It is looking like games for the Nintendo Switch 2 are going to be quite expensive, with Mario Kart World going for $80. If that is going to be the case, then it's not the famous kart racer that I'm most concerned about. I'm convinced that there is a much bigger concern, and one I am far less ok with spending a fortune on. While Mario Kart World will likely be a game I will play for a long time, that is not the case for everything.
Not only are the games more expensive, but the Switch 2 has a lot of competition. This could make it seem quite odd that both the new console and the new games are so much higher priced, as Nintendo could be setting themselves up where that's concerned. There was once a time where the Switch was one of the only portable consoles, but that has since changed, and Nintendo needs to navigate the waters carefully, particularly where it concerns the cost-to-quality comparison of the games.
Nintendo Switch Games Definitely Weren’t Created Equal
Not All Games Deserve The Price Tag They Come With
While first-party games are where the Nintendo consoles shine, at least to an extent, not every Nintendo game is equal. While Mario Kart World and many of the Zelda games feel like great games and are likely worth the price of ission, that is not true for many of the others. There are a whole suite of lower-tier first-party games, things like Mario Golf: Super Rush, which came out with a fairly small amount of content that was later supplemented with more content.
Nintendo Switch Online getting guaranteed preoders is brilliant and something I hope other companies adapt.
Nintendo is allowing those with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, and a minimum of fifty played hours, to sign up for guaranteed preorder of the Nintendo Switch 2. While some are complaining, I have to it, I love this practice and hope that it bleeds over into other situations, such as concert tickets. All this does is make sure that people who are actually going to play the Switch 2 have the chance to get one, and helps to weed out scalpers who want to purchase one with the intent of selling it. Fifty played hours is almost nothing, and proves that you are a real player. In a world where bots and scalpers are scooping up everything, I love this idea.
Likewise, while most Pokémon games are usually quite strong, came out to a lot of controversy over the amount of graphical issues and gameplay stutters. It wasn't a smooth and polished game, and it was one of the things that convinced me that the Switch hardware needed an update. Not to mention the other less great games, like Nintendo Switch Sports, that didn't really live up to the quality of the original Wii Sports games.
It's not to say that I think every Nintendo game needs to have the highest quality, but I do think that the prices need to more accurately reflect the quality of the games, and if Nintendo insists on charging $70-80 per game, then they need to have a higher standard for all of the first-party games.
A Mediocre $70 Game Is Worse Than A Great $80 One
Some Games Are Worth It But Others Are Not
With Donkey Kong Bananza announced to be $70 at launch, we know there are currently two price tiers for Nintendo games. While what we have seen so far seems to have a good quality, paying $70 for something like Mario Gold: Super Rush wouldn't be as thrilling. I feel like most people who buy Mario Kart World, even at $80, would likely get a lot of play time and enjoy it for the lifespan of the console.
Even after unlocking whatever the game has to offer, you can continue to play it when you hang out with friends, or use it to connect with friends around the world using the new GameChat Switch 2 feature. While I'm not happy about the $80 price, it seems like it will be worth it, and I will get plenty of hours of playtime without too much trouble. However, a game that feels a lot less exciting, like the sports-based Nintendo games, will feel much worse even if they are priced at $70.
While many games on other systems are initially priced at $70, the prices drop after a while, or they go on sale. This is not usually true with the Nintendo first-party games. Spending $70 on a mediocre sports-game feels like a waste of money in a way that the other ones don't. Paying full price for Mario Golf: Super Rush did not feel great to begin with, and that feeling would only increase with a raise in price.
While Nintendo Sports wasn't given the same price as a typical full-price game, if that changes on the Switch 2, there need to be some significant improvements. I also think that paying anything at all, even $7, for the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is going to feel much worse than anything else will.
Nintendo Switch 2 Needs Great Sports Games Again
Bring Back The Classic Charm & Fun
While the Nintendo Switch 2 seems to have some good games coming, the issue of the mediocre sports games and other struggling first-party games needs to change. If I am being asked to pay a price for a game, then I want the game to have a better quality than it would otherwise. Not every game on every console has the quality the price of the game demands, but the fact that Nintendo games are rarely discounted is the biggest issue.
The price itself is a problem if the game can't hold up, particularly if it's the same situation that we had with Pokémon Scarlet & Violet. There was a lot of blame on the Switch hardware for that one, but it felt like a rushed and incomplete game no matter the hardware. But the sports games are particularly disappointing recently, and I want to see the quality return to something like we had on the Wii.
Is Nintendo going too far with the price of the Nintendo Switch 2 and its games?
As thrilled as I am that Nintendo has finally confirmed the Nintendo Switch 2 and some of the games to come from its launch this year, I do feel like they're going a little too hard after players' wallets. Granted, the console does come with a whole host of upgrades from its predecessor, with the bigger internal storage and longer battery life being my favorite additions, but even still, a price jump of $150, along with $80 games, is a bit too steep, which means I'll likely wait for the eventual price drops to even consider picking one up.
The Wii was the console I spent the most time with and the one whose sports games I really enjoyed. None of the Switch games I ever tried came close to matching that same energy and the same charm that those games had. Perhaps it is partially the newness of the technology that wore off, or the fact that VR has changed and advanced to the point where the motion controls don't feel as magical. But that isn't an excuse for the Switch 2 sports games to be mediocre.
In fact, it is a call for the opposite. The Switch 2 should be figuring out what makes it unique beyond the Nintendo label. Fierce competition is a chance to rise above, to improve and make it stand out. With it, Nintendo can't afford to rest on its laurels, and this is a chance to show us that they still care about quality while asking for higher prices. With all luck, the higher prices will give us higher-quality games on the better hardware of the Nintendo Switch 2.
- Brand
- Nintendo
- Operating System
- Proprietary
- Storage
- 256GB internal / MicroSD
- Resolution
- 1080p (handheld) / 4K (docked)
- App Store
- Nintendo eShop
- Wi-Fi
- Yes
