Nintendo’s Switch 2 pricing is a slap in the face to longtime fans

Summary

The Switch 2’s $449.99 launch price is more than most people expected.
Games like Mario Kart World will cost $80 at launch.
Nintendo is also charging for game upgrades and tech demos.

We’ve had to wait a long time for Nintendo’s follow-up to the Nintendo Switch, but the wait is finally over. The imaginatively titled Nintendo Switch 2 will be available from June 5, 2025, and will cost $449.99.

The price has come as something of a shock, to say the least. You can buy a PS5 for less, and it’s a huge bump on the price of the original Switch. To make matters worse, the price of games for the Switch 2 has also seen a significant hike with Mario Kart World costing $80. Are we getting to the point where Nintendo is going to price some of its core fans out of the market?

Nintendo Switch 2

Nintendo’s Switch 2 features a more powerful chip, a higher resolution screen, and upgraded Joy-Cons.

4K Capability: Yes
Screen: 7.9-inch 1920 x 1080 pixel resolution LCD, HDR, 120Hz refresh rate (4K/60fps 3840 x 2160 pixel resolution when docked)
Storage: 256GB (microSD Express cards)
Battery: 5,220mAh
Connectivity: Wi-Fi / Bluetooth
Dimensions: 4.5 x 10.7 x 0.55-inches
Weight: 18.8oz (535.24g)

The Switch 2 is Nintendo’s most expensive console to date

It’s a 50% bump on the original Switch

Nintendo

When the price of the Switch 2 was announced, it’s fair to say that a lot of people were disappointed. The US price is $449.99, or $499.99 for a bundle that includes a download code for Mario Kart World. This is unprecedented pricing for Nintendo. There’s never even been a standard model of a Nintendo console with a price that started with 3, let alone a 4, and this is a cent away from starting with a 5.

The original Switch was $299.99 at launch, the same price as the Wii U that preceded it. The Wii was $249.99, with the GameCube, N64, and SNES all costing $199.99. The original NES was $179.99.

The Switch 2 is 50% more expensive than the original Switch.

Admittedly, these prices don’t take inflation into account, but even so, Nintendo has never increased the price of a new console by more than a third before, with most increases being 25% or less. The Switch 2 is 50% more expensive than the original Switch.

The price of the Switch 2 is more than the launch price of the PS5 Digital Edition. Even the PS5 with disc drive was the same price at launch as the Switch 2 bundle with Mario Kart World, and the PS5 comes with the excellent Astro’s Playroom pre-loaded for free.

If you want to know how most people feel about the cost of the Switch 2, you don’t need to look much further than the live chat alongside the two recent Nintendo Treehouse streams. The first of these live streams came the day after the official announcement and showcased some of the new games, such as Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza. The live comments were just full to the brim of people posting “DROP THE PRICE” over and over and over.

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Switch 2 games are crazy expensive

$80 for a Mario Kart game is too much

Nintendo

It’s not just the cost of the console itself that people are unhappy about, however. The price of the games has also come as a severe shock. There was already a lot of talk that the upcoming GTA VI would see the dawn of the first $100 games, but no one expected Nintendo to be pushing towards those prices.

It appears that we were wrong. The launch price of Mario Kart World is an eye-watering $80. For a Mario Kart Game. It’s a game from an admittedly excellent franchise, but not one you’d expect would require nearly a decade of costly development like GTA VI.

The full pricing isn’t yet clear, but in Europe, the digital version will be €80, with the physical game costing €90. There’s nothing to indicate that Nintendo is charging more for the physical game in the US, but that hasn’t stopped people from being concerned that the physical game could cost $90. Either way, $80 is still crazy money when you think it’s $20 more than the price of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which already felt expensive.

To make matters worse, Nintendo rarely offers discounts on its best games. If you want to buy Mario Kart 8 Deluxe right now, for example, it’s still $60. It’s highly unlikely you’ll be able to buy Mario Kart World for less than $80 in the foreseeable future.

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You need to pay to play the best versions of games you already own

There’s an upgrade fee for Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games

The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Nintendo / Pocket-lint

Even if you already own games, you’re going to have to pay to play the best versions of them. Several current games, such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Party Jamboree, will be available in Nintendo Switch 2 Editions. These versions of the game include additional features, such as improved frame rates and faster load times in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. and new modes that use the Switch 2’s mouse controls and microphone in Super Mario Party Jamboree.

You’ll only be able to play the Nintendo Switch 2 Editions if you pay an upgrade fee.

However, if you own the original versions of these games, you’ll only be able to play the Nintendo Switch 2 Editions if you pay an upgrade fee. It’s not clear how much this will be yet, but based on pricing coming out of Japan, it’s likely to be around $10-$20.

Being able to play two of the best Zelda games of all time with improved frame rates and higher resolution is great, but when you’ve already paid $70 for a game, it’s a kick in the teeth to have to pay even more to play essentially the same game in better quality.

If you have a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership, then you’ll be able to get the upgrades for free, although you need to pay $50 a year for that membership, too.

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You even have to pay for tech demos

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is a paid game

Nintendo

This was the announcement that I really couldn’t believe. During the Nintendo Direct, we were shown a brief clip of a launch title called Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. It’s a game in which you can roam around a giant virtual Switch 2 and learn about its components. There are some minigames, but a lot of the information is gleaned from reading notes that you find around the virtual Switch.

It doesn’t look like it will be a lot of fun and is intended to introduce some of the hardware upgrades in the Switch 2 that may not be immediately obvious. This is the real kicker, however: you have to pay $10 for it.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is like a bad Astro’s Playroom you have to pay for

Charging people for a virtual tour of their Switch 2 is madness.

As a parent, prices are getting too high to justify

I can’t afford to take a risk on games like I used to

Pocket-lint / Nintendo

I’m a parent, and my kids love the Switch. We’ve had hours of fun playing games like Mario Kart, Mario Party, and Overcooked as a family, and my kids spend even more hours lost in Animal Crossing or Super Mario Bros. Wonder.

They loved The Super Mario Bros. Movie (a lot more than I did) and when I told them about a new Switch coming out, with a brand new Mario Kart game, they were freaking out. Their first question was whether we were going to get one, and I assumed that we would until I saw the prices.

I’m now going to have two disappointed kids because I’m certainly not going to be buying a Switch 2 at launch.

The cost of the console itself is already steep. It’s a lot more than I was expecting it to be and is a huge bump over the original Switch, which they still love playing. Playing $500 to replace it with a better version of the same thing feels like a lot.

The real issue is the game prices, however. My kids often see games that they think they’ll love and beg me to buy them. However, a lot of the time, they will play games such as Just Dance a few times and then never touch them again. I paid $50 for Just Dance 2022, and they’ve used it a handful of times. Now, however, I might have to pay $80 for a game that they then decide they don’t like that much, and that’s not a risk I’m willing to keep taking.

I’m sure there are plenty of parents in a similar situation who simply can’t afford to spend $600 on a new Switch and a couple of games when they have a perfectly adequate Switch already. I’m now going to have two disappointed kids because I’m certainly not going to be buying a Switch 2 at launch.

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Nintendo is risking losing a lot of loyal customers

The company has devoted fans, but that only goes so far

A Mario figure on a desk on a colored background

It’s not just parents in this situation, either. There are plenty of people for whom the price just isn’t justifiable. You only need to read the comments in the Nintendo Treehouse live chat to see just how frustrated Nintendo fans are with the price of the console and its games.

Nintendo has a reputation as a company that doesn’t always offer the best hardware but makes up for it with continued innovation and excellent games.

Traditionally, that has also meant that casual gamers could enjoy the fun of playing video games without having to shell out for a top-of-the-range console. Now it seems that’s no longer the case, and Nintendo is at serious risk of losing many of its loyal customers.