Nintendo

[swim]

People were never going to be happy with the price - looking at the tech, it's great value. Consider the steamdeck starts at 349 (and that's without the £60 dock??). You'd need the OLED for a comparative piece and that bumps up to 500.

The Switch 2 was always going to be around £400, the outrage feels so bizarre.

It's GAMES being expensive that's troubling.

 

[BubblegumBoy]

Welp, Argos have sold out again and I've not had any email from Nintendo. Maybe I'm just gonna have to wait until later in the year.

 

[roblognick]

Welp, Argos have sold out again and I've not had any email from Nintendo. Maybe I'm just gonna have to wait until later in the year.

Nintendo did say that their pre-order window is 8-10 April for those invited. So there’s still time.

 

[roblognick]

£75 for a game is expensive but if I’ll still be playing it in four or five years is it really that bad an investment? I still play MK8 Deluxe weekly.

£400 for a portable console with a dock that’s 10x the power (allegedly) of Switch 1. When accounting for inflation is about £50 more expensive than the original Switch was isn’t that bad either. Again, if this last nearly 8 years that’s not a bad price. Although I’m sure Nintendo will make me buy at least two more with a new colour variant or Pro model in a few years.

The Switch cartridge slot is the most awkward I’ve ever used and I did consider going digital for the first time but I just can’t do it. I love my shelves full of games.

Annoyed I can’t cancel my Argos order. Might try and ask them nicely today.

 

[Harmonia]

I think the console price itself is... whatever.
Looking at that adjusted for inflation chart, this is their most expensive console since the SNES. And sure, it makes sense. Maybe even reasonable. That said, the high price combined with the current worldwide economic scenario makes it a tough sell. My opinion is very "read the room" disappointment more than outrage personally, but I get the backlash.

Except for the fact that in Canada I remember getting my Switch for half the price a Switch 2 will cost me. That pisses me off.

And fuck $80 games.

 

[blaze_dave]

I agree, the cost of the games are the only thing that I am bit annoyed about.

 

[He]

What is the reasoning behind the game pricing? Knowing Nintendo never puts games on sale, that is troubling. And I bet they will never go for suscription model as that is not a money maker.

 

[BEST FICTION]

What is the reasoning behind the game pricing?

"Well, I would say it's less about the strategy of pricing Mario Kart World, it's more just whenever we look at a given game, we just look at what is the experience, and what's the content, and what's the value? Mario Kart World, I think especially as you see from the Nintendo Direct, not to give you any hints or anything, but I did read your article this morning and I think you had mentioned that you didn’t find a lot to discover when roaming around. So I would say tune into our Mario Kart Direct to see what, maybe you'll be able to find out about that.

But honestly, this is a game that is so big and so vast and you will find so many little things in it to discover. And there's still some other secrets remaining that I think as people end up buying and playing the game, they're going to find this to be probably the richest Mario Kart experience they've ever had." - Bill Trinen, Nintendo of America's Vice President of Product and Player Experience

Basically they believe they will price the games based on the experience & content, and they think that this game is worth the price they're asking for it.

 

[soratami]

Yeah I agree the console price itself is fine, the games are what's the issue. Thankfully the majority of titles don't cost as much, but asking 90€ for a game is insane, I'm never going to pay that much, but at least you have stuff like pre-order discounts and whatnot to make things a bit less pricey.

I have to say though that between the high prices, the underwhelming launch lineup, and now the tariffs and just the general state of the world, I have a feeling the Switch 2 might be, well, not exactly an outright flop, but at least I have a hard time picturing it being even close to as successful as the original one.

 

[BEST FICTION]

Yeah I agree the console price itself is fine, the games are what's the issue. Thankfully the majority of titles don't cost as much, but asking 90€ for a game is insane, I'm never going to pay that much, but at least you have stuff like pre-order discounts and whatnot to make things a bit less pricey.

I have to say though that between the high prices, the underwhelming launch lineup, and now the tariffs and just the general state of the world, I have a feeling the Switch 2 might be, well, not exactly an outright flop, but at least I find it incredibly hard to believe it'll be as successful as the original one.

I think we're heading for a 3DS situation. A very mediocre launch, not an outright flop, but definitely nothing compared to the original. Not quite a Wii U disaster. A price cut for the console and some freebies will solve that problem, just like it did for the 3DS which ended up flourishing later in it's cycle once the library was worthwhile.

I imagine the games will still sell despite the hefty price cause at the end of the day they're the only thing that truly make a Nintendo console worth owning and when you're only given 1 at launch, what other option do you have?

 

[Harmonia]

A price cut for the console and some freebies will solve that problem, just like it did for the 3DS

Imagine the meltdowns if they do this but without the Ambassador Program nn.

 

[smellycat]

It’s completely understandable, especially with the current climate, why people are angry about the price increase of games. But I think it’s also handy to remember how each generation of game gets bigger and bigger.

The costs of developing a game are huge. The bigger the scope, the larger the teams involved become with extra developers, programmers, script writers, animators, account managers, marketing etc required, and salaries and costs sky rocket. Add on to that inflation (and tariffs) and it’s no wonder that many game developers lose money or shut down completely.

I used to work for a large gaming name and it was heartbreaking to see certain studios get shut down as soon as their game was released.

 

[HeartSwells]

I'm not too shocked by the prices (Spiderman 2 and Demon Souls for PS5 are both £70 RRP), I'm more upset that there seems to be a physical media tax being implemented.

 

[DangerousHun]

I honestly feel like this is going to be a hit straight out the gate. Whether it can maintain that in the time between now and Christmas with the current game offerings however, we'll see. But I think good will alone from Switch will make at least the launch period a major success.

I do think some of the criticisms are wild though. So many features and in-depth pieces I've seen from non-gaming publications have called it a new version of the Switch, or an "updated" Switch as if it's not a new console. It is significantly more powerful, there's side-by-side comparisons of some older PS5 titles looking better in docked mode. I feel like Nintendo consistently faces criticism that Sony never gets targeted at them. Hell, one complaint from fanboys on TikTok seems to be the name doesn't differentiate it enough from Switch when that's what Sony has been doing for decades.

And the complaints about battery life are just as bizarre. Steamdeck gets no such complaints, and Switch 2 is more powerful. Current technology doesn't allow for any more battery life because of how much fan power would be required. They would need to charge *hundreds* more to improve it.

 

[Thorium]

Just received my invitation from Nintendo to preorder.

 

[RJF]

Not me getting an invite to preorder.

 

[XXX]

Did they change the prices of the games? Mario Kart World is now 79 (instead of 85) and DK 69 (instead of 75) on two Dutch websites I checked.

I don't know if it has anything to do with Nintendo though as I have no idea how these things work nn.

 

[soratami]

Did they change the prices of the games? Mario Kart World is now 79 (instead of 85) and DK 69 (instead of 75) on two Dutch websites I checked.

MKW is being sold for around 75€ basically everywhere here, but the MSRP is still listed as 90€. Every other game is being sold below the recommended price too, but it remains to be seen whether that's just for the preorder period or if the prices will remain lower after launch. Honestly I don't really see any store actually charging the full 90€, but I guess we'll see.

 

[joe_alouder]

Its pretty comparable to the Steam Deck though outpaced by the ROG Ally range though they also make up their value through Steam and/or Game Pass access that balances out the cost + an open system to do things like emulation (they are also enthusiast products vs ones aimed at families).

The games are the issue, largely as the RRP is a lot harder of a minimum on Nintendo consoles where first party price drops are rare and physical carts are already more expensive to manufacture

 

[Raichu]

This launch is pretty awkward, but if the third parties are on board as they were with the Switch, I think Switch 2 will be successful. I agree that it won't be as successful as the Switch but I think the lack of novelty alone is going to result in a lower selling console than the first.