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Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa explains Switch 2 price increases in recent Financial Results Briefing

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As a part of their Financial Results Briefing for the previous year, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa took to the floor to answer key questions around the Switch 2 and the company's approach for the coming year. The most pressing among these related to the upcoming price increases to the system, as well the reasoning behind the differing values from region to region.

Shuntaro Furukawa said:
This change in hardware pricing was not due to any one specific factor. Rather, the decision was made in light of various changes in the recent market conditions which we believe will have a medium- to long-term impact on the global outlook of our dedicated video game platform business.

Regarding Nintendo Switch 2, the basic approach to our dedicated video game platform business remains unchanged: first expand the hardware installed base, and then drive software sales. If the increase in costs were seen as something temporary that would subside relatively soon, then we could have pursued other options, such as working to improve productivity and expand the installed base while maintaining hardware prices.

Unfortunately, the recent surge in memory and other component prices, and the changes in the market environment, including trends in the foreign exchange market and the price of oil, are all factors that we anticipate will continue over the medium to long term. As a result, we felt that the profitability of our hardware would suffer significantly if we maintained our existing pricing, potentially impacting our business operations over this time frame. For the sustained growth of our dedicated video game platform business, it is important to maintain a healthy earnings structure for our overall business. For this reason, we made the difficult decision to reflect a portion of our costs in the selling price.

The reason that the extent of the price revision differs from region to region is because each region is impacted to a different degree by the various changes in the market environment.
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Furukawa also concedes that this increase will raise the barrier of entry for the platform, though stresses that Nintendo's focus is on delivering fun that is "worth more than the price", promising a variety of new experiences unique to the Switch 2.

Shuntaro Furukawa said:
I will not discuss the specifics of how this price revision could impact Nintendo Switch 2 sales, but we recognize that this raises the barrier for entry to a certain extent for people deciding whether to make a purchase.

That being said, the most important thing in our dedicated video game platform business is to offer engaging fun that is worth more than the price. Going forward, Nintendo and other software publishers plan to release a variety of titles, and we aim to expand the installed base by conveying that these titles offer new experiences unique to Nintendo Switch 2.

While uncertainties remain regarding future trends in component prices, we recognize that they could have an impact not only this year but next year as well. As for what comes after that, we will make necessary preparations to ensure that we can respond flexibly to whatever situation arises.
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Those interested in reading more of the Q&A summary can find the full release below, translated into English directly by Nintendo.

:arrow: Source
 
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64bitmodels said:
Buying a brand new console in this age of jumping MSRPs is just asking to get fleeced and paying money to AI overlords who consider their data centers more important than your drinking water. Stay cool, buy used!
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Don't know if I'm just reading this wrong but the AI companies aren't the ones receiving the money from higher prices, it's the IC makers to the point that one RAM company left the consumer space.

The AI companies just cause the inflation/shortages because they're busy trying to turn the world into a Cyberpunk dystopia and so are buying all the stock and receiving priority over consumers.

I do wonder though what the crossover is between people complaining about the AI price rises and those who also say "I asked ChatGPT"? Because I do put part of the blame on willing cloud AI users because if no one used cloud AI there would be less of a need for data centre expansion.
 
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I miss when these consoles used to get CHEAPER over time. Anyone remember when the 2DS was 80 bucks and came with a copy of mario kart? You'd think they'd at least include one of their games for free to soften the blow.

Also is there even a president for Nintendo of America anymore? I swear every announcement is always this dude.
 
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tech3475 said:
I do wonder though what the crossover is between people complaining about the AI price rises and those who also say "I asked ChatGPT"? Because I do put part of the blame on willing cloud AI users because if no one used cloud AI there would be less of a need for data centre expansion.
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Your average person using AI as a glorified search engine isn't helping matters, but the bigger focus of AI expansion has always been surveillance and data gathering. There's more money in selling your profile to other companies than there is in trying to sell a subscription to you.
 
How are pirates going to explain to furukawa that they don't mind the price increase? it's ultimately a paperweight one way or the other until the day comes.
 
They are blamed on AI companies for hoard tons of hardware like RAM, GPU, CPU, storage (HDD and SSD) to shortages then gone super faster. They already know.

People would destroy power grid energy buildings would damage or hurt to AI companies for good reasons. Blow up power grid energy buildings.

Reason why AI companies are worst ever must stop now! :angry::angry:
 
These are tricky times indeed...
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Xzi said:
Your average person using AI as a glorified search engine isn't helping matters, but the bigger focus of AI expansion has always been surveillance and data gathering. There's more money in selling your profile to other companies than there is in trying to sell a subscription to you.
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I'd say we are one step further down the road, unfortunately. It's not even your data anymore, you are not even the product anymore. It is human patterns, behaviors, language and action that is valuable now. The unit of the individual is becoming teivial other than in the case of criminals.
 
With the situation going on, it was not a matter of if, but when. Nintendo held off as long as they could, but they can't do it forever. Until something happens to AI that causes component prices to go back down, your every day devices are going to rise in price.
 
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I wonder if it would be economically viable to release a Switch 2 console, that costs 100-200 dollars more, but it's hackable (not ready for "backups" when you open the box, you still have to put in effort to make it happen).

I'd buy one of those, probably, these regular Switch 2 they're trying to sell... Not interested.
 
Price increase for promise of better games....

Aka more multiple IP rip off shovelware....
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Lol even a palworld clone is in the shop, so I wonder if nintendo will sue them as it is a clone of a clone of a recycled shit game right?
 
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TVL said:
I wonder if it would be economically viable to release a Switch 2 console, that costs 100-200 dollars more, but it's hackable (not ready for "backups" when you open the box, you still have to put in effort to make it happen).

I'd buy one of those, probably, these regular Switch 2 they're trying to sell... Not interested.
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According to AI, the average Switch owner spent 800-900 dollars on games over its lifetime. So if you want to propose your idea you would probably have to raise your offer quite a bit.
 
subcon959 said:
According to AI, the average Switch owner spent 800-900 dollars on games over its lifetime. So if you want to propose your idea you would probably have to raise your offer quite a bit.
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Yeah, I'm sure they wouldn't be interested in this idea no matter what; but they could do it at EOL, Farewell Edition when everyone already bought everything they're going to for the console.
 
Scarlet said:
delivering fun that is "worth more than the price"
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Which exclusives did we even get so far? We got MKWorld which was somewhat cool, DKB which was a great game, and then what? Kirby: Air Riders is a cool gimmick game but nothing that extraordinary.

I guess you could also include the Welcome Tour and the wheelchair basketball game, but those were more like tech demos than anything.

The rest was mostly just "upgrade packs" for Switch 1 games.
 
Ondrashek06 said:
Which exclusives did we even get so far? We got MKWorld which was somewhat cool, DKB which was a great game, and then what? Kirby: Air Riders is a cool gimmick game but nothing that extraordinary.

I guess you could also include the Welcome Tour and the wheelchair basketball game, but those were more like tech demos than anything.

The rest was mostly just "upgrade packs" for Switch 1 games.
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The rest would be Hyrule Warriors and Pokopia. Mario Tennis too but that’s just another Mario sports game, as much as I enjoyed it.

For the first year it’s honestly not a bad first party lineup. Then over the next few months we have Splatoon Raiders, Star Fox remake, new Yoshi game, and Fire Emblem later in the year. The library is definitely coming along.
 
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Noctosphere said:
Serious question, why don't they just release their games on other plateform? I'm 100% sure that will be more profitable for them than to rely only on those who bought their consoles.
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Out of all the 1st-party companies, Nintendo is so far ahead that it's not funny. It's a very big reason why folks buy Nintendo consoles. Most folk that buy the other consoles typically buy them for 3rd-party. To make Nintendo's games available on other platforms wouldn't necessarily mean a rise in sales. It would probably be closer to a shift in sales, and that would result in paying royalties, ultimately resulting in lower revenue.
 
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Noctosphere said:
Serious question, why don't they just release their games on other plateform? I'm 100% sure that will be more profitable for them than to rely only on those who bought their consoles.
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because they are stubborn and arrogant. in the past they have even said if they ever go out of business they won't ever release their games on other platforms they will die with them. it's truly pathetic how they think and act they are stuck in the past following archaic practices
 
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