Former Nintendo PR Explains Why Switch Games Rarely Go on Sale: ‘This Isn’t Ubisoft’

Nintendo's business practices and pricing keep their people employed and more chances to get more of what we willingly purchase from them. I imagine if more studios followed Nintendo's lead there would be a lot less closures. More people employed bringing me more of what I want. I'm overly simplifying things but it's not untrue.

I don't know why this whole thing is so offensive to some people. If it's not worth it to you to buy it, then don't buy it. People poor their hearts out to developers who willingly and unwillingly crunch their aspirins off. However some of these same people dare not give more than $20 for all that effort.
 
That's an awesome podcast by the way. It's so much better than Nintendo Minute was. They're former Nintendo employees, and not just any, I believe one of them had an executive role. They're sometimes critical of Nintendo now, with really interesting opinions. It's really good content.
 
Last edited:
That's actually nice, because it also works the other way around. I am never on the fence on buying a Nintendo product that only slightly interests me, because I know it will never go on sale. So I just don't buy it and never think about it again. Precise reason for which I buy very few Nintendo games
I feel this. There has been multiple times for me where I saw a game after release and said to myself, hmm that's looks cool. But it's a 3+ year old game for full price. Not buying. Then it just completely slips my mind as there are a billion other great games to play. I feel the same when I do catch trailers from the jump and think they look good, not great. If I don't want it day 1, I don't want it ever with Nintendo policies.

I'm guessing they have the data/sales to show themselves this works, but from me, Nintendo has lost a good amount of money and they seem to be doubling down on that strategy.
 
they can be art. the vast majority of them are just entertainment (like movies, books, music, etcetera)

Sure. Video games can be artistic, but I don't view them as part of the arts. That's a personal view that we've debated on this forum many times. I'd rather not do that again.

However, I cannot see how we can lable all Nintendo games as some form of high art, therefore giving Nintendo carte blanche to charge whatever they like. Mario Kart World might be fun, but art is is not.
 
Sure. Video games can be artistic, but I don't view them as part of the arts. That's a personal view that we've debated on this forum many times. I'd rather not do that again.

However, I cannot see how we can lable all Nintendo games as some form of high art, therefore giving Nintendo carte blanche to charge whatever they like. Mario Kart World might be fun, but art is is not.
is not a question of debate. videogames can be art.
 
Sure. Video games can be artistic, but I don't view them as part of the arts. That's a personal view that we've debated on this forum many times. I'd rather not do that again.

However, I cannot see how we can lable all Nintendo games as some form of high art, therefore giving Nintendo carte blanche to charge whatever they like. Mario Kart World might be fun, but art is is not.

It definitely is, You can have your opinion about whether it's good art or not, but there is no real debate that it's art.
 
People complain about Nintendo's new pricing structure like it matters. Their fans have spoken for decades that they aren't afraid to spend more than everyone else.
 
Nintendo used to have the players choice lineup when they were less successful. They got way more successful and suddenly "we're never dropping our game prices again. Not sorry."
You can't punish users for buying the game at launch without losing sales up front to people who will just wait for a price cut.
Right now millions of users are waiting for the price of AstroBot to drop.
 
We've known this forever. Based on the numbers of a lot of first party Switch games the position has paid off for Nintendo.
 
If you look at buying videogames like some sort of money investment... then yeah that's not great.
If you look at buying games like spending money on entertainment I don't see how it isn't good for me as a consumer.

With every other publisher you get options. Pay full price to get the game day 1 or wait 6-12 months to get it on sale for 30-50% off (let's be honest, the times of 50% off after 3 months are mostly gone). With Nintendo it's pay full price now or pay full price 3 years later. As a consumer I don't see that as a benefit.
It's not a money investment thing. It's not feeling stupid for buying full price. There's a reason people hold off on buying Ubi games. I waited until PoP was half off, and it got there in a year. Since I'm in no hurry, why would I buy at full price?

It just devalues your games early. There's a reason Mario+Rabbids 2 didn't do as well as the first, who reached $12 in a year. Some bought it for $12, why would they buy the second one at full $60?

The games do go on sale, but prob a year and a half after release, and only to 33%.
 
3.png


Screenshot-2025-04-10-224440.jpg


3.webp


2.webp


We used to get discounted reprints of popular games on all Nintendo platforms (console and handheld) from NES through Wii U. But some Nintendo greedysuit in the Switch era decided that was too "Ubisoft" and not "Apple" enough.
 
Never knew that Super Mario Galaxy was an Ubisoft game all along!
MLUVSNx.jpeg

Also, throwing a pretty loyal partner under the bus like that is nasty work, but I guess that it's not their problem as they don't work at Nintendo anymore.
Yeah but Players' choice/Nintendo Selects launches usually when the console starts to flop, which still isn't the case with the Switch
Not true, it launched on Game Boy, SNES, Nintendo 64 (successful console in North America), GBA, Wii and 3DS.
 
Last edited:
Because the western industry are 100% right and absolutely flourishing, I presume?
You are absolutely right ... I would gladly pay 100 dollars for a western game if it meant I didnt have to endure certain "modern" things.. so if nintendo fans want to support their dev who traditionally release exactly what they like .. fuck it .. pay the price, I would too.
 
Exclusivity sells no matter how much people pretend it doesn't. Your wife wouldn't want that $3000 Louis Vuitton bag if it was cheap.

The reason Nintendo goes so hard against emulation is the same reason that LV goes against counterfeiters. They don't actually care that a few thousands are pirating their games except that it takes away their (manufactured) exclusivity.
 
is not a question of debate. videogames can be art.

Sure. There are games that have an artistic quality, but video games overall are not art.

It definitely is, You can have your opinion about whether it's good art or not, but there is no real debate that it's art.

Of course it's debatable.

Video games are engineered more like toys or services than artistic statements. If we accept these as art, then where do we draw the line? Is Call of Duty art? Rocket League? Madden? Candy Crush? Is Mario Kart such a work of art that Nintendo can charge what they like?

The debate starts to go south from here as it becomes a philosophical question of what is art etc. Probably best if we all just move on.
 
Sure. There are games that have an artistic quality, but video games overall are not art.

Video games are engineered more like toys or services than artistic statements.
contradiction detected


if videogames can have
artistic quality such as an artistic statement
then they are art.


If we accept these as art, then where do we draw the line? Is Call of Duty art? Rocket League? Madden? Candy Crush? Is Mario Kart such a work of art that Nintendo can charge what they like?
You haven't even defined what your definition of "art" is (which, judging by your frame of mind, seems pretty clueless).

The debate starts to go south from here as it becomes a philosophical question of what is art etc.
No need for a philosophical/academic debate.

pretty simple and pragmatic:

"Art" is meant to signify something that is able to produce emotional, existential, cognitive, or philosophical catharsis.

Academic definitions, still rooted in classism and romanticism regarding the "fine arts," ironically ignore the real-world evolution of "the arts," evaluating them as an immutable and stagnant human activity detached form technology, politics and economic factors.

Edit: And I will argue that video games are the most sophisticated art medium
 
Last edited:
They are also raising the price of over 8 year old Breath of the wild to 70$ on Switch 2. With what I would guess minimum upgrades.
 
Of course it's debatable.
Nope
Video games are engineered more like toys or services than artistic statements. If we accept these as art, then where do we draw the line? Is Call of Duty art? Rocket League? Madden? Candy Crush? Is Mario Kart such a work of art that Nintendo can charge what they like?

It goes without saying they are, no point wasting time drawing a line.
Regardless, developers can charge whatever they want for their games period, this has nothing to do with the fact they are art.
 
Not true, it launched on Game Boy, SNES, Nintendo 64 (successful console in North America), GBA, Wii and 3DS.
I used wrong term, I said "starts to flop" (which doesn't really make sense), I should've said "when the console sales started to colapse" (like the Wii did all of a sudden, the 3DS did pretty much starting half of its life, etc. In comparison, the DS didn't have any, despite being between 2 consoles having a select line (GBA and 3DS).
 
contradiction detected


if videogames can have
artistic quality such as an artistic statement
then they are art.



You haven't even defined what your definition of "art" is (which, judging by your frame of mind, seems pretty clueless).


No need for a philosophical/academic debate.

pretty simple and pragmatic:

"Art" is meant to signify something that is able to produce emotional, existential, cognitive, or philosophical catharsis.

Academic definitions, still rooted in classism and romanticism regarding the "fine arts," ironically ignore the real-world evolution of "the arts," evaluating them as an immutable and stagnant human activity detached form technology, politics and economic factors.

Edit: And I will argue that video games are the most sophisticated art medium

Nope


It goes without saying they are, no point wasting time drawing a line.
Regardless, developers can charge whatever they want for their games period, this has nothing to do with the fact they are art.

Guys, I'm not debating this. If you think video games are art then that's your opinion. I respect that.

I will say this. Calling video games the most sophisticated art medium however is wild. Absolutely wild statement there. A medium that is shockingly poor at story telling. Wow.
 
This has been BS depending on market for a while. You find sales in UK/EU all the time. They can't fix prices even if they try to threaten retailers.

Nintendo are tossers. Really showing their colours lately.
 
The narrative that Nintendo games don't go on sale is false. I didn't even buy Mario Odyssey and Splatoon 2 at launch prices. They just don't go for pennies 1 month after release.
 
There games i truly want to play I will get the second they come out and not even consider looking at the price cause its irrelevant.
FF7Remake, Kingdom Hearts, Halo 2.
for the last decade 90% of those have been coming from nintendo


Guys, I'm not debating this.

I already said it wasn't a debate, it's just a fact.
 
Last edited:
Low budget games that never get cheap, such a good combo.
I wouldn't necessarily equate a game's development budget with how fun, engaging or innovative it is. If the consumers are "happy" paying that price to play it, why would the publisher ever drop it?

An indie game could be just as fun, innovative or engaging as a 350M budgeted Sony AAA title.
 
Rarely =/= Never

They do have sale but it's uncommon and when it is on sale; it's not that much of a discount compared the competitors.
 
Nintendo's stance on this is correct outside of yearly sports titles a games value shouldn't change and companies devalue their product by CONSTANTLY putting them on sale

Hell there is an entire "cheap ass gamer" culture because they KNOW if they wait a few months the single player game they want will just keep dropping in price. Thus the 300 million spent to develop a game isn't getting anywhere close to its maximum rate of return.
 
Nintendo has said this for decades (minus the Ubisoft part). It's only new news if you literally were born yesterday

Where's that thread at which said Nintendo has 72 first party titles which have sold over 1M units, seems like their strategy is more successful than Ubisoft
 
Last edited:
Nintendo has said this for decades (minus the Ubisoft part). It's only new news if you literally were born yesterday

Where's that thread at which said Nintendo has 72 first party titles which have sold over 1M units, seems like their strategy is more successful than Ubisoft
Considering the amount of games published by Ubisoft, I wouldn't bet against them having a similar amount of million sellers since 2017.
 
What a dishonest statement. Nintendo games before the Switch used to go on sale after selling a certain amount. They just got greedy and they need to own up to that.

cCxcOUJ.jpeg


large.jpg


Agreed and saved me a post. ^

This company theses days is greedy as fuck.

So when they are like "this isn't Ubisoft" well...yea, they are not as greedy as Nintendo, I don't know if anyone currently is as greedy as this fucking company right now.

Let me remind folks, the same dumbass company saying this shit, had no issues rolling out Star Fox Zero...
I'm definitely gonna agree with Lokaum D+ Lokaum D+ On this one.

The biggest problem with the gameplay argument that Nintendo fans might have is not only does this company seem to have a habit of copying Ubisoft, But a lot of their top franchises conceptually have remained stagnant for an extremely long time to the point where it's very difficult to try to put pokemon on some big totem Pole and pretend as if this is supposed to be the pinnacle of gaming

So I often find it weird that some Nintendo fans will spend their Energy attacking Call of Duty or Assassin's Creed for fuck sakes maybe some of you should be supporting the idea that those publishers are releasing games that support their fanbase just like you're getting from those Nintendo games so it's a very slippery slope I'm not even sure WHY Nintendo fans think they're winning a battle by trying to attack other publishers like this

So we need to fucking remind people apparently that nothing's going on differently in those pokemon games that warrants a $70 price tag, The fact that the biggest feature happening in Mario kart is some shit that Ubisoft did 2 generations ago makes this even more suspect,

all some of you are telling us is you've just learned about the existence of The Crew lol


Nintendo fans remind me of Apple fans, they seem to be cult like, praise the company to no end, seem to have no idea the features the company is showing them that is over priced EXIST ELSE WHERE and then pretend the dated thing they are using, was invented by said company and then argue that its ok, cause more like them buy in record numbers, thus it most prove some point, which btw ONLY can be done to argue something good with Nintendo, suddenly when Fifa, Madden, Call Of Duty, Assassins' Creed, Fortnite, GTA move record numbers, that also means the quality is bad using their fucking logic...
i like their games, i hate the company and how they do business.

Same. I'm getting Switch 2 day 1, lots of IP I'll buy from them, but I never get those that try to defend their suspect business practices. Nintendo imho literally is up there with the greediest beyond any thing folks have claimed about EA or Ubisoft or Activsion or Take Two or any of the usual easy targets.
 
Work Wow GIF by Offline Granny!


Edit: Yeah, its clearly not Ubisoft


such a premium product for U$ 70

Pokemon-Ugly.jpg


trash tier product also U$70
E5A7077AF9F7F35189EFAFB868C7447F24FA76B9


Nintendo dosnt work on "brand recognition" they work on "fanboyism retardation"
This! It's not just the brand recognition,they just know how easy it is to prey on their fanboys that would buy actual dogshit if it had a Mario cap on it!

Also there are plenty of well known companies out there outside Ubisoft that make quality products that still go on sale so no it's not just the quality of the product keeping it from going on sale it's just Nintendo doing things their greedy way because the warrior zealot part of their fanbase not only allow such practices but feverishly defend them like the good dogs they are.

In the same way Apple can charge their idiot customers the same outrageous prices for the most insignificant updates to their "new" product because they know they'll just flock to it regardless.
 
Last edited:
This! It's not just the brand recognition,they just know how easy it is to prey on their fanboys that would buy actual dogshit if it had a Mario cap on it!

Also there are plenty of well known companies out there outside Ubisoft that make quality products that still go on sale so no it's not just the quality of the product keeping it from going on sale it's just Nintendo doing things their greedy way because the warrior zealot part of their fanbase not only allow such practices but feverishly defend them like the good dogs they are.

In the same way Apple can charge their idiot customers the same outrageous prices for the most insignificant updates to their "new" product because they know they'll just flock to it regardless.

Pretty much, they could never catch me on any of that nostalgia shit, of course there's lots of properties I like but the game needs to be good simply having Mario or a link slopped on it doesn't fucking mean I'm going to purchase it

There are so many properties I've just completely ignored and just sunset because it's like I'm moving on and the property is no longer giving what I desire, Showing Mario's face or any iconography from a property is never really going to be an instant buy for me

The shit still actually needs to be good...

So in situations like that I favor gameplay above all else which means if it's not giving me the thing I liked before I'm usually more open to moving on regard.

I literally say this about my favorite property in the entire planet, If the shit is not good it's being sunset...

Star fox 64 is 1 of my all time favorite games if we could track ours back in the 64 days I could almost assure people my friends and I would have had thousands of hours in that damn game, That doesn't mean I'm buying starfox zero cause you show me a fucking dog in a ship lol 😂

So there's this weird elitist high brow attitude Nintendo fans seem to have in the irony as they seem to be the ones that play some of the dated worst type of shit thinking that it's this Deep thing.

Like my God imagine this many generations pass the crew someone thinks that concept is this brand new fucking thing cause Mario Karts slapped on it lol

They are the Apple fans acting like 4K was invented by Apple cause they late and out of touch with technology.
 
What a dishonest statement. Nintendo games before the Switch used to go on sale after selling a certain amount. They just got greedy and they need to own up to that.

cCxcOUJ.jpeg


large.jpg

:messenger_grinning_smiling: I remember as a kid I always saw the PS1 greatest hit's banner as some kind of mark of shame. That garish green sidebar, marring my cover art, mocking me. Thinking "I can't even trade this one in, they'll laugh at me"

Anyone else ever feel that way, or was I just an unhinged young lad?
 
Never knew that Super Mario Galaxy was an Ubisoft game all along!
MLUVSNx.jpeg

Also, throwing a pretty loyal partner under the bus like that is nasty work, but I guess that it's not their problem as they don't work at Nintendo anymore.

Not true, it launched on Game Boy, SNES, Nintendo 64 (successful console in North America), GBA, Wii and 3DS.
Ubisoft at one point had close co ab with Nintendo sharing rabid franchise etc.
 
I would like to know if there is a group of people that believe GP is not devaluing games and Nintendo not dropping the prices is also right because it devalues their games.

And no, Ubisoft does not devalue games by dropping prices, but by releasing the same game again and again in a different wrapper.
 
Let's not put video games and Nintendo on such a high pedestal.

Video games can be artistic, but they're not art. They are games. Games that started out as electronic toys for children.
Do not agree on that. The kind of craft that is required to create a great game, in all the areas (code, graphics, music, gameplay, direction) is at a such level that the only way to consider them is art exactly the same as cinema and music. It started from toys, it evolved in an art and has been transformed in an industry (that in many cases exploit artists and artisans). Nintendo has some of the best artists around in that area and they correctly protect the value of what they produce.
 
pokemon games plays great? its the exact same gameplay all these years...

I mean, that's a part of the appeal is it not?

Like many other classics, it's what people want. Nike still make the Air. McDonald's the Big Mac. Gregg's their sausage rolls. Hasbro Monopoly and Hungry Hungry Hippos.

Series like Assassin's Creed are different as the underlying mechanics are mostly novel, so they heavily rely on the story and background, which is subjective and something they sometimes fuck up.
 
pokemon games plays great? its the exact same gameplay all these years...

If it ain't broke don't fix it I guess. I've never played one personally but they certainly sell, and people definitely aren't buying them for the graphics.
 
Last edited:
Nintendo has some of the best artists around in that area and they correctly protect the value of what they produce.

Nintendo are protecting the value of their games? Is that what we're using as a defence now. Lol.

This is the sort of attitude that gives Nintendo the licence to exploit their fans.
 
Top Bottom