I can't help but think that Nintendo would be in a better position right now, PR-wise, if they had simply waited to introduce the $80 price point for their games. I mean, think about it. Right now is the easiest time to walk away from the Switch 2. We haven't bought in yet, and we're looking down the barrel of an entire console generation of games that are going to cost $80 or more.
So why not hold off? Why not wait until lots of people have already adopted the console, and THEN start introducing this new tier of higher-priced games?
I'll tell you why. I mean, I guess it's actually pretty obvious. Nintendo did the math, and they simply could not help themselves.
The Mario Kart series is a major system seller. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
(a port of Wii U game, mind you) has consistently been one of the highest selling games on the Switch. I think it's sitting at 67 million copies sold, which is just an absurd number. So they know that Mario Kart World is going to sell, no matter what they price it at. That's the real reason World is 80 bucks and the new Donkey Kong is 70.
They know people are going to pay the $80. They know that releasing Mario Kart World as a day one launch title will sell Switch 2's. And 67 million times $10 is $670 million dollars, as a quick example of the type of money they'd be leaving on the table. Again--they simply could not help themselves.