Frankly, it has a lot to do with them being Nintendo games... looking at their consoles so far:

NES: Hugely collectible, largely spurred on by giant retro-gaming presence on youtube

SNES: Same as above

N64: A few years ago kids who grew up with this system began to become young adults with expendable cash, and this age group tends to be the one who really drive those prices up

GC: While relative scarcity played some role in the N64's prices (compared to the PS1), scarcity had a far larger impact on the GC, which sold far less than the PS2. Add in that its games have largely aged the best of that generation (around the Xbox's hardware strength but with an art style that doesn't age nearly as quickly) and, much like the Dreamcast, it has seen its popularity continue to grow over the years. These games are continuing to get more expensive, then.

Wii: This is the one Nintendo system on which games are quite affordable these days. The console itself sold like hotcakes, and a large portion of those sales were to the more casual gamers who were happy to sell their games. I'm not sure this gen will ever see their games become too expensive due to an abundance of supply

Wii U: Unfortunately, there's two things working against this console that the previous ones did not have to deal with. First and foremost, while downloading games was a thing in the previous gen this was really the first gen we saw it become commonplace on a Nintendo platform, a reality Nintendo encouraged. This resulted in less physical media being produced (I never did get a physical copy of Wonderful 101), which was additionally troublesome as the initial production targets were much lower as a result of the second big issue: the console never caught on and fell 10 million short of their second least popular console (GC excluding Virtual Boy).

Finally, the tiny console sales also meant that a huge proportion of those who owned it were enthusiasts who were far less likely to part with their games, especially as those who made the effort to go get physical copies were even more likely to be the type that want to hang on to them for sentimental reasons. Essentially, then, it was the first Nintendo console to really limit physical media and rely on downloads, was only owned by a small number of people, and a larger than usual portion of those people were enthusiasts that would hold on to their games... so no, I don't believe Wii U games will ever be reasonably priced.

Switch: That brings us to the Switch, then, and really the combination of downloads being even more commonplace and the Switch itself being a huge hit makes it pretty unlikely we'll see prices drop much. It's generally third party games among more casual gamers that tend to see their prices plummet, but that just doesn't really apply to most Nintendo titles outside of the Wii's generation. Given the recently released demographics of who is buying the Switch, it seems quite likely that those who own physical copies of their games will be unlikely to return them for resale.


Of course, there's also nostalgic reasons for people to constantly buy up Nintendo games, with gamers having had relationships with these various franchises for decades now. In the end, though, it's one reason I'm so desperate for physical media to hang around, as otherwise games will be kept at bizarrely inflated prices without the option of physical media resales.

So, in short:

Supply/Demand
Nostalgia
Decades-old-franchises
(For some) low console sales
Prevalence of downloading games over physical media
Physical media being produced in lower quantities due to the above

Because they don't have the competition other games do. Halo is competing with COD, and Battlefield and other FPS. What game is Mario kart competing with? Just other Nintendo games. So all they have to do is keep the prices of all of their games high and people will pay it.

I mean, the choices for the consumer are either pay full price or avoid buying it, and if you bought a Nintendo system you aren't going to avoid buying Nintendo games.

Errr...  the thing is that they are not doing it only with their good games. 

You..  You read the part were I said that they're selling Mario Tennis at 49.99, right?

Because the price of 95% of all the major games that come out on the platform are controlled by the same people?

I get the point your going for, but I don't think it holds up. You're trying to say that Nintendo games stay expensive because they're better, which I think is only partly true. Its true in the sense that there are gamers who specifically want the type of games that Nintendo makes, and nobody makes those types of games better, so they're willing to endure their pricing system for those experiences. I don't however think that such a reality can be effectively compared with the larger gaming market, since most major games face far more competition and a much more open market than Nintendo games.

Well this thread turned very hostile and toxic.

It's really not. I actually don't see how that's much of a hurdle at all. People buying Nintendo hardware already know what they're getting. If anything, because Nintendo has stick so faithfully to it's style people are largely willing to buy their systems based on the expectation that they'll keep making games like they have in the past. Besides that, having to also sell the hardware (a goal of all exclusive content) isn't going to have any effect on the pricing structure of the software.

Competition would drive down the price of software, little else.

Because they release games in their own controlled environment and have created a culture where no one expects Nintendo games to drop in price. If the majority of your consumers accept it, there's no real push for it to be changed. They satisfy whatever demand for lower prices through the Nintendo Selects/Player's Choice system. They'd rather maintain that premium pricepoint and image which is helped by first party vs third party releases and sales.

Dat nintendo polish bro

Well, the majority of consumers do not accept it. The majority is buying GTA5 at $30 and the latest AAA release that is discounted a few months after release.

The majority of Nintendo's market accepts it because they crave Nintendo products and IP. Nintendo has done a fantastic job of reaching their base and delivering the product they want (as evidenced by the crazy high tie ratio of certain software). Their core customer base doesn't wait for a price drop because they don't think one will come. When a company is as beloved by its fan like Nintendo, they can set a standard for their products and they won't encounter much backlash because they want to play the newest Mario, Zelda, etc. I do think that will change some with Switch because they're getting a lot more than just Nintendo's core audience.

I wouldn't be surprised if their pricing strategy starts to change as they adopt more GOTY editions, GaaS models, and expand their digital marketplace. As they turn to a paid online service, no reason to believe they won't take on more of what the rest of the industry is doing.