Nintendo launched the first Switch at $299; just accounting for inflation over the past years - that’s ~$390 now, BEFORE even trying to account for any Trump-tariffs they have been (or will be) imposed on electronics hardware.
I hate to give Nintendo credit, but $450 is actually somewhat reasonable given the current global shit-show.
I think most people are more upset about Nintendo pushing an $80 price tag for first party games. TotK put a bad taste in a lot of peoples’ mouths, but it was both a technical marvel and highly anticipated. People were beyond hyped about the game years before we learned about the increased price.
Mario Kart World was announced out of the blue, and while it looks like a ton of fun, it’s not the same kind of ‘I would be disappointed if I didn’t play it before I died’ as TotK. So a further bump in price for it just feels awful.
It’s not just the console prices that have gone up. Console is, 470 euros, Mario Kart is 90 euros, Pro Controller 2 is 90 euros, the SD card is 60 euros, a webcam is 60 euros…
Meanwhile, their competition is getting cheaper every day.
My point is more that new/launch technology is always more expensive at launch, until economies of scale can kick in; and this is the first console launch after the 1-2 years of post-COVID double-digit inflation globally.
It sucks, and I’m not trying to excuse it or hand-wave it away - more-so just pointing out that it was kinda foreseeable, given the current state of things.
If you think this is bad, wait until the next round of console launches in ~2027 from Sony.
I can understand the console being more expensive, especially since we don’t really know its specs yet (or at least I don’t). Why is Mario Kart 30 euros more expensive, tho? It doesn’t paint a good picture.
I’m an old curmudgeon, and I remember (my parents) paying ~$50 for SNES back in the early-to-mid ‘90s; so I’m not exactly shocked that Nintendo have lifted their sell-price.
Compared to back then; gaming is still somewhat more affordable, which definitely feels counter-intuitive - I know!
Japan has for the first time since 1991 had >2% annual inflation for 3 straight years, definitively ending their 2+ decade of stagflation. Developer wages are going up, and games take longer to develop - those costs need to be covered. I am in support of paying a fair market price if (and only if), that increase goes to the labour, and not shareholder profits.
Seeing as the Executive team at Nintendo opted to take a salary-cut, rather than lay off staff, following the failure of the WiiU — they have exactly one credit from me, for the benefit of the doubt.
But that is where my good graces end; other developers are going to take this as the green light to further increase prices on their own (unfinished, rushed, micropayment-laden) titles, across the industry. Heck, there are rumblings that the base version of GTA6 may be $100USD!
Almost like they base prices on actual financial accounting and not the feelings of gamers.
Of course any economist will tell you economics is part psychology and sociology because humans aren’t rational actors, but it evens out at these large scales, and they have to start somewhere.
Nintendo launched the first Switch at $299; just accounting for inflation over the past years - that’s ~$390 now, BEFORE even trying to account for any Trump-tariffs they have been (or will be) imposed on electronics hardware.
I hate to give Nintendo credit, but $450 is actually somewhat reasonable given the current global shit-show.
I think most people are more upset about Nintendo pushing an $80 price tag for first party games. TotK put a bad taste in a lot of peoples’ mouths, but it was both a technical marvel and highly anticipated. People were beyond hyped about the game years before we learned about the increased price.
Mario Kart World was announced out of the blue, and while it looks like a ton of fun, it’s not the same kind of ‘I would be disappointed if I didn’t play it before I died’ as TotK. So a further bump in price for it just feels awful.
It’s not just the console prices that have gone up. Console is, 470 euros, Mario Kart is 90 euros, Pro Controller 2 is 90 euros, the SD card is 60 euros, a webcam is 60 euros…
Meanwhile, their competition is getting cheaper every day.
My point is more that new/launch technology is always more expensive at launch, until economies of scale can kick in; and this is the first console launch after the 1-2 years of post-COVID double-digit inflation globally.
It sucks, and I’m not trying to excuse it or hand-wave it away - more-so just pointing out that it was kinda foreseeable, given the current state of things.
If you think this is bad, wait until the next round of console launches in ~2027 from Sony.
I can understand the console being more expensive, especially since we don’t really know its specs yet (or at least I don’t). Why is Mario Kart 30 euros more expensive, tho? It doesn’t paint a good picture.
I’m an old curmudgeon, and I remember (my parents) paying ~$50 for SNES back in the early-to-mid ‘90s; so I’m not exactly shocked that Nintendo have lifted their sell-price.
Compared to back then; gaming is still somewhat more affordable, which definitely feels counter-intuitive - I know!
Japan has for the first time since 1991 had >2% annual inflation for 3 straight years, definitively ending their 2+ decade of stagflation. Developer wages are going up, and games take longer to develop - those costs need to be covered. I am in support of paying a fair market price if (and only if), that increase goes to the labour, and not shareholder profits.
Seeing as the Executive team at Nintendo opted to take a salary-cut, rather than lay off staff, following the failure of the WiiU — they have exactly one credit from me, for the benefit of the doubt.
But that is where my good graces end; other developers are going to take this as the green light to further increase prices on their own (unfinished, rushed, micropayment-laden) titles, across the industry. Heck, there are rumblings that the base version of GTA6 may be $100USD!
To your point
Atari
Atari 2600 (1977) – $199.99 (~$1,010 today)
Magnavox
Magnavox Odyssey (1972) – $99.99 (~$745 today)
Nintendo
Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) (1985) – $199.99 (~$560 today)
Super Nintendo Entertainment System (SNES) (1991) – $199.99 (~$460 today)
Nintendo 64 (1996) – $199.99 (~$400 today)
GameCube (2001) – $199.99 (~$345 today)
Wii (2006) – $249.99 (~$375 today)
Nintendo Switch (2017) – $299.99 (~$370 today)
Sega
Sega Master System (1986) – $199.99 (~$550 today)
Sega Genesis (1989) – $189.99 (~$470 today)
Sony (PlayStation)
PlayStation (PS1) (1995) – $299.99 (~$600 today)
PlayStation 2 (2000) – $299.99 (~$540 today)
PlayStation 3 (2006) – $499.99 - $599.99 (~$750 - $900 today)
PlayStation 4 (2013) – $399.99 (~$540 today)
PlayStation 5 (2020) – $399.99 - $499.99 (~$480 - $600 today)
Microsoft (Xbox)
Xbox (2001) – $299.99 (~$520 today)
Xbox 360 (2005) – $299.99 - $399.99 (~$470 - $630 today)
Xbox One (2013) – $499.99 (~$675 today)
Xbox Series X (2020) – $499.99 (~$600 today)
Many thanks for this! Really puts the console gaming hobby into perspective.
My two biggest take-aways:
Almost like they base prices on actual financial accounting and not the feelings of gamers.
Of course any economist will tell you economics is part psychology and sociology because humans aren’t rational actors, but it evens out at these large scales, and they have to start somewhere.
Yeah, this was my thinking as well. Inflation + preparations for tariffs are likely enough to bring the price to 450.