this post was submitted on 07 Apr 2025

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Nintendo boss Doug Bowser explains the $80 price for ‘Mario Kart World’ (archive.ph)

submitted 2 months ago by picandocodigo@lemmy.world to c/nintendo@lemmy.world

38 comments fedilink hide all child comments

We finally hear from Doug Bowser!

On the pricing:

“What you see right there is variable pricing,” Bowser told The Washington Post. “We’ll look at each game, really look at the development that’s gone into the game, the breadth and depth of the gameplay, if you will, the durability over time and the repeatability of gameplay experiences.

On Nintendo Switch:

Bowser said Nintendo remains committed to selling the first Switch console. Four years ago, in our first conversation, Bowser said the Switch is “redefining what a console cycle can look like.”

“Now I even wonder what is the definition of a console cycle,” Bowser said. “We’ll continue to keep Nintendo Switch as part of the family, giving consumers a number of different entry points that they can come into the gaming universe.”

(...)

“What I would say is that we’ll continue to observe consumers and how they engage and enter into the platform at various levels to try to really understand what the future may look like,” Bowser said. “Here’s the other point. We have an install base [for the Switch] of 150 million plus units. We’ll probably announce more on May 8 when we have our next earnings call. We want to keep those players engaged. Not all of them may be ready to jump to Switch 2.”

all 40 comments

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[–] Hellahunter@lemmy.world 62 points 2 months ago (3 children)

So basically Nintendo fans need to vote with their wallet or gaming is about to get really expensive for us all.

[–] Harlehatschi@lemmy.ml 41 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Nintendo fans will vote just like Apple Fans.

[–] Muffi@programming.dev 2 points 2 months ago

They would pay to lick the boot

[–] SolidShake@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

Unfortunately.... Gomo, and the switch 2 will sell out instantly and Mario kart will also sell out instantley

[–] PP_BOY_@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago

That's generally how luxury pricing works, yes.

[–] chemical_cutthroat@lemmy.world 41 points 2 months ago (2 children)

Oh, were looking at game "durability"? So, when I can beat the next Mario game in a few hours, does that mean it's only gonna be $20? No? You're just making up excuses for increasing the price of games? Right.

[–] Kolanaki@pawb.social 17 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago) (1 children)

Good point. Dude says it's "variable" pricing, so if MKW, being an online multiplayer racing game that theoretically could have unlimited play time for many players, then a single player game with only about 40 hours average gameplay should be hella cheap by comparison, right?

[–] Hawk@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 2 months ago

Well, DK Bananza IS cheaper indeed

[–] Atherel@lemmy.dbzer0.com 15 points 2 months ago

Don't forget that you have to pay for a subscription to play online, which is one of the reasons the game is playing for a long time.

[–] icecreamtaco@lemmy.world 31 points 2 months ago (2 children)

“We’ll look at each game, really look at the development that’s gone into the game, the breadth and depth of the gameplay, if you will, the durability over time and the repeatability of gameplay experiences.

idk what better explanation you could expect. He's very clearly explaining the reasons here and you're all being hysterical about it.

[–] x00z@lemmy.world 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)

It sounds like it comes straight from a "how to take as much money from your fans as possible" talk.

A better explanation would be "because we want your money".

[–] I3lackshirts94@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago (1 children)

No it doesn’t sound like that 😂 You couldn’t say it any better than that. If you take what he is saying with what you know, it actually does make sense why tears of the kingdom is $70 over the normal $60 at the time.

It’s easy to say that it’s expensive until reviews are out or you play it. I can at least respect the quote because it’s holding up to be true with what they have done, but is it really worth a $20 increase? I guess time will tell.

TotK was worth the $10 for the exact reason he is talking about.

[–] x00z@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago

It's a joke. Half of the argument is about how they can take more of your money.

The other argument is about how much "innovation and time" goes into it. But I can tell you that that's a big lie. They have story, previous code and examples, previous frameworks and all the other stuff already from previous games. They also already make a big markup on the Switch itself.

So it's all a lie. 😂

[–] Zoomboingding@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Clocking in at 7 1/2 hours, why is Princess Peach Showtime $60? It should be $20 with this reasoning.

[–] icecreamtaco@lemmy.world 0 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Because it was a new AA game and most platformers are around ten hours. $20 is for indie games or big DLCs.

[–] PunkiBas@lemm.ee 14 points 2 months ago

I thought I was reading the onion for a second there, had to do a double take. Bowser is an insufferable idiot.

[+] tflyghtz@lemm.ee 12 points 2 months ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) (1 children)

[deleted]

[–] spitfire@lemmy.world 9 points 2 months ago (1 children)

And game prices haven't been going up for a long time. Not that I want them to, but the fact of life is that the production cost for games are way higher now, while their prices are not. Everything else is getting more expensive. I'm not saying it's not sustainable, but I understand that these companies want to make money, not just keep themselves afloat.

[–] Senal@programming.dev 30 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I see this argument a lot and it entirely glosses over the fact that the market is at least one order of magnitude larger, possibly two.

The cost of a game is the development, marketing, maintenance to some degree and in some cases physical production of the medium.

Past that it's gravy.

You charge 70 in the 1990's times 100,000 sales vs charging 70 now to a million sales.

It's not like producing a car where you have a fixed unit cost, this is mostly copying already made data.

Yes, the tertiary costs can go up and the development costs can go up but the addressable market has also gone up significantly.

Nintendo specifically is absolutely not living release to release and is the worst possible example for this argument.

Not only do they not really do sales but they also have DLC all the way up the wazoo and frequently rerelease old games at current market prices, with minor tweaks.

They do not, however, lean all the way in to microtransactions, which is nice

[–] spitfire@lemmy.world 14 points 2 months ago

I can't really disagree with any point you've made here.

[–] FartMaster69@lemmy.dbzer0.com 11 points 2 months ago (1 children)

“We’ll continue to keep Nintendo Switch as part of the family, giving consumers a number of different entry points that they can come into the gaming universe.”

What a unique and novel concept they’ve never tried before.

[–] llii@discuss.tchncs.de 6 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I get "You can buy a 360" vibes from this.

[–] FartMaster69@lemmy.dbzer0.com 5 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

Feels more like hedging their bets by keeping the GBA around with DS or keeping the Wii around with WiiU.

[–] Blaster_M@lemmy.world 10 points 2 months ago

Bowser, boss of Nintendo...

[–] ladel@feddit.uk 8 points 2 months ago

In my mind, all it boils down to is that Nintendo think that they can charge that much and would like us to believe it's worth it. Whether it is worth it is subjective and up to each individual. Most of us will probably be tighter with our choices in some way.

[–] sdcSpade@lemmy.zip 7 points 2 months ago

the durability over time and the repeatability of gameplay experiences.

Looks like the "1$ per hour of gameplay" crowd is finally getting what they wanted.

[–] slimerancher@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago (1 children)

I am conflicted about the $80 price tag for MKW, but Nintendo already do variable pricing, it has games for 40 and 50, and now it seems they are going to try the 80 price range too.

And as always, vote with your wallets!

[–] stardust@lemmy.ca 8 points 2 months ago (1 children)

One thing you can always count on is NVIDIA, Apple, and Nintendo fans to let you down when it comes to voting with their wallets.

[–] slimerancher@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago (1 children)

Heh, agreed. You still have to vote, but you just end up on losing side more often than not.

Though, I can't point fingers at anyone anymore, cause this once I am one of those annyoing fan who are still going to buy it.

[–] stardust@lemmy.ca 2 points 2 months ago

Consumerism is undefeated.

[–] lordnikon@lemmy.world 7 points 2 months ago

My body is not ready.

Sorry Doug I guess you were the villain as your namesake after all.

[–] AngryCommieKender@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

How did that guy become CEO of Nintendo America‽‽ They've spent two to three generations of kids training us to OVERTHROW BOWSER!

[–] inclementimmigrant@lemmy.world 6 points 2 months ago

So fucking industry greed. Gotcha.

[–] Rhynoplaz@lemmy.world 5 points 2 months ago

In a nutshell: We're going to charge as much as you fucks are willing to pay.

[–] GreatRam@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago* (last edited 2 months ago)

But what does Reggie think?

[–] Letsdothisok@lemmy.world 2 points 2 months ago

I seriously can't believe the "Nintendo boss" is named bowser! Honestly! Wtf! I have never heard ANYONE named "Bowser"!

I'm gonna be telling everyone about this...

[–] werefreeatlast@lemmy.world 1 points 2 months ago

They need the money to sue more grandmas.

[–] sunzu2@thebrainbin.org 0 points 2 months ago

Parasite justifies its existence

Deny it profit!