Don't agree with the $80 Mario Kart cope I'm seeing. "Games have been undervalued for a while", "Cartridges used to cost that much", don't do this to yourself.
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yeah i said in the polycule group chat “yeah games were 125 bucks when i was young adjusted to inflation but no one has any fucking money anymore cause they refuse to pay us even enough to keep up with said inflation so uh. have fun games industry i guess”
They still manufacture physical cartridges (albeit cheaper) but the point is they are still far cheaper than they used to be ($80 vs an inflation adjusted $125)
The argument here (which is correct) that unaffordability is a problem, is systemic to late stage capitalism; that’s not Nintendo’s fault
Adjusting for inflation is irrelevant, as wages haven't increased proportionately. If anything, it further proves the point that they're too expensive now, because with everything being more expensive and you not making much more, cost of living is way higher and thus available income is lower.
They sell so many more of them these days, memory is significantly cheaper and the majority of them aren't physical. The cost to serve per unit is so much lower.
i bought chrono trigger used for 15 when it was selling new for 70 bc my brother’s drum teacher finished it and was a rad dude. this isn’t relevant to the discussion other than to say, gosh what a deal that was
Unfortunately the prices have been spiking up (very randomly) in Japan as well, a ton of stuff started to cost above the standard 6/7k and went for 8 or even 9k.
Kinda, yeah. 2 consoles: the Japanese one that supports only Asia/JP accounts (and doesn’t have other languages in the UI) and 20k more expensive one that supports everything.
I don’t think Retail will be locked on the JP system and this seems more like a Yen and scalper protection.
As side note, the 70.000¥ (multi language) console to be purchased in Japan requires an NSO account with at least 40h (or was 50?) of gameplay — and is only on the Nintendo online shop and via lottery.
Frankly I doubt I’ll score one, even matching the requirements lol
iirc that's an anti-scalping measure. There's a similar thing in the US for preorders but instead of a lottery it's first come first serve. Same requirements
I think it sucks that video games have hit $80, but let's not pretend that they aren't still significantly cheaper, relative to incomes, than they were 35 years ago, just like most technologies.
That screenshot shows that the median income in 1990 was worth less ($70,000) adjusted for inflation than the actual median income ($80,000) is now. A single dollar could buy more back then but we make many, many more dollars now.
if you think an income increase of 10k across thirty years is "many, many more" or is indicative of people being able to spend more money, i don't think there's any conversation to be had here. you are too stupid to bother with.
You appear to be innumerate and not understand what numbers you’re comparing. You’re literally showing people having more purchasing power now and thinking it shows the opposite. I truly don’t know how to help you other than maybe to suggest you read up on what any of these numbers mean.
I guess my main point is there’s a lot of tortured arguments here that can be easily explained by “they’re upselling a bundle” and “they’re doing this because you’ll keep buying their games either way”
I'm just grateful that nintendo sold all switch games at a precise $20 loss when msrp was $60, they did us gamers a huge solid, it would be crazy if they had made billions of dollars while selling games for $60
The market for Switch games is also a lot larger! There are over double the number of Switch systems sold over NES. They can price lower due to volume and still be raking in the cash.
okay now see what percentage of that 80k is left over as disposable income as opposed to 1990. go check how much rent and groceries and utilities and car payments have gone up
We all make more on paper than we did in the 90s but the conversation is avoiding the whole housing prices increasing by a whole ass 350k+, average rent increasing to $1500 from $465, etc.
But hey, gotta die on this hill for Nintendo who has more on hand cash than 99% of Americans.
It’s not, using the median already accounts for outliers. People make more money, inflation adjusted, now than they did in 1990. People have a very hard time accepting this fact. It’s essential costs that have dramatically outpaced total inflation (housing, healthcare) that create a sense otherwise.
Housing is a particularly brutal issue because of how entrenched opposition to fixing it is. You could create so many jobs and lower housing costs by building up in the places people want to live - but existing residents oppose it!
How much of that 80k is eaten up by housing and COL stuff that all used to be way cheaper?
Ffs my grandpa had 3 kids a car a house and a stay at home wife in the 70's and he was some low level office dipshit with no degree. None of you types can ever explain why it's good that I can't do that now
you're right, i was comparing real median with one adjusted cost and one not. whoopsie. median income is also increasingly distorted by the wealth gap so it's harder and harder to get a bead on what "normal" looks like with those metrics anymore. what people can budget for "feels" way different now
Yeah, median isn't the single best measurement. "Vibes" are not good right now and people act on vibes. And things are about to get materially very bad because of tariffs and DOGE dismantlement of US infrastructure.
The 1900 Super Mario was actually just a Wild West-style road show called The Magnificent Leaping Italian and Nintendo has done its best to scour all traces of it from the internet
The problem here isn't that switch stuff is more expensive, it's that US wages and benefits are criminally low (also Orange Man and Emerald Boy's tariffs). Blaming Nintendo for that because their stuff is more expensive is nothing but reductive. Their employees get paid fairly.
yeah like i didn’t grow up with nintendo systems because if my parents got a game or system it would be something they would enjoy too and given that nintendo’s niche is “mom can i have money for a video game” i don’t see how this gets people to play nintendo games
I don't think people need to lick Nintendo's boots but Mario Kart is also mostly unrelated to neoliberal oligarchs depressing wage growth, hallowing out the welfare state, and driving up the cost of housing, health care, and other necessities.
While it’s true that Nintendo is not responsible for those things I think intentionally raising the price on their launch game is not a systemic problem but one that’s on them.
Any thoughts on the new cartridge design? It's just a physical license key. No software is on the card. It all requires downloads that are locked without the physical drm of the cart?
The people defending an increase in prices are usually game devs. I know that an increase in game prices doesn't immediately translate to more dev jobs or better compensation, but it might help, since decreasing exec pay seems to be off the table.
Increase in game prices is just going to increase exec pay, jobs ain't coming back for that. AAA development is unsustainable at 60 a pop because it is a ridiculously stupid machine, not because it is impossible for games to be below 70.
Hate to contribute to The Discourse but an interesting wrinkle is that Japanese prices are much lower - $333 for the console and $59.50 for Mario Kart based on the current exchange rate
Genuinely wondering how much of the price bump is related to the international tariff conversations going on
console pricing is one thing and understandable IMO but the new "prestige games are 80 dollars and the rest of our brands are only 70" is gross and you know GTA is going to take that and run with it
It's been rumored for a bit now that GTA is going to cost $100+ to which I say lmfao good luck. Game with a legendarily troubled 10 year dev cycle that's trying to get a very dedicated multiplayer community to switch games at that price? Good luck.
* Nintendo charging $80 for Mario Kart is a smart business move that'll make them a lot of money for not a lot of downside.
* Nintendo charging $80 for Mario Kart sucks ass.
I truly believe the trade wars is causing this, theres no way nintendo sees what made the original Switch successful and abandon the concept of making their content affordable
Part of why a game's price is high is getting to play it while it's relevant in human discourse.
Like take a game like Splatoon 3. All the major content for that game is the splat fests. Once those events stop, the value of the experience is already lowered enough to justify a reduction in price.
It’s especially wild given that it would be $60 US in Japan. Are they basically saying-without-saying that tariffs are the problem? Will someone from NoA explicitly say it?
Not sure why they didnt charge $70 like with DK? Weird to start off w/ premium pricing for your very first big game. Really makes that jump much harder to swallow.
My cynical guess: more inelastic demand among their casual market who always buys the party games than among the hardcore market. Recall that they sold the Prime 1 HD remaster for $40 after having dropped HD remasters of Link's Awakening and Diamond and Pearl for $60.
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Adjusted for inflation that’s $125 in 2025 dollars
Acknowledging that fact is not “cope”
The argument here (which is correct) that unaffordability is a problem, is systemic to late stage capitalism; that’s not Nintendo’s fault
I’m saying expecting them to cost $50 forever until the heat death of the universe is baby brained shit
I don’t think Retail will be locked on the JP system and this seems more like a Yen and scalper protection.
Frankly I doubt I’ll score one, even matching the requirements lol
The US median income in 2023 was $80,610.
I think it sucks that video games have hit $80, but let's not pretend that they aren't still significantly cheaper, relative to incomes, than they were 35 years ago, just like most technologies.
i recommend learning to read before you continue on with your life
But hey, gotta die on this hill for Nintendo who has more on hand cash than 99% of Americans.
Ffs my grandpa had 3 kids a car a house and a stay at home wife in the 70's and he was some low level office dipshit with no degree. None of you types can ever explain why it's good that I can't do that now
https://en-americas-support.nintendo.com/app/answers/detail/a_id/68415/~/nintendo-switch%26nbsp%3B2-game-key-card-overview
Genuinely wondering how much of the price bump is related to the international tariff conversations going on
* Nintendo charging $80 for Mario Kart is a smart business move that'll make them a lot of money for not a lot of downside.
* Nintendo charging $80 for Mario Kart sucks ass.
> Affordable
LOL
If a game is constantly on sale then at some point that should become the new base price.
Like take a game like Splatoon 3. All the major content for that game is the splat fests. Once those events stop, the value of the experience is already lowered enough to justify a reduction in price.