This is an unpopular opinion, but y’all are forgetting about inflation. $60 in 2017 is $78 in 2025. $300 in 2017 is $390 today.
My ex always mocked me for the prices of Nintendo switch games. She even got me into playing games on my PC. But except for trackmania, I always gravitate back to the Switch. And I’m definitely in a priveleged place so take this with a grain of salt, but I’m buying the Switch 2 pretty much no matter what. To me it’s worth the cost.
Yes, inflation happened, and purchasing power has not grown or stayed the same with it. People can’t afford as much, so rising prices on entertainment are going to sting even more.
General inflation doesn’t quite translate directly in all cases and is just a reference. In video games, costs have increased, but revenues have increased primarily through micro transactions and a growing market/sales. There’s virtually no marginal cost to produce additional units with software, so the revenues become a balance of price, demand, and supply (for hardware). They are expecting that the price increase won’t result in a significant drop in demand so that revenue increases. If they’re wrong, this will be a huge business mistake. If enough people purchase anyway, like you, then they’ll increase revenues and this will be considered a great business decision
Yeah, I have rejected increased cost games for this very reason. But Nintendo is one of the few companies I believe would do it to cover their costs instead of just preying upon general apathy towards inflation since covid to jack up profit. They are too rich for my blood at the time, but if I had the income to splurge this would be one of a vanishingly small number of places I would be willing to put up with it.
After coming off the incredibly successful Switch generation and Mario Kart 8 being essentially a decade old game that’s sold over 70 million copies, I just don’t believe that this is a decision driven by absolute necessity. I’d have begrudgingly accepted the standard PS5 prices of $70 games and $10 upgrades which I already thought were usually overpriced, but raising another $10 seems ridiculous. I’m thinking I’ll pass at least for a few years
This is an unpopular opinion, but y’all are forgetting about inflation. $60 in 2017 is $78 in 2025. $300 in 2017 is $390 today.
My ex always mocked me for the prices of Nintendo switch games. She even got me into playing games on my PC. But except for trackmania, I always gravitate back to the Switch. And I’m definitely in a priveleged place so take this with a grain of salt, but I’m buying the Switch 2 pretty much no matter what. To me it’s worth the cost.
Tell that to the people making the same amount of money in 2025 that they were in 2017.
Yes, inflation happened, and purchasing power has not grown or stayed the same with it. People can’t afford as much, so rising prices on entertainment are going to sting even more.
General inflation doesn’t quite translate directly in all cases and is just a reference. In video games, costs have increased, but revenues have increased primarily through micro transactions and a growing market/sales. There’s virtually no marginal cost to produce additional units with software, so the revenues become a balance of price, demand, and supply (for hardware). They are expecting that the price increase won’t result in a significant drop in demand so that revenue increases. If they’re wrong, this will be a huge business mistake. If enough people purchase anyway, like you, then they’ll increase revenues and this will be considered a great business decision
Yeah, I have rejected increased cost games for this very reason. But Nintendo is one of the few companies I believe would do it to cover their costs instead of just preying upon general apathy towards inflation since covid to jack up profit. They are too rich for my blood at the time, but if I had the income to splurge this would be one of a vanishingly small number of places I would be willing to put up with it.
After coming off the incredibly successful Switch generation and Mario Kart 8 being essentially a decade old game that’s sold over 70 million copies, I just don’t believe that this is a decision driven by absolute necessity. I’d have begrudgingly accepted the standard PS5 prices of $70 games and $10 upgrades which I already thought were usually overpriced, but raising another $10 seems ridiculous. I’m thinking I’ll pass at least for a few years
Its cool, your choice, you spend your money as you see fit.
I personally would never spend 60 usd on a game in 2017 and will never spend 80 usd in 2025. Its just too much.
Also, even disregarding the inflation argument, video gaming is still one of the cheapest per hour hobbies.