Topic: Are these prices making you cancel your purchases?

Another thing I was thinking about and I think something people haven't really been considering in relation to the "Switch 2 drama" stuff. As @OmnitronVariant loves to point out, Sony and Microsoft are looking to move into the portable space. This is obviously direct and serious competition to the Switch 2 in a way that PC portables to this point haven't really been. For better or worse something like the Deck is just too niche and scary for the average gamer when we're talking the scale of 10s of millions of units in a way that a brand like "Playstation" is not

Also, and one of the things I strongly believe, the main advantage any of these platforms have is library baggage. People already have a library of games on Steam or the eShop or PSN so when they look for a new platform the one that allows them to play games they already own is a huge selling point. They're essentially "free games", because you already own them. Obviously of their potential upcoming competitors in this space Sony is best placed but I think it's fair to say that Microsoft's angle is going to be just to allow Steam and Epic store games

So that's where the battle lines are drawn. That's the ground this next era will play out on, presumably. And given they're all basically starting from zero Nintendo is going to lose some market share to this. They're, without question, going to take some of the Switch audience. But I still think Nintendo has three key advantages:

1. Incumbency and branding. People already know what the Switch brand is, they know how it works as a product. It doesn't need explaining. Switch is the portable console you put into the dock and can play on a TV, it "Switches" between modes

2. Switch (2) is portable hardware first. It has an SoC that was built, sourced and engineered to be a low power draw component. These other companies are going to have to release comparatively bulky products

Also the media. for better or worse, you go into the shop and you buy a game with Switch 2 on the box it allows you to play the game on Switch 2. Regardless of whether it's a code in the box or a key card or whatever. And if you buy a game that says Switch? With rare exception that'll run on Switch. I think we can be pretty confident that PS4/5 discs won't run in a future portable PS. I expect these other portables will be digital only

3. And to the topic of this thread, price. Despite the drama of pricing on Nintendo's part I fully expect at the other side of XB Portable, PS6, PS Portable, etc, etc that Switch 2 will be the cheapest platform. Now that's certainly going to freak out some posters in this thread but also.... I think it's pretty clear that's how it's going to play out

@Kellvasion 200€ can be a lot of money for those who are studying or unemployed, but if you have a salary and you don't spend in other vices like drinking, partying, betting, etc. that quantity isn't so far-fetched. Still too high for my budget, but I'm not cancelling anything, either.

@supermarido Yes, 200€ is a lot, but luckily I'm in a position where I don't have to worry about it too much, at least not yet. (You never know how the economy and World situation will develop in the future.)

And as you mentioned, I don't drink, smoke, or go out partying anymore.
But I have a wife and a 12-year-old daughter who both have a Switch Lite. My wife mainly uses her for Animal Crossing, and my daughter is a huge Kirby and Mario fan (although she mainly likes Peach, Daisy, and King Boo).

But I understand everyone who thinks twice about how they spend their money due to the current prices everywhere in gaming. But that doesn't just apply to Nintendo, but also to Sony, Microsoft, and everyone else.

I would welcome it if the big Nintendo Series had a “real” sale at least once a year with a 50-75% discount and didn't cost full price 5+ years after release.

Gaming should be affordable for everyone.
We shouldn't forget those who are currently in difficult situations, even if there are some (myself included) who don't have to watch their money so closely.

The prices (among other things) have definitely changed my mindset. On the switch 1 I was aiming for as many first party titles as possible for collections sake. I willfully skipper a few games like 1.2 switch or ring fit adventure but bought many I wouldnt have bought if they werent a nintendo IP. It was fun, lol.

In the end tho it just added to my backlog - even before the switch 2 reveal I came to the conclusion I most likely wont be able to play them all (there is other stuff to do in life besides gaming). But its nice to have a small library of games to pick and choose from whenever you feel like.

With nintendos attitude towards pricing (and key cards on top) I slowly began to lose excitement, still interested in games but I feel like we are being shortchanged. Imo the games just arent worth the asking price.
As far as content goes I am not sure as I have yet to buy a switch 2 games. so far only bought the zelda upgrades and been using the s2 as a backwards machine. But when I look at mario kart world I am not excited at all and might even skip that one entirely. The open world feels tacked on the online mode seems a bit forced. People dont seem to like it that much.
I was thinking about buying bananza but decided to get trails 1st and ff tactics, lol. Then the dlc was introduced and its price and while I will still probably get the game my interest in it is temporarily gone.
After seeing recent metroid 4 footage, all I can say I am not too interested atm.

I think if prices go up so do expectations.

Do I regret buying the switch 2 ? - not necessarily - in the end I would have bought it anyway. But compared with the switch 1 its a bit of a letdown imo

@Kellvasion Lucky you!! I remember the good old days when my girlfriend and I had a Nintendo DS each and we played each other together. When she gave it to me (wasn't the perfect girl?) she told me that, this way, we could send each other messages when if we got angry one day and didn't want to talk.

It's great that your wife and daughter also like to play. One can feel lonely if it is not a shared hobby.

The cool thing is that you can hold off buying games. Put games you want on your wishlist on DekuDeals, wait for a price drop notification, and buy it then.

I've more than doubled my physical switch library in the past year by doing that. I got Pokemon games at reduced prices, lots of 3rd party games, even major first party titles. Just gotta be patient.

If you reduce how many games you're buying at full price, paying msrp for the one or two major releases isn't gonna hurt as much.

@charliecarrot I have to try this. However, there's almost no physical games for the Switch 2. I still only have Bananza and Cyberpunk. I don't really see anything I want that's actually a physical switch 2 game. Even Nintendo is releasing a lot of them as Switch games with a download upgrade which doesn't really make it a physical switch 2 game. I have not been this confused by games since I bought a Tie Fighter expansion pack without knowing what an expansion pack was.

I do the (somewhat common) strategy of setting aside ~$100 each month on a separate entertainment account. It's for games, comics, etc. It has the obvious benefit of controlling expenses, but also makes you value things more. If something costs $500, you have to spend 5 month's worth of entertainment budget on it — and if you don't have enough, you have to wait.

Technically I could spend a lot more on entertainment given my salary, but I don't want to. And so in that context, seeing AAA games where I am not sure of the appeal cost nearly $100 per game (in Norway, currency converted from NOK) makes me a lot more restrictive about which game I take a chance on, especially if there's no demo. In that sense Steam has been great because of its open refund policy, but even then I'm hesitant in the off-chance the two first hours of gameplay are misleading, as they often are.

Nintendo always has varying success in different markets. Europe is a very important market for Nintendo but it probably takes 3 Europeans to buy 1 Nintendo console compared to the US where Nintendo is far more successful. I think pricing is more important in Europe too so the increase in price of Switch 2 and its games will likely slowdown Switch 2 sales more in Europe. However Japan benefits from much lower pricing for Switch 2 consoles and games and the USA loves Nintendo consoles it seems. I think people like to think globally about consoles but the Microsoft sold a ton of Xbox 360 consoles back in the day but next to nothing in Japan. Here in the UK we loved them and of course the USA loved them even more.

It definitely feels like Switch 2 in Europe is a bit 'meh' in sales, not terrible but seems to be plenty of stock here in the UK but maybe people are waiting for Black Friday etc. I've looked at reviews of the Switch 2 on sites like Amazon and while most are very positive there are quite a few that have concerns about display quality and battery runtime and a few saying its a bit too big for a portable. Some were disappointed how 720p Switch games look on the 1080p panel especially those who moved from OLED Switches.

It really feels to me that the Switch 2 launch model is a bit rough and an upgraded model perhaps with a better OLED panel and improved fabrication process with much better battery runtime will be more popular. It almost feels like a lot of people are looking and waiting for an improved Switch 2 model. It feels like Switch 2 sales may slowdown for a while until there is better hardware, more exclusive games and dare I say it better value.

@Misima
Most games for quite awhile have had a patch of some sort, so you need to make sure you tell your Switch to not download the patch when you first boot up the game if you want to play only what is on the cartridge. If you download any kind of patch, then from that point on your Switch will remember what version of the game you had and won't let you go back to just the cartridge version without a factory reset. It's annoying.

The Switch 2 Edition games, if you buy the red cartridge, do have all of them data on them (original game and Switch 2 enhancements): the Zeldas, Kirby, Mario Party, soon Mario Wonder, etc.

I also have MK World, DK, and Cyberpunk for the full physicals, and I'm not buying any game key cards. Other Switch 2 games that are full physical and you might want to try are Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma (AWESOME game) and the newest Harvest Moon. Yooka Replayee is coming out soon, and that's full physical, as well.