We talked to Nintendo’s Bill Trinen to the end of the price of Switch 2
Last week, Nintendo revealed a lot of information about Switch 2. And while there were some surprises – as a strange Donkey Kong game – the shock was really a variety of stickers. The price of both conversion panel 2 ($ 449.99) and its games (up to $ 79.99 for Mario Kart) Show that Nintendo’s next generation will not come to cheap prices.
To better understand why there was a significant increase in price compared to the previous generation, we talked to Bill Trinen, Vice President of experience of players & products at Nintendo.
[Ed. note: This interview was conducted on April 3, the day before Nintendo announced it would delay Switch 2 pre-orders in the U.S. due to uncertainty surrounding the Trump administration’s sweeping new tariffs.]
To start, I asked Trinen exactly what was pushing the price on the control panel (reaching $ 150 higher than the original switch).
Yes, I will say a few things, Trinen said. Number one, we unfortunately live in an era that I think inflation is affecting everything. And it affects everything from daily prices, it affects technology and things that belong to that nature.
Trinen continues to explain that the upgrades of Switch 2, as redesigned with mouse controls and chat throughout the system, adds value (and thus the cost is higher) for the overall package.
But if it is simply the internal parts that are increasing the price of the console, it makes me wonder why there is such a big difference between Japanese language switch 2 (will cost 49,980 yen, or about 343 dollars) and Switch 2 supports all languages, priced higher than $ 100 in some regions.
An average consumer may not fully perceive the different market differences between different territories, according to Trin Trinen. Therefore, globally, Nintendo has an approach to consider: market circumstances in different territories, everything that affects the situation of that market and we must try to valve the product appropriately based on the local market situation? And I think it is an example of some unique cases in the Japanese market, [Nintendo has] Having tried to find a way to create opportunities to create an opportunity to satisfy that market, but there was no broader impact.
Trinen has not solved the recent global trade issues, motivated by President Donald Trump’s trade war with the reality of every nation on Earth, but it is clear that these uncertainties have an impact on the price of Switch 2. Nintendo actually transferred production to Vietnam back in 2019 in efforts to avoid heavy tax levels in China in the first Trump government. Unfortunately for Nintendo, on the big launch day of Switch 2, Trump offered 46% tax for Vietnam. High price for Switch 2 can be the result of some guesses with Nintendo education to allow the company to overcome the weather better than the market conditions that trade wars can bring. Obviously, that conjecture is happening, because the pre -orders have been delayed due to tariffs.
What about those $ 80 games?
Outside the hardware production, Nintendo fans are also concerned about the increase in software prices. Since Wii U’s time, Nintendo has been trapped for $ 59.99 for every game. That continues for more than 10 years until Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Arriving in 2023 for $ 69.99. And now, only two years later, we are seeing Mario Kart Hit $ 79.99.
I asked Trinen to explain the cost of the game, and what motivated it to Nintendo.
The price of video games was very stable for a very long time, Trinen said. “I really have an advertisement on my phone that I have found since 1993, when The country of cheating Kong Is released on SNES at $ 59. It was a very long time, very long, where the price on the games was very stable. And obviously, it would be great if we didn’t live in the era when everything became more expensive, so it was realistic about it.
Trinen continued to say that Nintendo looked at each individual title when determining the price and its decision -making based on many factors.
We have an approach to consider: What is the experience and what is the player who likes in this game what is the game? “And a typical example will be like Tears of the kingdom On the Nintendo switch. We made that price at a higher price. That does not mean surprising that every game on Nintendo Switch has an unexpected price at a higher price.
“And like that, with something like Mario Kart [World]With something like Donkey Kong BananzaWe are really looking at the experience and saying, ‘OK, this we feel is a suitable price,’ Join [account] Many other factors only affect prices in this day and age.
Although it is obvious that there are reasons for this price increase on the board, but it is not likely that those explanations will completely satisfy fans who want to experience the next generation of Nintendo games with the budget. Now it is just a question about whether those fans are ready to devour the copies of Mario Kart At the incredible speed they did with Mario Kart 8 Deluxe On the switch. A slow beginning may be the only thing that can prevent $ 79.99 in its songs for the rest of this generation.
