Topic: Problems with the price.

I'm just annoyed by all of the complaining. Like, what exactly is the problem. I'll explain some of my reasoning for not being shocked or annoyed below. It's mostly related to the games prices, with the console on the bottom. But please, if there is some glaring problem i'm not seeing, i would like to know.

I, as an Australian, have seen countless games released for a similar price. They usually include a season passes and other ***** in the price. Heck, google the cost of any deluxe edition new release... it's usually 90 or 100 USD.

Nintendo has (mostly) avoided all of that DLC and season pass nonsense. Some exceptions exist, but they're usually worthy of the name 'expansion' (splatoon or mariokart 9). It is now the industry standard for the game to be released at full price, with barebones ***** available for free and anything interesting as paid add-ons. Nintendo is just starting to catchup. It's just not subtle or psychologically devious like the other companies are doing.

Also, games can't stay the same price forever... the value of money decreases over time, and this is just representative of that. Instead of it being nickel and diming every few weeks, it's just a milestone jump every 5 or so years. This is expected, right?

And for the console price: This is a strong handheld, priced under the market price for a PC handheld of this power. If you want a portable game console, there are plenty out there. If you want a new switch console, this seems extremely reasonable.

Remember, most emotions are a form of surprise. Why are you all so surprised? Sorry for the rant, i just wanted to release my thoughts after being bombarded by the sole opinion in all videos and comments.

P.S. I cannot justify the non-pack in game ideology that Nintendo Japan have. 1-2 switch should have been pack-in as well. The pack in game brings so much fun to the user experience.

I agree. It’s a lot of money, but it is definitely not as bad as people are making it out to be. It’s pretty much exactly what we wanted, a more luxurious Switch, so of course it’s going to be more expensive. And there’s no reason to think that the price of Mario Kart World will be the standard across the board for all games. Donkey Kong Bananza is cheaper. As for the accessories? Those were already expensive. Overall, these prices could’ve been a lot worse. Heck, that Welcome Tour game is just $10 compared to 1-2-Switch being $50. But it doesn’t seem like Welcome Center has significantly less content.

The issue that people have isn't with the console price itself. A ton of people were okay with the original price of the console (before Nintendo announced that they basically may change it according to tariffs).

The issue people have is solely with the games being priced super high. You can say "well, Nintendo avoided doing scummy micro-transactions," and while this is true, it still doesn't justify the prices for these games being so high in the first place. It still doesn't change the fact that it'll set a precedent for scummy game devs to charge higher for games either. 80 dollars is roughly the same value as 60 dollar games were back in 2017, taking into account inflation. The reason why people feel like games got more expensive though is because wages didn't increase. The dollar is worth less, and objects cost more than people are comfortable paying. Inflation is about to get worse thanks to the President of the US as well.

As for game upgrades, I feel like I'm mixed on it. On one hand, I understand why they're charging for some of them. Kirby is effectively tacking on a whole new DLC for the game. However- I feel like in the case of both Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild, they didn't need to charge for it. The App they're saying adds "value" to the game is basically just slap-dash. Made last minute in order for them to try and justify why they get to charge for these upgrades. The app adds features and functions that are either mostly useless, or end up breaking the game because the game's balance wasn't made for them in mind. I know that I personally wouldn't use the app if I paid for this- so I would effectively be paying 20 dollars on top of the price I paid for these games just to play them with shinier graphics and better FPS.

The pack-in game thing is something Nintendo has been allergic to. People just didn't know until recently given that Reggie is no longer President of Nintendo of America. He was the whole reason why Wii Sports was a pack-in title instead of being a separate game that users have to buy. It's clear that Doug Bowser isn't the same sort of man Reggie is- and that's been clear for a good few years now. The man doesn't really appear at events and is effectively a faceless entity that we know nothing about. He clearly doesn't have the spine to talk Nintendo down out of bad decisions- unlike Reggie.

My point is that games have been this expensive for a long time.

In Australia, the price of Wii games 10-15 years ago were $100 AUD, almost across the board. I remember because i stupidly bought a lot at retail. Given inflation to 2024, that is about $128 AUD today. That is $8 above the price of Mario Kart World at the same shop ($120 at EB Games). And, as always, there are better prices elsewhere ($109 at Big W).

Gaming has always been an incredibly expensive hobby. The current prices are nothing new.
The current prices for Assasins Creed Shadows on PS5 is $109 at EB, and Death Stranding 2 on PS5 Preorder is $125. Call of Duty WW2 Deluxe is currently $150 on the xbox online store, and that came out in 2017.

The industry as a whole has always been pushing the boundary for prices. The bigger the franchise, the bigger the price. The shock from Nintendo's announcements is unreasonable. Nintendo are not 'leading the way' for other companies to overcharge. They are just catching up, and giving better value at the moment (since they're not pushing season pass nonsense on top).

@VoidofLight I felt the same about BOTW/TOTK until I saw the treehouse. I couldn’t care much less about the app, but the sheer amount of Voice Memories has the potential to impact the lore/story - the weakest aspect of both games - in a significant way.

The price yeah, I was shocked as well but considering the alternative of which there is none to play Nintendo exclusive and we all asked for more power and we got it so that is a small price to pay for it. As for game MKW is at outlier for now. Take Ring-Fit it came in at 79.99 so where are the price monger at during that time? And Ring-Fit still listing for 79.99 on Amazon. Go-figure..... As for the Trade-wars right now...that's another debacle...that's going to affect everything and everyone regardless where you live.

I'll just echo that its likely the 80 dollar price tag on some games. I believe Nintendo should've been upfront about the price ceiling increasing and been more clear on the prices overall.

The lash back would've happened but I saw a lot of confusion and fear that the games actually cost 90 USD because of the EU pricing.

I just think people are overly reactionary and stingy.

Everybody wants great quality and hundreds of hours of gameplay and free updates, but nobody wants to pay for it. Or at most, they want to continue paying the same prices they have for the last couple decades and ignore the realities of the world.

Plus, it’s easy to malign people (like me) who try to vouch for the practical side of things. It’s way easier and more popular to be on the side of “greedy Nintendo! Grrrrr. Games have always been 60 dollars!! Now where’s my Odyssey 2 with twice the content at 4k 120 fps?!??!?”

I could not care less about the price of luxury goods. There are more important things in life than a hobby.

You either have the money or you don't and if you don't you should not be thinking about gaming but how to earn some money

With that said, I care about the quality of the goods and attention to details.

I'm not too upset with the prices being a bit on the high side. I'll take slightly higher prices for high quality games with everything included over a lot of the recent crap we're seeing from other publishes like digital deluxe editions and tons of other rubbish DLC that add no substance, battle passes, early access, etc. I know I'm going to get my money's worth out of Mario Kart and if it does get extra paid DLC in the future, it'll also be substantial enough to warrant the purchase.

I'm less sold on some of the smaller Nintendo published stuff at higher prices though. A lot of them already didn't feel like great value for money on Switch. If I'm less tempted to buy them though it might be for the best.

I will be waiting a few months to a few years. Right now for me, it's an expensive Mario Kart machine.
Don't feel like I'm missing out and happy to wait. Which is good for me financially but probably not their intended result!

I didn't see enough exclusives to make me feel like I'm missing out, we have no guarantee if the stick drift issues were fixed.
And are people really interested in GameChat or mouse controls?
Never sure if the people they show in Nintendo adverts are who they hope to sell to...or who they think their audience actually is.

I agree. The reaction has been hyperbolic and it feels like a narrative has taken hold of the internet and is now just being regurgitated despite not really being based in reality, at least in some markets. It's a ludicrous overreaction.

In the UK, the games are priced in the same area that PS5 games are. Most big PS5 releases are now £70. The games you can pre-order so far are priced between £49.99 and £66.99 from what I can see. Mario Kart World is the outlier at £75, but that still isn't that much more than a lot of PS5 games. Some upcoming PS5 games are £75 (although I assume they include some kind of DLC or extra perhaps).

The Switch itself is cheaper than I anticipated, although not by much (I was expecting £400) and I am not particularly surprised by the cost of the games, as PS5 games have already been launching for £65-70 for a while.

Extreme reactions to console launches are the norm. Which isn’t to say people shouldn’t have concerns but I recall even the Switch 1 reveal had many concerned that it was too underpowered or at times too expensive. Especially after how the Wii U failed

Whether that’s reflected in actual sales is always a coin flip. If the internet was to be believed, Pokémon SwSh and SV would’ve died. Just to name some easy examples

Although honestly I do think any discourse online around consoles has a layer of thinly veiled console fan wars.

One theory I have is that Nintendo could have avoided this if it had been more honest with what their games are worth. Why is Metroid Prime: Remastered 20 dollars cheaper than DKC: Returns HD? Why is DKC: Tropical Freeze more expensive than the Wii U version? Why is Skyward Sword HD more expensive than the original on Wii despite all the work on its graphics being done to merely make it look like a good port rather than something more graphically impressive in any way except resolution? Why is Link's Awakening remake the same price as BOTW and both Hyrule Warriors? What justified the Diamond and Pearl remakes being full price or being the same price as other Switch Pokemon RPGs, let alone other RPGs? Why is Super Mario Party the same price as Jamboree? Why did they remake 2 Advance Wars games for 60 bucks and then 1 Mario vs. DK for 50 when they're both GBA remakes of comparable quality? And why can't you get any of these games for cheap when every other game company eventually does just that?

There is no non-cynical reason for any of these, so why give them the benefit of the doubt that their inevitably most successful next game is for sincere reasons beyond "we can get away with it"? If they had priced these games more reasonably and less over-reliant on "full price" for the sake of it, I think Mario Kart World being more expensive could've at least being more justifiable. Instead I know it would be cheaper if it was a more obscure IP and no other changes, and that's all I need to know to find it to be bad (on top of the other things).

Also "other companies are worse" is not a real justification.

I like to remind all that on Amazon "Ring-Fit" is still 79.99 and I don't hear outcry for this game? And this game was released in Oct 18, 2019. Go figure... I think alot has to do with that this is a Mario game not about the price and yeah this have change but Ring-Fit a 2018 game still cost 79.99 current.

@Jester676
They don’t lower their game prices. It’s always been that way. There are still sales and stuff, but the base prices almost never get lowered permanently.

It goes back to the deeper discussion: why do you think they should be discounted in the first place? Should older media just automatically lose value over time? Not just games, but like songs and movies, too - and why does time=discount? Is Ring Fit a “worse” game now than it was back at launch?

@rallydefault Mario Kart World is a new game it's not Mario Kart 8. That's clearly seen it's not the same game. And it's a Switch 2 exclusive is another reason people are bemoaning it for. But it's a Switch 2 game exclusive Nintendo said as much. I think people want to play it on Switch v1 and latch on the price as a issue.
1. Switch 2 exclusive
2. No Switch 1 version
3. 80.00 better then 100.00 but like I said Ring-Fit a 2018 game still list for 79.99 on Amazon

@Jester676
I have no idea what you’re saying.

@rallydefault "I think people are stingy." You kinda have to be when money is worth less and prices increase with no sign of increasing wages. Yes, gaming is a luxury- but people being out-priced of their hobbies will do damage to companies as much as it will to the consumer themselves.

Talking strictly value-wise, 80 dollars today is 60 dollars back in 2017. The value has not changed in terms of game prices. The issue is that people aren't making nearly as much as they once were. Thus, audiences perceive the price-point as expensive.

@VoidofLight
See, I’m gonna go ahead and just say it: people spend looooots of money on stuff they don’t need, then turn around and complain they can’t afford the stuff they want.

So for me, I’m not really sympathetic to the whole “I can’t afford MK World because it’s 10 bucks more.” Because chances are, the same guy that types that is probably gonna order Door Dash that night for like 30 bucks when he could have just cooked at home for half price. Or it’s the dude who gets Dunkin or Starbucks a few times a week for 10-20 dollars.

Or people who carry credit card debt. Insane car payment because they just have to have a massive SUV.

Sorry, but I just think there is a lot of stupidity out there. So when people cry like 10 dollars is gonna break them, I’d love to see where their money really goes, regardless of their wages.