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index.feed.received.today — 3 avril 2025

Here's Why the Nintendo Switch 2, Mario Kart World, and Everything Around Them Is So Expensive

3 avril 2025 à 10:04

Dang. $80 for Mario Kart World, huh?

Today's Nintendo Direct and subsequent information dump answered many, many burning questions we've been asking about the Nintendo Switch 2, such as launch line-up and release date. Among those was the question of price, not only for the system itself but also for the games and accessories we're going to need alongside it. And it's a good thing that the rest of the Direct was so enjoyable, because Nintendo needed to do some work to justify some of these prices.

  • Nintendo Switch 2 by itself: $449.99 USD
  • Nintendo Switch 2 with Mario Kart World bundled in: $499.99
  • Mario Kart World by itself: $79.99
  • Donkey Kong Bananza: $69.99
  • Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller: $79.99
  • Nintendo Switch 2 Camera: $49.99
  • Joy-Con 2 Controller pair: $89.99
  • Joy-Con 2 Charging Grip: $34.99
  • Joy-Con 2 Strap: $12.99
  • Joy-Con 2 Wheel pair: $19.99
  • Nintendo Switch 2 Dock Set: $109.99
  • Nintendo Switch 2 Carrying Case and Screen Protector: $34.99
  • Nintendo Switch 2 All-In-One Carrying Case: $79.99
  • Nintendo Switch 2 AC Adapter: $29.99

Phew! That's a lot to dish out to play Nintendo games, even assuming most people are just going for the console, a game or two, and maybe a spare controller. Most notable in that list of prices is what's going on with the console itself. $450 isn't far off what a bunch of analysts told me the system was likely to cost when I asked them earlier this year. They predicted $400, but a few said it could likely go higher depending on various economic and technological factors.

But even more interesting is Mario Kart Tour. It's $80. That makes it the most expensive we've ever seen a AAA game cost without belonging to some sort of Deluxe Edition, and it's certainly the highest Nintendo's ever gone. You can buy it in a bundle with the system to get $30 taken off the game price, but the $80 price tag has a lot of Nintendo fans concerned at the rapidly rising prices of games and what this may mean for the future. Didn't we just see games start to go from $60 to $70 a few years ago? That hurt bad enough without bumping it up even higher so soon after.

So what's happening here? Why are the Nintendo Switch 2 and Mario Kart World priced the way they are? Will we see more game price hikes in the future? As usual, I asked expert analysts to explain it to me. Here's what they said.

Why $450?

Even though most of the analysts I spoke to today were the same folks who predicted a $400 price point when we chatted in January, no one seemed surprised at the $50 extra on the end of the announcement today. Collectively, the six I spoke to offered various reasons for the higher-than-expected price, largely agreeing on the fairly simple confluence of multiple factors: tariffs, manufacturing costs, and competition.

Joost van Dreunen, NYU Stern professor and author of SuperJoost Playlist, calls the $449.99 pricing a "strategic balancing act" on Nintendo's part that reflects a mixture of increased manufacturing costs as well as ongoing uncertainty as to whether or not, and if so, what, tariffs the Trump administration in the United States is going to levy on electronics. "Nintendo appears to be building in a buffer against these potential trade barriers while ensuring they maintain their traditional positive margin on hardware."

Piers Harding-Rolls of Ampere Analysis wasn't surprised by the $450 price, and said it made sense given the Switch OLED's $350 price tag. But he also shared an interesting speculation in his response related to van Dreunen's point about tariffs, relating to why Nintendo didn't announce the price in the Nintendo Direct itself today. "My view is that they probably had a range of pricing for the US market in play up until the last minute due to the uncertainty on import tariffs."

Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Kantan Games, threw in another factor: Sony. "Nintendo probably factored in possible tariffs, the current inflationary climate in the world and the US$700 Sony dared to charge for the PlayStation 5 Pro last year."

James McWhirter, analyst at Omdia, also mentioned the PS5 Pro as well as the Xbox Series X, both of which he pointed out sold better than their cheaper alternatives (the Xbox Series X surpassed the Series S recently in the U.S.). But he also pointed out an interesting discrepancy in how the Switch 2 is being sold in Japan versus the United States. In Japan, it's releasing a Japanese-language system for 49,980 yen ($333.22), while its multi-language system runs 69,980 yen ($466.56). Why? McWhirter has a fascinating explanation as to the existance of this region-locked system, its pricing, and the discrepancy between it and the pricing of the system in the U.S.:

Japan is a key market for Nintendo - our console hardware data reveals that Japan accounts for a quarter (24%) of the Nintendo Switch installed base in 2024, compared with just 2% for Xbox Series X/S and 9% for PlayStation 5.
If Switch 2 pricing in Japanese Yen was aligned with the U.S. Dollar price, it would dramatically weaken Nintendo's position in Japan, representing a doubling in the list price over the classic LCD Nintendo Switch model. Yet if Nintendo continued to rely on region-specific pricing that is significantly cheaper in USD terms, they would face an issue with grey imports to other territories.
Nintendo’s answer is to navigate this situation with two models – they are offering a substantially cheaper but price competitive 50,000 yen Nintendo Switch 2 model that only includes Japanese language support only.
Meanwhile, an international language model at 70,000 yen is being positioned to protect the Japanese market from grey imports from other territories – smart considering there are no other major console markets with a not insignificant number of people proficient in the Japanese language.

Mario Kart World, at a Premium

Okay, that covers the console itself, so why has Nintendo hiked the price of Mario Kart World into the stratosphere at $80? When I asked the analysts I spoke to, I assumed it was related to tariff concerns. Perhaps Nintendo was worried about potential tariffs but also didn't want to raise the price of the console too high, so a more expensive flagship game was their solution to offset costs?

Partially. The experts largely concluded that tariffs may have played a role, with Mat Piscatella, analyst at Circana, suggesting that the higher game pricing was a bit of future-proofing on Nintendo's part. "While pricing for a product can always be lowered over time, it's extremely difficult and painful to raise pricing on a product once it has been announced or released. This is purely my own speculation, but this pricing is most easily explained by trying to be conservative given the current chaotic market conditions."

But the experts also told me there was more to it than that. McWhirter told me that this was Nintendo taking advantage of a critical moment of change in the games industry to test the waters on what the market will tolerate as far as game pricing goes. And it's using its most successful game series ever on that trial run, because Nintendo knows if any game can succeed at that price, it's Mario Kart. If it doesn't work out, it can always drop the price, either directly or indirectly through methods like Nintendo Switch Online subscriptions.

Van Dreunen said something similar, adding, "The timing aligns with the broader industry's gradual price increases for premium content, as we've seen with other publishers moving to $70 base games. Nintendo may be leapfrogging this intermediate step, calculating that the massive built-in audience for Mario Kart will tolerate a higher price point for what appears to be a significantly expanded experience compared to previous entries."

McWhirter also pointed out that not only could this higher cost for Mario Kart World be mitigating things like tariffs or manufacturing costs, it also could be helping balance out other, invisible costs. There's those pesky manfacturing costs, for one, with McWhirter noting that the 3D NAND flash memory from supplier Macronix experts suspect Nintendo is using in Switch 2 game cards is pricey. But there's also the cost of migrating so many first-party titles to Nintendo Switch 2, and the slow build the console will see in its first three years when its blockbuster exclusives are reaching a much smaller audience than was available on the Nintendo Switch.

Other experts brought up other factors. Harding-Rolls made a compelling point about Nintendo otherwise not aggressively pursuing in-game monetization, and needing to account for inflation somehow. And he added: "Nintendo has a bit of a history of pricing games higher than other platforms when coming to the market later than other platforms - in this case PS5 and Xbox Series. I remember back in the day N64 titles being more than PS1 titles for example. Some of that is related to cost of goods, but Nintendo also likes to follow its own approach and price based on its own appreciation of value."

Rhys Elliott, games analyst at Alinea Analytics, said that the discrepancy in physical and digital pricing is a clear move from Nintendo to push consumers toward digital games, especially when paired with the Virtual Game Card announced last week.

Nintendo is charging this price because they feel they can and that people will pay.

"PlayStation and Xbox have already pushed their platforms to become digital-first, driven by strategies like multi-game subscriptions, digital-only consoles, free-to-play’s rise, and platform holders pushing consumers to digital versions via perks (like extra cosmetics and the ability to pre-load a game so it’s instantly ready to play at launch)," he said.

"So PlayStation and especially Xbox are very digital-first. But Nintendo is different, more 50-50. In the last nine months of 2024, 51% of Switch software sales were digital. The number was even lower in the holiday period (43.4% digital for calendar Q4), as always. For consumers, a unique value proposition of physical games is the preowned and rental markets. But Nintendo’s reliance on physical impacts its bottom line, hence the nudging. Nintendo does not gain revenues from physical renting and resales. After all, a copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe could be sold on the reseller market 100 times or rented 100 times, but Nintendo would only capture revenues from that first sale. A digital-only market means more revenue and price control for Nintendo."

Finally, I asked this question of Toto, who referred to the jump from $60 games to an $80 Mario Kart World as "quite bold." His explanation was short and sweet:

"Tariffs could play a role, but I think it is much simpler: Nintendo is charging this price because they feel they can and that people will pay."

Who's Buying?

Everyone I spoke to agreed that even though the Nintendo Switch 2 and Mario Kart World pricing is a bit of a shock, it's not going to affect sales of the console. At least... not at first.

"Based on what we're seeing across the market, sales to higher-income or more affluent households likely won't be impacted by this pricing," Piscatella told me. "And, of course, we have the price insensitive super enthusiasts that will do and pay whatever it takes to acquire the Switch 2 at launch. Therefore, because of the limited quantities that will be available during the launch year, I do not anticipate this pricing to hinder year one sales volumes.

"The true test will come in year two, as supply is likely to become more readily available, and the addressable market will be forced to widen. So, we'll have to see what happens over the next 9-12 months."

McWhirter's response was similar, saying that Omdia's current forecast has the Nintendo Switch 2 being outpaced in sales by the original Switch by 6 million units by the end of 2028.

"Even without considering potential tariff-related instability on hardware pricing, Omdia’s console forecast indicates that the list price of console hardware is no longer declining at the same rate it once did, even after adjusting for inflation (see figure, above)," he said.

"After four calendar years on the market, the list price of a PlayStation 5 had only fallen by 12%, compared with 21% for PlayStation 4. This could present a challenge for Nintendo if it hopes to hit a competitive $199.99 entry price point with a Lite-style revision at the same point of its cycle (2027)."

Van Dreunen largely agreed as well, adding that the rising prices of other consumer electronics will likely serve to make this transition less jarring for consumers than it would be otherwise. "With the PlayStation 5 Pro at $700 and premium gaming handhelds in the $549+ range, Nintendo's pricing looks relatively reasonable by comparison," he said. Van Dreunen projected 12 - 15 million Nintendo Switch 2 units sold within the first 12 months on the market, citing backward compatibility as a significant factor that would drive adoption.

With the PlayStation 5 Pro at $700... Nintendo's pricing looks relatively reasonable by comparison.

Toto had a slightly different take. While he feels the hardware price will be acceptable for most consumers, games rising to $70 or $80 is a "much, much harder sell." Especially for a chunk of Nintendo's target audience.

"In the first year, these prices will not matter that much because there is an audience of people buying everything Nintendo offers, no matter what," he said. "What I am a bit worried about is if Nintendo will again be able to reach the mainstream audience at scale later, i.e. families that might have much tighter budgets for entertainment in today's economy. Nintendo is clearly betting on people accepting higher prices as a new normal by then."

Toto's point is likely the one that will resonate the most, at least at the moment. Despite the highs of today's Nintendo Direct, one of the primary audience responses we've seen coming out of it has been concerns about how expensive it all is. Tariffs, manufacturing costs, market shifts, economics, whatever you want to call it, none of the explanations make the increasing costs of games and systems feel better on the wallet.

Let's just hope no other publishers get any bright ideas about $100 games next.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

index.feed.received.yesterday — 2 avril 2025

Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD Remaster Announced for Nintendo Switch 2

2 avril 2025 à 18:19

During today's Nintendo Direct, Square Enix popped in to announce that Bravely Default is getting a remaster for Nintendo Switch 2. It's called Bravely Default: Flying Fairy HD, and it's coming to the console at launch on June 5.

The Bravely series of RPGs was begun as a spin-off of sorts of Final Fantasy back in the 3DS era, with Bravely Default: Flying Fairy being the first in the series. The games feature a unique battle mechanic where players can either opt to "Default" or defend, and store energy to then "Brave" and make multiple moves in a single turn.

Bravely Default making a return is a big deal, as both Bravely Default and Bravely Second, its direct sequel, had their online city-building features shut down in 2023. This version appears to bring back the online features in some fashion, alongside "upgraded features and enhancements" and a number of new minigames. The exact nature of these upgrades is still up in the air, so we'll have to wait to find out exactly how much is different.

The Nintendo Switch already has one Bravely game, Bravely Default 2 (not to be confused with the aforementioned Bravely Second), which came out in 2022 and which we gave an 8/10, calling it "a long, familiar JRPG journey with excellent customizable combat and beautiful backdrops that pass the time as you work through its extended stretches of grinding."

You can catch up on everything announced at the Nintendo Direct today right here.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Nintendo Will Keep Making Amiibo for Nintendo Switch 2, Starting With Tears of the Kingdom, Street Fighters Figures

2 avril 2025 à 18:06

If you, like many of us, thought that Nintendo was finally winding down its ongoing production of tiny plastic figures with real yet negligible functionality in its video games with the release of its next console, think again. The Nintendo Switch 2 isn't just compatible with old amiibo, Nintendo seems to be committed to still making new ones. Today, it announced Tulin, Yunobo, Riju, Sidon, and Mineru's construct figurines from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Kimberley, Luke, and Jamie figures from Street Fighter 6.

amiibo figures of Tulin, Yunobo, Riju and Sidon from The Legend of #Zelda: #TearsOfTheKingdom are releasing on June 5! Each one can unlock a fabric for Link’s paraglider, as well as weapons and materials for your adventure. pic.twitter.com/fG9dBiQftP

— Nintendo of America (@NintendoAmerica) April 2, 2025

The first four figurines launch alongside the Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5, and have compatibility with Tears of the Kingdom, unlocking a fabric for Link's paraglider. They'll also provide weapons and materials in-game, just like the existing Tears of the Kingdom Link amiibo and the other past Zelda-series amiibo that are already compatible with the game.An additional amiibo for Mineru's construct will become available at a later date. It's likely that Mineru at least will have some sort of pairing with the newly-announced Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment game coming this winter, as the game takes place during the era when Mineru was building and using her construct, and we saw some of its gameplay in the trailer today.

We also learned that three Street Fighter 6 characters will get amiibo to go along with the release of Street Fighter 6 on Nintendo Switch 2. Luke, Jamie, and Kimberly will all get amiibo releases on June 5 as well, and a new run of amiibo cards will also launch themed around Street Fighter characters. We know that all of these will unlock "exclusive in-game content" such as device wallpapers, photo frames, and character customization capabilities.

Street Fighter 6 is coming to Nintendo Switch™ 2 on June 5 along with a new edition of the game!

🤝 Local Wireless Match
💥 New Modes: Gyro Battle and Calorie Contest
⭐ Classic, Modern, and Dynamic Supported by Joy-Con™ 2
👤 3 amiibo™ figures and 22 amiibo cards pic.twitter.com/3nnvkyzPRr

— Street Fighter (@StreetFighter) April 2, 2025

It's undeniable that Nintendo had really tapered off its amiibo releases in recent years, so this news is a bit surprising. After an initial run of 18 back in 2014 when the figurines launched, it rapidly produced 71 different figures in 2015, and a steady cadence of 12 to 35 a year from 2016 until 2019. Amiibo releases slowed during the pandemic, and Nintendo began releasing fewer and fewer games with interesting amiibo support features. In 2024, only 7 new amiibo were released, and only two amiibo-compatible games: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, and Monster Hunter Stories. Given the slowdown, it's a bit surprising to see Nintendo recommit, but as long as collectors are still happy, right?

You can catch up on everything announced at the Nintendo Direct today right here.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Nintendo Switch 2 Supports 120fps, Up to 4K Resolution Docked

2 avril 2025 à 15:25

It feels like we've been speculating for years about what the specs of Nintendo's long-rumored Nintendo Switch upgrade might be. Now that we finally know, the results are a bit more impressive than many would have thought, including supporting 120fps and up to 4K resolution when the system is docked.

In a segment during today's Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, Nintendo showed off a number of elements of the system. For starters, the Nintendo Switch 2 has a bigger built-in screen than the Switch 1, at 7.9 inches. It's the same thickness (13.9mm), but with about double the pixels, supporting a 1080p screen in handheld at up to 120fps. And it's an LCD screen, supporting HDR. Docked, it can support up to 4K resolution and HDR as well.

The Joy-Con 2 controllers are connected via magnets and detached by pressing a release button on the back. The SL and SR buttons on the side are bigger, so they're easier to play with horizontally, and the left and right sticks are also larger. And this segment officially revealed the mouse control support in the Joy-Con controllers, too.

The handheld Switch 2 has a built-in microphone with noise canceling technology and 3D audio for compatible games. And it has a larger, sturdier stand than the Nintendo Switch that can be adjustible to different heights. There's also top USB port that can be used for external camera connectivity, or to charge the system while in tabletop mode.

Finally, we learned that the Nintendo Switch 2 comes with 256GB of internal storage.

Developing...

Switch 2 Release Date Confirmed During Nintendo Direct

2 avril 2025 à 15:24

The Nintendo Switch 2 has a release date at last. It's coming on June 5, 2025

The advent of the Nintendo Switch 2 has been a long time coming. The console has been rumored in some fashion or another for years, beginning with rumors of a Nintendo Switch Pro of some sort back in the middle of the original Switch's life cycle. Rumors of a Nintendo Switch 2 really kicked into gear at Gamescom 2023, when Nintendo allegedly showed the system to partners behind closed doors, and since then there's been a swell of reports, rumors, patents, and speculation as to the what, when, and how of it all. The console itself was finally unveiled for real in January of this year, though at the time we got very few details beyond the look and a glimpse of a new Mario Kart.

You can catch up on the wealth of information we got about the system from today's one-hour Nintendo Direct right here.

Developing...

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Nintendo Switch 2 Finally Implements a Real, Normal Voice Chat Feature With Its New C Button

2 avril 2025 à 15:16

They did it. The absolute madmen did it. During today's Direct covering all things Nintendo Switch 2, it was demonstrated that for the first time ever, the console will have a built-in voice chat feature thanks to its infamous C button.

The showcase revealed how players will be able to seamlessly bond when playing their favorite Nintendo Switch 2 titles, all with the press of that C button. Discord users will note that the footage shown reveals a variety of familiar features, including a layout where players can watch each other enjoying different titles and, with the help of a camera that can be purchased separately, even see each other. Everything it's able to do remains unclear, but it already looks leaps and bounds better than the previous Switch voice chat option that required the use of a mobile app.

Nintendo has tried out a version of a voice chat before, but none of them have ever been just a normal voice chat feature like everyone else has. In 2017, it launched the Nintendo Switch Online app, which allowed players to voice chat with friends while playing specific, compatible games. However, the app's functionality was limited, and critically, tied to the phone instead of the system itself. This is the first time Nintendo's ever had the voice chat actually built in, and at last puts a cap on a running joke IGN's been making about Nintendo Voice Chat for years now.

We're still dissecting everything we saw this morning on the Nintendo Switch 2, so check out our breakdown of everything announced today. And if you want to tune into the real Nintendo Voice Chat that's been there for you all along, you can check out our podcast page.

For a better look at everything else Nintendo had to show during today’s Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, you can click here.

Developing...

Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).

Nintendo Switch 2 Mario Kart Game Officially Revealed as Mario Kart World

2 avril 2025 à 15:06

During today's Nintendo Switch 2-focused Nintendo Direct, Nintendo officially revealed its new Mario Kart game coming to the console, which we now know to be titled Mario Kart World. It's Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive, and it's a launch day release.

The trailer today was a fast-paced explosion of neat new elements. Rapidfire, we got a look at a number of returning characters, new tracks, and feature such as jet skis on water, rail grinding on the edges of courses, the ability to bounce off walls, customizable characters with hats and outfits, changing weather and time of day on courses, a photo mode, and the ability to play as the cow from Moo Moo Meadows. You heard me!

The biggest feature of World is the ability to drive off-road essentially anywhere you want on the course in what seems to be a large open world, with drivers having to drive from course to course in each four-course Grand Prix.

The last "mainline" Mario Kart game, Mario Kart 8, originally came out way, way back in 2014 for the Wii U, and was later re-released as Mario Kart 8 Deluxe on the Nintendo Switch. Since then, it's become the definitive Mario Kart game, selling nearly 65 million copies and getting numerous updates over time with new racers, tracks, karts, and more. While other Mario Kart games have come out during that time, such as Mario Kart Tour on mobile and Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, this new Mario Kart release on Switch 2 is a major step forward for Nintendo as it says goodbye at last to one of the best-selling games of all time. Can Mario Kart World surpass it? We'll have to wait and find out.

You can catch up on everything announced at the Nintendo Direct today right here. More information is coming on Mario Kart World in a future Nintendo Direct dedicated to the game.

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