Limbo has barely an hour of gameplay in it, but that's what's so great about. I can play it in one sitting and have a complete, satisfying experience. Plus try to die as little as possible, of course.

Though realistically, a game like that could sell at full price in the early early 90s (Prince of Persia which is 89, Another World 91) but not today. Last game similar to it sold at retail was Heart of Darkness, and although about the same gameplay length, it had varied graphics and CGI cutscenes.

Nintendo has built their brands for well over 20 years and as long as they continue to provide high quality, their brands aren't going to fizzle out. You can only call it "selling on brand alone" when the product itself is bad, but the examples you provided in the OP are the best platformers on the market.

No sane company would lower the price of something that sells millions, so why should Nintendo? Price drops happen when a product has reached an insufficient level of sales. The examples you provided in the OP cost $10, because their publishers can't charge more for them. They would like to, but their games wouldn't sell at that price.

NSMB2 has sold more than 5m copies by now and NSMBU has sold 1.5m copies on a console with a tiny userbase. It doesn't look like Nintendo's pricing model will change anytime soon. You are forcing your opinion on others by saying things like "games like Super Meat Boy have competing value". That's up to every person to decide for themselves. Judging from sales, most people don't think like you.

Lastly, you should have realized how bad your argument is when you had to use games that are not platformers as examples for commercial success.

I see you liked Minecraft. Minecraft had an MSRP of 26.95 on release . Is that a competitive offering to the games you listed?

I find it really appalling that Nintendo permits itself to sell its old school platformers (et al.) at an MSRP of 59.99$ and 39.99$ for portable offerings.

Super Paper Mario: 49.99$

New Super Mario Bros. Wii: 49.99$

Kirby's Epic Yarn: 49.99$

Donkey Kong Country Returns 49.99$

NSMB 2: 39.99$

NSMB U: 59.99$

When games on WiiWare, the e-shop, steam, PSN and XBLA are offering competing products at a much more reasonable price:

Limbo: 9.99$

Trine: 9.99$

Trine 2: 14.99$

Braid: 9.99$

vvvvvv: 4.99$

Super Meat Boy: 14.99$

Bit. Trip. Beat: 9.99$

And though this isn't a platformer:

League of Legends: Free

These Nintendo games sold like mad when the Wii was at its peak, but is it reasonable to expect that trend to continue?

In the meantime the 3D landscape is rifted into realistic games and more laid-back experiences, it seems that this market is not properly understood by Nintendo.

Sure is. And I bought the game back in the alpha days for $10. That doesn't make me feel like every $10+ game is overpriced though. If anything, it's Minecraft that is undervalued and if a sequel came out for $50 I'd happily buy it day 1.

But just like the case with 2D platformers there are those who can't see how a game with crappy retro graphics, no story and no goal can be worth more than $5. So in the end, it's all about what kind of games we enjoy.

tbone51 said:

Dont buy them then, Nintendo sells a whole lot, it would be dumb to lower a price of something selling very well. Beside those are reasonable to me..

It isn't my opinion, they are.  You are confusing quality with popularity.  Release a 2D Mario clone without Mario or his name and it will not sell as much, and people have tried.  Lets not pretend that Mario alone doesn't sell something regardless of quality or price, is why Nintendo sticks Mario in most of their games.

Consumers are getting robbed. They think they are getting value for the price, but they are getting ripped off without even knowing it.