Report: Nintendo Is Slashing Switch 2 Production By A Third After Poor Sales

[DarthGohan1]

What do you think?

I'd like to get a Switch 2, but $80 games, $90 controllers, not even truly physical games available in a lot of cases (game key cards), choosing to charge for Pokemon GBA games even for Switch online subscribers (and not making the GB/GBC Pokemon games available).... it just feels like Nintendo let the success of Switch get to them a little too much and forgot why Switch was successful - because of how player-friendly it was. Don't get me wrong, several really good games for Switch 2 already, but I'm worried Nintendo may have overplayed their hand and now they're already starting to see sales slide. Hope theyare able to course correct with the some of the recent decisions.

 

[Corrie]

Why am I kind of happy to see this? It's basically a retaliation for the huge price increase of the console and games. Meanwhile with the worst timing ever with rising costs of living. Why are they surprised?

 

[-Apples-]

I hope Nintendo learns their lesson. Some of my least favorite things they did was bricking consoles that were modded or played modded games (and adding it to the EULA that you can’t sue them in an event like this) and using game key cards as the main way of playing games instead of a bonus. They also need to make new games while appealing to retro gamers the right way (i.e. don’t have an excessive number of collectibles). Some of their software decisions from the first Switch (like not having all Pokémon species available, making regular beetles spawn on palm trees, and making ordinances a joke) also need to be corrected or reversed in the newer games for the Switch 2.

Nobody can really afford a Switch 2 if we can’t even afford living due to inflation, lay-offs amid minimum wage hikes, and ongoing conflicts.

 

[Yanrima~]

What did you expect from the worst track of record from Nintendo as the end result for:

• Pricing the games at $80 to $100 with the bare minimum content while expecting people to mindlessly eat it up.
• Pokemon Company (despite being a billion dollar company whose franchise's revenue outdoes Star Wars) tried suing Pocketpair (who is just a small group with a shoestring budget btw) and placing nonsensical "patents"
• Being lawsuit happy (this is where your game purchase funds go to)
• Preventing secondhand and used games from being played by "bricking" your console.
• Paid online service that is terrible compared to PC gaming in which you can play online smoothly without subscriptions.
• Switch 2's game library is literally switch 1 ports with so-called "expansions"
• Game keys which are useless.
• You don't technically own the Switch 2 because they don't want you to have a right to repair and a sense of ownership so they brick your console.
• Modern Nintendo games being forced a copy paste BoTW open world approach without substance and bad execution because the massive success went through their heads.

Just imagine my shock....Not really. The heads at Nintendo must have been really shocked.

 

[-Apples-]

What did you expect from the worst track of record from Nintendo as the end result for:

• Pricing the games at $80 to $100 with the bare minimum content while expecting people to mindlessly eat it up.
• Pokemon Company (despite being a billion dollar company whose franchise's revenue outdoes Star Wars) tried suing Pocketpair (who is just a small group with a shoestring budget btw) and placing nonsensical "patents"
• Being lawsuit happy (this is where your game purchase funds go to)
• Preventing secondhand and used games from being played by "bricking" your console.
• Paid online service that is terrible compared to PC gaming in which you can play online smoothly without subscriptions.
• Switch 2's game library is literally switch 1 ports with so-called "expansions"
• Game keys which are useless.
• You don't technically own the Switch 2 because they don't want you to have a right to repair and a sense of ownership so they brick your console.
• Modern Nintendo games being forced a copy paste BoTW open world approach without substance and bad execution because the massive success went through their heads.

Just imagine my shock....Not really. The heads at Nintendo must have been really shocked.

The points I highlighted, Nintendo is also hypocritical. They’re filing patents to prevent competitors from making games similar to Pokémon when they’re the ones responsible for the Dexit controversy and other problems with every Pokémon game since Gen 6. If a particular brand is going downhill, of course people would look for alternatives. Nintendo needs to let them exist. As for their lawsuit-happy antics, they will sue to get what they want, but don’t like anyone suing them. If they can’t accept criticism, maybe they shouldn’t make or sell products.

 

[LittleMissPanda]

Very well said @Yanrima~

I'm a part of their sales failure since I didn't get a Switch 2 lol happy and proud of it.

The funny thing is, I can afford a Switch 2, but the pricing of the games themselves is a big problem imo. What am I really paying $80 for? A game like Mario Kart World that's incomplete and mediocre since launch day? No thanks. Oh wow, so I can drive on rails and walls now. No big Wooper. Mario Kart 8 already did the whole wall-driving thing with the blue gravity panels. Open world, you say? Okay, but Diddy Kong Racing did it first and honestly did it better lol

Also, the Switch 2 library really is mostly just Switch 1 game expansions. Look at Super Mario Wonder. Same game, but now Rosalina! No shade on Rosalina, though. She's amazing. But Nintendo really just slaps on a couple of additional things and calls it a day. Imo a much better port was Super Mario 3D World because it actually included a whole new game: Bowser's Fury. Basically, you got 2 games in one. Perfect for people like me who didn't get a Wii U.

And then there's paying to upgrade Switch 1 games. For example, BotW and TotK. It's affordable, yeah, but you're paying for hardware upgrades your $500 console should already include.

Nintendo doesn't even bother having cool themes or different colors for their consoles anymore. Gone are the days of orange GameCubes, red Wiis and see-through GBAs. No more weirdness or quirkiness. Everything is just a gray brick now.

Speaking of bricks, did you know they can brick your $500 console?

Nintendo is way too corporate now. They're zero fun, anti-personality. No more wacky Muppet-style puppets, no silly meme-able quotes like, "My body is ready" or, "Wii would like to play." Those days are sadly over

 

[Ginny Potter]

I couldn't afford switch 2 or any of the games. NY family all chipped in to get me a switch 2 for Christmas last year. While I play it with my switch lite games. I have yet to experience Mario Kart World or something similar. I would rather they have the full game. Noone of those key cards

 

[Corrie]

Very well said @Yanrima~

I'm a part of their sales failure since I didn't get a Switch 2 lol happy and proud of it.

The funny thing is, I can afford a Switch 2, but the pricing of the games themselves is a big problem imo. What am I really paying $80 for? A game like Mario Kart World that's incomplete and mediocre since launch day? No thanks. Oh wow, so I can drive on rails and walls now. No big Wooper. Mario Kart 8 already did the whole wall-driving thing with the blue gravity panels. Open world, you say? Okay, but Diddy Kong Racing did it first and honestly did it better lol

Also, the Switch 2 library really is mostly just Switch 1 game expansions. Look at Super Mario Wonder. Same game, but now Rosalina! No shade on Rosalina, though. She's amazing. But Nintendo really just slaps on a couple of additional things and calls it a day. Imo a much better port was Super Mario 3D World because it actually included a whole new game: Bowser's Fury. Basically, you got 2 games in one. Perfect for people like me who didn't get a Wii U.

And then there's paying to upgrade Switch 1 games. For example, BotW and TotK. It's affordable, yeah, but you're paying for hardware upgrades your $500 console should already include.

Nintendo doesn't even bother having cool themes or different colors for their consoles anymore. Gone are the days of orange GameCubes, red Wiis and see-through GBAs. No more weirdness or quirkiness. Everything is just a gray brick now.

Speaking of bricks, did you know they can brick your $500 console?

Nintendo is way too corporate now. They're zero fun, anti-personality. No more wacky Muppet-style puppets, no silly meme-able quotes like, "My body is ready" or, "Wii would like to play." Those days are sadly over

You're so right. It all went to hell since Iwata passed. Please understand. -bows-

I feel like too many companies have just plummeted into corporate hellscape where everything is minimalist and grey. It's sad. They don't seem to care about making a good product. They just care about sales and are perfectly fine with gouging people knowing those people will bow down and eat whatever scraps they get served because it's got a Nintendo logo stamped on it.

I also can afford a Switch 2, but why should I? I could use that $800 towards WAY better things. Kirby Air Riders is the only game I'd actually get. Everything else is just overpriced and minimal effort -laughs in Mario Kart World-

It's just sad. And not to mention, the next new updated version of the console they'll release next year or so to milk even more money out of us.

Sorry to be so negative but gah. I'm just happy they're finally seeing some push back. This is what happens when we all vote with our wallets. No company cares about complaining online. They only care when their profits take a hit.

 

[LittleMissPanda]

You're so right. It all went to hell since Iwata passed. Please understand. -bows-

I feel like too many companies have just plummeted into corporate hellscape where everything is minimalist and grey. It's sad. They don't seem to care about making a good product. They just care about sales and are perfectly fine with gouging people knowing those people will bow down and eat whatever scraps they get served because it's got a Nintendo logo stamped on it.

I also can afford a Switch 2, but why should I? I could use that $800 towards WAY better things. Kirby Air Riders is the only game I'd actually get. Everything else is just overpriced and minimal effort -laughs in Mario Kart World-

It's just sad. And not to mention, the next new updated version of the console they'll release next year or so to milk even more money out of us.

Sorry to be so negative but gah. I'm just happy they're finally seeing some push back. This is what happens when we all vote with our wallets. No company cares about complaining online. They only care when their profits take a hit.

I don't want to be negative either, but it's hard not to be. I'm just glad I no longer buy blindly. I wait and check out reviews, gameplay, etc.

Games imo are a bit too risky nowadays. Right now they have this mindset of releasing incomplete games (New Horizons and Mario Kart World) cutting content intentionally and repackaging it to sell later as DLC (Donkey Kong Bananza and Pokémon Legends ZA did this) and overall just doing whatever with their IPs and showing a total lack of care (I don't play Metroid Prime but even I could see that Metroid Prime 4 was totally botched and fans were screwed over.)

I'm honestly surprised with how well Pokémon Pokopia is doing. I thought it would just be more modern poké-slop, but it goes to show that if devs care enough, we can still have nice things. But the whole game key card thing totally sucks.

 

[Zerous]

Definitely agree with what's already been said. The way Nintendo's been behaving is just depressing. I understand they have always been a company- which is inherently interested in making money, but their actions in following the trend of taking away consumer ownership, the prices and lawsuits really put me off getting a switch 2.

Honestly Pokopia looks like fun and that's my biggest draw atm, and I'd be tempted when the new mainline pokemon game comes out as well, but I just,, don't want to support these business practices. :/ So it's kinda nice to see they are receiving *some* backlash at least. Because the only way companies are going to listen is if it affects their profits.

 

[Doo]

I have no idea what’s going on but I’ve just seen this:

 

[-Apples-]

I have no idea what’s going on but I’ve just seen this:
View attachment 636726

And we fell for it. But still, with the bad business practices they’ve been doing lately (and with stuff like the Iran War and inflation going on at the time), it wouldn’t be surprising that they wouldn’t sell as well as they expected. It would be better to reduce production anyway.

 

[AccfSally]

Maybe this is what they really meant?

Nintendo to Price Digital & Physical Releases of Its Switch 2 Games Differently

Price differences begin in May with Yoshi and the Mysterious Book

www.animenewsnetwork.com

 

[DarthGohan1]

Definitely agree with what's already been said. The way Nintendo's been behaving is just depressing. I understand they have always been a company- which is inherently interested in making money, but their actions in following the trend of taking away consumer ownership, the prices and lawsuits really put me off getting a switch 2.

Honestly Pokopia looks like fun and that's my biggest draw atm, and I'd be tempted when the new mainline pokemon game comes out as well, but I just,, don't want to support these business practices. :/ So it's kinda nice to see they are receiving *some* backlash at least. Because the only way companies are going to listen is if it affects their profits.

They are a company. And as stupid as it sounds I want them to make lots of money and be profitable because they are one of my favorite companies, they've provided a lot of joy for me over the years. I want to give Nintendo my money.

But they are not making it easy. Like... just be a little less anti-gamer/anti-consumer, and I will happily shell out a bunch of money for you Nintendo.

 

[a potato]

I personally don’t agree with, or see the relevancy of, many of the “Nintendo is greedy” arguments especially when Sony is out here with the second price increase since the announcement of Switch 2

https://twitter.com/x/status/2037504672726990900

 

[Airysuit]

I personally don’t agree with, or see the relevancy of, many of the “Nintendo is greedy” arguments especially when Sony is out here with the second price increase since the announcement of Switch 2

https://twitter.com/x/status/2037504672726990900

Also if you take into account inflation, where I live, the price difference between switch 1 with launch and switch 2 isn't that high. So I also don't really agree with the sentiment of greedy Nintendo.

 

[-Apples-]

I personally don’t agree with, or see the relevancy of, many of the “Nintendo is greedy” arguments especially when Sony is out here with the second price increase since the announcement of Switch 2

https://twitter.com/x/status/2037504672726990900

Even if Sony is charging way more, they still have a lot larger library of games, more online features, and more appeal to wider audiences (because PlayStations are music players and movie players too, not just game players). Would you rather spend $500 on a machine that’s capable of doing 20 things, or $400 on a machine that’s only capable of doing 3 things (all of which the $500 machine can do better)?

Not only that, but Nintendo is much more aggressive against hackers, pirates, and gamers who engage in unacceptable behavior. Many can agree that whatever these people are doing is wrong, but the way Nintendo is approaching these people is going to alienate a lot of consumers or generate a lot of criticism.

 

[Captain Jigglypuff]

My only complaint is the pricing of Physical vis digital games and how the need of a Micro SD Express card is necessary and there are no affordable larger size cards that aren’t half the price of the Switch 2 itself. I mean $60 for 250 GB is pretty bad but then to get 500 GB you need to pay over $100? With the original Switch, you could get a 1TB SD card for $100 and have a massive amount of games in one place.

 

[LambdaDelta]

the playstation being a multimedia system was a better argument for, in a time when it was novel

not when having like 5 separate bd players in a home is practically the norm, if you're able/willing to spend this amount of money

 

[a potato]

My only complaint is the pricing of Physical vis digital games and how the need of a Micro SD Express card is necessary and there are no affordable larger size cards that aren’t half the price of the Switch 2 itself. I mean $60 for 250 GB is pretty bad but then to get 500 GB you need to pay over $100? With the original Switch, you could get a 1TB SD card for $100 and have a massive amount of games in one place.

That’s definitely something I don’t love, but it seems like it was necessary to use that format in order to get the same read/write speeds used by the internal SSD. From what I understand, that’s also why game key cards are so prevalent—it’s such new technology that they simply aren’t making cards in small capacities, driving publishers to choose between a 64GB cartridge or a game key card. This was the only article I can find quickly regarding the availability, but I know there are some more out there.

I’m hoping MicroSD Express will decrease in price, but I’m not sure how much the RAM shortage will impact it. I think this is also why they shifted to the virtual game card system, too. It at least encourages you to “eject” games you’re not using the free up some space. Not ideal, but it does help that you can load and unload remotely.