Topic: Are these prices making you cancel your purchases?

Is anyone else fed up?

I watched the direct today and was excited. I planned on buying Prime, Fever. The DK DLC, Fire Emblem, RE 8, RE 9, Galaxy 2, and maybe the Pokemon games, the FF 7 remake, and I was even thinking the Dragon Quest Games and Stardew as I hadnot bought it. Then I looked up prices and started realizing that this was way out of my price range.

I was thinking to myself, half of those games are old so it wouldn't be that expensive and then almost every single game was 10-40 dollars more than I expected. The DLC was something I thought would be 5 bucks and it is 20. The Pokemon DLC is 30!!!

Honestly I didn't buy Galaxy 2 back on the Wii because I was poor and had to pass, it was a 50 dollar game so I assumed that it would be 40 dollars for the two games, but it's 35 per game in the bundle. 40 for Galaxy 2 alone. FF7 is a key card so that's out. I watched that direct and said I think there's 8-10 purchases there and after the sticker shock I think I am getting Prime 4 and Fire Emblem if it's
like 3 Houses, and just waiting until RE 9 is cheap on PC. I got RE7 for 20 bucks, so maybe Nintendo just talked themselves out of me as a customer.

Don't get me started on the Virtual Boy. 100 bucks might make sense if it was a quality headset that you used like the Oculus by sliding the switch 2 in, provided every VB game was on a physical cartridge for game preservation. But 100 bucks for the same awful design from 1995 and you still have to pay a premium subscription to play the games. This might be the worst move Nintendo has ever made

Is anyone else feeling the same way?

I was so excited after Cyberpunk, thinking I was going to be using mouse mode to play games on my huge TV from here on our, but the PC is just so much cheaper for games. 65 minutes and after all that I might buy 1 or 2 games because there is no value anymore.

Could we at least get sales?

Sorry I don't have more money, but horrible corporations ruined the economy out of greed, and now apparently you're one of those companies.

I bought over 600 games from them and every system including the Virtual Boy. But now I seriously am wondering if my Switch 2 is going to continue to be a Balatro machine due to cost. I am already eating just rice Nintendo and polycrisis is just starting.

I didn't even bring up my electric bill... I hate the future.

Not really? I only have a few games I bought on release day right now and it's like... Hades 2, Pokemon ZA (will buy the DLC later, once I know how much story they'll add, which is something we'll know once it released, or a week or two before release), Pokopia.

Digimon Time Stranger Deluxe Edition whenever that one will be ported on Switch 2.

Elliot Adventure, Lego Batman (new one), and Starforce Collection will be bought depending on their release date, otherwise I have no issue just waiting a year or two for decent discount anyway.

Hm, that's actually decent amount of games, but since I know this will all be spread over months... It's not that bad?

Overall it's just deciding on which games are something you must have day one, and which don't, imo.

Everyone’s different I guess, different priorities and circumstances.

Personally I’ve got 3 very young kids so money is tight, however the kids and my work also means it takes me months to finish anything! All these exciting games will be reduced by the time I get around to them.

When the switch 2 launched the prices and key cards really bothered me but now I’m trying not to worry or be annoyed about things about of my control, I’m enjoying my S2 and I’ll be picking up the DQ7 and resident evil games on sale whether that be digital or key card and just enjoying playing the game for what it is

If anything the current situation has helped me as it’s narrowed down my spending to specific games I really want rather than just free spending on physical games I come across that look cool, to add to a collection that I’ll inevitably never get to.

After playing Mario Kart World and Bananza, I do not feel like Nintendo games are worth it to me anymore. I would rather pay those high prices for retro games on ebay.

The direct definitely turned me off from buying Z-A at all.

When Nintendo sells old games as new games I pretty much ignore it. I still have a wii and wii u and the original games and can emulate them on my PC even a low powered laptop with enhanced visuals and fps etc.

These sort of games are for the real Nintendo fans who will buy anything really. I'm personally only interested in the new titles that are exclusive to a Nintendo console that are very well reviewed. I would of already had my fill of older Nintendo games and could never justify buying a retro port at a high price.

It will be 99% the same game experience on these new ports. I remember buying Windwaker HD for the wii u and realised I preferred the gamecube version. The controller felt better to me and because I used a CRT to play it back in the day it had amazing feel and response compared to a modern flat screen TV with all the additional input lag. I felt I had wasted my money to a degree. I did get into wii u windwaker but there wasn't much value in my purchase.

These new Galaxy games are probably running through some emulation core.

Over the next few years many must play exclusive Switch 2 titles will come out. It was the same for the original Switch and the wii u before it. I only have a handful of Switch 1 games, Mario Odyssey, Tears of the Kingdom etc. I'd never consider buying multi-format titles on the system.

My main gaming system nowadays is PC which has amazing value games and the games are more impressive. You get to keep the rights to the games longer too and they upgrade as you upgrade your pc as you can choose higher quality settings. It just makes financial sense to make PC your primary platform for value and choice.

@Jhena Yeah this is where I'm at as well. They're not outright bad games, but for that price, I need something more. Given that I also own a Steam Deck with all the options that comes with, including indie games not even available on Nintendo's consoles that I get significant more enjoyment out of than anything Nintendo has put out since Tears of the Kingdom, it's getting prohibitively expensive to justify buying any of the upcoming games when to my eyes they're just more of the same with slightly nicer polish on top.

It's not that I can't afford it, but it's that the value proposition is so low I'd rather spend my money on so many other things than this.

I bought lots of Switch 1 games because they had a high value of entertainment compared to cost. A £40 game that gave me 40 hours of entertainment was well worth it. An indie at £16 could give me 25 hours of entertainment.

Switch 2 pricing has made me less open to buying the stuff I care less about. No more western ports, no more amiibo or silly add ons, no more party games or out there concepts, no more games that will be too easy and quick to finish, no more DLC that adds modes I won’t play or pointless costumes, no more genres of games I don’t really care about. I don’t want visual upgrades on perfectly acceptable looking games. For me I’m going to buy those games I know I will love, and seeing how physical prices have dropped already on even Nintendo first party games, I’m not going to rush out and buy things immediately.

Nintendo have actually managed to get me to buy less and play less games because of the value proposition. Currently I’m revisiting old Switch games and remembering how fun they were.

@OmnitronVariant
I do not know much about the Steam Deck, but it is good that you are getting your money's worth. Not really the same but I have been thinking for a while now about buying a PC with Windows XP or older versions installed to play retro PC games. There is so much good stuff available.

The prices suck but it won't prevent me from purchasing Nintendo stuff as I love the games.
I have the disposable income to afford it so it's not that big of an issue for me personally but I can understand why people are upset.

@Jhena I have the Steam deck oled and it does struggle with the latest games however it's fantastic for older titles so I'd highly recommend it for retro gaming.

Been planning on winding down on gaming and making Switch 1 my last console,
and these prices certainly aren't dissuading me.

@Hapless I have a desktop PC as well; to play more demanding games I use Moonlight on Deck to stream the game from my PC that runs Sunshine. It’s an incredible protocol with practically no latency locally, and even remotely it works like a dream. I played 250+ hours of Starfield that way.

Honestly though, most games the Deck runs about as well as the Switch 2 does, probably because most third-party games aren’t well optimised on Switch 1 and 2 anyway, and I find I can tune them better to my liking with access to all the settings. Ray-tracing is a waste of energy at this point so while games requiring it run poorly on Deck, I don’t play them on PC anyway, even when I have an RTX 3060ti. Not that they run well on Switch 2 either

Honestly, the prices of some of these games is a bit much. The Galaxy remakes especially seem a bit overpriced for what they are. But my view on this is unchanged on what it has always been

If a game is a face melter, must play at launch, absolute banger? These prices are still not to bad relative to other kinds of media. But where they are not then just pace yourself, hunt out bargains, only buy what you intend to play

I think it's telling that this thread exists while there are people in other threads complaining that there aren't enough games. Not saying OP is doing this but..... if this isn't enough games I'm not convinced you're actually playing these games. You're collecting them. Maybe stop buying to collect and start buying to play and it won't be quite so expensive

That Virtual Boy accessory springs to mind too.

I can get that just playing the games emulated in 2D can't replicate the headache-inducing glory of mid-90s VR. However digging out the cardboard VR set once more should probably suffice for the one game that's worth playing for more than fifteen minutes.

@Hapless
Cool, this is good to know, thank you!

@Matt_Barber
But also, the existence of something you find expensive you choose not to purchase does not impact you in the slightest. The replica Virtual Boy is expensive and certainly more than I'm willing to pay..... so I won't buy it.... and that's where it ends

But also, people spend like $500 on replica light sabres to sit on their shelves. I've spent thousands on Vinyl for music that I can access on streaming services. Some people spend their money on shoes or clothes or plants. Who am I to complain that someone might want to spend over $100AU on a replica Virtual Boy for their shelf?

And as a side note, on the topic of the Virtual Boy. With all the Game Key Card bluster people have been pushing. For all the complaining about digital purchases and the need for preservation. Then Nintendo actually puts a literal museum piece up for sale so people can try the Virtual Boy and.... where are the preservationists now?

I absolutely agree the prices are making me rethink purchases. I’ve had a Nintendo system since the original NES and have greatly enjoyed the games over the years. But the high cost of the system, games, DLC, amiibo, etc are taking their toll. I find myself becoming much more judicious in my game choices (is it REALLY worth the price?) and buying significantly less new games. On the other hand, I’m enjoying going through my retro games and older Switch games with improved performance on Switch 2. Happy for the people that don’t mind the pricing, but I do find myself being drawn more and more to my other hobbies due to pricing.

I broadly agree with what you're saying even though I do find the prices off-putting enough that I haven't bought a Switch 2 yet, but regarding this bit, I think the preservation aspect is diminished by the fact you need a premium subscription to actually play Virtual Boy games on your replica Virtual Boy.

@skywake It's pretty bad even from a preservationist perspective, in that it's all gated behind a subscription service that could be cut off on a whim or have its price hiked.

That's always been the biggest complaint that preservationists have had with NSO. It might be a handy sampler of Nintendo's past systems, but if you want copies that you can keep for all time, you're going to have to head for the high seas, or at least eBay.

I don't really mind high prices per se. Value propositions differ for everyone according to their circumstances.

It's more that I feel that Nintendo are offering less than they should or could, and thus their games and products are starting to feel like less thought, care, love attention has been put into them.

I can no longer be as certain as I was in the past that Nintendo first party games are going to be excellent. They are usually good enough but that's not what I'm looking for. I feel like, at times, they have stopped going the extra mile and have been content to put out good rather than great games.

So it's not really an issue of individual sticker pricing - as I value what I value - but one of Nintendo becoming more corporate and focusing more on shifting units at the expense of craftsmanship quality. Of course some of their games are absolute bangers but it's not a given any more, and thus I'm starting to question value on a case by case basis.

Nope. Just rework my budget. I’m looking for a second job anyway which will increase my fun money allotment (not getting second job for gaming but it will benefit from it.). I also need to get back to saving for a new PC build. I hate to say it but I am enjoying the high amiibo prices because it removes the stress of buying them. I can get easy preorders or walk in and buy. Cost of living (including luxuries) always requires planning and forward thinking. Or an exit to minimalist living and that has benefits too.