Zelda: Tears Of The Kingdom Temporarily Listed On Nintendo Website For $70 USD

Well, absolutely not buying that at launch then. I'll get it used, or maybe if it's included in the vouchers.

Wondering how the Switch will pull off 4k since all the other games going for $70 are in 4k.🤑

It didn’t show me the price at all for me????

But I could be mistaken

I hope its on the 2 for $100 deal

BotW was worth $70
Presumably, TotK will be too
Smash Ultimate can make an argument IMO (but this gets murky because of DLC $$$)

What other Switch games can justify that price point though? There's no world in which I pay $70 for a Kirby game.

@Lizuka over a $10 increase? BotW was easily worth $70+.

They've removed the price from the eShop listing now. Will probably pre-order at the $59.99 price point regardless to be safe, though.

BotW was £60 in the UK, that's £10 more than all other Nintendo games.

Some of these stellar titles like BOTW, Odyssey, Fire Emblem I often feel are worth 70 to even 100$ just how good they were but no way would I be happy with that.

You can’t charge 70 for a game that runs 720p 30fps and that’s if we’re lucky

@iNintendo To you, maybe, but I'm not paying the extra for it personally. Don't deem the first game worth it and really I've been a bit hesitant on TotK anyway since I didn't really come out of BotW wanting more of it. Definitely enjoy the game but not really enough to be pumped for a sequel, much less to pay more money for it.

God dammit, lol. There goes my prediction.

Why? Prices are high because? Inflation or covid or both? Enhanced technology?

it seen Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom will be the first Nintendo game priced at $70, it was ievitable

https://twitter.com/necrolipe/status/1623117406150266880?t=g9MaU0cwhrD-5EvSKUCRXA&s=19

Couldn’t care less. If it’s half as good as BOTW, it will be worth it. Charge $80. Charge $100.

@Benny504 Nintendo follows in Sony's footsteps. After all, you've gotta charge extra for that silky smooth Tegra X1 experience. It's so close to PS5 in terms of raw horsepower, right?

The pre-order price on Amazon is still $60 USD. I'm pre-ordereding it before they raise the price by $10.

It’s a little disappointing that it has the price increase, but not really unexpected. Still buying it once pre orders come up.

@Benny504 performance is not related to amount of content on a game in any way. This game's content is like no other.

Figured Nintendo would follow suit here eventually, if it wasn’t a mistake. It’s not surprising, inflation has made everything so expensive these days. Not going to stop me from purchasing, as I know I will thoroughly enjoy the experience.

Are you kidding me

Imagine getting so worked up over an extra $10.

@Liam_Doolan which means it could be a mistake? Who knows

@bluemage1989 Imagine rushing to defend the greed of a billion dollar company that wouldn't spit on you if you were on fire.

😂 Would be hilarious if they just leaked the price of the Switch 2 version 😂

Lol at the simultaneous crying about $10, crying about crying over $10, and crying about someone being okay with $10. Also an unconfirmed $10 hike. Did you all know video games are fun?

If the game is worth (by my own measurements) i will buy it regardless, to those of you who are all worked up by what could possibly be a new trend in prices, nobody's forcing you to buy it, last time i checked, videogames aren't some kind of necessity, we play and buy games by choice

@anoyonmus It was even translated to CAD 90$, so I’m pretty sure there is truth to it…

Assuming its a mistake of some sort: good

Assuming it isn't: I blame everyone who keeps buying Pokemon games at full price.

@KingBowser IMO because game dev investments are becoming greater and greater. World building is becoming absurdly huge. Visuals are approaching the sublime. All of that means more and more labor required. When you have a game with 4K visuals and 50+ hours of content, it's not hard to understand $70. Obviously TotK does not have 4K going for it, but it will have a ton of content.

@Lizuka I'm not defending them at all, just don't see what the big deal is with a few dollars on top.

@Liam_Doolan In case you’re interested: after this article posted I rushed to Best Buy and Amazon (both US) to preorder it, both had it for $60. Put it in both my carts, went to check out, it completely disappeared from the Best Buy website and Amazon now has it OOS, so something is going on. 🤷🏻‍♂️

https://www.google.com/aclk?sa=l&ai=DChcSEwiL78GQ64T9AhUGusgKHbbHCYcYABAAGgJxdQ&sig=AOD64_1vBOy61VLN1pBvQ74gulW0MsLvpw&rct=j&q&adurl&ved=2ahUKEwj2irqQ64T9AhU7EVkFHUdcBYkQ0Qx6BAgDEAE

https://www.amazon.com/Legend-Zelda-Breath-Wild-Nintendo-Switch/dp/B097B2YWFX

Oh boy. I doubt it's a mistake. Thats what it's going to be on launch I suppose.

@Key19 I would pay $70,000 for a Kirby game. Ok, maybe not that much, but $70 would be nothing for a game from my favorite franchise! You are you though, so if you do care about a possible price increase, I don't mind.

The pain in my voice when I did the conversion and said “$93 CAD”-
Hoping it’s just a mistake…

Leg-strap included!!

If this isn't a mistake, this is probably tactical on their part. Most nintendo games being $70 would raise far more backlash than TotK, since many would argue that Tears will still be worth it. This lets them ease into the new price a bit more cleanly to standardize it for future games thereafter. It'd draw far more backlash if it was another game with launch quality like Pokemon.

Well that's a bit concerning. I was really hoping we'd at least be waiting until the next generation before we saw something like this. If all their games going forward are going to be $70, those vouchers will suddenly be a much better deal.

Interesting... I'm still buying it despite not being super hyped for it, but I guess it was only a matter of time before the big N moved into the $70 tier.

@octokid That's over $100 after tax in my province. That is going to sting and I don't like it and I'm still gonna buy it immediately because I have no self control 😑

Didn’t like the original so this definitely removes any chance of me buying it if it’s true

BotW and Smash Ultimate are both already 70€ and £60. TotK will very likely be at that price again in Europe.

Switch games are not worth $70, even a game as polished as Zelda. PS4 games were retailing for $60, and that system was much more powerful than the Switch.

We still all buying the limited editions day one if we get the chance. You know I’m right

@TheBigK RIP. I’m in a 5% GST province and its BARELY under $100… -HAVE SELF CONTROL-

@bluemage1989 Exactly what the frog thinks as you raise the temp in the pot he's sitting in.

Don't tell anyone, but I'll pay whatever they ask.

Heh, I wonder how that ray tracing and 1080p 60 gps is going to look in that cel shading then since... That's usually what you get for that price.

@1UP_MARIO I haven't purchased a limited edition game that I can recall, ever, and I've played 100s of games in the decades I've been gaming. Think that's more of a niche than you think.

Interesting to see everyone fervently defending Nintendo here on the price hike.

Seriously? Tch. This better be one heck of a game, then.

@1UP_MARIO
No freaking way, I’m going to do the sensible thing and order it as soon as possible.

It’s like 130 yen to the dollar and has been for awhile - they will make serious profit at that price point. I wonder what the yen retail price is? Sure as heck won’t be JPY9700!

Maybe Nintendo will be announcing Switch 2 tomorrow for aNovember launch and it will work like PS5 so $70 gets you digital copies of the game for both consoles? 🤷🏻‍♂️

@tseliot I just love the franchise.

That's unfortunate if it's indeed true. At least with Sony or Microsoft, gamers can wait a bit and then there will be a decent sale on the game. But not with nintendo first party games, and if so, it's s very seldom. Oh well. The other thing is it's bold of nintendo to put a $70 price tag on a game we barely know anything about but hopefully it will be justified. Again, assuming the price change is true

Looks at price:

@tseliot You know, the frog thing's actually a myth. Frogs will react to avoid detrimental changes even if they are gradual, thus proving they have better judgement than a lot of humans.

Honestly I wouldn't mind a brand new game as big as BotW costing $70 USD if smaller-scale stuff (i.e. Skyward Sword HD, Pokémon BDSP) weren't costing anywhere near to $60 at the same time.

IMO it's more about the standardization of prices disregarding amount of content and/or development costs than anything else.

@Anachronism Acthually...

It's nothing I can't afford, had been buying all my 1st party titles via Klarna so I don't have to pay full price upfront which works good for me. I'll probably buy Tears of the Kingdom the same way anyways.

Getting closer and closer to the day where games will cost as much as new system. Future generations will be paying 500$ for the box, and additional 100$ for the game. Don't forget that that 80$ extra controller fee. Fun for the whole family!

What? That’s it. I am boycotting Zelda forever.

@Gabo2oo Skyward Sword HD is $50 on Amazon now, also Skyward Sword is a big scale game, not sure why you think it's a smaller scale title just cause it's a port. Took me 50 hours to beat it (that's way longer than GTA V which only took me 35 hours to beat), definitely worth every pennies and hours I spent on it.

Bought a copy elsewhere for cheaper. Actually been doing this since forever as Nintendo's store is always the expensive option.

Amazon, Gamestop, and Best Buy have all pulled their pre-orders for Tears of the Kingdom. It seems like retailers are reacting in real-time to what Nintendo will ultimately price the game at.

Thankfully I pre-ordered it from Amazon a few months ago, so I'm safe as long as Amazon doesn't refund their existing preorders if the actual price ends up being $70 😆.

@Vexx234 Just remember that before all this, the NeoGeo and 3DO did it first. I still got my $150 Samurai Shodown II cartridge and my $750 NeoGeo AES console with its extra $190 arcade stick style controllers.

Meh. I can wait until black Friday for the $30 deal at a store. Also need to finish BOTW

JFC !!! The original Ocarina of Time cartridge was $60 - and that was 25 years ago !!!

They keep this as the price while still being vague about what this game actually is and how much of sequel to BOTW2 it turns out to be, a Galaxy 2 situation would be nice but they were doing a lot of signaling when it came to that Skyward Sword port.

@tseliot Look, I'm not disagreeing with the sentiment, but if you're going to use an analogy to prove your point, then the thing you're trying to draw a comparison to should at least be logically sound itself.

@Serpenterror Yeah, true, but the Neo Geo originally was never going to be a home console. It was originally going to be rented out to stores. It's only due to high demand that a home console version was made. It was advertised a luxury console due to just how advance it was back then.

The manufacturing cost of the GEO was expensive because it was originally meant to be an arcade cabinet which at the time wasn't cheap to make.

I've never bought a Switch game for full price ever, so this doesn't effect me much. However, if it starts at $70, based on Nintendo's stingy sales, I would guess $50 is the cheapest I'll ever find it new, even years later

I still need to go back and finish BotW so I can decide if I even want to play TotK.

@Serpenterror Can't remember that. Sorry. Neo Geo came out the same year I was born. So that's a whole different situation from my pov.

If their asset recycling game comes with a timed dlc plan for another 20€ extra, they can really shove it.

Don’t care. Still buying it.

So, some region parity then? Whilst the original BotW is the same price as other Switch games in the US ($60), it's £10 more expensive in the UK (£60, compared to every other game being £50). The sequel is listed for £60 on most stores, so it looks like Nintendo are going to charge more again.

At this point in the Switch life cycle, the only games I'll pay $70 for are TotK and a new 3D Mario. But as someone else mentioned, won't that be a kick in the teeth if TotK launches at $70 with a planned $$ DLC to access the rest of the game!

The first $70 game on the Nintendo Switch was Skyrim Anniversary Edition.

@Ade117 Yeah but remember that Switch games are likely gems while PS4 games are likely garbage.

I'd gladly pay $70 for future Switch games but please don't announce price increases like this, especially not for Zelda TOTK. Hopefully this is just Nintendo testing the waters.

@Serpenterror I was talking mostly about scale development-wise. No matter how good or big of a game it is, it's still a port so it shouldn't cost as much as a brand new game of similar scope does, IMO.

Then again I know development costs for each port should also vary depending on the original game, and a Wii port should not be comparable to, say, an NES one.

@Vexx234 Then you had been spare cause back then getting a NeoGeo console and game is like a journey of itself cause back then you don't have apps like Klarna which gives you flexible payment options to help you buy expensive stuff in 4 payments, back then you had to pay everything in full (except maybe a car or a house).

@lechugajr Yeah, people who say 70$ is cheap never seem to want to add all the extra content that raises that base price well over a 100$

Yeah you can argue it's "optional" But FOMO says if you want the complete experience, you better dig deep inside your wallet for that extra 50$!

@Gabo2oo While that's true, the availability also play a role in the pricing as well. At the time of Skyward Sword HD release the only other version of that game you could get is the Wii original and the Wii platform had been discontinued thus making the original a bit difficult to find so Skyward Sword HD launching at $60 make sense. Now if you compare to third party title like say Elden Ring which definitely worth its $60 price too but know that because it's widely available on 5 similar platforms, it's price will dropped overtime as it became less relevant. Not only that but in terms of sales every one copy of Skyward Sword HD won't reach the same sales units sold as Elden Ring in the same time period.

For every one Skyward Sword HD sold on Switch, 5 copies of Elden Ring would had sold due to its ease of availability on 5 platforms, that means if Skyward Sword and Elden Ring both cost the same price at $60, while Nintendo only earn $60 for one copy of SS, Namco would had earn $300 for 5 copies of ER cause the game is widely available on 5 platforms at the same time compare to Skyward Sword's one platform. It make sense when you think about it. That means Namco earn more money with ER and was able to afford dropping its price overtime compare to Nintendo's SS which they can't dropped the price due to it been an exclusive and they need that $60.

Unfortunate if true, but inevitable when the last God of War sold over 5M in like 2 months and Call of Duty MW2 remake still sold boatloads of copies at $70 as well. It's the principle of the thing really, Nintendo sees other companies get away with it, they figure why can't they?

Perhaps one of the reasons why they brought back the voucher program back here in the States. We'll see.

@KryptoniteKrunch It's either that or they are just testing the water.

It's funny because the engine, art style, vast majority of the map, most of the sound effects, etc. were already done for them before they even started yet they still think it's worth a premium on par with 4K 60p HDR RTX consoles pushing 100x the polygons, textures and shaders. We still haven't seen a shred of evidence that the game was worth the extended wait, much less an extended cost. Tomorrow better be GOOD.

@Serpenterror Sorry but no. Nintendo raised the price simply because they wanted to. SS HD did the bare minimum and is a half hearted port. To top it off, they hid a silly game feature behind an overpriced toy.

SS HD was 40$ game repackaged as 60$ new title plus whatever the toy cost. This is the same company that released Super Mario 3D All-Stars. A lazy port of 3 games that cost the same as Mario Odyssey new.

Yikes the reactions to ninty raising game prices and shutting down it's stores are very different from when Sony raised its prices and was shutting down their stores

Well if this is true, that is a bit unfortunate. But I'm really curious what retailers that have been offering preorders for the last 5~6 months will have to say about it. I guess that's the risk they take, but to suddenly have to sell a $70 usd game to a whole lot of people at $60 is going to hurt. Communication breakdown there.

Hopefully it'll be available for the vouchers?

How about we wait for a true price announcement before getting bent out of shape, hmm?

Edit: Okay, NOW anyone incensed by this can get bent out of shape. Personally, I'm Switzerland in all this since I'm gunning for the Collector's Edition anyway.

I mean I’m getting the CE so I would love for it to cost that low.

That means this game is huge. They worked long for this game. Real Zelda game maybe. They worked long for this game that is why it increased.

Normally I'd say just wait for a sale but it's nintendo 🤣

@Serpenterror I wouldn't go as far as making the "1x Skyward Sword = 5x Elden Ring" comparison since you have so many other stuff to factor in (hardware sales, target demographic, etc), but yeah you're right that exclusives are bound to be trickier when it comes to revenue. It certainly explains why their games don't drop in price over time and wouldn't go on sale as often, for instance.

That said, considering Nintendo's current success in particular, I don't think they NEED that $60 USD for something like Skyward Sword as much as they go for a more supply/demand-oriented logic. As long as they don't consider their pricing to appreciably hinder sales, I'm sure they'll just go for it regardless.

Apparently BotW was also 70€? I definitely didn't buy it at that price, got it for 55€, and if Nintendo thinks I'll buy TotK at that price they can kiss my ass lol

okay I am throwing my old man gamer 2 cents in on this... $70 is one thing when you talk about physical. But when you talk about digital, which has no box, no covers, no GAME CARTRIDGE or anything tangible I have to draw the line.... My opinion has been and always will be, digital copies of anything should be sold at a much lower rate because there is none of the above mentioned nor is there a need for manufacturing plant costs, no shipping involved, "stores" to keep stock in... Etc., Etc.

You get my point. A honestly there has NOT been a single game out yet on any system that would make me drop $70+ on it. I am sure down the road TOTK is gonna have DLC of some type and that is going to add even more to the cost. I stopped playing/buying games that were "incomplete" and had to have all types of DLC to play the FULL game.

@Bearzilla823 Sorry old timer, but you don't understand how digital works. There are only so many digital copies you can sale before you run out of digital. Therefore the price being equal is fair. (I'm joking by the way)

@Dman10 If $10 is the difference between make it or break it for a game, we've got other financial discussions to be had lol an extra $10 here and there shouldn't be so dire.

Is this game going to slow to a crawl below 10 frames-per-second every time I enter the Korok Forest just like in Breath of the Wild?

It's 2023, if Nintendo wants to up their prices the LEAST they could do is up their damn hardware as well, so that their game doesn't slow down to an unplayable state.

But, nah, they'll just pocket that money instead of actually improving their product.

Nintendo - "Where we do everything halfway."

@ItsATM Well, I hope you keep that in mind when that extra 10 jumps to 20, or heck maybe even 30. Pshh, hey since money is no object, and people just need to stop being poor; Let's raise that 70 to 100$ and call it a day!

It costs 18$ less than the 88$ BOTW from 2017. facepalm

Proof:
https://psprices.com/region-no/game/5943943/the-legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild

Nintendo Life clearly needs a calculator to calculate.

BOTW costs nearly 20$ MORE. It's a price drop. How hard is that to understand?

Being in Australia, I have always redeemed vouchers for first party new releases. This will be no different and won't affect me at all.

@GoshJosh It's a april fools day article.

It costs nearly 20$ less than BOTW.

TBF a $10 increase is pretty tame when accounting to how bad inflation impacted the economy.

This is all of course entertaining the idea that this is legit and not an intern messing up a digit hence the takedown

So what is this game doing to warrant the extra $10? I'm not buying Sony's and Microsoft's excuses to raise prices, so I'm certain Nintendo's excuse will have even less of a leg to stand on.

@Ventilator https://www.nintendo.com/store/products/the-legend-of-zelda-breath-of-the-wild-switch/

It's nintendo we're talking about here. Anything is possible.

@GoshJosh Games could cost $100 a piece tomorrow and the reality is most gamers that already invested into a luxury disposable income hobby like video games would still buy day 1 for high profile releases [especially Nintendo games because they already sell their first parties well without any significant discounts as is] because in the big picture that isn’t what would “break the bank” [just look at what inflation already did already to make food, gas, etc more expensive] because if just $40 was the difference between breaking even after all monthly expenses then that is more of a personal budgeting problem if anything.

As much as I'm looking forward to this game if Nintendo raise the price by £20 to £70 in the UK mid gen no way I'll be supporting it.
At least the others had the jump to a more powerful system as an excuse.

@TheDragonDAFan

Pricing error. Costs 88$ when i click the link.

@HeeHo Physical usually costs 15$ less on release.

They could probably triple the price and still be less than circa 2000 prices plus inflation. It's absolutely crazy that games have gone down in price since then. So no I'm not worried about $70, or $100, or $150.

@Ventilator Nintendo's website says BOTW is $59.99 USD. Go on the American version of the site and you'll see the price.

TBH the current $66+ (with tax) price is beyond what I’m willing to pay for a game. Zelda and Metroid are the exceptions. Luckily I preordered Prime 4 years ago at a discount, and TOtK when it first popped up at $60. I’d still get my money’s worth out of those two titles at nearly $80 (as it would be with tax), but that’s really starting to stretch it.

Worth noting ShopTo in the UK have it listed at £49.99 but says thats down from £59.99.
$70 equals £60 atm so at least Nintendo seem to be converting it unlike the $70=£70 Sony have been doing.

Y'all should buy vouchers before todays nintendo direct. I know I am.

Glad I preordered from Amazon the day the listing went up for 59.99.

Right now it’s listed as “currently unavailable” so they are obviously sorting something out…

@Vil Nintendo follows Sony's footsteps? I always found that Sony usually just take Nintendos innovations and imbiggen them. Shoulder buttons? Here's 4 shoulder buttons!!! Dpad!? PS1 has TWO Dpads (the Virtual Boy did it too I guess but still...). Analog sticks??? The dualshock has two analog sticks! Waggle controls? USE TWO AT ONCE IDIOT WITH LIGHTS ON THEM!!!
I could keep going but I think that was enough. Or at least it was funny enough.
I do have a PS5. I play it maybe once or twice a month. I play my Switch every day.

This minor price hike will make it a bit harder to receive as a gift. Most of my relatives can go up to 50, maaaybe 60 if that's the full price of the game, but 10 more than that is asking too much in their eyes. This pretty much guarantees I'll have to buy it myself after my birthday.

Not going to lie, it's going to need some special sauce for that. Mind you, it's Zelda and usually does!

Like any release, there will be lots of alternative places to purchase for cheaper. Just gotta shop around guys

My gut reaction to this news was that it’s ridiculous and I’m not going to pay for it, but then I remembered I bought the day 1 DLC Season Pass for Fire Emblem Engage…

I really need to reevaluate my spending habits when it comes to games lol

Overpriced forna game built on ancient gen tech.
For high end 4K games i can understand.
The switch regular and oled are also way overpriced. They should keep the price for their games 60. If it really is 70, im skipping it till a price drop or second hand.

Well that must be paying for the 10% pay rise they just gave employees 😂

@Scarmucci People keep saying that, but you forgot the inevitable DLC content that they’re holding back.

I'm sure they know what they are doing. Any company that can manage the third best selling console of all time during a chip shortage is doing something right!

Breath of the wild was 70€ at launch… you can always just use the vouchers and pay 50€

Wouldn't be surprised since every bill I have has increased in last 6 months particularly electricity, gas petrol etc and price has gone up on pretty much everything else in supermarket.
Even likes of a can of coke is like 20% more.
Video games aren't inflation proof they just seem to be the last thing to increase.

I bought Final Fantasy III (VI) on SNES for $79.99. I just wanted the game - it was worth it. Doesn’t mean I want a price increase, but for myself, I will probably get it day one regardless. I’m a bit nuts for Zelda games…
I am part of the problem…
That said, I do like waiting for inevitable sales in most games…except Nintendo first party. I usually realize I just have to pay the Nintendo tax. Worth it? Depends.

I wonder if the tears of the kingdom are because of everyone crying about the price

Amazon in Germany has had the game up for pre-order at 70€ for a couple months now. Just checked and preorders at that price are still live.

I do find the comments here quite ridiculous sometimes.

$10 is not a lot of money.
£8.60 for us Brits.

What do you easily spend $10 on without thinking?

A Cinema ticket for 2 hours entertainment? A Takeaway? A small top up shop of milk, bread etc...

$70 for potentially 100+ hours of gaming on a game that only comes around twice a decade if we are lucky isn't bad.

Nearly everything has gone up in price in the last few years.

Buy physical and sell on once you are done if you are not a 'keeper' like myself.

Roll on the Direct for the Trailer...

I expect a Zelda:TOTK specific Direct in March/April.

@dazzleshell @iNintendo @Key19 I am with you! BOTW is one of the few games that Nintendo under-priced.

This is a new game in the series. Surely it is worth more than the Zelda Game Boy HD port.

That's roughly £60!! I wouldn't even pay that for a PS5 game. The way switch games look and run, they should be no more than £40. Unless this is going to have an upgraded next gen version like the last one was.

The price is possible Majora's mask was more expensive to than the other Nintendo 64 games.

If they go through the increase and my order ends up getting cancelled then I'm happy enough not buying it if it brings back the breaking weapons. Had a pre-order in just incase I decided to go for it until we see more for it and I was worried of an increase.

If other games follow it then I guess i'm going to buy a whole lot less Nintendo games. Maybe just stick with Pokemon, Zelda and Mario then skip everything else.

It’s going to be bigger than BOTW which was 13.4GB. The Cart size was 16GB, so if it goes above that I guess it will add a charge for the 32GB cart. Nintendo will not release a flagship game incomplete on the cart and expect people to download the rest.

I am not paying $70 for this. I have paid that much for some ps5 games but they are a step up in some ways so I paid that for god of war Ragnarok. But unless that is the price with dlc Nintendo best not be losing it the last year. Now if that was the switch 2 game with 4K I would pay that price.

"I want better pay. Pay me more."

"No way I'm paying £10 more for a game."

It's simple economics... NL literally has a headline article right now about Nintendo paying 10% more to employees. Of course that means a price increase!

US$70 would be understandable if a game were of a very high quality (i.e. requiring no patches) and/or utilises a 32GB cartridge (Nintendo themselves are yet to issue a game on a 32GB cartridge).

But for all of the money that Nintendo stand to make on TotK, a $10 increase for a game that's likely going to ship on a 16GB cartridge and be supplemented with patches and disproportionately expensive paid DLC after that fact? No. Especially not for a game that is likely to make a profit from mere pre-orders alone.

But I would absolutely double-dip on virtually any Nintendo-published title if it includes all updates/paid DLC on a cartridge. I also think a premium is justifiable when using 32GB carts, similar to how other current gen releases have a $10 premium by virtue of using more expensive Ultra HD Blu-ray discs (though I don't think it's reasonable, for instance, if the premium is passed on to the digital release, if it can be otherwise avoided).

@marsdeat : Same in Australia. Breath of the Wild and Smash Ultimate both have a $10 premium over the otherwise standard AU$79.95 price for AAA Nintendo-published titles. I can't think of any other examples where this has been the case, though it appears that Tears of the Kingdom has also been slapped with a $10 premium (though most vendors, except EB Games, will undercut the RRP by at least $10).

Some third-party releases also retail for $89.95, but these are also in the minority.

In Europe BOTW was always 69,99 € and TOTK looks like it will be too. No "mistakes" there, nothing new.

Man, I wish we had your US prices sometimes.

@Horace Minority that didn't get a 10% pay rise?! Are you joking? The majority in the UK haven't had a 10% rise - closer to 5% here, and even that hasn't been achieved if you're a teacher, nurse, ambulance driver, train driver, postal worker (basically everyone on strike!). The UK has embraced the new flexible working practice though, so that has definitely contributed to lower costs (travel, wrap around child care) for office based jobs - but if you're not in an office job, or if you work in the public sector (not a minority at all) then you're significantly out of pocket.

Man I dind't know that a game's price is based on his resolution, and not on the fun it give to the player, thanks folks.

I have no issue paying an extra tenner for a game that is going to be excellent! I'd pay £100 for TotK and skip another game in its place.

This isn't a next generation platform. PS3 level graphics should come with PS3 level prices, regardless of the franchise

@Lizuka So Nintendo employees shouldn't get paid fairly for their work, and you want games to remain as cheap as possible despite inflation over multiple years? You capitalist pig.

@Manah Hey, as an American you are always welcome to move here if you think the grass is greener. I can assure you, most of us will laugh when you find the harsh reality on the other side of the pond.

BOTW is £60 when all other games are £50 so I guess this establishes the pattern where all mainline Zelda titles are more expensive than Nintendo’s other franchises.

I dunno trying to pull the $70 trick on a last gen system is pretty scummy to me. The increases on the other systems are due to the graphics and lighting and such being so intense it takes more man hours. Pretty sure Tears is just a slightly better looking version of BoTW and didn't require all the extra bells and whistles that current gen games do.

They know they can get away with it though. Only a handful of people that loved BoTW won't buy it because of the extra cost. Or it could be a mistake but I HIGHLY doubt it.

@dazzleshell I could afford Nintnedo's entire overpriced library if I wanted to, but I don't. I wait for a sale or get it second hand. I don't support the price increase. Especially in this day and age where more and more companies are releasing buggy, half finished games.

It's not just 70$ anymore, The DLC included increases that price upwards to nearly hundreds.

It's principle. You use movies as example, but a 2 hour movie cost 10$. Good or bad it's just 10$ gone, and in some places 10$ is a luxury. 70$ for a bad experience, means I'm screwed out of 70$.

Now far all I know and who I am kidding here, ToFK is going to be another 10/10 game. However, like BOTW I can wait as long as it takes for a sale.

I've just pre-ordered it for £49, so

I remember paying 70 pounds for virtual racing on md for 3 racing tracks u saw the whole game in what 10 minutes! And that was 1994! Good times xxxxx

@NewAdvent I disagree. Obviously. Why? Because Nintendo always release more than 2 games a year I purchase with vouchers.

Just locked in a preorder for £49 just in case the UK retailers up it by £5. I definitely expect some sorta limited edition to be announced however

"If this is the new digital price and isn't an error, it's essentially following the trend of next-generation"

The next generation hasn't been announced, you can't even begin to assume what the pricing structure will be for it. As for the $70 gaming structure of the CURRENT gen, I only pay full price for exclusives so I wouldn't have a problem here especially considering BoTW offered me 300+ hours. A $10 increase for what I can only imagine will be a similar experience is well worth it.

Hahaha I only popped in to see if the bedwetters started crying over a placeholder price. Wasn’t disappointed… 🤣

@Fangleman32 so just say you can't afford one game that you know will be 10/10, or that you have poor money management skills. A 2 hour movie at $10 is $10, but a 60+ hour game at $70 is unreasonable? If a game lasts longer than 12 hours for $70 you've gotten your money's worth. I'm guessing you're the type of person though who buys CoD or Madden every year with the $100+ edition and cites "replayability" as your justification for playing the same 5 minute maps 100x over.

And since Nintendo is not able to calculate between all currencies, it will be probably 100 Swiss Francs (about 100 EUR or 100 USD). They are still squeezing the money out here in Switzerland. Seems they did not notice that the USD, EUR and GBP fall about 1/3 to 2/3 of its price to the Swiss Franc.

Just checked inflation rates in canada, what was 80$ in 2017 is now 93.64$. That’s.. yeah, everything is wrong…

Hope they don't further increase the price in Europe, it was already increased during the WiiU days to 70.

BOTW was already $10 more than other Switch games in Australia so I expected TOTK to be the same. Should be included in the voucher scheme though.

I'll just use a voucher then at a later date. No big deal if it's even true.

I've moved away from buying games on launch day but this is one I'll be getting day one for sure.

Also, @rjejr Games aren't $70 because they are in 4K. Resolution has nothing to do with price.

As others have said, in the UK, BOTW was already £10 extra. But I've already pre ordered TOTK for £45, which is good value for what is likely 100 hour game. Prices will inevitably rise though and this isn't great. Personally, I'll just keep looking out for when games are on offer, and be a bit more picky with what I buy. TOTK will 100% be worth it though.

And that would be a shock if true? BotW costs $60 now, but I definitely bought it from eShop for more than the also full-priced Skyrim back in 2017. In fact, while Deku's US price tracker doesn't scroll back, it still depicts a permanent price drop on the left margin by January 2018 or so.

@Dragonslacker1 Same - and about £80 for Street Fighter 2 for the SNES...it's an expensive hobby! How times change, and also amazing how many people start bringing the graphics and framerate up without even seeing the game. It's like do they play games or specs?

Is this just US pricing, as in the UK it's £59.99(there's no listing on eshop) with a few stores at £49.95. I just preordered mine as soon as I read this thread.....

@Reaast
Last time I was in Switzerland, I paid 25CHF for a pizza in a pub. I would expect to pay £12 in the UK.

I have no idea about how the differences between Switzerland and the UK work for costs and prices, but Switzerland is definitely very expensive compared to the UK - and the UK isn't that cheap.

@Rambler Yes things are more expensive here, but this is a digital product. It's also fine to pay a bit more. The problem is, that they did not adjust to inflation and exchange rates. they still charge like 1 EUR = 1.5 CHF, but in reality, it's 1 EUR = 1 CHF = 1 USD. A Pizza has been locally produced, local products, local labour, etc, so there are the higher costs. Of course it's still ok to charge here more than in India or Argentina, but they should adjust to the exchange rates. but yeah, I know ,we can just change the eshop location. I think it's just not OK if we pay for a digital product from Japan 40% more than someone in Germany, France, UK, because they can.

@bluemage1989,

Ah the outrage caused by articles like these, and you are totally correct, another thing people tend to forget is the resale for Nintendo's first party games is pretty high, so play it and sell it on.

Why I think the $70 TOTK is for a new more powerful Switch ? Why I think Nintendo will be announcing a new more powerful Switch within this coming 12 hours ?? Is my gut telling the truth ??? Hmmmmm

@johnvboy And there is nothing wrong with that. People are entitled to be upset with something they disagree with, without being dismissed.

Would you prefer if Nintendolife made a new policy stating any, and all forms of criticisms are not welcomed? That way we can have nothing but positivity for the billion dollar company?

If I'm honest, several things are putting me off - the high-ish price, Joy-Con drift, the fact it's an "engine re-use" game and the fact that I didn't really enjoy Breath of the Wild.

To be positive, there are a couple of things that would sway me towards getting it. If it was on Switch 2, that would at least offer a new graphical experience with new (driftless) controllers. I can't help but feel that new hardware may be nearer than we think.

@Xiovanni Here in Europe PS4 games were raised from 60€ to 70€ and PS5 games are 80€. Barely anyone ever complained. But in the US everyone is crying their eyes out because of $70. BotW is already 70€ on the eshop and has always been. Not surprising if NoA follows NoE with that.

@Reaast

I was thinking of tax and the like, but yes, in hindsight, my comparison was pretty poor

I see Statler and Waldorf have made the rounds on this article.

Regarding the topic, as long as it is not Sony style of price conversions from dollars to pounds, then it should be the same price as BOTW was (£60), which I can accept.

@BTB20 Welp you know how us Americans are. Just over payed bored billionaires who whine because we want everything cheap.

Thank you for telling us, that we aren't allowed to be upset over anything, otherwise that's just us whining about nothing.

@Lizuka That's subjective. Nintendo has not been greedy when compared to its competitors, as they've not charged more than $60 for their first-party titles, in terms of sales, I constantly see online new first-party titles go on retailers for $40-$50, even seeing recent titles like Splatoon 3 right going for $50 over here in the US on Walmart and Amazon. It won't matter what the retail price is at launch, nor does it diminish the quality of a product. Zelda has had a consistent history of quality titles, most likely this is an error, but if it is true, it deserves this price point when compared to other $70 games on other consoles. This is my opinion. Especially when there's high records of inflation in Japan and the US.

This was showing as 70 Euro for months on all websites here in Ireland but never confirmed on the E-shop.
It feels so scammy for them to be doing it, as at least the other companies have the plausible deniability with blaming the costs of operating with the next generation hardware.

@tseliot that's actually a myth, they still jump out of the water when it gets too hot.

@blockfight What about the cross-gen versions? Why is one version $60 and the other $70? When it's mostly a graphical update? On PC you can upgrade the graphics on the settings of the game provided the PC can support it for free. In terms of the DualSense's controller features, that should be natural for a game company to support the latest and unique features of each console, which wasn't something they charged for in the past. For cross-gen versions, I don't believe there's any justification to increase the price to $70 as this wasn't done in the past with past cross-gen games. New games on the next gen consoles, however, can be considered $70.

I'm not thrilled, but video games have had virtually zero inflation for decades, so fair enough. There are people who paid $70 for Chrono Trigger 30 years ago. That was real money!

There are always good online-shops where you can get it cheaper. Of course I will go for the best price.

@AcridSkull Was it? Where was that as it's always been £50 whenever I have seen it in shops since launch which is still more than most of the other Switch games (physical copies). The only other game that is normally £50 is Smash Bros on Switch. Most physical games launch between £35 and £45 depending on the game.

I'll just drop what I posted on Twitter here:
"Nintendo better impress today. Cos so far TotK just looks like BotW, but with islands in the sky, so whatever they show tomorrow (or in a future TotK Direct) needs to convince me that it isn't just DLC for BotW sold as a full-priced game, especially if it is gonna be $70."
It wouldn't surprise me at all if Nintendo did try to push a $70 price point for their games; they've been pushing $60 price points on what felt like $40 games that offered very little content at launch. I'll leave it to people who actually bought Mario Golf Super Rush or Mario Strikers Battle League to decide whether their purchases have been justified with the content that was added, but from what I've heard, they haven't.
I don't doubt that Tears of the Kingdom will be worth $70. After all, Breath of the Wild was more than that with its DLC, and I felt like I got my money's worth, and this seems to be a bigger game, even if it does reuse assets from the first one. That didn't stop Majora's Mask from being a better game than Ocarina of Time, but that game was set in a different world, so even if it reused the engine, it doesn't look like Ocarina of Time again, but with a 3-day time limit.
I guess my bottom line is I'm looking forward to seeing Tears of the Kingdom in the Direct today, if only so the trailer can shut me up and I can finally be excited for it and be ready to pay whatever stupid price Nintendo asks for.

I don't agree with that price but I'd be lying if I said I wouldn't pay it. Though I'm sure many wouldn't and I can't blame them.

@PJ301178

In 2017 BOTW launched at £59.99. It is still it's RRP. I was lucky to get it at £55 then for launch day. The Collectors Edition was £79.99 or something.

The price reduced within a few months but only when stores had offers on and stock was more available.

@KaijuKaiser Nintendo does discounts. It's just so rare and the discounts are a joke that people tend believe it not to be true.

@Hisui25002 Inflation? Consoles are going up in price. Why not games too? Dont get me wrong I dont want them to be $70 but I'm not surprised given that everything in the world is going up in price.

@LikelySatan I was being sarcastic, bro. Jesus.

Playstation got ridiculed for £70 games and so should Nintendo, especially considering that those £70 games on playstation are next gen console games whereas the switch games are basically mobile games based on the tech/specs used and the games being on cartridges instead of blu Ray discs, so should be easier and cheaper to make.

Hopefully this game is included in the 2 for £84 vouchers in the UK, but with the price raise (if true) I doubt it will.

Not a chance in hell I'm paying $70 for any standard copy game. Id certainly wait for a sale or buy a used copy.

I have pre ordered it on amazon back in november at 70 euros (75 USD). still, it's a zelda game so in the best case scenario it could go as low as 50 euros in years (BOTW is still 50/55ish). are you willing to hold off playing it for some time for 15/25 euros ? honestly, I am not so if I get a better price i'll cancel the pre order and get it somewhere else but otherwise let's be happy to have a new zelda game

@Bratwurst35,

Your comment defeats your own argument, as you are objecting to me objecting.

But the initial price on games always seems high, pretty sure you will be able to pick this up cheaper closer to launch, which is why I never pre-order games.

I don't mind paying 70 dollars fir a nintendo game cause i know I'll get my money worth in content and longevity

@Bratwurst35
No need to act like that. Nothing wrong with being upset about those prices, I think they suck too, but it does get a bit annoying. Particularly when every time Europe gets the crap end of the deal most of the time, but when we complain, it doesn't really matter or we get that "you're welcome to move here" nonsense like we attacked you personally somehow.

@MetalKingShield,

How does Joycon drift affect the price of this game for you, ........ just curious.

Soo they make us pay next gen price for a dated console and game that is 100% sure gonna be too ambitious for the switch to handle at top performance. I was gonna get the special edition but fk it dude. My switch is modded anyway

You know what else was $70, my SNES copy of Street Fighter 2 I bought new 30 years ago.

People really need to get a grip and stop whining 😂

@johnvboy Because I'm more likely to get frustrated with the game if Link is running in directions I'm not deliberately moving him in. Therefore, it's just another factor making me reluctant to shell out a lot of money.

If this is a good game and many want it, I think it is good to pay more for it. After all, we are fans of Nintendo and we want them to invest into development of new software and hardware. I support the increase in price.

@PJ301178 yes it was, it was at everywhere. Take a look.

If there is shrines in the game i wont buy it anyway.

@Manah You didn't attack me personally. I'm just saying your comment came off like we should be grateful. You have every right to be equally upset about the price tag.

I just don't like the idea that one side thinks the other should be grateful simply because X is more expensive due to location. It comes off as saying one side is privileged when that generalizes an entire nation.

@Fangleman32 movies are 10 bucks where you live?!

Not surprised. Everyone are going to this this gen.

@MetalKingShield,

This still has nothing to do with the price of this game, more your frustrations towards faulty Joycon controllers, you can get them repaired for free, as long as you are in an approved location.

I do get your point, but this would not stop me buying a game I really wanted, no matter what the price was. I do however mainly play docked with the pro-controller, but pretty sure I will be playing this in handheld mode too, just like the original.

I think for most consumers its subjective. big fans of the series will pay an extra 10.00. at the end of the day its not that much money. and if someone tries to say it is, look at what you spend every day on coffee etc. and maybe cut back to afford the 10.00 haha. considering people still play BOTW, I'd say its worth 60-70 bucks. Kirby is WORTH 70 bucks to me as well, but I always wait to buy games usually. 😜

Meanwhile here in Mexico, games costed up to $85 during the pandemic times (2020, part of 2021). Nowadays they go for about 1400-1500 pesos (about $70-$75), particularly those on Switch.

That's why when I see a game going for 1000 pesos (about $50) or less, it's a big deal for me. Those 400 pesos do make a difference over here. I'm glad the supermarket near my job has had these kind of deals in a city where video game retailers are virtually non-existent these days. Buying online is not an option for me, I'd go on a shopping spree.

Until it's offical (again) it could be a mistake. I'll wait for more information that's coming probably very soon.

I already was probably not going to pre-order it this month anyway, but I might wait on it even longer depending what the price is.

Honestly don't think it should be raised to $70 though. Not defending it at all, but if it's as good as BotW is, it'll be a good game. So we'll see.

@electrolite77 Cheers for the heads up! Games like this I'd definitely want to own physical...wouldn't be surprised if Argos or Tesco have it cheap too.

I don’t think I’m going to pay $70 for a 720p 30 fps game. Even if it’s Zelda.

On my wishlist on the Nintendo site, it's still showing as $69.99, even though the specific game page doesn't list a price.

Edit: I refreshed and now it's missing again...

@blockfight According to MS, which is raising it’s current gen games to $70:

“ A $70 MSRP "reflects the content, scale, and technical complexity of these titles," “

I think 4k falls in there somewhere.

Meanwhile TotK is a game built on the BotW engine, started as dlc, so it would be hard to argue it’s a next gen game compared to BotW. When played back to back do you think TotK will be that much noticeably better than BotW? 🤷🏻‍♂️

I ain't paying $70(+$5 tax) for a game that's likely going to struggle to hit 30 frames at probably 900p. I'm a Zelda simp, but I'm not licking this company's boots.

@KaijuKaiser Tears Of The Kommentsection… 😃

Bigger card size and card manufacturer price increase.
On top of that, 4 years of game development where developers dedicating these years of life for you to enjoy and that’s not worth $70? It’s $2 per hour played, max. If you’re low on money, don’t buy digital and just sell it after you’re done with the game.

@PoeTheLizard Keep looking at the cover.

@redd214 when gaming was much more of a niche hobby & they weren't going to get no where near as many sales this game will be one of the biggest selling games this generation it will make a s***load of money regardless of weather they increased the price or not

I'll pay $100 for TOTK! Just saying.

@Lizuka yet people waste money on Madden, call of duty, and fifa, every year 🤔

Consumers are supposed to seek lower prices, not ask for higher prices. Fandom though…..

What companies charge depends on what their customers are willing to pay and those ‘I would pay $100’ people are hurting everyone.

Since then has the price alone been newsworthy?!

This is not news.

@rjejr i couldn't care less if it looks better or not. Breath of the Wild is the best game I've ever played. I value games based on the fun I've had with it. If it's a 2D sprite based game and it's €70, it's worth it if i enjoyed it.

I've so many happy memories playing BOTW and sharing stories with friends also playing.
What it comes down to is do I think this game is worth €70? The answer is I'm buying the collectors edition so to me is worth more than that.

@Sam_TSM I have already found pre-order for £49.85 at ShopTo. People need to just shop around for deals as they are always out there.

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

Lot of burner accounts on here making dumb retorts. I'm probably not long from the ban hammer from responding to them but good lord, clean up your yard NL.

@Crono1973 not really. I'd gladly pay $100 if it meant the game was stable, it does not have season passes/battle passes, lootboxes and other nonsensical practices. I've said this in other comments that we're paying the same price for a game when development costs were maxed at $6 million USD now it is over $80 million... Yet prices have stayed the same. Now, I'm not going to be overly thrilled if the standard price of a game was $100, but if devs were more honest with the cost of their game and not chop it up in a bs pricing scheme (Ubisoft, EA, Activision, Square Enix I'm looking at you four) then I 'd probably be less annoyed with AAA games than I have been the last 5 years.

@Wexter They have trained you to accept $100 games with all the extras they try to sell you.

@Crono1973 once again... Not really. I've maybe bought a few season passes on Switch (Xenoblade 2/3, Mario Kart 8 and Pokemon Sword and Shield), outside of that I haven't. I'm more just annoyed about how some publishers chop up the game and sell it to me piecemeal rather than just increase the price of the base game and put everything in (even if they update in more content later for free like Splatoon did). I'm fine if the price goes up for a game and all these predatory practices went the way of the dodo, but as I've said previously that's not going to happen as publishers are greedy and well so are consumers. You've more or less said that you'd rather have a substandard experience sold to you at $60 than what the developers full vision is at $100.

@Wexter Exactly, they have gotten so scummy with the extras that people are asking for a price increase to stop the scummy practices. What they call the more expensive digital deluxe edition these days was once called on disc dlc and was quite controversial. Now they sell it openly and the true cost of the full game is much more than the price of the base game. It’s a game of cross this line and once people accept that they present a new line to cross. Asking for $100 games to avoid the nonsense is just another line to cross and before long they will still be trying to sell us more dlc on top of that price.

@siavm Then you don't really want to play this game bad enough if another $10 is what breaks the deal for you. It's not like you'd finish this in a day, you're getting dozens and dozens of hours out of one title. It also isn't like every single game will be $70, and you don't buy every single game.

There's another conversation about personal finances to be had in real life if an extra $10 once in a while is a dealbreaker to you. Yikes

@PoeTheLizard If you were really a "Zelda simp" then you should already know the series doesn't prioritize the highest frames or graphics. It's always been about the experience and the fun, both of which will be top tier in this release. You aren't kidding anyone lol

@Mauzuri What was mediocre about anything related to BOTW? It was a revolutionary title that brought back millions of gamers of all ages back to the joy of gaming. Sure, not every game will be for every person, but it's just incorrect to say BOTW and the Zelda brand in general is anything close to mediocre. You're just trolling at this rate.

@ItsATM How about another $40 instead of $10? Do you have any limit?

@Crono1973 Another $40 out of nowhere would be pretty extreme. I'm just more surprised games have dodged inflation for as long as they have lol it's been at least a decade that $60 has been the standard. Wasn't there N64 games that were at least $60? I'm just not really seeing the outrage here for the extra $10 once in a while tbh.

@ItsATM Those N64 games also had a physical cartridge which was expensive to make. Those games came with a manual too and there was a much smaller install base (fewer copies were sold so more had to be made per copy). A n64 cart costed alot more to make than a Switch game card. Not that it really matters since a digital copy is the same price.

The only reason this game is $70 is because gamers have shown (with other consoles) that they are willing to pay that much. They know Zelda will sell at this price and this is a test case. It isn't because of inflation or development costs or any other reason.