During Nintendo Direct this month, Nintendo provided additional information about the Nintendo Switch 2 following its announcement in January. After announcing several new changes to the Switch 2’s playstyle, Nintendo revealed its new pricing scheme, leaving consumers outraged by the depth of the company’s greed.
When it was released in 2017, the original Nintendo Switch hit the market at $299. However, under the guise of it being a “new-gen” console, the Switch 2 will instead be sold for $449. Switch 2 games, such as the announced “Mario Kart: World,” will sell for $80 instead of the $60 precedent.
The Switch 2 will also feature a new button connecting players with their friends in a similar fashion to Xbox Party Chat, Discord or Skype. This feature will be locked behind an online subscription service, and the camera won’t come with the console, adding to the consumer outrage and reinforcing the criticism of Nintendo’s perceived greed.
As for backward compatibility, upgrades will not be free. Game owners will not be able to transfer their Nintendo Switch games to the Switch 2 without paying a fee. If one owns a physical copy of their Nintendo game, they won’t be able to upload it to the Switch 2 due to the cartridge’s function.
Nintendo cartridges are, in essence, small plastic boxes with a script telling the console to download the game from the internet. Cartridges don’t actually contain any of the game’s data.
Essentially, owners of physical copies of Nintendo games don’t own their games. The thought process behind this is to prevent players from extracting the game from their cartridge and creating emulators. While that may be understandable, it draws similarities to the Ubisoft case, where Ubisoft executive Philippe Tremblay claimed, “Gamers will need to get comfortable not owning their games.”
With Nintendo’s new system of subscription-based games, it’s more economically viable to purchase Switch games online.
Nintendo’s price increase has led to considerable backlash and has rallied the internet against the gaming company, but it seems Nintendo will defend its pricing decision and set the new market precedent.
Nintendo is one of the most well-known gaming companies out there. IPs like Mario or The Legend of Zelda are very popular and very well known. If Nintendo continues to build upon those IPs, establishing a need for the new console, consumers will flock. While what they’re doing is greedy and selfish, they’re going to get away with it.
Gamers can’t restrain themselves from some of Nintendo’s IPs. “While they’re no doubt greedy, they make outstanding games. I don’t see myself as a Nintendo fan, but I wouldn’t say I’m a hater either,” said senior, Lucas Haas. “I have played brilliant games from Nintendo like the Zelda games that were worth every penny.”
What’s worrying is that Nintendo’s price inflation will lead to the setting of a new market precedent. Other companies in the console war, like PlayStation or Xbox, will adjust their prices accordingly after seeing Nintendo get away with it.
Nintendo has forced the hands of these other companies with how they’ve unashamedly marked up their prices. Very soon, consumers might see more $80 price tags on beloved, must-play games.
Haas elaborated on his opinion of how the market has reached this point. “People will buy their games no matter what price they are. We can complain all we want, but the underlying issue is that we’ll still pay full price for those games,” Haas continued, “Nintendo has established this regime because the industry has shown them it’ll work.”
It’s upsetting that Nintendo has so little regard for its consumers that the only way to fix things would be to establish a boycott, which won’t happen. With how many measures they’ve taken to deepen their own pockets, one would conclude that they’re desperate for money, which isn’t the case. Nintendo’s motives are simply greed.
Consumers, however, seem to remain in a mixed conscience about whether or not they’ll buy the Switch 2. “I was thinking I’d buy it when it came out until I heard the price. I don’t want to support their scam, especially with how costly it’d be. Honestly, I don’t plan on buying it unless I stumble upon a small fortune,” said junior Isaiah Eliasen.
