Background information
Why the DS is the most successful handheld of all time
by Cassie Mammone
Is Nintendo making the same mistake with the Switch 2 as Sony did with the PS3?
10.4.2025
Translation: Patrik Stainbrook
Is Nintendo putting an end to low-cost consoles? At launch, the Switch 2 will cost almost as much as the PS5. However, the console has more parallels to the PS3. Still, Nintendo’s unlikely to suffer the same fate as Sony.
The price of the Switch 2 and especially its games are causing red heads. While Nintendo consoles were previously seen as affordable family devices, you’ll have to dig deeper into your pockets for the Switch 2. Something that brings back unpleasant memories from Sony in 2006.
Source: YouTube/Noclip
Sony judged poorly
20 years ago, the company behind PlayStation was surfing a huge wave of success thanks to the PS2. With over 160 million units purchased, it’s still the best-selling console of all time. This high tempted Sony to charge a higher fee for the PS3. Players had to fork out 499.99 dollars for the 20 GB version, and 599.99 dollars for the 60 GB model. Today, that’d be 790 and 950 dollars respectively. However, Sony overestimated its own popularity. Just one year later, the company cut prices by 100 dollars to keep pace with the cheaper Xbox 360 and Wii.
With the Switch 2, Nintendo is finding itself in a similar situation. The original Switch is currently the third-best selling console ever with over 150 million units sold, just behind the Nintendo DS. Launched in 2007, that hybrid console was a huge success for the Japanese company. However, while the first Switch hit shelves for 299.99 dollars, the successor will cost 449 dollars. Adjusted for inflation, that’s a premium of 80 dollars.
Switzerland isn’t the same as the USA
Nevertheless, the Switch 2 will «only» be the third most expensive Nintendo console of all time – based on US prices. Mind you, price markups used to be rare. In the 80s and 90s, the Japanese game developer stuck to the same price of 199 dollars for quite some time. It wasn’t until 2006 that the company dared to charge 50 dollars more for the Wii.
So, the Switch 2 isn’t cheap. You can get a PS5 from 400 francs/euros, a significantly stronger console. It isn’t portable, though. In turn, Nintendo is also saving on accessories. The supplied Joy-Con grip, which turns two Joy-Cons into one controller, again has no charging function. That model costs extra. Just like the integrated chat function, which is launched using the new C button. It’ll only work with the paid Nintendo Online subscription. Without that, the button is useless.
For a long time, Nintendo’s consoles were released much later in Switzerland than in the USA and other European countries. By the time we were able to buy the NES in Migros, the Super Nintendo was already in American stores. It isn’t surprising then that the first Nintendo console to hit Switzerland is the cheapest of all. The most expensive is the Switch 2, closely followed by the Nintendo 64.
To better compare with the USA, I’ve also converted the Swiss prices to the dollar exchange rates at the time and then raised them to 2025 using a US inflation calculator. I haven’t taken VAT into account.
Price trends in Switzerland can’t be compared 1:1 with the USA. Firstly, purchasing power and inflation will be different. Secondly, I took the prices for the NES, SNES, Nintendo 64 and Gamecube from old Migros ads. It’s possible that other places had different prices. Official Swiss prices only followed much later. And only since the Wii have the consoles been released more or less at the same time worldwide.
Source: Migros
How much is Mario Kart worth?
US Nintendo boss Doug Bowser justifies the high price with improved hardware and an overall improved gaming experience compared to its predecessor. However, the price should have nothing to do with new US tariffs.
The main difference to Sony, who miscalculated for the PlayStation 3, is in games. No one else offers as many exclusive blockbusters – Super Mario, The Legend of Zelda and Pokémon, to name a few. Mario Kart 8 alone sold over 67.35 million copies. This makes it not only the best-selling Switch game by far, but also the fifth best-selling game ever – including Wii U sales. Nintendo now wants to take advantage of this.
Source: Nintendo
After all, the company’s own games are also becoming drastically more expensive. Probably the most popular of them all, Mario Kart World, will run you a whopping 70 dollars – for the digital version. For the physical version, Nintendo’s even demanding 80 dollars. The improved Switch 2 version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild will cost 80 US dollars. Reminder, that game was originally released for the Wii U. And the expansion isn’t included either. The standard price for AAA games is generally around 60 US dollars. However, Sony and Microsoft have already raised this to 70 US dollars for some titles with the launch of the PS5 and Xbox Series respectively. Nintendo also charged ten dollars more for The Legend of Zelda Tears of the Kingdom.
Nintendo’s also charging more for the new Donkey Kong Bananza, but ten dollars less than for Mario Kart World. Bowser calls this a flexible pricing policy, and the company obviously intends to stick to it. According to him, each game is a unique experience, so they have to vary prices accordingly. At least, that’s what the Head of Nintendo of America told The Verge.
Falling game prices
Historically, however, the new game prices aren’t as steep as they appear. This was revealed in an evaluation by tech blog Arstechnica. In the 1990s, absolute game prices rose sharply. Only the advent of CD-ROMs and digital games led to a reduction in prices. Adjusted for inflation, things look different again. Centipede for the Atari 2600 cost 34.99 US dollars in 1983. That’s almost 90 US dollars today. The Migros ad from 1991 shown above advertises NES games that cost between 65 and 115 francs. Today, this would be up to 149 francs. The chart also shows that actual game prices have fallen steadily since the end of the 1990s.
Source: Kyle Orland/Ars Technica
So, 80 dollars for Mario Kart World isn’t exceptionally expensive in a historical context. And when you consider the prices being bandied about for GTA 6, it’s almost bearable. Apparently, Rockstar could charge up to 100 US dollars for its next hit, analysts predict. But while the open-world gangster adventure could cost a billion dollars to make including marketing, Nintendo is likely to have invested a fraction of that in Mario Kart World.
Source: Nintendo
It’s true, Nintendo could get away with higher prices thanks to its unique portfolio. However, their fans have also shown that they won’t put up with everything. Nintendo pulled the handbrake on the 3DS after less than four months, lowering the retail price from 250 to 170 US dollars. Whether this’ll happen again with the Switch 2, however, is questionable.
The Switch 2 will be released on 5 June. Then, or rather in the weeks and months following that, we’ll see whether Nintendo miscalculated or whether Mario and co. are strong enough draws.
We talked more about this topic in the newest episode of our German-language Tech-telmechtel podcast
Philipp Rüegg
Senior Editor
Philipp.Rueegg@digitecgalaxus.chBeing the game and gadget geek that I am, working at digitec and Galaxus makes me feel like a kid in a candy shop – but it does take its toll on my wallet. I enjoy tinkering with my PC in Tim Taylor fashion and talking about games on my podcast http://www.onemorelevel.ch. To satisfy my need for speed, I get on my full suspension mountain bike and set out to find some nice trails. My thirst for culture is quenched by deep conversations over a couple of cold ones at the mostly frustrating games of FC Winterthur.
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