Topic: Is the constant negativity in this community getting to anyone else?

I do think it’s important to voice any criticism & dissatisfaction with things that upset you with a certain hobby, but I do get getting frustrated with seemingly constant negativity, but also people insulting & putting down others for buying or enjoying something they hate, albeit I don’t see it here a lot & I mostly only see it on social media sites like Instagram & the joyless Twitter. Seeing people put down others for wanting/buying a Switch 2 after seeing how many people were unsatisfied with the price was extremely annoying (on top of them trying to guilt trip), those people do know there’s a way to criticize the price & voice their criticism without putting down other people, right? And also seeing people call certain things on NSO “scams” (like the Virtual Boy & the N64 games initially) when they are not can be tiresome, it’s not a scam, its more like a terrible deal for the content & the price.

@skywake that’s the thing. They are a toy company. Toy companies produce things I think almost everyone thinks is affordable. Nintendo has moved into the LEGO of toy companies. It’s only for a certain percentage of the market. So I do feel screwed that my commoner hoi polloi company has seemingly turned elitest. Maybe I feel like an Oakland goldenstate basketball fan watching my team move across the bay to the fancy area. Sure they’re still accessible. But at a price.

@Pastellioli
Yeah i feel like the key point is the whole putting people down idea and is something you end up seeing with a variety of different takes/opinions.

like for example the difference between someone being critical of aspects like prices is all fine but its when you get those who start calling people names like "corporate shill" or the like simply because they bought a switch 2 out of their own volition.

On the flipside its the difference between those praising aspects of the console and/or games which they like and expressing hype vs those who feel the need to call those critical of something "whiners" or "haters" (or refering to what they said as Whining, whinging, crying etc)

The issue is with the "corporate shill" or "whining" examples they are wording things in a way which puts down or dismisses the others or in some cases making it seem like they dont have agency in their opinions such as calling someone a "mindless" fan or hater or anything as mentioned which makes it seem like their choice or opinion is not their own somehow.

@Mgalens Absolutely, it was ridiculous how many people I saw just going on & insulting people for wanting to buy a Switch 2 & enjoying it, instead of just expressing their dissatisfaction with the content & prices. It just also seems like it’s a bit intolerant of other opinions, because some people going on & insulting people with stuff like “corporate shill” or something like “bootlicker,” and “you’re apart of the problem,” to me, it just makes me feel like it’s an attempt to make the people who bought Switch 2’s & the games on there feel bad about what they bought & to make them feel the same way as everyone else, but also an attempt at guilt tripping since the Switch 2 kept selling out upon release & some people got their orders cancelled when pre-ordering, plus some people didn’t have the money to buy it, but even months later, it seems to always be on low stock all the time.

But I also do agree that it can be the other way around, where people critical of something are also called “party poopers” or saying ”you hate fun,” which I’ve also seen a bit of recently after the Direct. There is a way for those that are extremely critical or excited to express their opinions & allow other opinions without putting someone down, insulting them, or trying to convince them to change their opinion to suit theirs.

@Pastellioli I guess I just think in this economy the haves should have a little more empathy for the have nots. Or even the working poor. If you want to buy whatever that’s ok. But there’s some people who are feeling priced out and they aren’t happy. There could be a time where the haves get prices out. No one likes being priced out and I’m sure if it happened to them they wouldn’t just casually shrug and say it’s ok it’s just a business.

If there's one thing the internet has taught me, it is that even completely understandable backlashes will generally become hyperbolic and weird.

I think I made the right choice in that my complaints have been specifically that this is stupid FOR Nintendo. Nintendo has succeeded and survived partially via affordability, and I'm a hardcore Nintendo fan who lost interest in certain games purely because of cost, so I highly question the success of a lot of Nintendo's b-tier series as time goes on. If I didn't buy the Famicom Detective Club remakes, who the **** outside of Japan did?

If Nintendo was better and having SOMETHING cheaper other than some of the most unappealing digital only games they could muster to sell nowadays, and some actual worthwhile sales, I'd be significantly less harsh about all the price increases. It would not be hard to fix this problem, to me. And that's the real frustration, I'm willing to be fair and Nintendo's still like "lol no."

If anyone accuses me of being a shill of something I like, I'll act like a door to door salesman, and try and sell them something that I barely know, like a kitchen appliance or a random indie game that isn't mainstream, or sega.

Then I'll say, "That's shilling, I didn't even know what I just shilled for, but that's what it is, 'I like this' is different"

I swear everybody thinks brainwashing is simple online, when it clearly is extremely difficult to change someone's already held opinion. People change themselves.

@sixrings I understand, I think a lot of the criticism some people had was them being worried that giving into the prices would keep the console expensive, and I do definitely get the price criticisms, I also thought the console was priced a bit too high when they first revealed it and could’ve been lower. The only issue I have is when some people are extremely jealous to the point that they feel the need to guilt trip and rudely insult those that bought the console, but I’m not saying the have nots are undeserving of empathy, because I really dislike how higher game prices are getting now and how it’s making gaming a more expensive hobby that’ll be a bit harder for others to get into now. It just genuinely sucks that’s the direction modern gaming is going in now…

Gaming is cheaper and more accessible than ever for way more people than ever before. Nintendo has just chosen to go in the opposite direction by trading in their longterm good reputation for short term gains as a pseudo-luxury entertainment provider.

Meanwhile you can get games as creative as theirs with slightly less polish from indies for often literally nothing, playable on a potato laptop that costs $100. They’ve chosen to compete with Sony now in terms of pricing and I think it’s only a matter of time until they reap the whirlwind. The rumoured Sony handheld might very well humble Nintendo in that case and they’ll deserve it.

I got a video recommended calling the Switch 2 "evil". It has a quarter of a million views.

Excuse me while I die of cringe.

@kkslider5552000 I think at this stage, it's crossed into absurdity.

The negativity is even offline, with people I work with trashing it and anyone who plays on it. It's like being back at school again and having a PS2 and not an Xbox, and not playing CoD.

....Ew.

I think you misunderstood me here. They're a toy company as opposed to a bank, insurance, healthcare, food or pharmaceutical company. The products they produce are by definition non-essential, in many countries tax systems they would be classified as luxury goods

You don't need to buy their working replica shell of the Virtual Boy or pay a premium in order to play Star Wars Outlaws on a portable console. So when people use loaded words like they're being scammed or that Nintendo are evil or whatever. They're a toy company. They're not holding you hostage. You don't have to buy their stuff

My position is basically that this product is pretty good, it suits my wants pretty well. And I like Nintendo's output so if I'm spending money on entertainment this is a good space to do it. The generally higher prices? I don't like spending more money, so I won't, and I'll either buy less games or buy less of something else as a result. And if you're even less of a fan of the price don't buy it at all. That's cool

But the commentary of late seems to be a lot of people acting as if Nintendo has withheld their insulin or something. And others coming in and white knighting over it. If I say that Mario Kart World is an alright game someone is going to be personally offended by the suggestion and we'll end up arguing about why it's the worst game ever and that Switch 2 is headed to a crash harder than the Wii U

I get it, people don't like the pricing. I don't like the pricing. But you don't have to knit this elaborate story to justify your dislike of the price. And to me it seems like some people in particular are going out of their way to invent things to complain about in order to justify their dislike of the price. Either that or they just like stirring people up. And they're often fairly flimsy complaints that evaporate in the next outrage cycle

It's kinda like if I was to scroll through the a one star reviews for a washing machine. And there are people in there complaining about the price vs what they paid for their last one in 2009. And others complaining that it makes noise or that they put in white and red shirts and now their red shirts are pink. Or they don't like the happy tone of the jingle it plays and the sales guy was unhelpful resolving it so they returned it and will never buy from that shop again. And you know, people are entitled to their opinions right?

@Haruki_NLI People just like to parrot their favourite clickbaity youtuber, It's hard being a fan of Nintendo stuff atm.

@skywake hey I don’t care what they do with their amiibo prices or virtual boy. I figure they figured out what these things end up being in scalpers hands and therefore cut those people out. But the game prices are different. That’s what I’m talking about here and Nintendos added reliance on dlc.

Of course needs are shelter, food, clothing. This is a want. That said I think that’s a sad existence if all our lives are about is getting the very basics. Perhaps that’s what people are upset about. That’s exactly how it feels out there.

I buy everything off marketplace or winners. I have a 2002 Toyota. There’s only so much cutting back people can do. And we’re considered well off where we live.

@sixrings
This might sound a bit "back in my day we walked to school uphill not ways in the hail" but when I was a kid my family wasn't at all well of. My gaming experience was one generation behind, discount bins and ex-rentals. With the exception of GameBoy I guess, although I didn't get a GBC until just before the GBA was out

Obviously I'm not in that position now that I have my own income. Also my parents are also in a better position than they were in the 90s and early 00s. But even so, it's entirely possible to be engaged in this hobby without living at the full retail, newest release, most current hardware. If anything it's even easier now than it used to be

Honestly, I'd have more sympathy for the price complaints if it wasn't always relating to hardware that is a few months old and games that aren't out yet. If they upped the rate for NSO or restricted family groups for example. That outrage I could get behind. I'm also not at all a fan of the removal of gold points or the NSO vouchers

..... but most of the complaints are ultimately about the price of this shiny new thing. Or attempts to pull the quality of this shiny new thing down in order to justify complaints about the price. And, IMO, if price is a concern? Buy less. Buy something else. If people had no issues with the pricing on Switch as it was and are now hitting a wall? There's room there, you have options

I think an underlying reason for the guilting and name-calling and the emotional stuff, is growing inequality.

In a capitalist world, it's the Masses against the Classes. The Classes exploit times of stress (e.g. Covid, wars) to divide the Masses, thereby strengthening the Classes overall position and increasing inequality.

We see this play out in the world of employment and commerce - wages stagnate, jobs feel less secure, prices rise. Some of this happens naturally due to supply shortages, but some of this happens opportunistically - the Classes use the word 'inflation' as an opportunity to add an extra 10-20-n% on to their profit margins.

If the Masses unite, they can prevent the Classes opportunism. If, as One, they say, "No, we're not paying what you're asking" or, "No, we reject these new terms of employment", then the Classes often have no choice but to backdown and give the Masses an improved slice of the pie, helping restrain inequality.

When the Masses attempt to unite, going on strike against an employer, for example, there are words for individual employees who break the strike. 'Scab' and 'Bootlicker' are a couple of examples. This is quite understandable and inevitable - to those who understand and want to use the power of union, individuals who break the union are effectively an enemy helping fuel the inequality fire, and the union is compelled to act against them, to maximise the strength of the union - to them it's 'Unite or die', 'Us or Them'. That's why it gets emotional and aggressive, ultimately.

Inequality grows for a number of reasons, but one of those is that the Masses struggle to act in union. There's too many of them, with their own unique circumstances and motivations, and they're too easily divided by the Classes.

Quite a lot of people would say that right now, Nintendo, as a member of the Selling Class, is acting opportunistically with its prices. Galaxy, amiibo, Switch 2 etc.

The buying Masses, the consumers of Nintendo products, if they were able to unite and say, "No, the price is too high", Nintendo would need to rethink. E.g., 3DS.

But the Masses are not united, and those that accept Nintendo's terms are understandably seen as scabs and bootlickers by those who can't/won't accept the terms.

Some people see a bigger picture and think there's a lot more at stake - they can see they're getting priced out of more and more choice in life; others just wanna play a shiny Mario game and DGAF. Nobody's wrong, but the division, and the emotion and anger, is understandable and inevitable, and thus the inequality fires rage on.

Yeah, I do think a major factor to the backlash is that this is happening at the perfect time for no one to have any patience for anything anymore. Which I would often say as a way to make fun of people, but in 2025, yeah fair. I can't pretend I don't relate.

I'd just like to remind everyone that Nintendo were forced to reduce the price of the 3DS because of public backlash and low sales. It was the vocal and the wallet voters that made that happen, and it was inevitably the right move for them as well.

Also my opinions are my own. I don't watch YouTube reviewers or clout chasers, and I don't use social media. And I have plenty of patience — I happily wait years playing new games because I have more than enough other things to do with my life.

@Kwyjibo_Kitsune I think you're making the mistake of projection; most people don't watch gaming and Nintendo focused channels. Just because you see those videos in your sidebar it's easy to think "that must be why people have those opinions", but it's not.

How many of your opinions are from the content you choose to watch?

@OmnitronVariant is right. If the prices are truly too high then people won't buy the product and they will have to lower the price just like with 3DS.

But what that also means is, if the system is continuing to sell, then the price isn't too high. Regardless of whether a few thousand people on the internet complain about it. Virtually everyone agrees the price of the system is reasonable. And despite raising accessory prices and NSW1 prices, they are the only ones who did not raise the price of their current system.

At the end of the day, the market will decide whether something costs too much. And your example of 3DS is proof. It's not like people banded together to get the price to drop- most people weren't even on the internet back in 2011. Certainly, not like they are now 15 years later. Individuals made individual choices and in aggregate it had an effect.

If prices become too high, individuals will make individual choices to skip said product and in aggregate it will have an effect. But that's up to the individuals. The problem nowadays is the people who feel something is too expensive think those who feel otherwise are "objectively wrong" or "part of the problem" for simply spending their own discretionary money on entertainment in a manner they see fit.

And I find it asinine to complain about prices because at the end of the day, it's just entertainment that's a hobby. @skywake said it perfectly. Its not food, clothing or shelter. Its completely unnecessary time wasting entertainment. If prices are too high, then people won't buy the products and they will be forced to drop the price. The flip side of that is, if people don't abstain from buying, that means the majority of people simply don't have a problem with it. And I think that's hard for some to accept. They want everyone in the world to feel exactly how they do so that they can get what they want.

But the reality is the rest of the world doesn't necessarily feel that way, clearly, as evidenced by continued strong sales. If people really like something they are going to find a way to buy it. Again as @skywake said, they'll just buy less of it or buy less of something else.

There does come a price where people say it's too much but it's clear that $70 games is not that line in the sand for most people. All the shouting and complaining in the world won't change the fact mosy ppl are ok paying that (in some cases even more).

It's clear $450 for a hybrid handheld that can produce visuals as good if not better than a PS4 Pro is not that line in the sand. Heck, PS5 is selling for $550 and XSX for $600, with PS5 Pro even selling for $830 (yes Im counting the disc drive- would be like selling a Switch 2 without a cartridge slot). So nobody's drawing a line at $450.

People buy $80, $90, even $100 deluxe edition games all the time. The Ghost of Yotei $80 version was outselling the $70 version. So even when given a choice, people willfully choose to spend more. WWE 2k25 had a $130 option, and it outsold the $100 version.

Like, there is eventually a price where people will draw a line in the sand and say that's too much but we're not there yet. Right now, it's just a vocal minority on the internet.

And i'm not saying those people don't have a right to feel the way they do. Of course they have that right. What gets me is when they act like it's "objective fact" something is "too expensive", therefore anyone who buys that "objectively overpriced thing" is [insert random insult here].

At the end of the day, it's just entertainment. If someone feels it's too expensive for them, there's plenty of other forms of entertainment you can spend your money on. Nobody has a gun to your head forcing you to buy anything. But let the rest of us who are having fun playing video games have our fun without harassing us for not boycotting or being upset in a similar manner.