Nintendo: $70 USD Won't Be A Trend, Games Priced On "Case-By-Case Basis"

It's voucher eligible, so I don't care.

Very weird for some games to randomly be $70, though. At least Sony had the excuse that their new MSRP only applied to next-gen 4K versions of their games.

Fair enough, and I'd believe the PR.

They've been known to price some lesser tier games less than the standard $60, so it's perfectly fair to expect some major games at $70, most at $60, and a few at $40.

Well that’s a relief.
If 70$ becomes the new price tag for games I might as well go indie instead.😑

I guess at least they clarified, but come on. You're forcing me to buy the voucher.

Yes "forcing" me...

Honestly, I believe them... FOR NOW. They are probably waiting for the next console to consider a general price increase. To me it doesn't affect me much since ToTK costs the same in Europe than BoTW.

Took a look at TotK's file size: over 18 GB!!! Almost 3 full GB larger than BotW, which I've gotten probably around 300 hours' worth of playtime out of. I gage value in my gaming purchases largely by hours played per dollar spent, so honestly, not a bad trade-off at all so long as TotK lives up to (and hopefully in some respects exceeds) the lofty standards of its predecessor.

Kinda figured it would happen eventually. As long as they don't try it with the small titles.

But honestly TOTK is definitely worth 70 bucks. I have no issues with this

...For now.

Sure! lol, I believe ya Nintendo wink wink

Y’all mad about $70 and I am over here trying to find preorders for the CE.

Edit: nevermind I got my order in. $141.11 after taxes. Better add another hundo to my TotK fund for the OST.

£60 isn't that bad I was under the impression they didn't differentiate currencies like most publishers & that it was $70 = £70

It's fine. It's a big game and I'm sure cost more to make. Considering inflation, etc. I don't think it's unreasonable. I do believe "case by case" basis is fine.

£59.99 in the UK, exactly the same as BotW here, 7 years ago. Also Game Voucher eligible so the equivalent of £42 digital. The US increase just brings it broadly inline with what pretty much everyone else is/has been paying.

That doesn't generate clicks though, does it?

Do we know what Pikmin 4 costs?

Zelda TotK looks like a total steal compared to Cereza Origins at $60. 🤑

The collectors edition is a terrible value. A steel book, an art book. And four pins and a poster for $60 more.

No wonder the vouchers made a comeback in the US, had they not the backlash would’ve been unavoidable

@Vexx234 you missed the point of my comment entirely, but you do you.

Edit: User may have deleted their comment as I can’t see it now.

Just pre-ordered the CE at EB here in Australia.
Cost me $189.95
Ouch

Translation: New Pokémon, Mario, Metroid, Zelda will be $70 going forward. Nintendo site has Pikmin & Advance Wars @ $60 and Metroid Prime @ $40.

Shoot, they are CONFIDENT in this title!

@Divide_and_Wander I’m guessing you’re spot on

All we can do here in the uk is register our interest for the ce edition

PS5 and Series games have a weak but a justification in that they're more expensive to make, are bigger and doing more expensive things like 4K, 120hz and Ray Tracing. Nintendo don't have this excuse and this is them copying everyone else while still existing 2 gens back from everyone else.

@IronMan30 Nintendo sits with more money in their pockets through voucher purchases than they would from retail after every part of that supply chain gets a cut.

I'd give this Nintendo Direct an 8.5/10. Not the best one ever for me personally, but it still had lots of great stuff in there. I'm so stoked about new characters coming to Mario Kart, as well as the new additions to NSO. Pikmin 4 is looking really great, as is Return to Dream Land Deluxe. We Love Katamari is a great surprise--I had it on my bingo card, even though I had no reason to think it was coming! Metroid Prime looks fantastic, like one of those Unreal fan games. Maybe the best looking game I've seen on Switch. I'll be honest, I'm still not that sold on Tears of the Kingdom. I keep waiting for it and Splatoon 3 to show me why they exist, but they still just look like the last game all over again. Still a solid presentation overall, though. What a strong first half of the year! I wonder what the second half is going to hold for Nintendo?

@AgentGuapo All the FOMO items are free money from their most devoted fans. Terrible.

Looks up at the above comments and oh what a surprise NL readers bending over for Nintendo yet again.

So exactly the same thing as us in the UK and EU when we paid £60 instead of £50 for BotW and Smash Ultimate.

The fact that it was only those two games for all these years tells me that this will remain uncommon.

I'll believe it when I don't see it, though I guess the Prime remaster being $40 is encouraging. For anyone okay with digital, looks like those two for $100 vouchers are valid for Tears of the Kingdom.

Nintendo can take their nonsensical cash grabbing greediness and stick it right up their collective……well you know the rest. I have never been a PC gamer till recently (took me long enough as I’m in my 40’s) and now that I’ve actually experienced it and seen prices on Steam it really puts this kind of mess from Nintendo in a bad light for me. The Switch could very well be my last Nintendo console if this mess continues. There are titles of higher caliber from other developers out there for other platforms that would never dream of throwing price like that on their titles for the base game. I know it’s only $10 more and I can certainly afford it but you have to draw the line somewhere.

@Divide_and_Wander can you imagine them charging $70 for scarlet and violet? Embarrassing. What happened to this company?

Exactly what I expected. I noticed that because Advance Wars and Pikmin 4 are both in fact $59.99 while Zelda was $69.99. Metroid Prime Remastered is $39.99. Kirby Return to Dreamland Deluxe is $59.99.

So honestly imo, this is fine imo. There is the voucher thing though so that somewhat alleviates the pain I guess.

@rjejr Pikmin 4 is $59.99

This brings new meaning to, “Come back when you’re a little richer”

@anoyonmus That's how it starts. You pick the most popular among your franchises to test the waters of much the consumer is willing to spend. Once they accept it, it becomes the norm, and you find yourself in the clear to bring up the price of other games.

My switch better magically transform itself into newer, better hardware before I justify buying this.

@WaffleRaptor01 with inflation being a thing right now in the world, (its really expensive to get basic stuff here now btw), game prices are gonna start going up. Playstation and Xbox have started to raise their game prices up. Nintendo is bound to do the same thing eventually.

I mean, it’s still less than what square enix wanted for Ballan wonderworld (at least, going by the Australian price).

Not the best news, but not the worst either

Gaming has always been an expensive. Anyone complaining about paying any $60-70 for a game these days shouldn't be getting into the hobby in the first place. Common sense.

@AgentGuapo - 100% that would have caused a bigger outcry!

I mean that’s good to hear, but I can’t just take their word for it yet, now that they introduced it, it’s on the table. But I swear if I ever see a 70 dollar Pokémon game, oh boy.

@Shade_Koopa yeah I was upset Sony moved up their game prices but then everyone else started do it so I stopped complaining. It was bound to happen I guess, with inflation being a thing right now.

@Shade_Koopa Well that settles it then. Noone has the right to complain. Thanks for setting us all straight cap!

@Shade_Koopa Honestly, I don't care at this point. Consumers have let bad practices slip by so much that companies can get away with just about anything. So all there really is to do is laugh.

I pity no one.

@Snatcher We already saw it. Metroid Prime Remastered is $39.99. Advance Wars Remastered is $59.99. Pikmin 4 is also $59.99.

@anoyonmus Vary true, and it does just seems to be like BOTW is getting the treatment, because it is a big game, and I feel like it will feel worth it’s price.

Nintendo doesn't sell every game they make at max price. Everything is priced on a case-by-case basis and now they've raised the maximum price. Other games that previously met the criteria for $60 will now sell at $70.

@Snatcher Probably. Besides this $70 price tag isn't gonna be for every Nintendo 1st party game so its alright. Playstation has $70 for all their 1st party games and so does Xbox now (but they have Game Pass)

...I mean it's a Switch game! It shouldn't even be sniffing a $70 price tag! If it was releasing for a new console that was a bit more up-to-date I doubt anyone would bat an eye but we are talking about a system that will likely run this game at 720P 25FPS in 2023!

I mean I get why they are doing it because they are Nintendo and Nintendo gets away with everything but good lord!

Prepare to pay $70 on low quality garbage games like pokemon!!

Well that covers things.

That’s good to hear. Really if they want to charge a premium for the big 3D Zelda and Mario then the game will still be worth it. Games like a new 2D Mario or bringing back a Wii U game like DKC Tropical freeze at 70$ would look pretty bad.

Nice to see Pikmin 4 at 60$ as it’s just right

@WallyWest
Kinda like PlayStation and Xbox fans being okay with every game released being $70.

bought a voucher and might buy another one
pikmin 4 and zelda were my voucher choices.

I mean this game is worth $70, but the way it was announced makes me sick. I really would not have minded it if Nintendo decided to do a price jump a few months ago.

Nintendo just shadow-dropped a high-effort Metroid Prime remaster for $40 while Advanced Wars remake and Pikmin 4 are still $60. Of course they won't price everything at $70.

So will online retailers that had pre orders taken be honouring the original stated price or what lol

The thing is, I'm actually kinda for a more varied pricing for games. It's never made sense to me that any AAA game you buy in a store is worth the same, between development time and cost and the length of the game. I can actually see the case for TotK being 70 dollars.

...I just don't trust any company to actually be reasonable for this. Like, price Xenoblade 4 at 70 and the next undercooked Pokemon remake at 40, then I'll be more in favor of this. But they won't, because the latter is such easy money that people will go for regardless (btw: Gamefreak and Nintendo would still make a ton of profit if the next undercooked Pokemon remake cost 40 dollars).

@blindsquarel Honestly I think companies should charge more. Hopefully in the future the big 3 will make the base price per game at least 150$ minimum.

Or heck, make everyone pay the base price plus an activation fee to play. 70$ + 30$

Even better 599$ for the console + 599$ for the game. Cables, controllers not included, and must be purchased separately.

Oh, ok. So save the 2 vouchers for 2 $70 (digital) games. Or wait for sales as usual. It’s not absolutely necessary to play games day 1 anyway unless you really, really want to.

@AtlanteanMan
I think the storage size of the cartridge may be the reason for the higher price. The next biggest size after 16GB is 32GB, unless I'm mistaken and there are sizes in between.

If weapon degradation is gone I'm all in. If not, I'll be content hanging back for Pikmin 4.

Didnt they sell Arms for full-price?

Obviously I'd rather pay less for games (and in fact have stopped buying a lot of PS5 stuff day one because of the high price) but I'm not going to get up in arms about Nintendo joining in with the rest. It is what it is.

They can determine prices on a case by case basis and I'll determine if they are worth my money in exactly the same way.

@fenlix Yeah and the Legs expansion was 40$ too.

They need to explain what makes this worth 10 bucks more than the previous game which was 100% built from the ground up during a lengthy development process that saw them rethinking and challenging the 3D Zelda formula. Seems more likely that they’re trying to recoup the cost of the oddly prolonged development time this game had considering it’s nature rather than a sign of its scope compared to BOTW, it’s journey from DLC to sequel likely caused some significant development hurdles as they tried to build a whole game off what the DLC concept was which I’m guessing was about buildable vehicles.

@TheRealMr_Carpainter Thank you. I came here to make this point about a 32gb card vs. 16. It's hard to get solid info on the costs though.
https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/comments/ktey47/does_anyone_know_how_much_each_cartridge_size/

Regardless of what games go for 70 on release going forward. I'll never pay that much for any game lol. I don't even pay near 50 for games these days, never have actually. Too much for just software. Tho I'll admit, smash always has been the exception. Depending how great it looks. So many games come out at a time now, that used copy's become affordable in no time. If not, there's always b2g1 sales occasionally. My end cost is no higher than $35 usually phsycial. after any discounts I can manage to apply. For the big games.

@SalvorHardin They had to create an entire new arm for Link and give his hair wind physics. That is costly.

@anoyonmus your right, at least it isn’t every first party.

Does anyone know if they rebuilt the BotW engine from scratch for Switch? I don’t think they did and it’s going to be a 15fps mess again. That was fine all these years ago but now I really can’t anymore.

@PinderSchloss 15 fps is the new 60 fps.

All games are already the equivalent of USD$75 where I live.

TotK has been six-ish years in development. This one justifies the price hike. Pikmin 4 isn’t $70 though, so we can see it’s not going to be totally standard for now… It will happen eventually though.

@Thesharkfromjaws I like this from your comments: They can determine prices on a case by case basis and I'll determine if they are worth my money in exactly the same way.

I'm lucky I live someplace with a vibrant used games market. I'll keep doing that.

Fair enough I reckon.

A lot of people might not realize that Nintendo was at least in part forced to do this by the other guys. Pricing is a way of advertising quality. Sony has shown that $70 is the new "premium" price. If Nintendo doesn't release their newest biggest game at a price that people recognize as premium then they might as well be holding a sign that says they can't compete with Sony.

That said, it does feel dirty paying a premium for such a non premium experience. I was already fussed about having to play a new game on such dated hardware, now I have to pay extra? For what, 3 more gigs of data than the last game? Woo-hoo.

Breath of the Wild was also more expensive than other Nintendo titles. Also I'll be using a voucher. So basically a €69,99 game for €50. (1 voucher)

@anoyonmus

There is an advantage with the PlayStation 5 and Sony’s first party games though.

They actually go on sale in a timely manner. And physical games get cheap quick. Especially used.

I’ve had my PS5 since launch and I’ve only paid 70 for three games. Horizon FW, GoWR, and Modern Warfare II. Other than that, everything else has been at most 45 bucks. Most around the 35 dollar mark.

That doesn’t happen with Nintendo’s first party lineup for the most part.

Granted I’m still buying Zelda on day one because I’m classifying it as Mega Hype. Meaning it’s a day one purchase regardless of the cost. Everything else I buy is at lower prices to go into the backlog. Which I eventually work my way to.

@DripDropCop146

That was basically the Neo Geo AES experience. 600 dollar system, 100 dollar plus for an extra arcade stick controller, the games ranged from 180 to 300 dollars each. In 1990s money.

In the words of a YouTuber, it was the system for rich people. If someone had a Neo Geo AES back in the day their parents probably took them to school in a fully loaded S-Class.

@Ralizah BOTW was also €70 over here, even though their other games were/are €60. So in a way it has been a thing in Europe since 2017. I was expecting the same thing anyway.

I’d just use the vouchers, but I want physical.😭

Just like every other business, robbing bar stewards

In other words, they know zelda fans are daft enough to pay the full price so we made it more expensive than other games. Just go Smyths and get it for £45, that's how much their games are. I think charging around £60 for a Switch game is pathetic. It'll be like Sony still charging £60 for a PS3 game. If it was next gen, 4k running at 60fps with no issues, then fine but a 720p running at 30fps max with some performance issues (it's nintendo, their games always some sort of ussue), is just ridiculous. Eejits will buy it though so Nintendo won't change.

I remember DKC on SNES was $60 at launch, pissing off some publishers who were releasing $80 “bombs” as EGM then characterized it.

Amazing we paid more for cartridges back then and adjusted for inflation in today’s value, gaming was a much, much more expensive hobby then.

@Severian I enjoy how Inflation is the go to excuse now, and we should be happy grateful little gremlins. I should hope when that 70$ price tag triples that people remember Inflation and stop whining.

@Bratwurst35 When they say “inflation” I read that as “help us recoup any losses if sales fall below expectations”.

Remember, this news doesn't concern Europe, where Breath of the Wild was always 10 units of currency more than the rest pricewise. Actually, I'm just glad they didn't do it like Sony who went with 70$=£70 or €70 meaning that they're more expensive over here.

@Bratwurst35 Meh let Corporate be greedy and let consumers keep making excuses for them. It's honestly pointless given all the crap in the past years. At the end of the day Corporate always wins; And consumers will continually support them nomatter what they do. It's an exhausting pointless cycle.

Reminds of someone who hated Apple for their greed yet couldn't stop buying the latest Apple product. At the end of day consumers are their own worst enemy.

Is it just for me or is anyone else having problems accessing the voucher page in the UK?

The price matches what we have paid for BoTW when it increased in Europe. I'm just glad Nintendo didn't follow the PS5 footsteps and raised Europes price again.

Just a heads up. At the time of writing SimplyGames in the UK still has the pre-order listed at £49.99.

In South Africa BOTW1 and 2 are the same price. Kinda shocking that 1 still holds such a high price after so long.

The heck, I didn't know the game will be $70, it's not next-gen so why it's more expensive, I understand if it's a new next-gen switch 2 titles.

It should be case-by-case. Tears of the Kingdom and Starfield are hopefully worth it. But Last of Us? Nah. Should always depend on the game.

This is a terrible idea...flagship pricing. Not a single hardware upgrade to quasi-justify a price increase but flagship titles they know I'll sell 20 million+, let's gouge them for that.

Wow are we outraged again? This is one game I don't mind paying a premium for. There are a lot of games that go full price despite feeling like 20 dollar games, that's the real problem. This actually sets a positive precedent for games to be priced lower if actually reviewed for value.

In all fairness, if this game was $60, it would imply that it's worth as much as Mario Golf Super Rush. I just hope it isn't a matter of time before games like that start becoming $70...

They seriously brought vouchers back just to pull this move.

Zelda is life but I might actually wait a week and buy it preowned, even if it’s still over $60, just to keep a sale from ticking.

It seems that most are utterly blind to the fact that this appears to be Nintendo’s first 32GB cartridge release, which explains the premium. Of course, one could argue that the premium is also being unfairly passed on to digital buyers, and I’m sympathetic to that sentiment.

They make it sound like they did it because it was so expensive to produce, while they actually mean they know the game will sell like crazy and they might as well suck us dry.

"Case by case basis" until there are more "cases" that are deemed to be $70. I don't believe what they're trying to say here; I really think it's them testing the waters to see if they can charge $10 more per title going forward. Probably figuring "well Sony and Microsoft are doing it, so I guess we can toss our hat into that ring". And we all know that extra $10 ain't going to the developers.

Then again, maybe they're just taking advantage of the Zelda hype again. Breath of the Wild had the new standard amiibo price, Skyward Sword HD had special Joy-Cons and a single amiibo sold at a premium even though it was the same size as any other Zelda amiibo (speaking of I wouldn't doubt if that sick-looking new Link amiibo is going to be sold at a premium too). Time will tell I guess.

I ain't paying $70. They can keep it. It looks like a carbon copy of Breath Of The Wild anyway, which was massively overrated. It took them six years to make the same game.

Just shop around people, there are always deals. Infact, pre-order Zelda TOK for £49.85 here-

https://www.shopto.net/en/swze07-the-legend-of-zelda-tears-of-the-kingdom-p1139969/?utm_source=Website&utm_medium=Banner&utm_campaign=The+Legend+of+Zelda+Tears+Of+The+Kingdom

Yeah, sure it is. Will wait till I can find it used.

@anoyonmus "Pikmin 4 is $59.99"

Thanks. I did finally look it up on the switch eShop, couldn't find it on Best Buy or Amazon, so I'm still thinking about the $99 voucher program. Wasn't before but w/ Zelda at $70 it's still a savings of $30. Would need to buy a new SD card though, mine is mostly filled. It's always something.

All this means is that games like Nintendo Switch Sports that weren't even $60 won't now be $70. They can price all Mario, Zelda, Pokémon games there from now on and still be correct. The only reason Pikmin 4 isn't $70 is because they're using Zelda as the initial test balloon before slowly rolling it out more broadly.

Game Pass is looking cheaper now

No new Zelda here.

Yeah, Game Pass and Steam!! o/

Well that's somewhat better news at least.

Yeah, but still, how many other games? Hopefully none.

At least they weren't lying, Metroid Prime Remastered is a lot cheaper. I am ok if they charge more for a game that takes a long time to make.

90 DOLLAR (CAD... since I live in Canada) FOR GAMES?!?!?!?! THIS IS AN OUTRAGE!!!! And I'm joking as we will buy them anyway.

@blindsquarel They aren't though.

You don't have to pay that price if you preordered, but if this has breakable weapons or doesn't have traditional dungeons, I'm just gonna wait. Or I'll play it on my Steam Deck.

@WallyWest
Neither are Nintendo fans. Just because we are willing to pay $70 for the game doesn’t mean we want to.

@blindsquarel Most of this thread is people justifying, defending and being ok with it. I get it its Nintendo and they can do no wrong and every choice they make is the best one 🙄

the trend is going to be 79,99 after Switch 2 becomes reality

@AtlanteanMan To me, the large investment I put into games is time rather than money. I am full-time employed, so I earn more money in an hour than what I pay for a video game. So I see the 300+ hours I put into a game like Monster Hunter as a negative. Of course, the experience I get from the game is totally worth that investment. But it also means I see a shorter game like Bayonetta 3 as giving a much better return for the investment, so to speak.

The flagshiå titles will 70 and smaller spin off titles will be 60 i guess

@WallyWest so if they’re ok with paying $70 for a Switch game they really want to play, that automatically makes them fan boys? Because it’s not technically advanced? I don’t know, I’d rather pay $70 for Zelda then a Last of Us Part 1.

@anoyonmus Hence why it shouldn't be surprising. It's basic economics. Prices go up as the years go by. Let's just be glass it's not up to a $100 a game. Cause you know very well they can do that.

@GoshJosh Things getting expensive is nothing new. Why complain about something that we know will happen? Especially when nothing can be done about it in the first place.

@Bratwurst35 Pretty much. It shouldn't be a surprise to know one. We as humans want things to be like this. Nothing is gonna change that. XD

I remember getting a few SNES and N64 games for $70 back in the mid 90s. Adjusted for inflation, that was way more expensive than TotK's MSRP. Of course, that was my Dad's problem, since I was too young for a job 🤣

I know Im boring people with facts... But just past two years alone inflation in my country (EU) was over 20%, prices of everything going up. Yet people somehow think gaming industry should keep the same pricing it had for years now...

@Ralizah can’t you only get it digitally with the voucher though? There is no physical pre order on their site. I’d be concerned about buying it digitally, given how they may shut things off like what they’re doing with the 3DS and WiiU. I do buy games digitally, but if they’re games I really love, and especially Zelda games, I always buy physical.

If you have enough SD space so that you’ll never have to delete anything and can fit your library, even if it needs to be multiple SD cards to do so, then there shouldn’t be anything to worry about. I do think physical would be the way to go, if you can, though. That’s just me though, and there’s nothing wrong with anyone thinking otherwise.

Or you could just mod your Switch so that you can always have access to titles when/if things shut down for this device too.

@Gorlock the gaming industry actually gained more money during the pandemic and was one of the best past-times. So no, there is no excuse for raising the prices. It’s not like Walmart were you go in and get groceries, or gas, where people are starting to use cars less. You can and could easily buy games digitally and physically online. There was a tripled-increase on profit for the gaming industry, leading to a record 56.9 billion dollars in 2020 alone, compared to the year prior. The pandemic drove more people than ever to start spending time on games. The years after, I believe they did well also. Pricing a game on a console that lags, is grainy, etc., to match the price of games on a console (PS5) that can spit out 1080p easily and lags much less than the Switch, is ridiculous, and cannot be justified. The only good thing is the game that they decided to increase the price on.

@Shade_Koopa no one knew this would happen with the switch though. They have been doing well since the pandemic. Unlike Walmart hiking up prices, gas going up, etc., the gaming industry has been doing well enough. Covid caused the gaming industry to boom, and Nintendo’s profits tripled in 2020. In 2021, Nintendo’s profits rose by 54% compared to 2020. And in 2022, it only decreased by 7.7%. No one ever said things getting expensive is new, like you seem to think, even though I’m not entirely sure why you would think people said that when they didn’t. And I’m not saying that to be rude, I’m saying that because it’s not nice to put words in people’s mouths. In this case, it just seems it’s entirely unnecessary for Nintendo to raise the price of a switch game, to the price of a PS5 game, when switch doesn’t run as well as PS5 at all. As I said in my previous reply, the only good thing is the game they decided to put the price increase on.

@duhllin You'll still be able to redownload your 3DS/Wii U games, though. So even if Nintendo does close the eshop, that doesn't deprive me of my digital license.

@Ralizah scratch what I said about that, you’re right. I had actually been thinking about the licensing issue, and if Nintendo loses their license, that software is gone forever in regards to downloading. If you have it downloaded, I don’t think they can take that away from you. But I don’t think you would be able to redownload that either. The issue is you not actually owning it, you just have a license to use it until that license is taken away from Nintendo. Which it seems you’re aware of that sense you said “digital license.”

Of course, the chance of that happening at all is pretty slim, and is probably impossible for Zelda since it’s a Nintendo title.

Also, would you still be able to redownload it if you deleted it completely? Or are you only able to download it from the home menu? If the shop is down, wouldn’t that mean you can’t get to the redownload menu? If that’s the case, then archiving the game instead of deleting it would be the best way to go.