've been buying both digital and physical copies of Switch games for 8+ years now. With my decision to abandon physical collecting that frees up thousands of dollars every year. Not to mention all the money spent on physical collector editions that run $100, $150, sometimes $200. When in the end it's all a bunch of useless clutter. Even more money saved.

Then there's the fact I haven't been spending $70 on games these past 5 years like so many others. All that money saved more than offsets the half dozen or so high end releases that will likely command the $80 price on Switch 2.

And then there's the fact I'm only paying $50 for Mario Kart World. Which is cheaper than Mario Kart 8 Deluxe! That's $20 less than $70. Which means I can buy 2 more $80 games and they're effectively only costing me $70. And since they probably won't release more than 1 $80 game each year, that covers me until 2028.

But ultimately it's just video games. If someone doesn't wanna buy a game because of its price, more power to them. Just don't get mad when everyone else is enjoying the game. They can spend their money how they want and we can spend our money how we want. Live and let live, as they say.