Nintendo also quickly discounted the 3DS after launch when they saw it was bombing. The lower price turned things around allowing the 3DS to become the hit handheld we all know and love today.
I don't expect them to panic discount the Switch 2 but I also don't see it flying off shelves here in NZ with its $799 price tag.
I'm really not sure. They may have built in exchange rate wiggle room to account for any fluctuations. But our dollar is generally only a few cents below yours so a cushion of 7.26% feels a bit excessive.
We don't have extra taxes or any of that stuff and in real world terms we're significantly closer to you than New York is to LA.
Which means the answer can only be that yes, Nintendo get their kicks gouging kiwis.
One of the random things I took away from this article was how relatively affordable the Wii U basic pack was - even when adjusted for inflation. I would have to look back at Nintendo's marketing material at the time to see if affordability was a USP they could've leaned into more. I know the Wii U had other messaging issues, but that price is a statistical outlier in your data and it does make you wonder if Nintendo missed a trick there.
The biggest issue with the Wii U was largely confusion with the Wii. This launched back when I worked game retail and parents -- a key market for Nintendo -- could not tell the difference between the two.
But nice pick up though! Inflation and gaming is an interesting one.
I'm looking into this further, but while inflation has budged gaming prices generally haven't kept up -- despite the price creep over the past few years. Likely because it hasn't needed to because the total market has grown... but now that's stagnated too.
In our research into the monetisation of children in the digital games industry, we consistently found that Nintendo was viewed by parents very differently to other platforms because the games dont feature (what they described as) predatory monetisation. I think the new price reflects the strength of the Nintendo brand with families, and will hopefully ensure Nintendo games continue to not have extensive microtransactions.
Nintendo first party games are very wary of this, and continue to be among the fairest titles you can buy as a video game. You get what you pay for, no pipeline or funnel for kids. And all are age appropriate too. And are generally just good to play.
The challenge with Nintendo is its broader e-store ecosystem.
But at least Nintendo has excellent parental controls that overhang the whole ecosystem, Patrick Klepek's coverage nails that: https://substack.com/home/post/p-160470343
Nintendo also quickly discounted the 3DS after launch when they saw it was bombing. The lower price turned things around allowing the 3DS to become the hit handheld we all know and love today.
I don't expect them to panic discount the Switch 2 but I also don't see it flying off shelves here in NZ with its $799 price tag.
I read your piece on this recently. That's nuts, the hike in NZ makes the usual Aus price up-tick blush.
Is it just importing costs? Too small a market so they add on a cost? Exchange rate? Or do they just like gouging kiwis?
I'm really not sure. They may have built in exchange rate wiggle room to account for any fluctuations. But our dollar is generally only a few cents below yours so a cushion of 7.26% feels a bit excessive.
We don't have extra taxes or any of that stuff and in real world terms we're significantly closer to you than New York is to LA.
Which means the answer can only be that yes, Nintendo get their kicks gouging kiwis.
One of the random things I took away from this article was how relatively affordable the Wii U basic pack was - even when adjusted for inflation. I would have to look back at Nintendo's marketing material at the time to see if affordability was a USP they could've leaned into more. I know the Wii U had other messaging issues, but that price is a statistical outlier in your data and it does make you wonder if Nintendo missed a trick there.
The biggest issue with the Wii U was largely confusion with the Wii. This launched back when I worked game retail and parents -- a key market for Nintendo -- could not tell the difference between the two.
But nice pick up though! Inflation and gaming is an interesting one.
I'm looking into this further, but while inflation has budged gaming prices generally haven't kept up -- despite the price creep over the past few years. Likely because it hasn't needed to because the total market has grown... but now that's stagnated too.
In our research into the monetisation of children in the digital games industry, we consistently found that Nintendo was viewed by parents very differently to other platforms because the games dont feature (what they described as) predatory monetisation. I think the new price reflects the strength of the Nintendo brand with families, and will hopefully ensure Nintendo games continue to not have extensive microtransactions.
I'd agree with that.
Nintendo first party games are very wary of this, and continue to be among the fairest titles you can buy as a video game. You get what you pay for, no pipeline or funnel for kids. And all are age appropriate too. And are generally just good to play.
The challenge with Nintendo is its broader e-store ecosystem.
There's little to no gatekeeping there in terms of what content goes up there. (Paul Shkreli wrote an interesting take on this as a parent https://bossfights.substack.com/p/the-enshittification-of-the-eshop?utm_source=publication-search)
But at least Nintendo has excellent parental controls that overhang the whole ecosystem, Patrick Klepek's coverage nails that: https://substack.com/home/post/p-160470343