Nintendo Switch is under pressure to drop the price of its games amid complaints they're too costly.Gamers and publishers are on the Japanese firm's back about lowering till prices for top games like super Bomberman and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, claiming it's putting players off buying more.And as the firm pushes its new handheld-come-home console, experts believe selling some new games cheaply will only help to boost the Switch and get even more machines off the shelves.Titles like Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and Splatoon 2 are going for upwards of £60 in high street stores like Game.The new Bomberman is about £45 and even older Wii U titles like Lego City Undercover are selling for the new machine at £40.
Puyo Puyo Tetris which was released this week costs £34.99 on Nintendo Switch but £10 less at just £24.99 on PS4.Some fear it could alienate Nintendo's younger fanbase of kids who can't afford the games.
Garry Williams, from publisher Sold Out, said: "Currently Nintendo’s model is a little ‘challenging’ in terms of pricing but never write off Nintendo."The logistics of most platform holders are clear and understandable – they do also listen and can make revisions to policy."It is the role of a publisher to navigate games through these format holders’ channels, so it’s pretty much the same as it ever was."Kim Snaith, a contributor to industry site Gizmodo, said back in January: "It's looking like owning a Nintendo Switch is going to end up setting you back £59.99 when you want a new release."The console is already going to be more expensive than the Sony or Microsoft counterparts – with lower-spec tech, too – so if Nintendo are going to price their games up to 50% more, it's putting them at a massive disadvantage."I know we all love Mario and Zelda, but do we love them that much?"
An industry insider added: "Nintendo appeals to younger players so you've got to make sure there are cheaper games out there they can afford."£60 is just too much for kids wanting to play games on the new console."It comes after we revealed a Switch Mini is already in the works.Nintendo is already looking ahead to try to cut its costs for the console itself by building a new smaller, cheaper version.Industry experts Citigroup reckon Nintendo is already secretly working on a smaller version of the hit new on-the-go console.One that's smaller, slimmer and set to be the definitive version when it "launches in 2019"
The firm said the current console is doing well in sales but is too big to truly combine home and portable gaming for everyone.
But there have been some complaints about lack of battery life when the machine is out of its telly dock and played portable on-the-go.The large screened device seems to take up lots of power.And younger kids who love playing Mario and Zelda have been struggling to hold the bulky machine.But all that is set to change when a smaller version of the machine is released in the fiscal year through March 2019, according to analysts including Minami Munakata, Kota Ezawa and Alicia Yap.“Although the Nintendo Switch can be used as a handheld device, we think smaller children could struggle to use it comfortably in that format due to its size and weight,” the analysts wrote in a report.“Accordingly, we think Nintendo will launch a lighter, dedicated handheld version of the Switch, possibly to be called the Nintendo Switch Mini.”
