Why nintendo do that

RogueTrip

2[H]4U
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Feb 22, 2003
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Who does nintendo think they are? looking at best buy and looking at games released in 2017 are all still at prices of $50 to 60. Rarely hitting even low as 35 to 40 on holidays.

Games like mario odyssey , mario kart 8, splatoon 2, zelda breathe of the wild.

Like a sucker i bought a switch summer of 2018 and bought and beat mario odyssey (hated the woke ending btw). Beat it in a month and packed up the switch. I refuse to pay near full prices so long after a games release.
 
Who does nintendo think they are? looking at best buy and looking at games released in 2017 are all still at prices of $50 to 60. Rarely hitting even low as 35 to 40 on holidays.

Games like mario odyssey , mario kart 8, splatoon 2, zelda breathe of the wild.

Like a sucker i bought a switch summer of 2018 and bought and beat mario odyssey (hated the woke ending btw). Beat it in a month and packed up the switch. I refuse to pay near full prices so long after a games release.
They own the market online and off and you have no other choice besides used.

Edit: used markets fucked too.

60 CAD for a used game?
 
Because they can lol

Put in a slickdeal alert for whatever games you are interested in. Eventually they might hit $40 on a sale.
 
You're forgetting inflation. The USD has lost much value over the past 2 years. The Federal Reserve has been printing $120 Billion per month since Feb, 2020 for US treasury and mortgage backed bond purchases. That's $120 BILLION in new funny money every month. You think the stock market is going up? A large part of the steady increase in stock prices is due to the dollar losing value. Look at BTC as well, the price is spiking; likely because investors are seeking ways to hedge against inflation. And look at consumer goods. I have observed many recent inflation experiences, for products I purchased a year ago or less, and now they've increased substantially in price. For example, I paid $9.79 in April, 2018 and again for $9.99 in Nov. 2019 for simple stainless steel turners. It's now $17.74.
So why did the price only increase by $0.20 for the 1.5 years from April '19 through Nov. '19, and then it went up by 70% about 1 year later?! Oh gee, maybe it's because of real inflation.
I also bought one of these stainless steel turners for $10.99 on Jan 7, 2020. It's now $22.50.

Companies are starting to catch on that they can charge more for goods. New PS5 games are $70. That's quite a bargain in my opinion. only ~15% inflation for the past, what 10 years? Console games are like many other consumer goods: The manufacturers produce a fixed number, then inventory is high. If the game is popular, they may do multiple production runs. When a game isn't very popular, they'll let inventory dwindle, then used market prices go up because of limited supply. Nintendo charging constant pricing for digital games is a crock, imo. If it's tied to one consumers Nintendo online account, then it has zero resale value, also has zero manufacturing cost, therefore the price for digital should be cheaper.

Many companies charge the same amount of money (or more) for nearly the same product. Maybe they'll make a subtle tweak, then change the model number. Then they can give it a new price. At least Nintendo isn't participating in those shady tactics. Apple also keeps high prices on old model product. That helps the used market values stay higher too.

I do agree with you though, paying $50-60 for a 2+ year old game is lousy. Luckily the PS4 game market isn't like that. I see prices drop quickly within 1 year of release. I guess they figure they'd recoup most development costs in the first 3 months of release due to anxious gamers, then lower the price to entice the cheapskates. Nintendo knows they have good product, so they just keep the price high.
 
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You can go to the dollar tree and pickup a turner for a buck. If its on amazon its more subject to supply and demand pricing. With more people staying home creates more demand might cause that price gouge just like computer parts. I have a hard time believing there is just as much demand for nintendo first party games as when they first released.

Nintendo's first party pricing goes back to the wii or more. Atleast they got nintendo selects that were $20 alot faster it seemed in earlier generations.

I feel like folks act blind to nintendo lazyness to produce games as a quality over quantity and pay these stupid prices.

I mean most of the games are just the same experience constantly repeated every time with a new gimmick or the smallest tweak. Sometimes even worse. I guess its like comfort food.
 
Right, the only games they ever have meaningful sales on are the steam ports.

Luckily, I haven't been in the mood for anything first-party since the Wii days, but it still infuriates me whenever I think about picking-up a Switch Lite, and then see 3-year-old $50 games.
 
Supply, Demand.

Something is worth what people will pay.
If 0.5 million people buy Mario at $90, nintendo makes $45 million.
If 1 million people buy Mario at $60, nintendo makes $60 million
if 1.5 million people buy Mario at $30, nintendo makes $45 million.
if 2 Million people buy Mario at $20, nintendo makes $40 million
(these are just example numbers, btw, probably nothing like reality)

Nintendo will use market research, sales history, trends and manufacturing cost information to find the optimal amount of money to make. If their business team is doing their job, raising or lowering the current price will result in less overall money going into Nintendo's bank.

This is how ALL goods and services work. If something is too expensive, but enough people still purchase it to resulting in an optimal profit, then it's not too expensive.
 
It's always like this as mentioned above. They go on sale from time to time on their shop, which is fine. There simply aren't other games like N first party games period.

You don't see other games hold value like that, because there are none to compare with the N games.

Nintendo's games may not be your cup of tea, but they're the only ones that make games the way they do, and people still buy them for the price they're available for, and then continue to buy them on newer platforms later on. I should know, I buy any new version of any of their games whenever they're available. I'm hoping they do some good re-releases or remasters for the Zelda 35th anniversary. (like port the improved versions of TP, WW, OoT and MM over to the Switch for example) I gave my Wii U to my daughter, so I haven't played any of these for a bit. (I have Dolphin, so could play the originals, but I prefer the remasters and updates.)

Anyway, point is, Nintendo is the only place you can get Nintendo games. They can charge what they like.

I think PC players have been spoiled by the huge sales and early price cuts on games for so long now, that this seems strange to us, but it's actually quite normal in most businesses.
 
I think PC players have been spoiled by the huge sales and early price cuts on games for so long now, that this seems strange to us, but it's actually quite normal in most businesses.
Not to mention that you can look even on eBay and look at first party titles on ANY previous Nintendo console and they all demand considerably high prices.

Just a quick look on eBay I found these prices...

Super Mario Bros 3 on NES: $30+
Super Mario World on SNES: ~$35+
Super Mario 64 on Nintendo 64: ~$35
Super Mario Sunshine on Gamecube: ~$40

So again all the first party titles even used on decades-old systems will demand high prices because like J3RK said no other developer makes games like this let-alone for any other system... And yeah I always fall into the trap of repurchasing older titles on newer systems but so far i've been able to avoid buying Super Mario All-Stars... lol. Luckily my backlog is too big to even consider it.
 
Not to mention that you can look even on eBay and look at first party titles on ANY previous Nintendo console and they all demand considerably high prices.

Just a quick look on eBay I found these prices...

Super Mario Bros 3 on NES: $30+
Super Mario World on SNES: ~$35+
Super Mario 64 on Nintendo 64: ~$35
Super Mario Sunshine on Gamecube: ~$40

So again all the first party titles even used on decades-old systems will demand high prices because like J3RK said no other developer makes games like this let-alone for any other system... And yeah I always fall into the trap of repurchasing older titles on newer systems but so far i've been able to avoid buying Super Mario All-Stars... lol. Luckily my backlog is too big to even consider it.
Those games are considered retro and more of a collectors thing now. Physical carts are also a thing. It is easy to mass produce discs. You have to realize back then even on the game cube they didn't print 10 million copies. They made even less when consoles used carts.
 
Anyway, point is, Nintendo is the only place you can get Nintendo games. They can charge what they like.

I think PC players have been spoiled by the huge sales and early price cuts on games for so long now, that this seems strange to us, but it's actually quite normal in most businesses.
It is also a double edge sword, to have so many game at very cheap does not make necessarily the whole experience of gaming a better one than a few high value/rare title, spoiled being maybe a bit literal.


A bit like the way Disney handled is vault of classic versus watching stuff on Netflix, it can easy became a disposable experience, with a long list of title in your steam library you never actually played at all or more than 2 hours, that you collected on too good to past deal.
 
Those games are considered retro and more of a collectors thing now. Physical carts are also a thing. It is easy to mass produce discs. You have to realize back then even on the game cube they didn't print 10 million copies. They made even less when consoles used carts.

What are these "discs" you speak of? :p
 
It is also a double edge sword, to have so many game at very cheap does not make necessarily the whole experience of gaming a better one than a few high value/rare title, spoiled being maybe a bit literal.


A bit like the way Disney handled is vault of classic versus watching stuff on Netflix, it can easy became a disposable experience, with a long list of title in your steam library you never actually played at all or more than 2 hours, that you collected on too good to past deal.

Agreed. I was mainly just making a point that the perspective of Nintendo's games being too expensive may be due to how rapidly prices drop on other systems and from other devs. Nintendo, like them or not, are a very unique company in the video game landscape. Like I said, it's down to taste whether you're into what they provide, but they are what I'd consider a premium brand. Not because of the power of their CPUs and GPUs, but for the software quality, focused product line, innovation, and control they maintain over their brand. When I say innovation, many people call their products gimmicky, but they're the only brand that manages to pull these "gimmicks" off, and integrate them into their games properly. It's not to say that a PS5 isn't a quality device, or can provide a quality experience, but it's definitely different. At least IMO the two are different. Just like either are different from a high end PC. Even though I love gaming on a high(ish) end PC, it's still not quite the same as the experience I get from N. That's why I'm firmly in the PC+N camp. It's kind of the best of all of what gaming has to offer, and rarely do I miss out due to not playing on MS or Sony consoles. (especially now with all the crossplay and cross publishing going on)
 
Nintendo can do what it pleases. I already have the entire global libraries of the NES, SNES, N64, Gameboy, Gameboy Color, and Gameboy Advance on my PC. Currently working on Gamecube and Wii, which is around 25% complete right now. DS is up next. Slowly but surely making my way to the Switch.
 
Because anyone born between 1975 and 1988 has been brainwashed into giving them whatever their asking price is. If anyone ever asks them about it, they'll then repeat (verbatim) "I don't care about graphics, I just want games that are fun."
 
Because anyone born between 1975 and 1988 has been brainwashed into giving them whatever their asking price is. If anyone ever asks them about it, they'll then repeat (verbatim) "I don't care about graphics, I just want games that are fun."
Not I! I don't find their games interesting or fun anymore. A lot of their games get undeserved praise cause of their name only *coughzeldabotwcough*.
 
Because anyone born between 1975 and 1988 has been brainwashed into giving them whatever their asking price is. If anyone ever asks them about it, they'll then repeat (verbatim) "I don't care about graphics, I just want games that are fun."

I grew up on the C64, Amiga, and PC. I’ve been playing games since around 1980. Ive played every good arcade game known to man. I’ve owned most major and many obscure consoles domestic and international. You’re going to tell me that because I enjoy Nintendo games, think they’re a cool company, and find their hardware interesting that I’m brainwashed? The first N console I bought new was the N64. I got the earlier ones WAY late in the game. I still think they’re more interesting than most other game companies.

I will say that their first party games are largely iterative. However there is a reason why people love them in the first place. Shouldn’t fix something that isn’t broken, and other devs STILL can’t make a game that catches on like Mario or Zelda. Show me one with the refinement and appeal. Other companies TRIED to emulate that, and always came up a bit short even if they were great games overall. Like I said, I can see why these games don’t appeal to everyone. However, the quality level of N’s development is objectively top notch.
 
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