Since the price of Switch 2 games were quietly announced after the April 2nd Direct, the internet has been whipped into a frenzy. For those who have been happily living their lives under the safety of a rock, let me fill you in on the basics. Mario Kart World, the flagship launch title for the upcoming console, is set to cost £75 in the UK. That’s $80 in the US and €90 in the EU. At the time of writing, this is the only game in the launch lineup with this high a price, with others ranging from £35 with the Bravely Default remaster to £67 with Donkey Kong Bananza.

Bill Trinen has pitched this variable pricing in an interview with GameSpot, saying that it’s based on “just how robust the experience is”, but this isn’t the company’s first rodeo with the model. Looking at first party titles on the Switch, we saw Nintendo’s standard pricing for games fall at £50, with the expansive Zelda titles Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom sitting as outliers at £60. There were also some more experimental retail titles targeting a lower price point, with Sushi Strikers and Miitopia coming in at £40, though at the time I did comment myself that the price for such games might still be too high for people to give them a shot. Going even further we do see the odd retail game come in lower than that with Metroid Prime Remastered standing out at £35, though this is just as much an outlier as the two Zelda titles. Much of what we had on the Switch seems to be present in the Switch 2 game pricing, albeit with a higher ceiling. What may come as a pleasant surprise to some is the fact digital games do see a small discount when compared to their physical counterparts, something I’ve thought would’ve been sensible for years. I wish it wasn’t presented alongside higher prices as a whole, but it’s better to have it than not.

Nintendo fans have, as far as I can see, come to terms with variable pricing. When people saw the two Zelda games being £60 they weren't over the moon, but there was something of an understanding that these higher price tags are limited in number, and easier to justify in terms of the game you're getting. Now that higher price point is becoming the norm, it's not hard to understand the frustration. Especially with it being pushed even higher for a game that doesn't have that same scale and depth as we've seen from Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom.

A £34 game when compared to its £75 RRP almost seems too good to be true.​

Coming back to Mario Kart I really just find myself confused with its pricing as a part of a bundle. Mario Kart World is the sole major first party launch title, I don’t think it’s overstepping to say the vast majority of people picking up the system day one would be buying it anyway. The question of value shifts to whether it’s worth £34 as opposed to £75, and suddenly it doesn’t seem so dramatic. I genuinely cannot fathom why Nintendo would choose a path with so much backlash while also not charging the price they've opened themselves up to backlash for. If we were going to fall back onto the tried and tested line of corporate greed, the offering of a reduced price bundle just doesn’t make sense. Even assuming this was a ploy to make the bundle seem like a better value package to drive sales, it’s really not as though Mario Kart World wouldn’t have leapt off the shelf as a standalone £50 or even £60 release. Mario Kart 8 stands as the highest selling game for both the Wii U and Switch after all, fans have been wanting a new release for years.

An opinion I’ve seen floating around is that this is Nintendo’s first real push towards a more digital-focused ecosystem, and I can see value in that thought. Where Microsoft and Sony asked consumers to go all in with specific digital-only console variants, Nintendo instead opted to have the same console and capabilities with a little nudge here and there. Between Virtual Game Cards to simplify playing across multiple systems, the slightly reduced prices mentioned earlier, and this huge cut for Mario Kart World, I will be genuinely interested to see how physical sales are impacted on the system. How consumers act now is almost certainly going to have a impact on what follows the Switch 2 down the line, and though I don't believe this is necessarily the beginning of the end for physical releases, it is something worth watching.

I feel like there’s a lot to discuss on this topic, but instead of trying to say it all myself, I wanted to put the question out to the larger community. What would make a game worth £75 to you? If it’s a question of how many hours you’d play, what pound per hour ratio do you think is reasonable? If you feel it’s a question of world size, how big would it need to be? Would you just be content if this higher price point demonstrably resulted in higher quality and more complete games out of the gate? Let us know your thoughts below.

 

[orangy57]

My only takeaway from this new pricing is that we miight see game rental services make a comeback.
Wouldn't be surprised if Gamestop decides to do blockbuster-style rentals (considering their awful store is dying and needs a shakeup) or have something like Gamefly make a comeback. Seems like gamefly died because games weren't that expensive in the late 2000s and mail-in services still aren't exactly the most reliable or fastest. With the modern internet though (and apps to track stuff) I could see it gaining more traction.

 

[thekarter104]

Nintendo just used this.

 

[Skv0ra]

I will just make a point that you won't need to rebuy DLC. It's just that DLC isn't included in the upgrade, so you'd have to buy it if not previously owned.

And then announcement from big N: "Good news everyone! You can now add 360p to ALL your DLC as well with - DLC Upgrade Vouchers!"

 

[UltraAziz]

...Those games don't have much "scale and depth", in my well-known opinion - they're the same from beginning to end; boring, derivative open-world tedium. They don't evolve like previous Legend of Zelda games, nor like other open-world games like Ghost of Tsushima.

Wide as an ocean, deep as a mostly dried-up puddle, those two.

Anyway, the main point - pricing. It's definitely going to be ludicrously high in Australia, like all USD->AUD price conversions are, so this will be incredibly frustrating for Aussie gamers. Not looking forward to this one bit, and this is just nonsense, especially since a lot of the revealed games so far are just Switch games with a tiny amount of extra polish or added gameplay. Should be the same price, I'd say, for these re-releases of games that aren't even that old yet.

nintendo is allergic to reasonable business practices

 

[Skv0ra]

My only takeaway from this new pricing is that we miight see game rental services make a comeback.
Wouldn't be surprised if Gamestop decides to do blockbuster-style rentals (considering their awful store is dying and needs a shakeup) or have something like Gamefly make a comeback. Seems like gamefly died because games weren't that expensive in the late 2000s and mail-in services still aren't exactly the most reliable or fastest. With the modern internet though (and apps to track stuff) I could see it gaining more traction.

Not with things like MIG out, and best believe it'll be the first thing ported unless the "psychical" carts will be access code generators vs 56kb string bean holders.

 

[BigOnYa]

Not with things like MIG out, and best believe it'll be the first thing ported unless the "psychical" carts will be access code generators vs 56kb string bean holders.

I seriously doubt the new SW2 carts work on MIG dumpers, if that's what you saying. No way big N gonna let they new games get dumped that easily.

 

[Skv0ra]

I remember Street Fighter II on the SNES with an rrp of £65... that was what, 1992?

But as mentioned in the post, people happily paid £60 for Breath of the Wild, when most other Switch games were cheaper (it irked me back then tbh!) so it's not surprising they're carrying on. Bit greedy when they know it's gonna be the system's biggest seller..
I'll be picking the bundle up so the game will cost me £34 - one heck of a difference...

Donkey Kong for £67 though, that's a weird pricepoint! So it's gonna be on store shelves at £66.99 - next to MK at £74.99... is little Johnny's grandma, buying him a game for Chrimbo, gonna think DK is at that pricepoint instead coz it's a rubbish game? (it might be for all we know, but that's beside the point...)
A non-standard pricepoint must confuse casual/non gamers...

And lets be honest - Breast of the Waifus was in all honesty a cheap imitation of Zero Dawn, and always will be. Tears of the Wallet at least added MS Paint to the equation that should've ALL been there from the very start. And, of course, what voice acting in the MAIN, AAA game for a system? Why bother?

...Those games don't have much "scale and depth", in my well-known opinion - they're the same from beginning to end; boring, derivative open-world tedium. They don't evolve like previous Legend of Zelda games, nor like other open-world games like Ghost of Tsushima.

Wide as an ocean, deep as a mostly dried-up puddle, those two.

Anyway, the main point - pricing. It's definitely going to be ludicrously high in Australia, like all USD->AUD price conversions are, so this will be incredibly frustrating for Aussie gamers. Not looking forward to this one bit, and this is just nonsense, especially since a lot of the revealed games so far are just Switch games with a tiny amount of extra polish or added gameplay. Should be the same price, I'd say, for these re-releases of games that aren't even that old yet.

Look, your smokes cost $30 some AUD for decades, as did games cost prohibitively too much, so if you mates aren't used to it by now - do some online gig work for US clients, for US buckaroos!

Otherwise, NO way in hell am I paying $10 more, for a purely single-only, zero-voice-acted open world RPG from big N when Capcom has Wilds out for $70 and it's GotD in my book already.

Post automatically merged: Apr 20, 2025

I seriously doubt the new SW2 carts work on MIG dumpers, if that's what you saying. No way big N gonna let they new games get dumped that easily.

I'm saying SW2 MIGs will come out faster than ever, IF phys carts will just be a string bean of 1 key vs a program that somehow generates a new code each time based on your mobo s/n or something similar. Both could be possible. $10 surcharge isn't just for a piece of plastic and copper, right?

 

[Scarlet]

And lets be honest - Breast of the Waifus was in all honesty a cheap imitation of Zero Dawn, and always will be. Tears of the Wallet at least added MS Paint to the equation that should've ALL been there from the very start. And, of course, what voice acting in the MAIN, AAA game for a system? Why bother?

They came out less than a week apart, it's not really enough time for one game to imitate the other lol. It's just both use certain open world tropes.

 

[Skv0ra]

They came out less than a week apart, it's not really enough time for one game to imitate the other lol. It's just both use certain open world tropes.

Point being - 2 studios set out to make the same game, in (i believe Zelda was in the over way longer though?) roughly the same time and we get to see their results. One is gorgeous with a deep story and properly challenging and ramping combat, and the other looks like Wallace & Grommit silently went goblin hunting with pitchfolks. I'm never for flair and graphics outright, but when 2 things play near same, but one is also gorgeous and fully voiced.....I'm getting my money's worth!

 

[Scarlet]

Point being - 2 studios set out to make the same game, in (i believe Zelda was in the over way longer though?) roughly the same time and we get to see their results. One is gorgeous with a deep story and properly challenging and ramping combat, and the other looks like Wallace & Grommit silently went goblin hunting with pitchfolks. I'm never for flair and graphics outright, but when 2 things play near same, but one is also gorgeous and fully voiced.....I'm getting my money's worth!

I'm not ashamed to admit I really had a blast with Breath of the Wild (and will likely use the Switch 2 as an excuse to replay it and Tears of the Kingdom) but yeah, from what I've played and seen of the Horizon games they're stellar too. At some point I will set some time aside to properly experience them.

 

[Skv0ra]

I'm not ashamed to admit I really had a blast with Breath of the Wild (and will likely use the Switch 2 as an excuse to replay it and Tears of the Kingdom) but yeah, from what I've played and seen of the Horizon games they're stellar too. At some point I will set some time aside to properly experience them.

I had the opposite exp - Horizon first, and then BotW (just didn't care for it til one bored weekend creeped up), so yea. Zelda is fun, but it's like Animal Crossing vs Terraria.

 

[Arilys]

I remember paying this much for N64 games in the late 90s. It’s kind of crazy that games have stayed relatively the same price. What gets me is paying that much for a digital download code and not an actual physical copy.

The issue with this argument is that most people ignore stuff like:

• Most (if not all) games before the PS1/N64 era were programmed in stuff like Assembly and other languages that are lower level than C
• Even in the PS1/N64 era, a lot of games were a mix of C and those lower languages because using just C often caused performance issues
• There weren't really any "universal" game engines like Unity or Unreal Engine to help with a bunch of things during development
• In the case of gamecarts, they weren't all the same - some games for the same console were more expensive to manufacture because they required additional special chips for physics or other functionalities that weren't available in the "normal" carts
• Pretty much all games (maybe except some weirder bootleg/shovelware ones) came with sizeable instruction manuals that often had texts explaining the games' basic plots and/or character bios, and were often fully coloured and with a whole bunch of illustrations in them
• Some games even brought "collector's edition"-style stuff. An example that pops into my mind is one of the Zelda games (OoT, I think?) having an unfoldable map of Hyrule in the instruction manual (which was A4 size, or close to it, so the map was even larger) plus coming with a metal pin with the game's logo
• Physical games in general weren't as easy and cheap to mass produce and distribute as they are now, so supply was also lower

And probably a bunch of other stuff that I'm forgetting right now, but even these things are reasons for the price differences in the games from your pic.

Don't get me wrong, the whole inflation argument has its truth to it, but I think it oversimplifies things.

Personally, I don't like where Nintendo is going with this. Even for the Switch 1 I thought they were pushing it, so much so that most games I have were bought second hand for 40€ or (often) less, and even the games I got on release I got 10€ to 15€ cheaper than the base price because some stores do those discounts for pre-orders in my country.

I'm probably gonna get the Switch 2 like a month or so after release, to (re)play the games I currently own for the 1 at a more stable FPS, and to keep it offline while I wait for an exploit to go full pirate. I'm not even going to bother getting used games this time because people will probably be selling them for at least 50€, which I refuse to pay for used games.
If Switch 2 ends up not getting exploited then I'll just sell it down the line and use that money to fund a Steam Deck (or Deck 2, if it's announced by that time).

 

[AkiraKurusu]

I'm likely going to get a launch-model Switch 2 at some point, and maybe Bravely Default - and then not use the console whatsoever until someone more intelligent and skilled than myself figures out homebrew.
I mean, with the Switch, I wasn't even interested in it for a whole year after its release (because the JoyCons looked incredibly gimmicky and no interesting games at that point), so I can wait at least a couple months before buying a Switch 2 and one game.

Post automatically merged: Apr 20, 2025

If Switch 2 ends up not getting exploited then I'll just sell it down the line and use that money to fund a Steam Deck (or Deck 2, if it's announced by that time).

Oh, it's almost certainly going to get exploited at some point - every single one of Nintendo's previous consoles has been rooted at some point, after all, so I see it as a matter of "when" and "how" rather than "if".

If it requires a modchip, then hey homebrew yay great job guys, but also disappointing for myself as I have no experience with soldering (or any of the equipment required) to install the chip. Win some, lose some, as I'd see it.

 

[darkangel5000]

I really have many, many thoughts about this.

First of all I'm simply not a fan of the pricing because it'll price a lot of middle class families out of purchasing these games. I know some people say that gaming is a luxury and I agree to a certain degree because it's not a living necessity, but let's be real - it's just not. You know what's real luxury? A Rolex, owning a yacht, Porsche, Gucci, Prada, heck, even a GeForce X090-card to a certain degree. Just things where raw spending power outweighs the use of a thing. You can get a cheap bag that'll do the same as the Gucci bag, you can still get a fast car for a reasonable price that just doesn't have the motor in the trunk. But you can't get a "New Nintendo" without buying the Switch 2 and it's games. And no matter how long back I look on gaming as a whole - and even Nintendo in particular, it has always been accessible to all classes. Was 60€ already a lot for lower income families? Sure, but it was doable, very doable. But 90€ in this economy? It's just madness.

And here the "MuH InFlaTiOn" argument comes into play.
Sure, gaming companies aren't our friends and they're driven by pure corporate greed and they always have been. But realistically it's insanely tone deaf to price games at 90€, while the net purchasing power in Europe has been on a steep decline for 90% of the population since.... well, forever? After a lot of discussions I have realized that a lot of US citizens can't really comprehend, because the US median income has risen +100% since the SNES era and renting at horrendous pricing is far less prevalent than it is here (unless you live in downtown $megacity).

But for you, I can tell you an anecdotal thing - combined my parents made less money than I do now (inflation adjusted of course), but they could care for 4 kids, could offer them a plethora of video games and playthings, going on vacation was at least a yearly occurance. Life was just good. Not perfect, but good. Carefree. Nowadays, with my higher-than-median income, I can give 50% of my net income to my landlord (with the prospect of it rising to 60% within 5 years), another 25% to grocery stores, transportation eats up another chunk of the paycheck. And right here Nintendo asks me to shell out 90€ for a kart racing game.

Is that Nintendos problem? Nope. But personally I can't justify putting 25-35% of my remaining monthly budget into one game, when back then even one of those ominous 145USD ExHiRom SA-1 unicorns amounted for only ~5-10% of the remaining monthly spending budget. As I said before, 60€ still hurt nowadays, but 90€ is really pushing the boundaries of what is doable for A LOT of people.

But I get it - living has been getting more expensive for everyone, including Nintendo employees. I just can't believe in good faith that any net profits that will be made on the back of the 50% price hike will directly go to the workers. And if everyone else, in all industries, increases their prices, this'll end in a price spiral that will know no end. And if you ask me it has already begun, most of it just doesn't show yet.

Anyways... On the other hand I'm BAFFLED by the huge differences in pricing overall. As far as I'm aware ALL first/second party titles except for Donkey Kong Bananza and BotW-S2E (69.99) were scheduled to be preorderable at 79.99USD, before Orangeman dropped his tariffs bomb. However, in continental Europe they're all priced at 79.99€ - with MKW being the exception at 89.99€. This just weirds me out, if the pricing was consistent across all markets - yeah, alright, whatever. But this? What is this?

And while I'm speaking directly about prices of certain games: Rereleasing a 9 year old game without the DLC that was already included in the definitive edition and without the option to still play it on the predecessor platform for only 20€ more compared to the Switch 1-Upgrade path, BUT I save myself a download? What a fucking steal. Corporate megaminds did it again, people are just swallowing it as if it was cotton candy, trade experts are baffled by how much you can beat up your customer base without them even noticing a fucking thing.

Also 90€ games will set a new precedent for other publishers. Ubisoft, EA, Sony, Microsoft - all of them were already greedily rubbing their grubby little company hands and waiting for the others to raise prices to a new height. They tested the waters with pre-launch access passes, battle passes, service games, "premium" editions that offered nothing but cosmetics DLC, even going into the new generation with 80€ games - and still they all waited and probably hoped that GTA6 will be the first 90 or even 100€ game. But now Nintendo did it, the family friendly out of the bunch. The one that proudly shows "Every kid had a gameboy with Pokemon back then"-imagery in their trailers. Wanna know what will happen next? Rockstar/2K won't have any scrutiny left to release GTA at 90 or 100€. The others will follow soon. 90€ games will be the new 80€ game will be the new 60€ game. If you grew up on Nintendo Handhelds starting with the NDS you will witness a 50€ price increase within 20 years: From 40€ DS games to 50€ 3DS games to 60€ Switch games to 90€ Switch 2 games. Trust me - the others will follow. And Nintendo will too, expect late Switch 2 games to be 100€ - and Switch 3 games to be 100€ at least. Mark my words, historically it has always been the same, there is no evidence that would suggest it will go any other way this time around.

Furukawa's Nintendo is a very different company than Iwata's Nintendo was, let's face the truth.
But the world is also a very different place than it was back when the Wii U launched, so it checks out.


So... what do I think about the Switch 2 itself?
I'm still hyped about it, I think the system itself is fairly priced for what it can offer.

But the game pricing made it so, that I can't really enjoy said hype anymore.
Because it means that I'm suddenly left out as a buyer and why should I hype myself up for game releases that I only get to enjoy months later, when I can get them second hand at a more reasonable price?
And that is my stance about the games, tbh. I will get the system with MKW day one, I saved up for the console anyways. After the initial setup it will be kept offline and I hope a hack emerges within the first two years. If it does not, I will happily buy two years worth of S2 releases second hand. Nintendo won't see a single cent from me after June 5th.

 

[Skv0ra]

I'm still hyped about it, I think the system itself is fairly priced for what it can offer.

I mean, what can it though? No Monster Hunter Wilds port at launch? For a big N system? Not a great show and they game will still be SUPER hot for next year and a half at bare minimum.

 

[darkangel5000]

I mean, what can it though? No Monster Hunter Wilds port at launch? For a big N system? Not a great show and they game will still be SUPER hot for next year and a half at bare minimum.

I'm pretty stoked to see Nvidia DLSS in a handheld, when the entire SteamDeck-like market is saturated with AMD graphics and the far inferior FSR.

The screen is exciting news to me, 120Hz HDR is nothing new for anyone that bought a new phone somewhen in the last 6 years, but even with SteamDeck-likes it's still not quite "normal".

12Gigs of shared RAM is lackluster, but should be more than enough if devs don't decide to be lazy cunts once more (looking at you, gamefreak).

When I actively go out of my way to ignore the lack of games: At least for now the Switch 2 is the far better deal compared to other handhelds on the market, while being competetively priced (i.e. SteamDeck is the cheapest at 419€, Switch2 is 469€, ROG Ally Z1 is 499€)

Considering how big MonHun is, it'll only be a matter of time before it gets ported to S2. And let's be real, the publishers probably didn't show their hand yet, due to the-artist-formerly-known-as-E3 being right around the corner and going toes to heels with the S2 launch window. The direct was just too vague with the release dates of the games overall. "Releases 2025." Yeah, okay, we're already a quarter deep into 2025 mate and 6 months in by the time the system drops. So, like, WHEN in 2025 ffs?

 

[Skv0ra]

I'm pretty stoked to see Nvidia DLSS in a handheld, when the entire SteamDeck-like market is saturated with AMD graphics and the far inferior FSR.

The screen is exciting news to me, 120Hz HDR is nothing new for anyone that bought a new phone somewhen in the last 6 years, but even with SteamDeck-likes it's still not quite "normal".

12Gigs of shared RAM is lackluster, but should be more than enough if devs don't decide to be lazy cunts once more (looking at you, gamefreak).

When I actively go out of my way to ignore the lack of games: At least for now the Switch 2 is the far better deal compared to other handhelds on the market, while being competetively priced (i.e. SteamDeck is the cheapest at 419€, Switch2 is 469€, ROG Ally Z1 is 499€)

Considering how big MonHun is, it'll only be a matter of time before it gets ported to S2. And let's be real, the publishers probably didn't show their hand yet, due to the-artist-formerly-known-as-E3 being right around the corner and going toes to heels with the S2 launch window. The direct was just too vague with the release dates of the games overall. "Releases 2025." Yeah, okay, we're already a quarter deep into 2025 mate and 6 months in by the time the system drops. So, like, WHEN in 2025 ffs?

Still, given $450 tag, and market being a real thing and all, Legion Go is the real portable to get if you can't pony up twice as much for a laptop, if if you a hand-held. And Legion Go is 100% Windows with all of its benefits that instantly outweigh $80 games you don't even own.

 

[SuffahBish]

Yeah, sorry bros. I won't even spend $70 on games let alone $80. I just wait for sales now. And... Nintendo games never go on sale.

 

[realtimesave]

Time will tell. People's $ will speak. If they aren't selling enough units, the price will probably fall. Mario Kart probably will sell too many for them to need to lower the price though.

 

[Viri]

Time will tell. People's $ will speak. If they aren't selling enough units, the price will probably fall. Mario Kart probably will sell too many for them to need to lower the price though.

Most will probably get Mario Kart World for 50 dollars, because of the Switch 2 bundle anyway. 50 dollars for Mario Kart World is a good price.

Post automatically merged: Apr 21, 2025

My only takeaway from this new pricing is that we miight see game rental services make a comeback.
Wouldn't be surprised if Gamestop decides to do blockbuster-style rentals (considering their awful store is dying and needs a shakeup) or have something like Gamefly make a comeback. Seems like gamefly died because games weren't that expensive in the late 2000s and mail-in services still aren't exactly the most reliable or fastest. With the modern internet though (and apps to track stuff) I could see it gaining more traction.

Check your local library, they might already have video games there. My city library has a website, and indeed lets you rent out Switch/PS5/3DS/Xbox games for free.