With it now being May, which is an odd thing to conceive somehow, we’re now just a little over 30 days away from the arrival of the Nintendo Switch 2. The console has been anticipated for years now, and with its full-on reveal last month, gamers and critics alike have been diving into everything about the system and what it will be like when it releases. While many are extremely positive and want to get their hands on it, there are others who are more “skeptical” and truly believe that Nintendo is “doing fans dirty” via the Switch 2’s pricing, both on the hardware and software side of the equation.
However, one person on Nintendo’s side is Trip Hawkins, who is the founder of Electronic Arts. He did a special chat with Medium and stated that he feels the upcoming console’s pricing is perfectly fine, especially with what Nintendo is now compared to what it was generations ago:
“We’re not in Kansas anymore, and Nintendo brands are not just for kids. Because of generational advances, many of the first generation of children who played on the NES are now in their 40s and 50s, and they have kids of their own. Because Nintendo has massive brands and happens to be one of the rare brands that appeal to all people of all ages, it might very well make sense to price the console for these groups.
As a function of play hours and their value, Nintendo’s prices are perfectly reasonable. I fully expect Switch 2 to exceed 100 million units sold in its lifetime, just like its predecessor. This will be the 5th Nintendo platform to exceed 100 million (DS, Switch, GameBoy, Wii, Switch 2) and every one of these has been family-oriented. Sony’s PS1, PS2 and PS4 are the only others in history to sell this well.”
Hawkins is clearly in Nintendo’s corner, and he’s not wrong about certain things, including who “Nintendo appeals to nowadays.” While they are still the “family company” in many respects, Nintendo has also had more M-rated games in recent history, and those games have done well.
Just as important, one of the key things about the Nintendo Switch 2 is that it takes many of the advancements and stylings of the OG Switch and improves upon them in ways that gamers themselves asked for.
Plus, with the recent increase in price on Sony and Microsoft systems, it’s clear that Nintendo’s pricing wasn’t outrageous in the slightest.
