Board 8 > $449?! Wow.

(+) Yeah! (+)

I never thought Nintendo wouldve gotten so expensive. Sad day.

$80 for MK? Wtf

that's why you get the bundle

What bundles are available?

i think just the mario kart one

switch 2 with kart is 499

That's why you wait for 5 years and there are trustworthy secondhand sellers.

I think the price for the actual console was to be expected, at least to be higher than usual. But the price for games is the most insane thing imo.

I mean a mid tier graphics card these days costs like 600-700 bucks so...this isn't surprising lol

People will pay it

KingButz posted...

People will pay it

can confirm

i'm people

Pretty sure it was supposed to be $400 USD but...

The NES retailed at $179 in 1985 which is equivalent to $520 today

breaking news things get more expensive over time. It's called "inflation" look it up

MZero posted...

breaking news things get more expensive over time. It's called "inflation" look it up

It is a little surprising that since the 16-bit era, prices on new games have held steady at ~$60, but to have that benchmark suddenly terminated and watch prices shoot up precipitously is a bit of a reality check. Maybe $179 is equivalent to $520 today. But how much was $179 last year?

azuarc posted...

It is a little surprising that since the 16-bit era, prices on new games have held steady at ~$60, but to have that benchmark suddenly terminated and watch prices shoot up precipitously is a bit of a reality check. Maybe $179 is equivalent to $520 today. But how much was $179 last year?

I've read some wild things on reddit. Just some absolutely incredible takes that are upvoted.

I can't imagine how people of today would act if something like Pit Fighter cost 60 bucks and that's they got.

N64 games got into the $70-90 range based on what it was. Some SNES games also got up to $75

console price is okay.
$80 games is not. $80 for a digital key especially is not.

when I read topics like these I keep forgetting that you guys dont already have $80 games

metaphor was $90CAD already

devs are free to charge as much as they want, but they've been making more money than ever before, so there really isn't much for them to complain about. it's not my fault they decided to hire thousands of people.

i guess we'll see how supply and demand works out. i personally don't care how good the value is, something weird would have to happen for me to even consider buying an $80 video game at this point

i'm trying to imagine the scenario. it'd have to be something with online multiplayer that completely captured the zeitgeist, yet would evaporate sooner rather than later. For me personally, I'd need all my friends to play it and only it for around a year and essentially socially exclude me if i didn't make the purchase. i don't see that happening any time soon

well good news it'll be a $120CAD game for you now~

God I am so tired of Americans faking outrage over an imaginary 90 dollars pricetag when Europe is the one who has to deal with that pricetag (even if only for one game)

ngl I bought Monster Hunter Wilds for $70 a month ago and new Mario Kart for $80 strikes me as probably a better value than that.

But also I think that was the first PS5 game I've bought at full price, so maybe I'm not the target audience for full price AAA games.

Chaeix posted...

when I read topics like these I keep forgetting that you guys dont already have $80 games

metaphor was $90CAD already

Yeah same in Japan. Most big name RPGs cost about 9900 yen here

Chaeix posted...

when I read topics like these I keep forgetting that you guys dont already have $80 games

metaphor was $90CAD already

MZero posted...

Yeah same in Japan. Most big name RPGs cost about 9900 yen here

9900 yen is equal to $67 USD, and $90 CAD is equal to $63 USD.

Chaeix posted...

metaphor was $90CAD already

For the 1000 time

CANADIAN DOLLARS ARE NOT DOLLARS
"omg you guys have $80 games now? here in russia we have games that cost 6000 rub! 6000>>>>>>>>80!!!!!"

This "logic" is so fucking stupid

KamikazePotato posted...

9900 yen is equal to $67 USD, and $90 CAD is equal to $63 USD.

Yeah well unless you're getting paid in USD that is irrelevant

But if you insist on looking at exchange rate, Persona 5 cost 8800 yen on release which was $88 by 2016 conversion rates

Nintendo stanning so strong people trying to jump through hoops defending $80 games.

If Sony started charging $80 for the base releases of their games, some of the same people would absolutely be singing a different tune.

Not really defending it, but just pointing out this is far from the first time this has happened

Nanis23 posted...

For the 1000 time

CANADIAN DOLLARS ARE NOT DOLLARS
"omg you guys have $80 games now? here in russia we have games that cost 6000 rub! 6000>>>>>>>>80!!!!!"

This "logic" is so fucking stupid

youre missing the point actually

80 looks like 80 so it feels like 80

its not logic, its vibes

dont be an asshole, maybe you shouldnt spend your time raging on the internet about the same thing 1000 times in a day, bad for your health

Cartridge game prices aren't relevant here. Those had non-trivial production costs per unit.

They've gone back to the Gamecube days of trying to be one of the big boys. Trouble is everyone else already owns a PS5/XSX/PC to play anything that's not Nintendo. Don't get me wrong it looks to be an amazing bit of kit but they should've probably kept it at 1080p 60fps instead of pushing up the price and making it 4K60fps.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/b/beab5a32.jpg

The Switch 1 was about $400 inflation adjusted so this is a fairly minor increase. Especially with the bundle so its alright.

Wanglicious posted...

console price is okay.
$80 games is not. $80 for a digital key especially is not.

Games have gotten significantly cheaper adjusting for inflation (and thats not even getting into discounts which Nintendo is not great at) over the last 25 years, while development costs have shot upwards at a greater rate. This is still slightly less than what Wii U games cost in 2012 dollars and its so far only for the biggest games.

UshiromiyaEva posted...

Nintendo stanning so strong people trying to jump through hoops defending $80 games.

If Sony started charging $80 for the base releases of their games, some of the same people would absolutely be singing a different tune.

No I was saying the exact same stuff when the PS5 prices were announced as $70, or $86 today. Now as I said in the other topic, capitalism is awful and I dont support it. If that is the stance you want to take then welcome comrade! Its just that if you expect games to keep being made under that system (or even a socialist system that uses money) then prices need to rise over time. Games were artificially stuck at $60 for 15 years (more like 20 for most of them) and that is obviously unsustainable. It was a mistake to not raise prices earlier. When prices stay the same that is a real terms price cut. There is actually a lot more I want to say about this but I dont have the time so back here later.

Though when somebody who doesnt agree with the concept of money is saying a price rise is needed that should be a sign!

Chaeix posted...

dont be an asshole

Sorry the direct pissed me off

I aint gonna defend the 80 dollar price
I am just here to defend the 450 dollar price and deny the 90 dollar price
<.<
That 90 euros tho

Who is in charge of conversion? The IRS?

If you don't like $80 games, don't buy them.

But let's be honest most of you will complain but buy it all anyway.

KingButz posted...

If you don't like $80 games, don't buy them.

I already don't buy $60 games. The one time I caved and did in the last 10 years, I regretted my purchase, so it likely won't happen again.

LightningStrikes posted...

Games have gotten significantly cheaper adjusting for inflation (and thats not even getting into discounts which Nintendo is not great at) over the last 25 years, while development costs have shot upwards at a greater rate.

The inflation argument is terrible because most people's wages don't go with it and that's the bottom line that actually matters. This difference has also been mitigated by the market growing significantly larger, so having a wider consumer base should mean you can keep your costs at a lower level.

Development costs being as high as they are is a choice, if they don't want to spend a crazy amount they don't have to. Meanwhile distribution has dropped to pennies on the dollar thanks to digital, so there's a significant savings on that which doesn't get discussed in the same conversation. $80 for digital is just completely unnecessary and I hope they feel the same pain the 3DS did in its first year.

KingButz posted...

If you don't like $80 games, don't buy them.

It would discourage me from purchasing some games for sure
There are so many games that I will never play that I bought them just because they were cheap/on sale
And by the same token - so many games that I skipped purchasing because they were not cheap enough

Now if it's something that I consider a "must play" like the newest Pokemon title, I would even pay $200 for it
That would suck, but I would, because fuck my life I guess

paperwarior posted...

Cartridge game prices aren't relevant here. Those had non-trivial production costs per unit.

That's not why they were twice as expensive as modern games, or why some had much different prices than others

Kinglicious posted...

The inflation argument is terrible because most people's wages don't go with it and that's the bottom line that actually matters. This difference has also been mitigated by the market growing significantly larger, so having a wider consumer base should mean you can keep your costs at a lower level.

Development costs being as high as they are is a choice, if they don't want to spend a crazy amount they don't have to. Meanwhile distribution has dropped to pennies on the dollar thanks to digital, so there's a significant savings on that which doesn't get discussed in the same conversation. $80 for digital is just completely unnecessary and I hope they feel the same pain the 3DS did in its first year.

While it depends where you are, in most advanced economies including the US real wages have actually seen growth in that time. Not a lot, but average wages have seen growth ahead of inflation since 2008 and since 2017. There are wrinkles to that of course like the fact that the federal minimum wage has not risen but on average wages have outpaced inflation. On the other hand, the console gaming market in the US famously peaked in 2008, and has basically stagnated since then, now it is shrinking. You are right that they did bet on growth to offset keeping the prices low, but they lost that bet.

As for development costs, I agree that the scope of AAA game development has gotten out of hand and have been saying that for over a decade. However, even if the scope of game stayed the same the costs would still rise over time anyway. Now, its a fair point on the reduced cost of distribution though. Which is probably part of why theres been a nearly 20% real terms price cut relative to 2005 even for $80 games!

The other thing to consider is that outside of the US, game prices have been increasing much more steadily so the actual increases are smaller. In Europe 80 games have been around for a while and there were 70 games a decade ago. There is also more variation between games. Like for instance Monster Hunter Wilds is 80 digital. So the US is in many ways just playing catchup as the prices were so low for so long relative to the rest of the world which makes that eventual increase seem larger. The prices were stuck at $60 for 15 years, that is a very long time.

Really what happened is that in the PS4/Xbox One generation the publishers were still hoping for endless growth (which as noted did not happen) while also being worried about mobile gaming, so they kept prices at $60. The other thing they were doing was online passes, microtransactions, and assorted DLC to try and offset the costs. Which was not good either. This all meant that they eventually had to raise prices anyway.

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/3/3b7c7d98.jpg

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/536195e7.jpg

FFDragon posted...

https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/a/forum/5/536195e7.jpg

Nice, a $1 real price cut!

and I'm not saying it doesn't suck, I don't want to spend more obv

but people don't remember how fucking dire the nes/snes era was, especially since we were young and dumb and most of the games were ass but they were $80 early 90s money which made it even worse

i'm honestly surprised that games have held on to the $60 price point as long as they have

more companies need to go the alan wake 2 route though by lowering the price for a digital delivery

So how did all this Nintendo price defending work out after the 3DS launch?

I seem to remember something happening there.

if people don't buy the s2 the same way no one was buying the 3ds I'm sure they'll adjust

which, funnily enough, the tariffs might help in that regard

but if it does well out of the gate forget about it

We don't remember because most of us weren't the ones buying the games back then, our parents were

I'm already rarely buying games at full price as it is, so this will only make it even rarer

craziest part to me is how the japan-locked switch console is 50k yen ($350) vs the worldwide console being 70k yen ($480)

i get the yen is weak but damn. that's a pretty massive margin for a made up problem

that's what I mean