No Stupid Questions

I inherited a switch from someone who wasn't using it and was blown away by the prices for the majority of games on it. They were charging AAA prices for Mario titles. If they had priced their Mario. Zelda titles at half the price, those things would have dominated before the SteamDeck's came out. The switch is barely used.

Let's put it this way, the market price for the Switch 2 is roughly the same converted price in the UK. Now, to my knowledge, the UK hasn't also introduced these tariffs quietly so I can't, in good conscience, blame ol' Delusional Donald for this one.

It's always corporate greed.

They can afford to sell games for $60 and still turn a profit.

But there's an excuse to charge $70 because inflation.

And there's and excuse to charge $90 because tariffs.

I'm always a few years behind on consoles and enjoy the robust secondary market, so to me, it doesn't matter much.

Outside of Zelda and Mario Kart, there isn't much these days that's exclusive to Nintendo that I give a damn about anyway.

Not to be THAT GUY, but games haven't kept up with inflation or increasing development costs. Someone in these convos usually point out that, adjusted for inflation, that 80's Donkey Kong game actually costs more in today's money than $60-80. So I guess that's me today lol

Do I agree that they're worth that much? Ehhhh

But have we gotten massive improvements, longer games, more physics, graphics, etc? Yeah.

Games like GTA take half a decade or more to be made. If you want that kind of game development to continue, consessions need to be made somewhere. Now, maybe there's a better place to do it, but asking more for these games isn't completely unreasonable.

Edit: That Guy is back with some facts for y'all. In the 80's Nintendo charged $30-50 USD for a game. So let's take the middle of both(1985 and $40) and plug it into an inflation calculator. I did a few(two government websites and a random other one) and I got $116.93, $118.09, and $120.44 for today's dollar value.

That's how much Donkey Kong(the OG) would cost TODAY. Not Cyberpunk, not GTA, not Stardew Valley, but OG 16 bit Donkey Kong.

You really think prices shouldn't increase? Please explain then in a way that isn't just "but I want it cheap!". If that's your only argument, just pirate ffs. No one's stopping you.

Also, INDIE GAMES. THEY EXIST. THEYRE AWESOME. THEYRE CHEAP.

Honestly this discussion just feels like entitlement from a lot of people.

Edit again: Still waiting for someone to articulate why modern games should cost less than a 16-bit relic from the 80s when adjusting for inflation. Seeing a lot of downvotes poping in, but not much writing. Some actual facts would be nice instead of "but I can't afford it!". Should I do console prices next? Wanna see how much an NES should cost in today's money?

Edit again: oh look, here's console prices adjusted for inflation.... An original NES launched for $199 in 1985. In today's dollars.... $581.57. Hmm.... You could buy a Steam Deck for that price today.... It's almost like things have gotten really good for us compared to then. Woooooow. And that's not even mentioning that consoles used to be sold at a loss. Nintendo stopped selling consoles at a loss around the time of the Wii. So modern consoles actually cost what they take to make. Previous consoles were subsidized by the games and should have been more expensive. Y'all are also probably too young to remember when having a game console was a HUGE DEAL. It meant you were well off. Now everyone has 2 or 3.

Another edit for shits and giggles: if you're gonna bring up indie games, I'm gonna tell you to just go play them then. If you know you can play a better, cheaper game.... then do it. What are you here bitching about? "Oh no, I have so many options but one of them is too expensive so I can't have it and everything else too. Woe is me"

Like seriously "we have so many games now it's hard to afford all of the ones I want to play". Ummm yay? Videogames advanced as an art form so much that the choices are near endless and no one can really afford them all? GREAT!! WE DID IT! We made games so mainstream that everyone has access now!

I'm about done with this, but seriously, y'all need to chill a bit. I'm against the price increase too for the simple "I like having money" reason. But I don't think Nintendo or anyone else are monsters for raising their prices. It's been a long time coming and honestly surpising it didn't happen soon. Talks of it have been rumbling for years. Anyone shocked is either too young to remember or had their head in the sand.

Calling it now, GTAVI will be EXPENSIVE. Willing to bet base $80 and at least one $200+ Shark Card/in game assets bundle. And when Rockstar does it, you bet your ass the rest will follow. If anything Nintendo is just prepping for that inevitably themselves.

I can't help myself edit: someone said the 80s are a bad time to compare. Sure video game crash, electronics still being relatively new.... Ok.

So the PS1 released in 1994 for US $299, equivalent to $621.53 today. I can get a PS5 today, depending on version, for $499-$699, with objectively better everything. So again, cheaper than it was.

Just to be clear: they're asking for a $20 raise in prices. Inflation says it's should be a $60 increase. How are they monsters?

They test out the water how much will the consumer spend.

If you don't like the price wait for a sale or coupons.

Based on what little I know that goes into video game development, $80 seems cheap - assuming no mtx.

But if it's $80 + mtx? Fuck that.

The price was announced first... So it's not related.

Adjusted for inflation though, and $80 is the normal price it's been for 40 years.

I just don't know why people are shocked Nintendo is doing this, they've always been one of the first companies to increase prices.