Topic: Are these prices making you cancel your purchases?

I take this approach:

EVERYTHING is more expensive these days. Not just Nintendo. Not just video games in general. Everything.

So, if I like gaming, I need to look at my budget, be realistic with myself, and find a way to keep doing it.

I've said it a million times, but it takes flexibility. I used to be someone who only bought new because... reasons. But now, I'm willing to put time in on eBay until I can find a used copy for 20 bucks off. I'm willing to wait until my local Gamestop does a "Buy 2, get 1 free" sale on used games.

I found a retro store about 45 minutes from me that also sells modern games for about 5-10 bucks off the MSRP. I can go there right now and get the BotW Switch 2 cartridge for 65 instead of 70, for instance. And people are willing to freak out about 10 bucks, then I think it's valid to point out a savings of 5 bucks.

So, you do you: The sky is falling, you're gonna leave gaming like @Uncle_Franklin - whatever floats your boat and makes you feel right. But if you honestly enjoy playing games, there ARE ways to save money and bring these high prices down to something more reasonable. If you're willing to put in a bit more effort.

(And I'm gonna say it: If you're a digital-only gamer, you have absolutely ZERO reason to be complaining right now unless you insist on buying every game on launch day. Digital games, even on the eShop, have ridiculous sales constantly.)

@Misima according to Nintendo defenders you’re still poor if you can’t figure out inflation on a Wii game.

@cheesedude This is precisely it. It's not that the new baseline game prices are inherently too high; it's that the value of the product has not increased along with them, but somehow decreased. This will have subjectivity involved, obviously, but I value creativity and art direction as central pillars, and these have in my eyes degraded so that they don't justify the price increase for me. I've experienced it first-hand in MKW and DKB now.

Adding the shenanigans with near or day-one DLC on top, and it's just not an attractive product anymore.

It’s not necessarily making a difference in me buying games I knew I was going to buy, but I think the price hike this generation is going to make a difference in me trying anything new in Nintendo products. A few months back I bought Xenoblade Chronicles X just to say I did. I didn’t really like it (turns out the story of Xenoblade is far more riveting than the gameplay) but I was glad to purchase it since it was only sixty dollars and I could tell it was quality, and sooner or later I’ll play enough to get my money’s worth out of it. But I’m not gonna take any chances on games that cost seventy and will eventually get DLC for the sole purpose of fleecing fans down to their last penny. It’s pretty sad to see that Nintendo has embraced the business practices of the rest of the gaming industry because that was the one thing you could say about Nintendo: most of the time, they cared about their products as art. They still do, but now they’re looking to get as much money out of that art as possible, and they’ll probably get away with it. It’s not like I’m not getting the DK Bananza or Mario Wonder DLCs.

My strategy is:

• Switch 1 games - Day 1
• Switch 2 upgrade packs - Skip completely. I have no interest in graphics upgrades and the extra content like Jamboree TV, Star Crossed World, Meetup in Bellabel Park don't seem worthwhile.
• Switch 2 games - To buy [insert game], I must have beaten [insert game I already own]. For example wait on Age of Imprisonment and Air Riders until after beating MK World, DK Bananza and Daemon X Machina Titanic Scion.

Judging by the discounts made on physical World and Bananza by August (2 and 1 month after launch respectively), I feel that by Early 2026 Age of Imprisonment and Air Riders would've dropped price by at least £10.

At least as of right now, Nintendo is still doing pretty good with pricing (except those Kirby Air Riders amiibo costing $50). Except Mario Kart World (which I am definitely skipping, at least for several years, because I don't like some of the design decisions in that one), all their new games are only $70, which is not too much more then the $60 that they were before and that's what Playstation and XBox have been charging since 2020. Switch 2 is still only $450 by itself. I have no issues with most of their current pricing. What I do have issues with is things like Game Key Cards.

@Dogorilla @Matt_Barber
Fair cop because that is the "preservation" argument that has been put forward and obviously NSO doesn't fit with that. As much as I don't really agree with the argument, that is the argument. With that said I would still argue that, regardless of motives or margin, from a history/preservation it's a bit rough to complain about Nintendo actually giving a crap about their history. Which includes selling working replicas of classic controllers to such an extent that it now extends to the Virtual Boy. Seems to me a bit off to complain about it especially with the words "the same awful design from 1995" when for months on end it's been nothing but complaints about key cards killing the preservation of gaming

On the topic itself, honestly I feel like the hyper-online portions of the gaming community have always been a bit out of whack. I get we're broadly enthusiasts but it always seemed to me that the rate at which some people seem to buy games is just obscene. Counting all of the games I have on Switch, including indies and games that I picked up for $1 or something, from Tears of the Kingdom through Gato Roboto, I have around 80 games. Which works out to be a game most months but not all months. I don't expect this to change that much with Switch 2. And to me that seems like quite a lot of money to have spent on games. But then I see this kind of comment, and frankly it's a comment that has been the norm on these kinds of spaces for years. Fairly modest even compared to some.....

....... to me it just doesn't compute. Seriously, this volume of games was something people actually considered purchasing? Do you guys even play these games? I admit, I watched this Direct and landed on a similar kind of view on the upcoming releases which, I would note, certain people in this thread do not share. There's a lot here that I do like the look of. But my reaction wasn't "I'll buy all of these games", my reaction was "which of these games do I want, which can I skip, there's too many"

Completely off tangent, boring adult nerd time here. What I actually do is literally put in a spreadsheet a budget for what I am willing to spend on non-essential stuffs. And then I just try to keep that graph in the green. Admittedly this year I went on a decent holiday (been a while), and got a trade in to do some non-essential work on the house ($$$), and then also got a Switch 2 (which was by far the cheapest of the three). So it's just a sea of red on that spreadsheet ATM, I've been doing a pretty bad job of keeping to it lately. But still, the point is you don't have to buy all the things

As @rallydefault said above, it's just a question of keeping to your budget and being a bit smarter about how you spend money. By definition the fact that game prices are going up faster than the space in my budget for games is means I'll buy fewer games or, alternatively, find ways to be smarter about what I buy and how. That's just how that equation works out. I don't think it's reasonable to blame a corporation for it being too expensive to buy more games than you could possibly ever play

It’s expensive but so is everything else. It’s what you get out of it. It’s a hobby and no one is forcing me to buy. I have over 75 hours on DK bananza and yet the dlc to complete. I have over 60 hours on Mario kart world. Hogwarts etc etc. if you been gaming for a long time, you know where to shop around using cashback schemes or discount codes.
Examples on switch 2 UK
I have Mario kart digitally for the console bundle which was extra £34 I then wanted this physically so got it used on eBay for £40 pounds. Add these up and it’s the retail price from Nintendo.
Donkey Kong Bananza I bought physically for £41 pounds after cashback from a cashback site.
You just have to shop around just as you would when buying a fridge, tv or a mortgage.

@ShieldHero you define this as being good with pricing. I need some of that bitcoin you got going on.

The prices for MKW and DKB were fine for me, both games are excellent and the gameplay I have got from them have been worth the prices.

The only issue I have right now is the cost of old games being sold as something new. Mario Galaxy 1+2 being around £60 for what is essentially an old game that may be just wrapped in an emulator, judging by the graphics and footage shown in the Direct these are not remakes, its just the original games like what was released in 3D All-Stars. So charging £60 is a bit much. Nintendo will be making money for doing almost nothing, it's not like they've spent tens of millions in remake development of the games to release on Switch.

I will be buying Galaxy 1-2 as physical as I never owned a Wii when it was out and I have never played the games before. I'm hoping they're good, and when I'm finished I can just sell the cartridge and get some money back. I'm definitely not buying them on digital at the prices they are.

The pricing has been exactly why I wanted Nintendo to take as long as possible to release a Switch 2. Because I already had issues with the pricing of certain games on Switch 1.

I have already cancelled several purchases over the Switch's lifespan, if not as directly. If Nintendo was less short sighted on this, I would've bought already, at the very least, Arms, Mario Tennis Aces, Pokemon Legends Arceus and the Famicom Detective Club remakes (or even just giving us any physical release of the two of them!). With Bayonetta 3/Origins, Mario Maker 2, Bowser's Fury and especially both Wariowares being a likely purchase as well. Maybe even Crafted World or Princess Peach Showtime.

Instead a couple of months ago I bought Disco Elysium, Valkyria Chronicles and the Klonoa collection for a combined 30 dollars or so. Because they understand the value of sales. I don't think I would've ever bought a Valkyria Chronicles game if not for that, and I had decided against the Klonoa collection for years almost purely because it having even minor issues running on Switch made no sense at all for what it was and looked like. (having played the new version of Klonoa 1, still true) So they got some of my money instead of none, which is what Nintendo does for seemingly every 3rd or 4th game I want to buy from them nowadays.

Also frustrating because the games I do still buy from Nintendo are very obviously worth the money (even have to admit, TOTK at least makes sense at 70 dollars for what it is), so the lack of "we can release 40 dollar video games like we did when we had dedicated handhelds" or "we can do a 50% sale" or "we can release Nintendo greatest hits versions" or anything is a real shame as a lifelong Nintendo fan. Also a shame when it feels like they're willing to start going into modern AAA game bloat purely to justify full priced games rather than just making awesome, slightly shorter, 40 dollar games or the like. (or at this rate even 50 dollars, I was there for Gamecube, I'd be fine with that in places)

Cost of life is just higher than it’s been for years. I don’t think the problem is that video games are too expensive as they are luxury products. We are not paid enough that is the real issue !

Also I wish could like every single post @skywake made on this topic as he is 100% accurate.

I very rarely buy video games day one anymore. Most games I wait for a sale somewhere and buy them then, whether its Amazon, Digital, or a brick and mortar business. The only games that I can think of that I have bought at full this year is Borderlands 4 and Mafia The Old Country but that one was only fifty dollars.

I have a huge backlog that keeps me busy anyway so I dont feel the need to buy a game right when it comes out. I also have a sub to Xbox Game Pass so big ticket games like Indian Jones and The Great Circle or Outer Worlds 2 I play through that and finish them. It doesnt bother me that I dont own the game, because I very rarely go back and replay a game as I have way to many games to play and so little time to play them, and let's be honest you can never capture that magic the first time you play and beat a game for the first time again. So if I did own the game it would just end up on a shelf collecting dust after I am done with it.

So.yeah to answer the question I still buy games and no the price of them hasnt stopped me.

Not always. The quality and pure magic that many Nintendo games provide is well worth the additional cash in my eyes. Same thing applies to the mainline Resident Evil games.

Well, as Tasuki said I don't buy games day one. Its rare for me to do that. I think just waiting for games to come out and seeing whether its a good fit for me or not is a good way to asses new games. I can't recall the last time I've preordered a game.

Additionally, waiting for sales has been a godsend in saving me money. Nintendo themselves don't do major discounts, but you can almost always get them for a little bit cheaper on the aftermarket if you go the physical route.

I mainly play on Switch and PC.

@WaveBoy I find myself moving away from physical games too. I dont know about you but after I play a game and finish it that's it. I dont go back and replay it cause honestly you cant capture that first time magic of playing a game for the first time, its actually kind of sad. Then the games just end up on my shelf collecting dust. I am just not materialistic as I once was to be honest.

@skywake When I was younger and wasted my money I bought games I didn't end up playing. But now I play every single game because every dollar is important to survival. I was interested in all those games because they looked good.

I wouldn't say the prices are making me 'cancel' anything because I will still buy my must-buys, but it's certainly making me prioritize and buy fewer major games than I would otherwise.

I'd be interested if anyone in the US could elaborate on the 'Nintendo games never go on sale' ideology.

Here in the UK right now, most retailers are selling Mario Kart World for £59.99 (RRP £74.99) and Donkey Kong Bananza for around £56.99 (RRP £64.99).

Now PS5 games will get discounted significantly more, take Hogwarts Legacy currently around £24.99 (RRP £54.99?) compared to Tears of the Kingdom released around the same time which is currently £44.99 (RRP £59.99)

There's definitely discrepancy and I just wondered whether there's a similar setup in the US or if it's quite literally "DK Bananza is $69.99 and it will stay fixed at that price for the rest of time while PS5 and Xbox games slip down over time"

@Tasuki
Pretty much the same way. That first time experience, just that magic & newness can't be replicated. Once you've experienced it or done nearly everything the game has to offer there's no more mystery at play. And even though I'm 99% digital these days, i miss having that re-sale value, because like you I typically never go back to most of the games that i've already finished anyways. You wind up with plastic & cardboard that just sits on a shelf, but a lot of people love that. But these days, we often get ugly generic CG-stock styled art work with no unique case design or Banner/Logo and with nothing substantial inside, which ultimately pales in comparison to the physical media we got with NES, SNES, GameBoy, Genesis, Long Box PS1 games & Dreamcast(White Jewel cases) from the 80's & 90's, imo.

I am going to buy DK Bananza & Kirby Air riders physically, just to have something, and probably Metroid Prime 4 too. And plus i have the option to sell them off down the line if i decide to, while inevitably double dipping and getting them Digital haha. Convenience wins.

The Box art for these don't look half bad, but i wish they'd have inverted Artwork for Prime 4 without that NS1 code banner-thing at the bottom.