Summary
TheNintendo Switch 2Direct was quite an emotional rollercoaster. We got to see someinteresting new features of the upcoming console, but were immediately let down byNintendo’s terrible Discord rip-off. Things were looking up again when we were shown a series offirst-partyandthird-party games, but were againdisappointed when their prices were revealed.
These seemingly last-gen features and the inflated price of the console and first-party games left a bad taste in the mouth for viewers, andI’m not just talking about the cartridges. However, despite the outcry by fans, Nintendo has only been justifying the prices. Even former Nintendo marketing leads in the Kit & Krista podcast have been doing so, attempting to explain why Nintendo never discounts its games.
Why Nintendo Games Never Go On Sale
During a recent episode of their podcast, Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang said that the Nintendo Switch 2 will usher in a new era; one where Nintendo no longer needs to prove itself (thanks,GamesRadar). They explained, from experience, that when deciding upon prices, Nintendo expects prospective customers to “respect the value.” To such an extent that during their time at Nintendo, they weren’t allowed to do giveaways.
“Nintendo products have immense value, we must always respect that immense value,” said Ellis, in an attempt to explain Nintendo’s perspective. “This is why these things don’t go on sale. The value is the value, and we are seriously into that concept of ‘respect the value of what this thing is that we have made, because it is very special.'”
“This isn’t Ubisoft.”
Yang added, “As a Nintendo customer, fan, you’re kind of conditioned to, ‘If I want to buy this, I might as well by this now, because it’s not going to go on sale.'” But, she also mentioned that Nintendo has to be careful when adhering to this principle. There’s already an uproar about prices, and the company wouldn’t want it to get worse.
“It’s a Nintendo tax,” explained Ellis, again trying to verbalize Nintendo’s standpoint. “What we made was $60. A lot of those other games that are $60 are junk. They don’t have the level of Nintendo quality or polish or attention, so we need to distinguish how premium this thing is through the pricing, and you will come to understand that.”
It seems like the company is rallying for the price, despite what fans have been saying. Let’s not forget that the original Switch Joy-Con were also “premium” andwe all know how that turned out.
