Insider Gaming: Nintendo Has Explained Why The Switch 2 is So Expensive

Lunatic_Gamer

Lunatic_Gamer

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In a recent interview (that was held before Nintendo delayed US pre-orders because of tariffs), Nintendo VP Bill Trinen explained why the price point is so high for the Switch 2. It was an effort to justify what I think is a relatively understandable price tag.

Trinen was upfront and explained:

Number one, we're unfortunately living in an era where I think inflation is affecting everything. And it's affecting everything from day-to-day prices, it's affecting technology and things of that nature.

I think we're also seeing smart devices now… I wish they were not nearly as expensive as they are. They're certainly a lot more expensive than they were when they originally came out in the mid-2000s. So as you add more technology into a system, especially in this day and age, that drives additional cost.
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Trinen also commented on the exorbitant cost of some Nintendo Switch 2 games:

The price of video games has been very stable for a very long time.

I actually have an ad on my phone that I found from 1993, when Donkey Kong Country released on the SNES at $59. That's a very, very long time where pricing on games has been very stable. And so obviously, it would be great if we didn't live in an era when everything is getting more expensive, so there's that reality of it.
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According to the Nintendo VP, each title is considered separately when it comes to pricing, and a variety of factors goes into deciding what tag to assign.

insider-gaming.com

Nintendo Has Explained Why The Nintendo Switch 2 is so Expensive

Nintendo has gone record during an interview explaining why the Nintendo Switch 2 is so expensive compared to the first console.
insider-gaming.com insider-gaming.com

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Eh, as with anything the market will set the price. Nintendo can say it should be this or that, but in the end it's not up to them.

Hopefully they get a wake-up call.
 
Greed. Nintendo will learn with Switch 2 they are not Apple with millions of cultists. I don't mind the hardware costs. It's the expensive software and nickel and diming I take issue with.
 
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Fair price for the console. The games cost more because the market hasn't increased in line with the development costs for the games. Market has been pretty stagnant for a while.
 
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Greedy, Greedy BigN. They dont want so sell the console with a loss and make big Money. Clear opposit to Sony and Microsoft, they make profit with the games.
 
All things considered, 450$ is not that expensive, especially with the huge cheap Switch 1 library. In comparison, the Switch launched at 300$ with all the games needed to be bought again.

And they give their flagship title for 50$ more, which is unusual for Nintendo.
 
Mozza said:
Too much.......... sorry for that....... sometimes you just get too invested on here.
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I get it man. Too much negativity for a product that lots of folks are genuinely excited about. For my part, I'm going to try and not contribute on the negative side any more.
 
I think people are missing the point that at a certain point, you price out the casual buyers, and only leave the dedicated fan bases. I only bought Nintendo games when a specific game came out, and didnt buy any other games that I may have if the price was cheaper.

Maybe with this high initial cost will motivate nintendo to drop the price lower as the game gets older, moreso than they have in the past.
 
I don't see much complaining about the console price itself. I mostly see the complaints being about $80 games and charging for a fucking manual.
 
Mozza said:
Too much.......... sorry for that....... sometimes you just get too invested on here.
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Topher said:
I get it man. Too much negativity for a product that lots of folks are genuinely excited about. For my part, I'm going to try and not contribute on the negative side any more.
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To be honest I think we tend to agree more than we disagree. And you are one of the more level headed posters on here.
 
Sgt.Asher said:
I don't see much complaining about the console price itself. I mostly see the complaints being about $80 games and charging for a fucking manual.
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Very true. And it's only one game that's $80 which you can buy digital for $10 less. or in a bundle for even cheaper. Not sure what the fuss is about to be honest.
 
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Problem really isn't the hardware. I think anyone still clinging to that after all the demos and treehouse footage is living in lalaland.

Its the game prices, but even that imo, I think peoples will see that MKW is a lot more than mario kart in the upcoming direct.

But buckle up with the coming game prices. $100 GTA 6 seems likely.
 
I looked at mario kart world and nothing about that game looked like it was worth 80 dollars. Little to no voice acting, limited animations and the ones they have are probably brought over from mario kart 8, the 'open world' looked rather empty and the textures on things looked average, and it just looked like mario kart. You can't tell me that game took more money to make than cyberpunk 2077, baldur's gate 3 etc with all the voice actors they had to pay and all the story they had to write. They're using inflation as an excuse to screw over consumers.
 
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Price is the price. People will pay it or not. It is some of the other anti-consumer stuff they are doing that has me scratching my head. The Cash button. The $10 demo disc download. It is just not cool IMO.
 
oh boy, oh boy.

We all know that you buy a Nintendo console for Nintendo games. Nintendo has thrived without the support of Third Parties since the Wii.

When you introduce third party games as a selling point for your system, you're now in the same conversation as PlayStation and Steam, bitch. ( we all know Xbox is irrelevant)

So, who is going to buy a SW2 based on Third Party games?

1. A PS consumer has the Portal (which is way cheaper) if they want a portable experience
2. PC players a Steam Deck

In both cases, they already have a library in their accounts.

That leaves potential SW2 consumers as people who are already SW1 consumers (who usually have a PC or a Console as a complement). so, why is there drama around Nintendo Pricing overall? (hardware and games):

Because Nintendo´s hardware is seen as a "toy"; a baby-sitting gadget.
 
Before Tariffs there was absolutely ZERO inflation. So, Nintendo's explanation is, they're really fucking greedy. Which is nothing new.
 
squeakywheel said:
Greed. Nintendo will learn with Switch 2 they are not Apple with millions of cultists. I don't mind the hardware costs. It's the expensive software and nickel and diming I take issue with.
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I hear ya but I reckon 80+ bucks for a game will be the norm soon enough then it m will be 100 bucks for AAA games because of the costs associated with making those types of games. People better get used to it or start looking at subscribtion services
 
For me it's very simple…I like Nintendo games and…..

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Some will say I'm part of the problem and maybe they are right but life is too short to worry about that shit.
 
A lot more people would be fine with a increase to 80 if they made their cartridges like the N64 where everything gets saved in the Cartridge itself so no need to worry about memory cause right now 256gb is pathetic for a console that cost hundreds and in 2025.
 
The market will ultimately decide if the prices are too high or not.

I suspect the first few months we'll see Switch 2 flying off the shelves. After that though...
 
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