Nintendo has published the official English language translation of their latest Q&A with investors, and one particular question jumps out for bringing up a situation that many older gamers have completely forgotten about.
To quote both the question and the answer from Nintendo President Shuntaro Furukawa:
Nintendo Switch 2 has a higher price point than past platforms like the Family Computer system (Famicom). I am concerned that this might reduce opportunities for young children to engage with it. How will you address this issue?
Furukawa:
We believe the pricing of Nintendo Switch 2 is appropriate for the gaming experience it offers, and what is most important is to provide entertaining experiences that demonstrate the value to consumers. To achieve this goal, we have incorporated various features into Nintendo Switch 2. It is true that Nintendo Switch 2 has a higher price point than our past gaming systems. We are creating various opportunities outside of our gaming systems for young children to engage with Nintendo characters and game worlds, with one of the ultimate goals being that they will eventually play on our gaming systems. We are closely monitoring to what degree the price of the system might become a barrier.
Indeed, when you see how gamers today talk up the console wars between the PlayStation and Xbox (debating possibly how the console wars have ended), it’s easy to disregard that these gamers could be in their forties, or even fifties. The very roots of the video game industry, as a mass market consumer market, date to the 1970s between the Magnavox Odyssey and the Atari VCS. But we think few will dispute, after the US market experienced a brief downturn, that the industry as we know it today was built on the success of the Famicom, especially when it became a global phenomenon when it was adapted in the US as the Nintendo Entertainment System (NES).
When the Famicom launched in Japan in 1983, it sold at ¥14,800. This is equivalent to approximately ¥20,660 today. On the flip side, the cheapest SKU of the Switch 2, which is the standalone Japanese account only version, launched at ¥49,980. This is equivalent to approximately ¥35,804 in 1983. If you wanted US to be your frame of reference, a redditor already made the comparison, pointing out that the NES was considerably more expensive for US households than the Famicom was in its native Japan. We imagine some of you were surprised to find out that things were actually different back in native Japan.
But we’re sure you also saw that American kids could buy the Game Boy Color in 1998 for only $ 79. Even in 2013, the 2DS launched at $ 129.99, and would later be priced down to $ 79.99 in 2016. We don’t have to argue about inflation adjustments to see that pricing is a valid concern. The perception that Nintendo has given up on competing for younger gamers to smartphones, Fortnite, and Roblox feels considerably stronger when putting all of this in context.
Both the Game Boy Color and the 2DS were cheaper iterations of existing systems, so maybe Nintendo could come up with new products that way. Of course, we also remember Nintendo making Classic Editions of the NES and SNES, and their Game & Watch revival for Mario and The Legend of Zelda. Nintendo certainly has many ways to address this issue by coming up with cheaper ways for children to get into their games, but right now, worrisome enough, they don’t have anything new to address this issue.
