Topic: How high are the game prices in your country?

Hey,

Out of curiosity i wanted to ask how much you pay for switch games in your country. I'm asking because most of the time when i see a “Switch Tax” topic for an upcoming game, the comment section suggest a digital purchase, which seems super odd to me considering the high shop prices.

I live in Switzerland and unlike the memes suggest, only the top 2% are filthy rich, the rest is fairly average with not much to save up. So some pricing decisions feel like their based on cliches.

LOZ:BOTW
Retail: 69.90.-
eShop: 89.-

M+R:KB
Retail: 59.90.-
eShop: 69.90.-

Splatoon2
Retail: 64.90.-
eShop: 77.90.-

MK8D
Retail: 64.90.-
eShop: 77.90.-

For me it looks like Retail version are the only option if you want to support the Switch, but for someone like me that likes the practicality of digital version and saves being on-system anyway, i feel a bit robbed.

The 3DS is even worse! After a while you can get big titles for 1/2 the release price as a retail version, but the eShop never lovers the price. I've only seen the oldest of 3DS games getting lowerd for a week, but still remaining above retail price.

A little currency exchangerate: 1 Swiss Frank = 1,059098 US-Dollar

Calculating video game prices for Mexico:

US price * 18(conversion rate) * 1.5 (tax) + other fees.

For those games you've mentioned, in Holland, we pay:

LOZ:BOTW: 64,99 retail, Eshop 69,99.
M+K:KB: 59,99 for both retail and Eshop.
Splatoon2: 59,99 for both retail and Eshop.
MK8D: 59,99 for both retail and Eshop.

Personally I'll stick to physical, because the Switch's incredibly small inherent memory will be filled in a few games otherwise.

Sound like mexico is not a gamers paradise~

I use my 200GB SDXC i bought for my tablet (which is dead), so storage is not an issue for me. I sure would like a physical collection, but can't see myself carring a gamecase around.

On the bright side, there are many unsold switches in stores!

I mean, they cost 500-600 dollars, but they're available

For the games you've mentioned:

Zelda Breath of the Wild: 69,99€ (retail (Germany and Austria) and eShop)
Mario + Rabbids: Kingdom Battle: 59,99€ (retail (Germany and Austria) and eShop)
Splatoon 2: 59,99€ (retail (Germany and Austria) and eShop)
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe: 59,99€ (retail (Germany and Austria and eShop)

I like to buy physical for the sole purpose of growing my physical Switch collection so that it'll one day grows larger than my physical PiiU collection. Also, I just love having physical stuff of basically anything. Books, blu-rays, CDs and games.

Also, I included german and austrian prices as I live in Germany but study in Austria, where I also buy most of my games. Due to difference in tax, many things are slightly more expensive in Austria as opposed to Germany with many games costing 5€ more. But I gladly pay that slightly higher price due to the great service I get at the austrian GameStop I buy 90% of my games from. Not having to spell the titles of games I seek, not having to wait ages for simple tasks such as whether game x is available in-store or not to be done and especially shop assistants that are actually happy to see you. Simply, get in there and tell them, you're here for the new Mario or Zelda. And sometimes, not even that! I know, a rather controversial opinion but I stand by the great job the guys there are doing.

It just messes with me that the eShop prices in switzerland are so much more expensive for no reason at all. :/

The eshop price is equally ridiculous in the UK.

Something like £45 retail vs £60 digital for Zelda. Really seems like Nintendo don't actually want to sell things digitally. Maybe there's some fear they'll lose some marketing opportunities provided by shops.

Zelda is €70 in the eShop, are you guys serious?

That's something that needs official explanation. The extra money spent for a digital version in the eShop could be used for one more game or 2-3 more if you want something from steam.

Also very odd that no gaming news outled picked this up and we're 6 months in to the switch system.

78€ if your in switzerland.

Doesn't that make Zelda the first game to be more expensive than the standard €60?

Normal prices in the U.S.A.
+BBGC 20% off every game.
Best Buy Gamer Club > Amazon Crime

Really interesting to read other gamers' experiences. I think it's a bit misleading to say Zelda is £45 retail and £60 digital in the UK. It's more that as time has passed, and with instore discounts and memberships etc, you tend to find heavily discounted Zelda in physical format. I'm pretty sure that, at launch, the digital and physical prices were pretty much on a par. Maybe £55 physical, £60 digital. Street Fighter II was definitely £35 everywhere, digital and physical, apart from one store, Smyths, who sold it for £30.

I bought MK8D and BOTW on release, prices where the exactlly the same as they are now. There are differences for retail versions, most of the time it's a 5$ difference or a not yet know price and retailers use different priceholders.

BOTW is the currently most expensive game you can buy in switzerland, ignoring all the "edition" version of some games.

You're a fool to pay full price in the US. Idk if other countries have discount programs like USA does through BB and Amazon but i feel sorry for other countries' outrageous prices.

A physical title here where I live in Canada, such as Breath of the Wild comes to $88 with tax

The Swiss prices seem to be in line with all the average european prices.
The eShop prices, as I said in another thread, are just there to exist in a "vacuum". I think only a small percentage of the sales of a videogame are digital anyway*, at least in Europe on Nintendo consoles.

State-of-the-art internet connections are also not as widespread as they may be in the US, which is also a factor (the #1 complaint among my friends when they buy a new console with a pack-in downloadable game is that it may take one day from the moment you unpack the console to the moment you actually play it). Maybe in England and Germany they have faster connections, but this is not true for every country. I have never tried to download a 20Gb videogame and with the connection I have I'm not even going to. There are countless factors really, but I think Europe is still mostly a "physical over digital" region.

But of course that full eShop price is 100% profit for Nintendo, so even if they sell just a small % of digital copies, they still make good money out of it. Thing is, retail prices depend on many factors, but digital prices depend entirely on how much Nintendo think their stuff is worth. And we know Nintendo has a very high self-esteem.

*In the US and other regions things may be very different, I know I know...

$90.39 in Ontario with tax

This is why I cannot ever go digital if there is a physical release of a game. Not only do I like having the box art, case, being able to trade in etc, thus also making it feel like I've actually purchased something, but the fact that if I shop around, I could buy Zelda for as little as £44.00 for example as opposed to £60.00 on the eShop (found it for that price in Tesco in Stevenage).

If however those prices were reversed, I would possibly start considering digital, as the saving is really quite large as opposed to a £2.00-£3.00 saving for example, which would not make me even consider going digital.

Im from Costa Rica, a central american third world country (I created this account to post this)
Here a Nintendo Switch is around $464.27 usd dollars, but if you buy it on a store that pays taxes it can go to $525,58 usd
A new Zelda BOTW/AAA can go from $80 to $120 in a store that pays taxes. Its the same for every other aaa game
An used ZELDA BOTW/AAA can go from $35.04 usd to $50 usd
A NEW ZELDA BOTW/AAA GAME FROM AN ILEGAL/NO TAX PAYER STORE CAN GO FROM $43.80 USD TO $61 USD
Take in consideration that the minimal salary in Costa Rica is a lot lower than in the USA (yet the third highest in latin america) , but everything here is expensier due to taxes. If I order games from amazon I will get a $39 fee. This is why most people here avoid taxes, p*r*t* or buy digital games in the eshop. Theres no other way unless you want to pay half a switch for your game.
I got my switch for $464.27 and bought Zelda BOTW and an used Mario Kart 8 deluxe for $47.30 USD. And thats all I can get for now. Im starting a call center job to be able to buy Shin Megami Tensei V when it releases as an exclusive to the switch.