In the wake of never-ending price increases to modern consoles, PC components, and everything you need to live, there’s an undeniable war among console makers for our ever-shrinking wallets. That war may just be decided based on value alone. The Nintendo Switch 2 is delivering the best gaming experience for the price. It may seem strange to hear that (it certainly feels strange to type it), but not only are they pulling ahead of the pack, they’re poised to lap the field in the coming year.
Nintendo launched the Switch 2 at a $449.99 price point, and at the time, the public generally viewed that as point-and-laugh funny. Even Nintendo fans deemed the price a stretch, figuring their money was buying a little more processing power and a party chat feature that has been on everything not Nintendo since 2006. The screen would be bigger, but would ship with an LCD panel versus the vibrant OLED display of its predecessor. Even though the console would debut with the first Mario Kart installment since 2014’s Mario Kart 8 (which went on to become the fifth best-selling game of all time at 79 million copies), the reception of the Switch 2 launch was room temp. But no one saw what Nintendo did, and their vision is paying off for gamers everywhere.
Somehow, Nintendo’s long play of avoiding the hardware demands of triple-A developers paid off, and they are positioned to undercut the upcoming market by as much as 50 percent.
Totilo, S. (n.d.). It’s Xbox’s turn (again), as console prices keep going up. https://www.gamefile.news/p/console-price-hike-chart-bungie-cuts-video
Thanks to data center hyperscalers like Microsoft, components like RAM have seen an astronomical spike in demand. That means higher prices, and since RAM is as necessary for servers as it is for PCs and consoles, costs skyrocket for us consumers.
The average console shopper isn’t thinking about the fact that people generating videos of their dogs dancing is causing a power grid crisis or supply chain chaos, but they will definitely notice the impact on the price sticker. In a year’s time, the highest-performing PlayStation and Xbox models will be pushing $900 and $800 respectively (Microsoft, you clever girl). A new challenger has also entered the living room, but unfortunately the story is the same. The recently-announced Steam Machine comes in as the first console like experience at over $1,000. When you’re spending more on gas than a GTA VI preorder, those numbers will make casual buyers check their banking apps a few times. Enter the Switch 2, which Nintendo announced will increase by only $50 in September, bringing the price to $500.
Not only does the console boast the best Nintendo catalog to date and backward compatibility, but developers said needing to port their titles to the Xbox Series S paved the way for Switch 2 development, meaning triple-A titles are beginning to run in the palms of your hands with minimal compromise.
Currently, the Switch 2 features a great Mario Kart title, is loaded with first-party gems like Donkey Kong Bananza and Metroid Prime 4, and also offers game-changing updates to all-time greats from the Switch (such as Breath of the Wild, which makes you feel like you’re stepping out of that cave into Hyrule for the first time again).
On the horizon, Call of Duty, Madden, and Assassin’s Creed fans can look to Nintendo this fall for the first time ever, and the combination of catalogues could dominate the war of the wallets without much resistance. Having missed out on games like Resident Evil for the past two console generations, Nintendo left an entire segment of the market uninterested. Now, gamers will be able to play Cyberpunk 2077 on the same machine they play Super Mario Bros. Wonder on, with less cost and more mobility. Put another way, the Switch 2 and Xbox Series S will cost the same, but only one of them will allow you to play the same titles in your living room, bathroom, and at the coffee shop down the street without you ever having to save.
Nintendo has delivered a complete experience, allowed competitors to drive development for their cost-controlled hardware, and exclusively offers mobility at a cheaper price than anyone else. It turns out last April when Nintendo announced their slogan for the Switch 2, it wasn’t just a message for players, but it was a shot to the rest of the industry. “All Together, Anytime, Anywhere.”
-Evan Kuhn
Leave a comment