The Nintendo Switch 2 was made public on Jan. 16. Nintendo presented new games such as Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong, and DuskBloods for the new console. While the announcement has made fans excited for the Switch 2, Nintendo revealed that the console will cost $450, making it a steep price. They also added that digital games cost $80, with physical games priced at $90. This left Nintendo fans furious, thinking the console was not worth it due to how expensive the games are.
Around the time of the announcement, President Donald Trump introduced worldwide tariffs. This influenced Nintendo’s decision to delay the Nintendo Switch 2. Originally set to release on April 9 in the United States, it was decided that Nintendo would update the release date to June 5. After tariffs, Nintendo Switch 2 accessories increased in price by up to $5-$10.
For example, according to polygon.com, Bill Trinen, Vice President of Player & Product Experience at Nintendo, explains that consumers live in an era where inflation is affecting day-to-day prices and the nature of technology, giving Nintendo a reason to increase their prices. “They’re certainly a lot more expensive than 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,” said Trinen. Trinen also highlighted what’s different about the Nintendo Switch 2 console and how it feels, adding that Joy-Cons are redesigned with mouse controls and system-wide chat, impacting the price.
Nintendo fans’ curiosity about rising software prices mirrors Nintendo’s release of the Wii U, for which Nintendo began charging $60 for every game. This continued for over a decade until The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom arrived in 2023, retailing for $70. Two years later, Nintendo increased game costs up to $80. Trinen points out this trend, commenting that their games have been stable for a long time. He also claims his phone has an advertisement for the SNES game Donkey Kong Country, retailing for $59, that he found in 1993. Moreover, Trinen points out that while it would be great not to be in an era where everything is expensive, that is, unfortunately, not our reality. Nintendo has a high customer demand, and Nintendo marketers need to market their games to a specific audience. Doug Bowser, Nintendo Executive, says that their project has a high budget for their games and development costs, adding to why Nintendo has raised its prices.
Similarly, Trinen describes how they will approach their games for players to enjoy and experience Nintendo’s products, taking into account features such as length, volume, and how in-depth they are. They claim these features account for an appropriate price for their project. “A good example would be something like Tears of the Kingdom on Nintendo Switch. We price that at a higher price point. That didn’t mean all of a sudden that every game on Nintendo Switch was all of a sudden priced at that higher price,” said Trinen. He expressed that they are looking into the experience of Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, believing their current pricing appropriate to their projects and “taking into [account] a lot of these other factors that are just impacting pricing overall in this day and age,” said Trinen. Even if Trinen speaks the truth about their projects, people will still be upset by their price choice, regardless of the quality of their games.
Compared to other video game brands like Xbox and PlayStation, people have greater leniency in paying for them since both companies typically have sales and deals for their games. Nintendo barely puts any games on sale. For example, in 2024, PlayStation’s discounts on Black Friday games reached 90 percent, and Xbox’s Black Friday games had a significant discount, reaching 70 percent. On the other hand, Nintendo’s Black Friday discount capped out at 50 percent. In general, gamers worry Nintendo’s prices will encourage gaming companies to hike their prices. As of May 1, Xbox announced an increase in their games to $80, leading to speculation that Sony will do the same for theirs.
While Nintendo has publicly released statements justifying the high prices, it may be impossible for fans to accept Nintendo’s contributions and forgive them.
