Topic: Well are you going to buy one at launch?

@Polvasti : I already paid a premium for the Japanese release because I wanted a complete physical product with absolutely everything (plus software updates) on the cartridge. What sense is there in settling for a Switch 2 release that offers even less than that?

And I'm not interested in merely renting upgrade packs either (which is what the NSO Expansion is offering).

EDIT: And I only pointed out the absurdity in the difference in price given that the game offers almost nothing of value for the premium aside from the obvious resolution/performance boost (neither of the Zelda games support UHD). I paid about as much for the Japanese physical with the DLC. Why should anyone pay as much for less?

Not including the DLC is pretty petty and max nickel and diming, but can’t say I’m surprised considering they released Luigi’s Mansion 2 on Switch with slightly updated visuals for a premium 60.

Yeah, ok..... but... you already have the game and the DLC. I frankly don't care much for the moral grandstanding or white knighting of other poor new Switch 2 newcomers here. You have the game, you don't need to buy it again. And if you have NSO+ you have access to this for no cost. The things you are complaining about here quite literally do not impact your ability to access this content

If you want to be a collector and get all of the editions full on cartridge? More power to you. But just recognise this is quite the hill to die on for someone who literally already has the game. And quite an odd reason to cite for not buying into a platform outright. You know, a platform for playing games? Not amassing a collection of overvalued lumps of plastic you can admire on your shelf

I mean, presumably you would've somehow been happier if it was a full Wii U -> Switch situation where there was no backwards compatibility at all or any path to enhance content you already purchased. You want Mario Kart 8 at 1080p? Well, that'll be full RRP again. For everyone. But hey, at least you can screw someone over several years on the grey market! And with two copies of the game! Aren't we generous!

Seriously, some of you guys are completely off the rails here. I don't get it

I didn't realise that NSO+ was free.

And the complaints that I have had do not impact anything that would impact you, so ditch the attitude. My argument was solely about ownership of said content as opposed to merely renting and/or paying for an indefinite digital licence thereof.

What are you even talking about? I didn't say anything about not buying into the platform solely because of the way BOTW is being handled on Switch 2.

I don't understand what I have said to warrant this frankly rude and hostile pedantry from you, particularly as I seem to recall that we have been cordial with one another in the years that we have been frequenting this very site. At least get the details right or try and grasp where the other person is coming from instead of being dismissive about matters that you supposedly don't seem to care about.

This is an open forum and people are passionate about different things. If you have nothing constructive to say, then observe passively and keep your incivility to yourself. I'm a filmmaker who is also passionate about preservation and archiving, so to see physical releases being compromised in this way will invariably arouse some ire on my part. Some people don't care about those things, and I respect that, but I'm not going to argue and belittle those for being passionate about or prioritising different things.

And the absolute gall to accuse others of being "CoMpLeTeLy oFF tHe RaiLs" while being confrontational on a platform where we are supposedly discussing matters pertaining to a HOBBY that ought to bring enjoyment. I'm here to discuss mutual interests, not engage with provocateurs. If you're keen on the latter, I hear Reddit's great for that kind of thing.

I remember Doug Bowser talking about variable pricing on products for the Switch 2. If it was implemented in a way that makes sense for the Switch 2 then sure, but given Nintendo's history on the Switch I highly doubt this.

Luigi's Mansion 2 HD, & Donkey Kong Returns HD had no reason to be the price that they were given the minimal amounts of either added content or improvements.

Hey, figured this would be a good post to introduce myself into. My reason was simple, I got invited and the price for the console was better than I was expecting. I also didn't want scalpers to get the better of me for not taking up the invite. Plus MKW.

Probably, if I don't have to fight to obtain a preorder. I'm going to want one anyway for Fire Emblem/Xenoblade/Mario/Zelda/etc. Mario Kart World looks fun. And I'll be playing Metroid Prime 4 anyway, so I might as well play it at 1080p60 undocked.

Have also been mulling over revisiting TotK, so doing so via the NS2 Edition would be preferable.

@ShonenJump121
Ok, so honest question: Why is Donkey Kong Country Returns not worth 60 dollars? It's a fantastic game with tons of content - I highly doubt most people on this board have 100%'ed it, much less gone back through the mirror mode for 200%. It's polished. The updated visuals are indeed nice.

So why is it not worth 60 bucks? It's an awesome game. Is it because it's old?

@rallydefault But why is Metroid Prime only $40 and then Mario and Donkey Kong $50? My issue is that I wish they were more consistent in terms of their pricing.

What determines how they set the price, exactly? It seems almost random. I'll always take consistency over the variable pricing method they want to go with.

@SillyG
I would note that I am responding to this post

All I'm doing is highlighting the absurdity of citing specifically the pricing and packaging of a game and DLC I suspected (and you have since confirmed) you already have access to here. In the context of supposedly not buying into or being hesitant to buy into the platform. It's odd.

From my perspective the Switch 2 editions and especially BotW/TotK being included is a net positive. Of course I do think they should include the DLC in the Switch 2 edition. They should have been bundling the DLC with BotW more broadly at this point. No arguments there. But this doesn't impact me or you at all because we already have it! And in my case I was already paying for NSO+ so, yes, for me this is something I have already completely paid for. It is, effectively, free

If you want to get into a bit about preservation sure. If you want to go out of your way to hunt down or complain about specific editions then fine. That's on you. But you should already know and accept there's a premium on your secondary non-game-playing side quest. And, I would suggest, your persuit here is largely meaningless anyways because ultimately digital preservation am by the way of circumventing DRM is king

I think you have also misread me. I am also keen on digital preservation. I just don't see buying proprietary physical media for games to be doing much in terms of moving the needle. It's literally the same bits. You are doing nothing here other than possibly preservation of packaging

But on other media? Man. Give me a BluRay over Netflix any day. I'll of course immediately rip that BluRay and store it on a server because physical media is inherently volatile especially if you regularly interact with it. But in the end getting a BluRay is really the best way to cut out entirely risks of streaming edits, quality degradation, removals, etc

There is NO equivalent to BluRays for games. Digital and Physical for games are functionally identical in terms of preservation. And the only way to get out of that bind is to circumvent the DRM. Which, ethically, I will not be doing for active platforms anyways

So yes, your line of thinking here is madness. You're complaining about Nintendo being greedy which I somewhat agree with. Sure. But you're doing it in the context of buying a game a second time to access a higher quality version which, unlike previous generations, you don't need to do. Because they offer a cheaper and in some cases effectively free upgrade path

Complete lunacy

@ShonenJump121
You’re dodging my question. Totally not what I asked you.

No, I don't think its worth the price. For me it is not; value is subjective. It is a game I have played before and I there was not any additions to make me jump back in either.

Example. Xenoblade Chronicles was a game I already played, but still played the Switch version. Content I had never experienced before and many quality of life improvements made it worth it.

@rallydefault @ShonenJump121
The value equation for remasters of games you already have is always a bit wonky. Because they need to price it for both returning players and also people coming into it new. But also the value equation is generally wonky because some games cost more to make, some have more content, some are made at higher quality, some games you might just personally not be that into

If it was just a raw question of cost for a digital good then the price would follow a curve. Very high at the start and then slowly reducing in cost until they've covered development. At which point there are only distribution costs left. But if they did that you'd have an absurd situation where the more popular a game is the less it sells for. So theyobviously don't do that. Instead, because they are a business, they push the price as far they can to maximise profits without tanking sales

They're the price they are because enough people buy them at that price. They don't charge less because they are calculating a reduced margin isn't going to be offset by the additional sales a lower price would give them. That's the only equation that matters. That's why DKCR HD cost more than Metroid Prime Remastered

..... it's also, frankly, why I'm glad we're moving towards a generation of Switch 2 Enhanced games and games tied to accounts rather than the "reset your library and start again". BotW or TotK Enhanced isn't worth me paying $99AU to play again at a higher res (I could've sworn it was higher). If that was the only option I'd just go the emulation route for a replay. But a small upgrade fee? Sure! Why not!? And because they can do that this gen the value equation is less borked for return players

Probably not... I'm content with the hardware I currently own. If they do a price cut like they did for the 3ds, I might reconsider.

I would add that DKCR (and Luigi's Mansion 2, for that matter) was a Nintendo Selects game on 3DS, meaning it was 20 dollars. You could still buy it for that price directly from the eShop until a couple of years ago, and even now you can probably find physical copies quite cheap. The Switch version improves the graphics and brings back the co-op from the Wii version, but is that worth tripling the price? I would say no.

I can understand Nintendo's strategy to maintain the value of their games at a constant level over time, but it's bound to raise a few eyebrows when they rerelease an old game (with fairly minimal remaster work) for more than it cost originally. And when there's no clear correlation between a game's price and its budget or amount of content, I can't blame anyone for thinking the sole reason for Switch 2 games being more expensive is 'because Nintendo can get away with it', even if there may be valid economic reasons for it in reality.

@ShonenJump121
Great. That's you. What about me? I never owned a Wii, so I didn't play the original one. I had a 3DS, but didn't have it on that system. The game is new to me, and as I already said, it's full of content and is an awesome game. To me, it's worth 60 bucks easily.

So yea, you're right - pricing is subjective. I'm glad we can agree on that. So people like you need to exercise restraint and not re-buy these games at original prices when they do stuff like that. Eventually, maybe that would change their pricing practices.

@Dogorilla
Ok, great, so - and stick with me here - don't buy it on the Switch. Right?

I mean... seriously... right?

Same thing I said to the guy above.

@skywake
Yea, pretty much agreed.

Yes, there isn’t a universe that exists that I wouldn’t.

Yes, I didn't buy it on Switch (and wouldn't have done even if it was cheaper because I already have the game). But the reason it was brought up on this thread is because people were making the point that Nintendo's pricing strategy on Switch has set the precedent that the price of a game doesn't necessarily reflect the amount it cost to make or the amount of content it offers. And obviously Nintendo is a business, they have the right to charge whatever they think people will pay, but as I said, that precedent isn't necessarily inspiring confidence that the raised prices for Switch 2 games are actually justified.

It will be interesting to see in a couple weeks during the financial meeting how much it sold.

On the one hand, unlike Wii U ports, a zillion Switch owners over a certain age used to have a Wii and even more had a Wii or 3DS so many donkey kong fans have played the game before. There are certainly others out there like me who played it on Wii but don't own it anymore and would have snagged the game if it were cheap but not at full price. I assume Nintendo tries to predict that type of thing when they set prices.

On the other hand, between the movie and the new 3D game, Nintendo is clearly trying to reinvigorate the donkey kong brand. There might have been some extra hype for the game caused by the movie even amongst people (especially children) who were less aware of DK previously.

On the third hand, Nintendo went out of their way to remind everyone that a new console was coming out soon and that they should save their pennies on the exact same day DKC returns HD was released. Which I think must have at least slightly reduced sales. I am wondering if they are hoping it will be an evergreen game — perhaps they will re-advertise it or have a Switch 2 version after the 3D game has created maximum Donkey Kong hype.

It makes more sense in that Wii U was a different format, discs vs cartridges and the Wii U didn't sell all that well anyway so for many people the Wii U ports were new games to them.

As history goes down, many people will probably consider BOTW a Switch game despite it also launching on Wii U. In the reality of things, some have more content, some don't; others are closer to full on remakes. Ideally ports from other consoles would be the definitive version, but sometimes that's not the case.