My long post a little bit ago was absolutely glowing mostly except for the insanity of no 3D Mario at launch. I had been thinking outside of the huge no Mario blunder they did absolutely everything to make this a hit, but ....
Oh gosh....now I see the prices.
$450 AND Mario Kart costs $80.....that sorta changes everything.
After seeing the prices I just went from thinking I might actually pick this up at or soon after launch (I hadn't been planning to just because I have a huge Switch backlog so I don't NEED a new system), to being like nope I'm not spending a fortune on games. Switch 2 is now firmly back to "I'll get it at some vague point in the future" status. I even just got my first 4k TV a couple days ago so I was excited I'd be playing next gen in 4k soon...nope, not anymore, at least not anytime soon.
Now I'm not sure if I'll get MP4 for Switch or wait a long time until I get a Switch 2.
Granted after seeing the system has a 1080p screen and can do 4k and 120fps docked I was a bit worried the specs were so powerful that it'd come in at $450 instead of a reasonable and expected $400. At least the MK World bundle is slightly more affordable only $50 more so I expect most sales are gonna be the bundle, especially considering the game costs $80 by itself wtf so the bundle is a $30 savings!
I would laugh anytime I saw people on here claim Switch 2 games would all cost $70. I was like nah they aren't gonna do the console thing and jack up prices on games. Since TotK is $70 I thought maybe a handful of games, probably 3D Mario, Smash, and Zelda would be $70 but the rest would be $60 as normal. Then Nintendo went and said screw affordability and consumer friendly prices at jacked Mario Kart all the way straight up to $80.
The $450 starting price is bad ($500 bundle price is a bit better for $30 savings), the fact that the Welcome Tour tech demo doesn't come with the system is bad but not a big deal cuz whatever its a tech demo but more it's just representative of their horrible next-gen pricing strategy, no 3D Mario at launch or even announced is very bad for the launch (presumably it'll be the big holiday title), but Mario Kart at $80 suggests that suddenly the major first party games are going to cost $20 extra and that's just insane.
The $450 I guess is reasonable seeing as how the system looks like it is a powerhouse that can 4k and 120fps. So that's a least justifiable, just $50 more than I expected. I'd be reasonably fine buying the bundle for $500 even though god just thinking about buying a system at $500 feels insane even coming with a game. But no 3D Mario anywhere in sight is a big reason to at least not get it at launch. While $80 first party games is a big reason not to get it at all or at least wait a long time and see if people's lack of wanting to buy $80 games forces them to actually discount games after a couple years.
I'm very torn now. I might just get the bundle and 3D Mario whenever 3D Mario comes out so that MKWorld is effectively $50 instead of $80, Prime 4 if I haven't already gotten it on Switch, and Elden Ring, and then be wayyyy more selective about which Nintendo games I get if they cost $80. I got lots of first party Switch games, with their new consumer-unfriendly pricing strategy for everything next-gen I will be getting way less Switch 2 games.
Also, I guess it's confirmed the Switch is gonna keep getting sales. With Switch 2 HW and SW prices there is still gonna be a reason to buy the Switch once Switch 2 is out. Switch might actually have a chance to get close to 160m now. But only because it's bad news for Switch 2.
