Bundles including a digital copy of Mario Kart World will be available for slightly higher price points.
The Nintendo Switch 2 will cost $449.99 when it launches in the US. It will launch at £395.99 in the UK. It will require ¥49,980 in Japan. It will demand 469,99 € in the EU, and $629.99 in Canada.
Additionally, a bundle including both the Nintendo Switch 2 Hardware and an included code for a digital copy of Mario Kart World will be available for higher prices: $499.99 in the US, $699.99(+tax) in Canada, £429.99 in the UK, ¥43,980 in Japan, and 509,99 € in the EU. The bundle appears to show a significant discount over buying the system and the game itself separately on lunch day.
In a surprising twist, Japan will have a Japanese-Language System version at the prices stated here, which Nintendo is listing as "Japan Only". There will also be a Multi-Language System available in Japan for ¥69,980. This suggests that the Japanese-Language systems will be less desirable to international buyers who are trying to take advantage of currency valuation differences between other currencies and the Japanese Yen, and possible Japanese Nintendo Consumers could see less pressure from overseas scalpers.
Yikes. I want a Switch 2, but at that price I can't justify getting it at launch due to real world obligations.
Also, how can they justify charging $80 for Mario Kart World? I am sure it will be good, but $80 for any game is nuts.
Yikes. I want a Switch 2, but at that price I can't justify getting it at launch due to real world obligations.
Also, how can they justify charging $80 for Mario Kart World? I am sure it will be good, but $80 for any game is nuts.
It gets even worse when you find out that $80 is for the Digital edition. The physical edition is $90. -_-
Yikes. I want a Switch 2, but at that price I can't justify getting it at launch due to real world obligations.
Also, how can they justify charging $80 for Mario Kart World? I am sure it will be good, but $80 for any game is nuts.
It gets even worse when you find out that $80 is for the Digital edition. The physical edition is $90. -_-
Or $80.
https://www.walmart.com/ip/Mario-Kart-World-U-S-Version/15940407280
I don't like $80 price for games but $80 in 2025 is $59.52 in 2015 and $48.24 in 2005 so it's not unexpected. Inflation marches on....
Yeah when it comes to game prices, gamers have to realize that we've been insanely lucky the last few decades that game prices haven't gone up the same way lots of other prices have over the years. With video game development cost rising way more during this same time, it was only a matter time before prices went up.“Lucky” is not the word I’d use to describe what’s happening here. While game prices haven’t increased at the same pace as living expenses, publishers have benefited over the decades from a boom in user growth with higher attach rates. Then, the most predictable thing happened: user growth slowed (because infinite growth doesn’t exist) while development expenses exploded yet most companies never planned for any of this. Publishers aren't eating that cost; it always gets passed to consumers one way or another. We all understand this part, right? And none of this accounts for the egregious discrepancy between executive team compensation and like, a developer’s salary.
Now the question is, what is Nintendo's true motivation here? They're increasing by quite a lot, more than what was predicted. Are they being greedy or is this all just baking potential tariffs into the price? I assume Nintendo set the prices anticipating tariffs.Those are part of it, I’m sure, though I imagine there’s pressure (or at least gently nudging) from third parties. Most publishers are not managed as well as Nintendo is which has been warning the industry about rising development costs and the challenges meeting deadlines as games become more complex yet everyone told Satoru Iwata to STFU at GDC 2005. Despite having among the highest wages, retention rates, and employee satisfaction in Japan, Nintendo is still in a great position to absorb extra expenses. Beyond why-would-it-do-that (because LOL-capitalism), third parties are in greater need to hike game prices except it’d be really hard to do that if Mario Kart World is sitting there at $60.
Now the question is, what is Nintendo's true motivation here?
Question for my Canadian friends. Are the increases from US$ to CA$ consistent with cost of living and other costs or is this specific to Nintendo products?
Publishers can set the price to whatever they want. When people can’t afford that price, no one benefits. Anecdotally, I rarely buy games at full price due to my LOL gaming habits. Still, I get why people are mad about this because it isn't just about me, and it reaches way farther than video games. I don't think it's healthy to live in a world as a wage slave where you don't get to unwind and relax.
That said, gaming has not always been “a rich person’s hobby”. You have Neo-dodge a lot of things to get there.
Now the question is, what is Nintendo's true motivation here?
