Nintendo Switch 2’s Variable Pricing Doesn’t Make Any Sense Whatsoever

Mario Kart World is retailing for $80 on Nintendo Switch 2, so why aren't any other games hitting this price point?

[lukasmain]

Variable Pricing just means, that at any opportunity and for any reasoning, they're going to squeeze every last cent they can out of the Nintendo faithful because that's what they're good for.

Donkey Kong Bonanza is "only" $70 because it's probably only 7 hours long. Charging $80 for old Switch 1 games? I mean in what reality do they think that's ok? Oh yeah, the reality where the Nintendo faithful blindly walk in lockstep behind Nintendo's board members, while that little dude on the cloud in Mario Kart is fishing dollars out of their open wallets with a fishing pole. The faithful have 3 green turtle shells rotating around them to ward off any potential criticism coming at them or their Nintendo Masters.

[DodoDojo]

Pretty much, they're just stepping into the water(customers pockets) and seeing how deep it is. Unfortunately I think MK World will sale enough for Nintendo to be happy with their $80 price decision.

[ZycoFox]

Nintendo = the Apple of games, just about.. and charging more for lesser hardware, that's been an Apple staple for most of how long they've been around too.

[--Onilink--]

Mario Odyssey was anywhere between 20 to 50+ hours unless you were going out of your way to rush it. I have no idea why you are guessing that it will be 7h.

Most Nintendo platformers, even the easier ones, are like 15-20h to do most of what they offer.

There are plenty of actual negative discussion points to be had about this variable pricing model without going out of your way to make up stuff

[lukasmain]

How can you even dare to consider I'm making stuff up when you don't know how long the game is? I said "it's probably"... meaning of course I don't know for sure and neither do you. My point was not about the length of Donkey Kiong, it's about throwing shade at their whole "variable pricing" ridiculousness. Something you should be doing too.

By the way, I 100%ed Mario Odyssey. I did, got and bought every single possible thing you could do or get in that game. I did it in just over 40, but that's beside my point.

[--Onilink--]

@lukasmain

You do understand the difference between someone telling you are wrong and telling you are making stuff up?…

You are quite literally, and by your own admission, making up that DK will be 7h long…

[Neonridr]

"it's probably only 7 hours long"

aka I have no clue what I'm talking about but I'm going to support my argument by making up complete nonsense.

[thorstein]

The hate brigade really wants Switch 2 to fail. It won't, but the articles proclaiming things that aren't true are starting to pace the articles that contain facts.

Reminds me of AC Shadows.

The haters will make claims without evidence, then when the success supported by evidence inevitably comes they'll move goalposts and insult the intelligence of those who bought it. Or (and this is a direct quote) they'll say that people just "bought it out of habit."

[neutralgamer1992]

It's not about being a "hater"—Nintendo themselves mentioned variable pricing. That statement alone opens the door to an important conversation.

What concerns me is how quickly prices are climbing. It took over 15 years for the industry to move from $59.99 to $69.99, yet only three years later, we’re now seeing $79.99. That’s a steep increase in a short time, and while Nintendo may genuinely intend to apply this higher pricing only to games that offer exceptional value, we all know how quickly other publishers can latch onto that.

Think about companies like EA, Take-Two, and Ubisoft—publishers already known for aggressive monetization. Variable pricing gives them the perfect excuse to push prices even higher, and justify it under the same banner of "value," even when the content might not back it up.

And let’s not forget that this is Nintendo we’re talking about—famous for charging full price for last-gen ports with minimal updates. So when people defend these practices without scrutiny, it feels like defending billion-dollar corporations that historically have prioritized profit over consumer fairness.

All I’m saying is, we should remain critical and cautious. Trusting that publishers will act in our best interests has rarely worked out well for gamers

[thorstein]

Eternal Strands, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Midnight Walk, and South of Midnight are all under $50.

[neutralgamer1992]

Yes I understand that but you know there will be way more $79.99 games than $49.99. When given a chance most publishers would over sell their games and add average content to say our game is 100 hours. I hope you are right and things don't go crazy but we have seen some of the worst gaming practices in the past 5 years

[badz149]

If you put "Nintendo's greed" in your consideration, this practice makes perfect sense

[Levii_92]

Nothing makes sense anymore.. we live in a shitty, shitty era people.