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Forums - Nintendo Discussion - Can Nintendo turn Switch 2's pricing disaster around? And how?

TheMisterManGuy said:

Imagine this scenario. You're a Kyoto-based gaming corporation coming off of a massive success with your home/portable hybrid console with detachable controllers. A lot of hype is surrounding it's successor and so far everything is going well. The hardware is impressive, the games are impressive, even the price of the system is fairly affordable given the power. Everything is going well so far... Except for one problem. The biggest launch title you have, a Kart racer staring an Italian plumber, costs $80. And people don't find out about this until after your big presentation. And given that you haven't really said or shown anything so far to justify this high price tag, people are outraged. Demand on streams to "DROP THE PRICE", accusing you of being "greedy" and "anti-consumer". So your complete and utter failure to properly communicate pricing info to potential customers has now created a massive PR nightmare, and is dampening the hype of your new system.

Point being, how do you think Nintendo can turn this pricing mess around, and do you you think they can turn it around. Those saying Switch 2 will be another Wii U disaster or 3DS blunder. No. Switch 2 can easily be salvaged IMO. All Nintendo has to do is come clean and explain their pricing situation on games, and maybe even walk back pricing on some of them.

Fixing it would be very easy:

HW: Drop it to $400, or include the camera and Welcome Tour with the system at $450

SW: Standard pricing of games at $60 digital / $70 physical. Retract the $80 MKW pricing and promise no games will be $80. Also allow Zelda owners to play the upgraded Switch 2 versions free of charge as an apology for the entire pricing fiasco in the first place. Also no 'game keys' masquerading as physical games, that's absurd, or if you are gonna do that for some reason, then they should have the digital $60 pricing.

Other: Not a huge deal but drop the joycons back to $80

Mario: Immediately show off 3D Mario and give a release date for it so people at least have some confidence that Nintendo's blunder of putting out DK for the launch period instead of Mario is just a temporary screw up and that Mario will indeed be coming this year. And pack in a copy of Galaxy 2 with the new Mario as another apology (it's still crazy that wasn't included in 3D Mario All-Stars!).

Those are very simply changes that could easily make, and it would totally alleviate the huge self-inflicted mess they are in.

Switch 2 isn't gonna fail because of all these self-inflicted wounds, but its definitely gonna sell way less than it otherwise would have (maybe 90m instead of 120m, and much fewer 10m/20m/30m sellers). And Nintendo may find themselves in a situation in the coming months, or perhaps by next year, in which they have garnered all this ill will AND are still forced to drop the price due to flagging sales. It'd be much better to fix this now, so that the market stops fuming over all this before Switch 2 even launches, and have huge sales this year and onward.



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Slownenberg said:
TheMisterManGuy said:

Imagine this scenario. You're a Kyoto-based gaming corporation coming off of a massive success with your home/portable hybrid console with detachable controllers. A lot of hype is surrounding it's successor and so far everything is going well. The hardware is impressive, the games are impressive, even the price of the system is fairly affordable given the power. Everything is going well so far... Except for one problem. The biggest launch title you have, a Kart racer staring an Italian plumber, costs $80. And people don't find out about this until after your big presentation. And given that you haven't really said or shown anything so far to justify this high price tag, people are outraged. Demand on streams to "DROP THE PRICE", accusing you of being "greedy" and "anti-consumer". So your complete and utter failure to properly communicate pricing info to potential customers has now created a massive PR nightmare, and is dampening the hype of your new system.

Point being, how do you think Nintendo can turn this pricing mess around, and do you you think they can turn it around. Those saying Switch 2 will be another Wii U disaster or 3DS blunder. No. Switch 2 can easily be salvaged IMO. All Nintendo has to do is come clean and explain their pricing situation on games, and maybe even walk back pricing on some of them.

Fixing it would be very easy:

HW: Drop it to $400, or include the camera and Welcome Tour with the system at $450

SW: Standard pricing of games at $60 digital / $70 physical. Retract the $80 MKW pricing and promise no games will be $80. Also allow Zelda owners to play the upgraded Switch 2 versions free of charge as an apology for the entire pricing fiasco in the first place. Also no 'game keys' masquerading as physical games, that's absurd, or if you are gonna do that for some reason, then they should have the digital $60 pricing.

Other: Not a huge deal but drop the joycons back to $80

Mario: Immediately show off 3D Mario and give a release date for it so people at least have some confidence that Nintendo's blunder of putting out DK for the launch period instead of Mario is just a temporary screw up and that Mario will indeed be coming this year. And pack in a copy of Galaxy 2 with the new Mario as another apology (it's still crazy that wasn't included in 3D Mario All-Stars!).

Those are very simply changes that could easily make, and it would totally alleviate the huge self-inflicted mess they are in.

Switch 2 isn't gonna fail because of all these self-inflicted wounds, but its definitely gonna sell way less than it otherwise would have (maybe 90m instead of 120m, and much fewer 10m/20m/30m sellers). And Nintendo may find themselves in a situation in the coming months, or perhaps by next year, in which they have garnered all this ill will AND are still forced to drop the price due to flagging sales. It'd be much better to fix this now, so that the market stops fuming over all this before Switch 2 even launches, and have huge sales this year and onward.

Sometimes the best solutions are so simple.



pikashoe said:
Hardstuck-Platinum said:

CourageTCD said:

Haven't you seen Mario Kart World's trailer review?

The only thing I could notice different was the increased player count and the rail riding thing. 

Are you actually blind? 24 player races, wall riding, rail grinding, boats, open world, free roam, costumes, new modes and they are hinting at a lot more to be shown at the MK world direct. 

This game looks to be the biggest shake up in the series history.

Thats the incredible Anti-Nintendo glasses! Cant see any evolution from Nintendo newest entries but can spot the discrepancy in perfomance on Switch 2 versions of AAA multiplats compared to 9th gen home consoles from miles away!

Last edited by 160rmf - on 10 April 2025

 

 

We reap what we sow

This was probably already mentioned here, but Trump decided to do a 90-day pause on the harsher reciprocal tariffs on all nations who decided not to retaliate and offered to make a deal with the US. I assume that was in done mainly in response to the stock market crash over the tariffs, but I'm glad this pause was done.

Still, China is being tariffed harshly due to retaliating.



Slownenberg said:
TheMisterManGuy said:

Imagine this scenario. You're a Kyoto-based gaming corporation coming off of a massive success with your home/portable hybrid console with detachable controllers. A lot of hype is surrounding it's successor and so far everything is going well. The hardware is impressive, the games are impressive, even the price of the system is fairly affordable given the power. Everything is going well so far... Except for one problem. The biggest launch title you have, a Kart racer staring an Italian plumber, costs $80. And people don't find out about this until after your big presentation. And given that you haven't really said or shown anything so far to justify this high price tag, people are outraged. Demand on streams to "DROP THE PRICE", accusing you of being "greedy" and "anti-consumer". So your complete and utter failure to properly communicate pricing info to potential customers has now created a massive PR nightmare, and is dampening the hype of your new system.

Point being, how do you think Nintendo can turn this pricing mess around, and do you you think they can turn it around. Those saying Switch 2 will be another Wii U disaster or 3DS blunder. No. Switch 2 can easily be salvaged IMO. All Nintendo has to do is come clean and explain their pricing situation on games, and maybe even walk back pricing on some of them.

Fixing it would be very easy:

HW: Drop it to $400, or include the camera and Welcome Tour with the system at $450

SW: Standard pricing of games at $60 digital / $70 physical. Retract the $80 MKW pricing and promise no games will be $80. Also allow Zelda owners to play the upgraded Switch 2 versions free of charge as an apology for the entire pricing fiasco in the first place. Also no 'game keys' masquerading as physical games, that's absurd, or if you are gonna do that for some reason, then they should have the digital $60 pricing.

Other: Not a huge deal but drop the joycons back to $80

Mario: Immediately show off 3D Mario and give a release date for it so people at least have some confidence that Nintendo's blunder of putting out DK for the launch period instead of Mario is just a temporary screw up and that Mario will indeed be coming this year. And pack in a copy of Galaxy 2 with the new Mario as another apology (it's still crazy that wasn't included in 3D Mario All-Stars!).

Those are very simply changes that could easily make, and it would totally alleviate the huge self-inflicted mess they are in.

Switch 2 isn't gonna fail because of all these self-inflicted wounds, but its definitely gonna sell way less than it otherwise would have (maybe 90m instead of 120m, and much fewer 10m/20m/30m sellers). And Nintendo may find themselves in a situation in the coming months, or perhaps by next year, in which they have garnered all this ill will AND are still forced to drop the price due to flagging sales. It'd be much better to fix this now, so that the market stops fuming over all this before Switch 2 even launches, and have huge sales this year and onward.

The price of the system is fine. Everyone agrees that $450 is a fair price for the console. It's the $80 games that people have a problem with. And the Zelda upgrades are already confirmed to be free via NSO + Expansion Pack subscribers.

What Nintendo should've said is that $70 will be the standard price for most games, will rare exceptions being $80. And to be honest, this whole mess could've been avoided by just not talking about pricing until later. Their whole communication and PR regarding this issue has been awful, and they're going to have to really deliver on Mario Kart if they want to win back goodwill.



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Random_Matt said:

Mr Trump has struck a 10% tariff for all countries apart from China. Damage control, lol. I thought his voters suggested it was all necessary.

Threaten and row back. We've seen this Spiel now countless times. Nobody should be surprised.



Slownenberg said:

Mario: Immediately show off 3D Mario and give a release date for it so people at least have some confidence that Nintendo's blunder of putting out DK for the launch period instead of Mario is just a temporary screw up and that Mario will indeed be coming this year. And pack in a copy of Galaxy 2 with the new Mario as another apology (it's still crazy that wasn't included in 3D Mario All-Stars!).

Funfact. The version of Galaxy included in All Stars was just a re-use of something Nintendo made for Nvidea. The Nvidea Shield TV uses the same Tegra chip as the Switch. Part of the deal was that Nintendo would make 4 games for Nvidea to sell on their Nvidea Shield TV, but only in China.

The others were a version of Twilight Princess, New Super Mario Bros Wii and Punchout.

No Galaxy2 then, so that's why it wasn't included in All Stars.

For more on this see the Digital Foundry video about it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MiW6xfJn2O8&t=220s



They'd better, somehow. The prices are absurd. Nintendo going back to arrogant mode again (like with Wii U, N64/Cube). Luckilly I'm sure there will be many great indies at low prices but most gamers are going to want the AAA titles, and 80-90 for glorified handheld games are too much. MS got a big backlash in 2010-11 with the heavy DRM crap, and shifted course in response. Nintendo can do the same. Maybe just make the biggest AAA titles 70-75, but they really shouldn't be more than that. 



 

"We hold these truths to be self-evident - all men and women created by the, go-you know.. you know the thing!" - Joe Biden

Nintendo consoles and games are the ONLY ones that hold resale value, at least in AUS. 10 years after the gen ends I will be able to get all my money back if not more, so to me it isn't such a big deal.



 

 

Sounds like the Switch 2 will be sold at a slight loss for Nintendo with the tariffs and without a price drop.

It seriously costs that much for them to produce each Switch 2?