I get it, prices of games going up sucks but games rose to about $60 (cad) during the wii era. Put that into an inflation calculator and you end up with about $90 nowadays, it’s not really a price hike out of line with general inflation. The switch 2 pricing isn’t out of line with AAA PS5 games either ($80 for a digital copy has already been the case for a while there).
Games are not free to make and modern games have longer dev cycles and therefore cost more to make as well.
Consoles are also typically sold at a loss with the idea that software sales will make up for the loss. Were games to remain the same price the console would likely be significantly more expensive.
I get that consumer purchasing power is down due to wages not keeping up with inflation but sadly the reality is that if making a console and games for it are unprofitable then they’ll stop making them.
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Props for a legitimate unpopular opinion! I do disagree, but I guess that is the point lol
Yeah I posted it here cause I know it’s a bit of a contentious opinion. I think the outrage is really more about the consumer market as a whole and not really Nintendo themselves.
The Switch 2 just happened to be something a ton of people are looking forward to and many of those people are upset with the fact that all prices are going up while their wages are stagnant and honestly rightfully so. I think people should be using that energy to lobby for change on a huge scale to make life more affordable (UBI systems, rent controls, tax the rich, etc.) instead of blaming one company.
Definitely an unpopular opinion, and not just a rant or rage bait either, so kudos!
I don’t agree, but this is a damn fine post for this C/
The reason I don’t agree is that consumer goods are priced out of scale. It they can’t price things at a realistic level, then they should stop making them. That goes for every single brand/platform out there
If they’re going to be sucking at the teat of capitalism and enjoying massive profits, but the rest of us are struggling as households, they can go fuck themselves, to be frank. They want the benefits of a “free” market, but don’t want to recognize that the market pressure of demand actually matters. If they’re making games that aren’t affordable to the median, then that’s the developers’ problem. They can scale back for a while, change pricing, produce fewer games, whatever. They have options.
Now, yes, it’s games. This isn’t insulin we’re talking about here, so it certainly isn’t something anyone needs to be up in arms over. But it also isn’t something where they need defending either. Fuck em if they can’t play fair.
While I agree in principle (I’m not a fan of unfettered capitalism either) the fact is that people need to vote with their wallets. As the business saying goes: “things are worth what people will pay for it”
People are going to buy the switch 2, I expect they won’t be able to supply enough to stock stores sufficiently on launch just like the last couple console launches. Games are going to sell and they are going to make a profit. If people want to make a statement that it’s unaffordable they need to organise a large boycott or potentially a general strike to enact change in the market as a whole; which I don’t see happening(sadly).
So again while I do agree that late stage capitalism and the fact that buying power is at a long time low is a huge issue. I do not think that Nintendo following the other big game consoles pricing is surprising nor on its own unethical. I find the huge uproar that they are joining PlayStation and Microsofts pricing range to be a bit much. Under our current economic structure Nintendo has a fiscal responsibility to be profitable to their shareholders, I’m sure there’s a ton of pressure on them to follow market pricing.
I definitely see your point, and appreciate you expressing it :)
Definitely an unpopular opinion, though I don’t disagree with it.
For an additional point of comparison, a brand new N64 cartridge back in 1996 would have been anywhere from $60 to $80. Which based on an inflation calculator would be slightly over $120 to $160 today.
And games are more expensive than ever for studios to make and push to the market. Given that, I’m not surprised we have loot crates, micro transactions, and predatory dlc. A AAA game should have a baseline price closer to $200.
I honestly feel that anyone who complains about the price increase of AAA games just feels entitled to pay a certain price for a game.
If the game is too expensive, then simply don’t buy it. If the real price of the game $60, then that’s what the market will tolerate. If it’s $80, then people will pay for that. Vote with your wallet, but don’t act like nintendo produces necessities; they make entertainment products. They could charge $800 for a game and your life would not be negatively impacted in any way
