Re: Switching to a higher price

Spalls Hurgenson wrote:

 There's a lot of news about the imminent (give or take a few months)
release of Nintendo's Switch 2 portable console. Now, generally I
couldn't give a damn about the Switch --I've little interest in
consoles, portable gaming or Nintendo games-- but one factoid did
pique my interest: apparently all future first-party games for the
Switch 2 are expected to retail at least for $70 USD.
 This new price-point isn't novel, of course; companies like Ubisoft
have been flirting with the price-hike for several years. It's also,
economically, long overdue; prices for everything else have
skyrocketed, but games still linger in the $40-60 range. Still, gamers
have been reluctant to embrace these higher prices, and few publishers
have adamantly stuck to it.
 But Nintendo's intent might finally be the catalyst that makes the $70
price tag the new standard. I think that we'll start seeing more and
more new games release for $70USD now that Nintendo has set its flag
on that price.
 Not that it matters to me. I almost never buy at full price anyway.
The PC video-game market is especially competitive on price anyway,
what with there being so many FREE games available anyway. This just
makes it less likely I'll ever buy day-one.
 What do you think; will Nintendo's decision be the factor to moving
much of the industry to this higher price point?
   

It's UweBollshit, but in europe is even worse. I can doublethink my way into paying 470€ for the console since it's going to be a single purchase, but 90€ for a game and charging more for physical (Nintendo is the reason I don't trust digital in consoles anymore) is what broke me. If consumers pay that much, it will encourage all the other publishers to raise prices, and even with sales, it will still be more expensive.
Not to mention the hidden costs that stack over time:
- Base unit: 470€
-a decent case: 20€
- The official controller in case the current pro controllers is not supported and third party manufacturers need to pay a licensing fee or they won't be supported like PS4, PS5 and Xbox Series: 90€
- A 256gb SD Express card 50-100€
- The only + cloud backups subscription: That's definitely going up
- One or two first party games that never go on sale or price drop permanently: 50-60€ if lucky
I keep telling myself I'm not falling for that and if we don't buy it it will end being another 3DS situation, but apparently people now are idiots that buy a new apple i-poo-ne every 2 years. And although my Steam Deck has me covered, there's a certain first party title that I can't get anywhere else and fir which emulation is not an option.