An open-world Mario Kart, a new Souls-like from FromSoftware, a 3D Donkey Kong game… As expected, the Nintendo Direct dedicated to the Switch 2 had plenty of surprises in store for us. But one of them turned out to be less than delightful than the others. Do all the great things presented today justify the price of the console and its games? Nintendo was careful not to publish the painful part of its presentation, instead slipping it discreetly onto its website. A quick tour of the manufacturer's store might be enough to make more than one gamer turn their eyes.
To upgrade to the new generation of Switch on June 5th, you'll have to pay €469.99 for the console alone or €509.99 for the console with Mario Kart World. Speaking of the racing game, it will be priced at €79.99 digitally and €89.99 physically. Donkey Kong Bananza, meanwhile, is priced at €69.99 and €79.99. Suddenly, Nintendo is joining a price range already applied by Sony and Microsoft. And for many, this jump would not be justified. A quick analysis of this pricing policy and today's announcements helps put things into perspective.
The Switch can no longer be compared to PlayStation and Xbox consoles
Before talking about the games, let's take a look at the console itself for a few moments. In recent years, the most recent Switch models (excluding the Switch Lite) have always been offered at a suggested retail price of €349.99. This price now applies to the OLED Switch, as the LCD model has benefited from a price drop following this change. Focusing solely on the numbers, the Switch 2 is therefore €120 more expensive than the previous model. Around a hundred euros for the new generation of consoles seems to be commonplace in the industry, but in this specific case, it's the comparison with competitors that's problematic.
Like many gamers, our first reaction was: “€470? When the PlayStation 5 Digital costs only €449 and the Xbox Series S is only €299.99?“In the game console market, largely dominated by these three manufacturers, the comparison seems obvious. Especially since the Switch 2 Direct relied on big titles playable on competing machines to give a scale of its power. Although it is still too early to judge the details, the trailers presented suggest that the Switch 2 barely comes close to a Series S.
So, how does Nintendo intend to justify the price of its console? In reality, it may be up to us, the players, to change our point of view. The original Switch was already difficult to compare to its competitors, but this fact is even more true today. The success of this console contributed to the advent of PC consoles such as the Steam Deck and the ROG Ally. While portable consoles were abandoned by Sony after the failure of the Vita, leaving Nintendo to reign alone, the game console market is once again split in two today. On one side, the PS5 and Xbox, and on the other, portable consoles and PCs using the same format.
Based on this principle, the Switch 2 is poised to become one of the best value for money in its category. At Valve, the cheapest Steam Deck is priced at €419, but it doesn't offer a Full HD and HDR screen, nor a 120 frames per second refresh rate, and games like Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077 don't look as sharp as they do in the footage shown on the Switch 2 today. Let's not even talk about the ROG Ally, which retails for between €500 and €900 depending on the player's needs. Nintendo has long since stopped competing for power, but the Switch 2 could well become the portable console offering the best experience on current titles, at a competitive price. No, your Switch 2 won't replace a PC, PS5, or Xbox: but that's not its purpose.
The price of games that cannot be excused
On the other hand, the gaming pill is hard to swallow. The standard of AAA titles at €90 is not appreciated by any manufacturer and will be even less so by Nintendo. For a console presented as family-friendly, selling a physical version of Mario Kart at €89.99 is audacious (not to mention disrespectful) to say the least. In fact, the prices presented today only concern the My Nintendo Store, where Nintendo products are already sold at high prices on the current generation. Moreover, the new price separation between physical and digital editions also seeks to push players towards dematerialization. Games published by Nintendo will therefore cost €10 less via the eShop than on the My Nintendo Store and specialist retailers offering the manufacturer's recommended prices.
However, fans of physical games will most likely be able to find these games for €60 or less at other retailers, since this trend is already affecting games Switch. Purchasing games for the Nintendo Switch 2 can still be done at "reasonable" prices, but will require a little more thought to try to save where it is still possible. An additional step that gamers (and especially families) would certainly have been happy to do without. As for accessories, there is nothing particularly noteworthy to highlight. The Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller is sold at the same price as the previous one and seems to be only a reskin of it. The GameCube controller for Switch Online will cost €69.99. As for the new camera, you'll have to pay €59.99.
So yes, inflation is hitting the video game industry hard, but Nintendo isn't the biggest victim either. The fact remains that these expenses will not be insignificant for players, and it will certainly be necessary to consider the Switch trade-in offers from certain retailers to try to reduce the price of the Switch 2.
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