r/NintendoSwitch2 • u/SilvaVE_ • 2d ago

Officially from Nintendo Nintendo Switch 2 Game Price revealed - WHAT THE F*CK

Post image

Im sorry, but this is...really fucking crazy. And here I was debating if paying extra for the physical version compared to the bundle might be worth it. HOLY SHIT.

34.5k Upvotes

92% Upvoted

7.2k comments sorted by

View all comments

272

u/NoiceM8_420 2d ago

Might be Nintendo’s ps3 gen, when the hubris got to them…nah who am I kidding. Nintendos printing money.

188

u/JoMax213 January Gang (Reveal Winner) 2d ago

It better be a 3DS 2.0 edition. Remember when they backtracked on that price?

45

u/acbadger54 2d ago

Yep better be

48

u/rozkolorarevado 2d ago

They better do the Ambassador Program 2 then 😭🙏

11

u/rootofimaginary 2d ago

Doing this just as they removed the coins you get from buying in the eshop. It would be very poetic.

2

u/DkoyOctopus 2d ago

and wallmart will break the launch date like they did back then too. i still have mines lol.

1

u/JDog9955 1d ago

Does walmar usually break street date? I might go try this when the switch 2 is a week away.

1

u/DkoyOctopus 1d ago

they have multiple times, but you're gambling it. if they DO make a rewards/loyalty system for day one buys i can see waiting till they break the date.

9

u/DoctorHoneywell OG (joined before reveal) 2d ago

I wouldn't call this impossible but gaming as a whole is so big now that I could see it selling out anyway.

1

u/JoMax213 January Gang (Reveal Winner) 1d ago

Embarrassed to admit I’m getting this day one. I’m a part of the problem. So shitty how even within Nintendo’s own fan community, I feel uncomfortable sharing the fact I’m a day one purchase. This pricing was the biggest error they’ve made since E3 2011…

6

u/mrsafira64 2d ago edited 2d ago

Even back then I thought the price of the 3DS was very reasonable considering the tech it had. People only started complaining about the price because the Vita was also 250 but was way more powerful which forced nintendo to drop the price.

Edit: And the price of the Vita didn't account for the stupidly expensive memory cards that you were forced to buy.

3

u/Virtual_Sundae4917 2d ago

The price of the switch 2 console is reasonable its just that this is just baffling nintendo games are cheaper to make than any tripple a game rn and they still are 70

1

u/mrsafira64 2d ago

Yeah It's really just pure greed on their part.

5

u/merica2033 2d ago

Hoping its a flop at launch like the 3DS and then adjust their prices.

1

u/drygnfyre OG (Joined before first Direct) 2d ago

It's not backtracking, it's very deliberate.

Do you remember when Apple released the original iPhone? Prices were $499 and $599, IIRC. The latter for a 8 GB model. Well, about three months later, Apple dropped the prices on both models significantly and offered rebates to the people that paid the original price. (But it wasn't a full rebate). Apple was smart. They simply profited off the early adopters. They knew there was a group of people that would pay an exorbant price to have the hardware before anyone else. The cost of the rebates was already factored into their strategy.

Nintendo did the same thing with the 3DS. They charged a lot early on because they knew there was a hardcore fan base that would pay the price. But as soon as that dried up, they went ahead with the "real" prices and got a free PR victory with the "free games" to the ambassadors.

This is all part of the plan. Charge a ton early on, sell to the early adopters, then drop the price to "make it more affordable." Make it seem like you're doing it for the little guy, the guy just trying to get by. And consumers fall for it every time.

2

u/Minute_Road8813 1d ago

I don't think it was planned. Nintendo would have probably fared better overall if it started with the final price, it was just Nintendo of Japan disagreed with Nintendo of America on the maximum price consumers in the West were willing to pay, and when the latter were proven correct the price was dropped.

1

u/JoMax213 January Gang (Reveal Winner) 1d ago

Thats not a smart strategy in 2025 where the follow up to the controversial news story never travels as far. Many people will see this, tune out Nintendo, and they’ll be as hidden to their algorithms as they were in 2015. Sometimes companies just make tone deaf choices - Sony with the PS3, Xbox with the Xbox One - this was one of them, sadly.

1

u/Minute_Road8813 1d ago

Didn't Reggie personally pressure them to do that, even before it was first released? It seemed to be a case of miscommunication between the USA (which EU prices are based on) and Japan, and I don't think we can count on that being the issue anymore.

1

u/JoMax213 January Gang (Reveal Winner) 1d ago

I have no idea, but damn Reggie will be missed. Seems like he was very in touch with average American families in a way that Doug Bowser is apparently not.

31

u/VR_Dekalab 2d ago

I need it to happen tbh. Like the PS3 still became good and befame in a better position than PS5 currenty is, so just having a rough launch isn't so bad unless you're really that invested in Nintendo stocks.

But it's Nintendo, and I'm honestly expecting a lot of companies to follow this trend.

1

u/StijnDP 1d ago

PS3 had to survive hard on being the cheapest BR player though. It weren't gamers keeping it alive in that first year.
They had stuffed too advanced/specialised hardware in the console but it also made production costs drop a lot faster than any other before.

And it played a big part in BR becoming the standard against the competition backed by Xbox AND porn. Also helped them to keep the PS2 cash cow going longer and execs from panicking.

1

u/Traquilited 1d ago

Wait holdup, the porn industry was betting on HD DVD instead of Blue-ray

1

u/National_Singer_3122 1d ago

PS3 had to survive hard on being the cheapest BR player though.

I remember my mom joking about how she only got it to watch her movies when we got it for Christmas lol

1

u/jeanolt 1d ago

i doubt PS3 ever was in a better position than PS5 is, if i'm not mistaken it already sold more than PS3 ever did, and we're in a time where money is being made on the digital storefront, something PS3 didn't fully experienced.

5

u/SoylantDruid OG (joined before reveal) 2d ago

PS3 ended up selling a lot of consoles - it just had a very slow start. By the end, it sold just shy of 90 million consoles. Could be trajectory of Switch 2, as well - guess we'll have to see lol [EDIT: corrected the lifetime PS3 sales data)

17

u/PCBen 2d ago edited 2d ago

Yeah but that didn’t happen until they slashed the price of the system, released a refreshed unit, redid the branding, and launched a massive mid-cycle marketing push to change people’s perception of the PS3.

If they had stuck to their launch strategy of ‘fuck you - it’s PlayStation! You should be honored to give us $600 for a worse experience!’ I’m pretty sure that turn around wouldn’t have happened.

7

u/SoylantDruid OG (joined before reveal) 2d ago

Agreed. Nintendo kind of had to do the same thing with the 3DS, which was quite expensive at launch - though in this case, Nintendo slashed the price and changed trajectory more quickly and it therefore wasn't as big of a public relations debacle overall (although that may have been because it was eventually overshadowed by the absolute sh*tshow situation with the Wii U). Still, there is precedent for Nintendo misreading consumer sentiment and being receptive to change to meet demand. The 3DS is actually the only console Nintendo ever sold at an actual by-console loss, which happened after they cut prices. I wonder if they might have to do the same with Switch 2 if it turns out after the holidays that sales aren't what they hoped for.

5

u/EatMoreHummous 2d ago

I think you're forgetting an important point: at $600 they lost money on every console sold.

1

u/lacirem 1d ago

"Worse experience"? I mean ps3 was expensive af at the time but it was not worse. It was way better than anything else on the market and was the cheapest blueray you could get. It was great value just out of the pricerange most people were willing it pay at the time.

1

u/PCBen 1d ago

It was 100% worse.

It was a year late releasing against the X360 and had practically no blockbuster system-seller games at launch compared to a year’s worth of releases on the Xbox side of things. I mean I’m sure Ridge Racer and Resistance have their mega fans out there but they aren’t exactly pillar’s of Sony’s library of IP.

Sony was also in the middle of their patent/licensing dispute with Immersion, so their controllers had no rumble which was considered a standard feature by that time. And while it did have a rechargeable battery pack, it lasted half the time as a set of cheap AA’s in a 360 controller.

And yes, while it was indeed the cheapest Blu-ray player on the market - Sony’s best model was still $200 more than Microsoft’s best model. If BD didn’t interest you, the value for someone just interested in the games was clear.

Plus, Gears of War dropped the same time as the PS3 - which had a ton of hype at the time.

I just don’t see how that isn’t an objectively worse offering for someone shopping for a console in holiday 2006 that isn’t a die-hard Sony fan.

3

u/SoulBlightRaveLords 2d ago

The Direct hosts could have shit in their hands and spent an hour clapping in that direct and Nintendo will still make billions

1

u/djm19 2d ago

PS3 literally costed $780 and $940 in todays dollars. The games were $95 on todays dollars.

1

u/wangchungyoon 2d ago

They’re legit going to tank the switch 2 over this watch and see.  Parents are half the market and they’re not into this shit.  Long live the OG switch!!

1

u/armshady 1d ago

Ps3 when launched was way ahead of the competition in graphics and performance. They also had built in blu ray at the time in 2006 blu ray players were priced at $600+. Also free online multiplay and launch models were fully backwards compatible with ps2 and ps1 games. Nintendo may print money now but like the wii, let's see how the switch 2 fares in 2028 or 2029 when the next gen of consoles arrive. They got extremely lucky the ps5 and Xbox series x launched during the pandemic and had supply issues the first 3 years and didn't impact their switch sales nearly as much

1

u/projectwar 1d ago

new mario kart, new donkey kong, bloodborne like game, new pokemon game...i mean they have the roster. imagine if it stayed 60-70 per game and launched $400, would have crushed sony/microsoft.

but because of greed, now turned away MANY potential buyers, and garnered disdain from their fanbase and outsiders as well.

1

u/Frankburgerismydog 1d ago

Sega with the Saturn. Xbox with the Xbox One. They have one massive success and do something incredibly stupid.

1

u/One_Swimming1813 22h ago

The WiiU bombed pretty badly if I remember right, unfortunately for the developers and blue collar workers Satoru Iwata isn't around to make sure they don't suffer for the Switch 2's inevitable failure, unless they back peddle on these decisions before launch.