Nintendo Switch Tax

[@DubsBrown]

Love it when Gamestop is like Used switch game, cartridge only, 6 years old, $5 off new price.

[@SakuraAvalon]

That's consistent with previous Nintendo games.

[@RoachCatJr]

Mercari/eBay is the way to go

[@phayroent9742]

Nintendo not understanding the 'barrier to entry' of having 6 year old games still at full price is actually psychotic. How many copies of Mario Odysessy are they realistically still selling to justify that price after nearly 7 years? Why not drop game prices after 3-4 years to a base of 34.99 at least or 44.99 at most? Player Selects at 29.99 or even 34.99 would go a long way towards helping parents buy some games for their kid(s) that just aged up enough to be trusted with a $300 dedicated game device.

[@uwaa5768]

because its not for kids anymore and if they keep doing its because it works. Blame your average manchild for products gettingg inflated and crappier

[@dyermaker4731]

And then they sit around wondering why people pirate them in droves.

[@QuantumChrist]

That's why broke people pirate games cause they stealing from Nintendo instead of buying the game or not buying at all.

[@NottJoeyOfficial]

The answer is that they're selling enough copies that they know they don't need to price drop. The Wii U console and many games that weren't Nintendo Selects were still full price right up until the end. I still remember seeing Splatoon for $60 next to copies of Splatoon 2 also for $60.

[@QuantumChrist]

​@@dyermaker4731, Piracy is not service issue, It's the UNWILLINGNESS to Pay for People's art and hardwork.

[@jordanhoughton1948]

R.I.P Players Choice and Nintendo Selects discount re-releases.

[@chocolocojames213]

The price of the Joy Cons is the real con.

[@fortynights1513]

Didn’t realize pro controller is cheaper because it’s clearly the better controller

[@DoctorWhoNow01]

Them not going down in price is insane

[@toastonmitchell2636]

Especially with HORI pads that are cheaper and work pretty well for most games

[@LazyTomato]

What's wrong, you _don't_ wanna spend 70 bucks on another pair once a year when your previous set starts drifting?

[@chrisyoung1576]

OMG is Galm - 1 in the flesh

[@PowerSynopsis]

"I'm your average everyday Nintendo fan." Explain why you have so many Wii U consoles, pal.

[@VezixHaikal]

PAL, NTSC and SECAM*

[@leeartlee915]

This generation getting rid of Nintendo Selects AND never having a console price drop was… well, it wasn’t good.

[@MaesterMike]

100%

[@mikeywebb9598]

The switch not raising in price due to inflation is the price cut, $300 in 2017 is equivalent to $386 in 2024, it also got a cheaper model so why on earth would it drop in price, especially when it’s still selling…

[@leeartlee915]

@ Yeah, I’m still not convinced.

[@mikeywebb9598]

@@leeartlee915 i wasn’t trying to convince you I was stating an objective fact, hope this helps 💕

[@leeartlee915]

@@mikeywebb9598 It’s just a silly argument. Inflation, by definition, is always on the rise. Has it been higher than normal? Sure but that is NOT why Nintendo hasn’t lowered their prices. So while inflation is a “fact”, the rest of your assertion is speculation. Have a pleasant day.

[@EthanLubin]

Thumbnail is an insane strategy to make this video age well, i really respect it

[@CatsCatsCatsCatsCats]

What

[@EthanLubin]

@CatsCatsCatsCatsCats he does NOT own returns hd yet

[@NoelleTGS2]

@@EthanLubin he also referred to it in the past tense during the video lmao

[@J-Unit90]

Tangentially related, it drives me absolutely insane that Nintendo includes $50 games in their voucher program. We know how math works, Nintendo!

[@crownedcryptidgaming]

Bring me back to the good ol days when Walmart and Amazon also sold games for $10 off for some reason

[@slamburger]

I forgot about that

[@myriadmediamusings]

Sigh yeah unfortunately the infamous tax has gotten me to be pretty picky with my purchases as of late. Plenty of titles over the past year that I woulda picked up without hesitation if not for the price, and that in turn has led me to be more attentive of reviews and what have you to make it certain what’s being purchased was worth the damn 60 bucks as opposed to saving that money for gas or food.

[@krisbailey8537]

Gas for two weeks, or Mario party….. I know what most people go with

[@AlienRino]

I’ve straight up started using my buffed switch to play Nintendo’s games. I’ve been a fan of too many years to be getting fucked over like this

[@tonyphillips8726]

Hello, Average Nintendo Scott

[@cato3277]

Scott Nintendo Switchman

[@myriadmediamusings]

I love it when Scott says its Nintendo time and Nintendos all over the place.

[@Deepfried_duck]

0:22 face reveal?!?

[@Deepfried_duck]

This is a big moment.

[@TwistedLullabies]

No

[@dabird1222]

Yes

[@harrisonwhaley7872]

No that’s the cameraman

[@TheViper4Life]

Scott has a face!?

[@Edduperez10]

to be honest, as someone from Latin America, the Nintendo Selects were my holy grail. At least every three months I could get 2 great games at an amazing value instead of 1 full game, now all the games are here +$65 it hurts the pocket a lot.

[@VagrantValmar]

Si tenes la posibilidad de importar, te recomiendo comprar las versiones asiáticas. Son mucho más baratas. En lo personal, el Switch es donde encuentro los juegos físicos más baratos de lanzamiento si busco bien. Básicamente, es de saber aprovechar los precios regionales y la región libre.

[@andreysegura2510]

Depends on where you are. Games here are cheaper than the regular $60 price. Recent games have been roughly $58, and that's after import taxes and other costs. It still depends on where you buy, (they can go as high as $100 depending on the store)

[@RangeReaper0406]

8:55 I feel like this is the first time Scott has ever mentioned the Steam Deck, I may be wrong though.

[@bluewind7988]

I remember when 3DS games were still sold, and I would buy them a lot more often than with today's Switch games. Hell, I would've never played games like Kirby Triple Deluxe, A Link Between Worlds and Super Mario 3D Land if they cost more than $30, and those were all "Oh cool, I don't have these games, I should give them a try" purchases. Meanwhile with Switch games, I see games I don't own and go "Oh, cool, I don't have these games, maybe I should give them a try someday" and then proceed to never buy them because every single one costs $60. Last time I bought a Switch game was when Tears of the Kingdom released, every single release since then have had me react with wanting them but not being bothered to buy them. I'd love to try out games like Super Mario RPG, Thousand-Year Door, Skyward Sword and the Luigi's Mansion games, but every time I see that $60 and I hesitate just enough to wait for months and years before either buying them or they eventually just aren't avaiable anymore

[@nsgames24]

You can do what I did a couple years back when I was looking to get myself a Switch and buy them on eBay. Yeah, I'm aware that you will be at the mercy of resellers and buying games online means you'll have to wait for it to come in the mail, but still. I managed to get a copy of Smash Ultimate for less than $50.

[@tomlion0116]

Be fair TTYD for the GameCube before the Switch release were waaaaay to expensive to buy. For this reason 60$ for me and many people it was a deal. Now you can buy the GameCube version for 50-60$ because it got re-released, before it was 100+$ for a 20 year old game.

[@GreyWolfLeaderTW]

Member of the club that remembers the Nintendo GameCube tax way back in the 6th Console Generation. It always felt like the fact that the GameCube not selling well resulted in its multiplatform games always costing $10+ additional dollars for the GameCube version over the Xbox and PS2 versions, and that was way back in the late 00s long before the recent explosion of inflation.

[@beiwubsnsod7378]

That still holds now. Gamecube ports often sold the least and are usually pricier compared to ps2 and xbox versions.

[@celestialstar6450]

It may also have had to do with the cost of manufacturing the mini-discs for the GameCube. The Wii and WiiU were the only Nintendo consoles to use the same media as their competitors (DVD/Blu-Ray). All the other Nintendo consoles had proprietary cartridges (and the mini-discs, in the case of the GC).

[@sc3ku]

I remember that for the N64 even before the Gamecube. cross platform PS1 games were always cheaper than the N64 because of disc vs cartridge. Good thing you could actually still rent games back then!

[@BugsyFoga]

Nintendo:where all are which games are full priced and you can’t do anything about it

[@mythosinfinite6736]

🏴‍☠️

[@TheFool87]

No, you can do something. Buy a second hand copy which Nintendo makes no money or try the other way which also Nintendo makes no money. None of these happen if they lower the prices.

[@NihilistGarcia-zz6jo]

You can do something about it Pirate 😊 it’s free is easily accessible and you don’t support bad practice as well

[@eduardofromwiisportsresort9636]

​@@NihilistGarcia-zz6jo I can play the games and they run 10x better on my PC at a higher resolution than the switch 😭

[@ilikestamps2978]

I wish every company was like Capcom. They reduce their games by $10 every year

[@tek1645]

I used to consider "switch tax" acceptable since it was more like a "handheld tax" but ever since steam deck launched, the tax is not worth it anymore.

[@cdgui267]

i live in a 3 world country and it is impossible to buy games for the switch, no sales policy is just the stupidest thing ive ever heard

[@luigivids9598]

I've been watching Scott's stash literally all day since i woke up, yesterday too, a new video was so unexpected!!

[@neo_b]

shoutout to Nier Automata for being a mostly uncompromised port sold at $40 too… they really cooked with that one tbh

[@FunkyGhost37]

KH 1.5 & 2.5 being Cloud only is insane. Even IF they couldn't use the PS4 version, they could've just ported the original PS3 versions of those packs. It was pure laziness.

[@andreysegura2510]

Or a lack of confidence. The least amount of effort to make as much money as possible. Porting the games would have been expensive and they may have not been able to recoup the cost. I don't like it, but they're trying to make money

[@interruptingPreempt]

I had been so excited about KH on switch, but when I found out it was cloud only, I backed off. I felt cheated. Still do.

[@alexherman77]

2:30 “Super Street Fighter II Turbo HD Remix from the Xbox 360 Xbox Live Arcade” just rolls of the tongue doesn’t it?

[@conorjohn490]

I wonder how much it would have cost to buy each new version of Street Fighter 2 starting on the SNES. It's entirely possible the answer is more than $500 just for North American releases.

[@Timic83tc]

Finally Scott talks about Luigi mangione 2

[@wardraven8755]

Got my Nintendo switch pro controller for $60 6 years ago and just bought one today for $60.

[@Eldritch-707]

Spot the Woz at 0:21 Oooh and at 7:13!

[@Theachivmentsearcher]

"In hd mr squidward... in hd"

[@YourUncleBenis]

The Switch Tax is the reason my Lite is just a KZbin player for when my phone is charging half the time. There are a ton of games that I'd buy for it if the price was equivalent to Steam, but then I buy it on Steam for cheaper, where I can mod and record it, and it's like, "Why would I buy this for more on Switch?" Only first party Nintendo game I've bought is Metroid Dread, and that was only $35 for a loose cartridge on eBay.

[@portalpuppy31]

BIONICLE FAN SPOTTED!

[@mikeywebb9598]

I’m struggling to understand why you got a switch to begin with

[@YourUncleBenis]

@@mikeywebb9598 It was mainly because I'd started doing plasma donations around that time, and whenever the lines got really long, having something to play that wasn't just my 3DS came in handy. Plus, a refurbished Switch Lite was cheaper than a Steam Deck.

[@jac_238]

@@mikeywebb9598yeah I’m with you there, I was with him until he said Metroid Dread is the only first party game he owns, like the complaints about the price of ports of third party games is valid but why even own a switch if you have no interest in the first party games, more often than not those are worth the full $60 they’re asking for

[@AceofShadow]

I’d have bought Luigi’s Mansion HD if it was a bundle of 1 and 2 but I skipped buying 2 again just for it.

[@jcloud7]

AND YOU’LL LIKE IT!

[@encroachment5632]

Man I hope I don’t get taxed for watching a video on the Nintendo Switch Tax

[@GiveBackWhatIO]

Punishment for forsaking the Wii U

[@Micah__]

I put a whopping 12 hours on my Switch this entire year. Haha

[@cayder7485]

4 views in one minute Scott’s stash is out of its prime

[@ArisuBeloved]

Honestly, I just wait like a few years and buy them second hand for like half price. Barely any of the Switch games are actually worth buying day 1 at $60. They usually end up costing less on Playstation by that point and they almost always run better.

[@PowerSynopsis]

I bought exactly 2 Switch games when they came out: TotK and EoW. I _could_ have waited on EoW, but TotK was absolutely worth it. In general though, waiting a while then hunting for a killer deal on eBay is my preferred way to collect games. Actually, I also bought Splatoon 3 on release. I wanted to jump in that right away because of the nature of the game, but honestly, if I waited a month I could have found someone selling it for cheaper too.

[@crispymattastic]

Unless it's a first party game like mario , zelda etc then second hand gives you only 10$ off.

[@RenegadePandaZ]

It's basically the Nintendo 64 all over again. If you were around back then, this same situation was present, almost exactly. Third parties charged more for most of their games because Nintendo had strict policies about how many cartridges had to be ordered and charged the publishers a not insignificant amount to do so, then passed that on to the end user. Nintendo, of course, did it because they knew everyone would buy their games regardless.

[@jayjam_]

0:21 ME TOO SCOTT! ME TOO!

[@lalocompi]

Nintendo knows that the most powerful drug that exists is nostalgia. And there are many junkies out there.

[@LittleBrownToast]

only slightly unrelated, but if you have the chance to play Guardians of the Galaxy natively on any console, I highly recommend! Unironically one of the best games I’ve ever played which is insane for an underrated marvel game lol

[@Scouter953]

Counter opinion - it’s a boring slog that relies entirely on the Marvel characters to carry it.

[@LittleBrownToast]

@@Scouter953 to be honest, the entire game felt like watching one of the guardians movies to me, except you don’t need any outside knowledge to enjoy it! (imo I prefer the game guardians over the movies). I always felt it’s sorta a “if you liked the movies you’d like this” type of deal?

[@Bobo12300]

I really liked the story, world, and character interactions however the gameplay was repetitive and it’s a shame you can’t fully play as the other Guardians. I would have gotten much more enjoyment out of it if it was a standalone movie or a mini show

[@brandonwilliams6119]

Imagine paying for a Donkey Kong without a New Funky Mode

[@eduardofromwiisportsresort9636]

the switch was the only real console I've owned that I never amassed any library for. I got it in 2018, played super Mario Odyssey, and eventually a bit of animal crossing when it came out and that's it. I think those two and l.a. noire are the only games I got for it until it ended up in storage in 2021. Sometimes I feel bad and wanna give it another go but, why? I can't afford to shill out 40, 50 or even 60 bucks for most of the 1st party titles I'm interested in. My PC serves me well enough.

[@Jade_Geode]

I like to call DKC Tropical Freeze on Switch “Tropical Freeze & Knuckles”

[@cornbread3056]

This is the same company that sold an alarm clock for $100

[@batmanbud2]

At least you actually own the games, though.

[@MFRICKY]

Ever since my switch ate a devil fruit it’s been in its great pirate era😁

[@jarrettbellboy]

As a guy who only plays Nintendo, I’m just happy to be included- especially with niche publishers like SquareEnix.

[@AlMujrimun]

12:14 “one-time thing” until the next 70$ nintendo release

[@FreshMediaMusic]

it’s definitely losing them money also. my family is well off and upper middle class, but we definitely don’t have “fuck you” money lol. i try not to ask for expensive things often and thus i have only gotten FIVE 60 dollar titles, with the last one being new horizons in 2020. FIVE YEARS AGO. i can name at least 15 off the top of my head that i wanted a pretty considerable amount, but simply COULD NOT justify in my head spending 60 dollars on LUIGIS MANSION 3. had those games been 30 or hell even maybe 40 dollars on the high end i would have spent probably FIVE TIMES the amount of money on my silly handheld games, and i feel like i’m in the majority. like i feel your example with 2.5 million people buying for 50 and 2 mil buying for 60 is really generous

[@celestialstar6450]

I think you hit the nail on the head when you touched on the cost of the Switch cartridges, Scott. The Wii and WiiU were disc-based, so prices would have been lower as a result. Porting them to the Switch would necessitate ordering the special-made cartridges, thus increasing the price.

[@sc3ku]

I cherish my old Player’s Choice Million Seller cartridges because the lower prices late in generations let me experience what my family just couldn’t afford when new. Edit: shout out to my fellow SNES Jr and Game Boy Pocket kids

[@Nogoon69]

Mario needs a new pair of shoes cough it up😭

[@Gilarack]

You know how the old saying goes: You can't write Switch without Sith.

[@briandoe5746]

Everything you said is 100% valid. The only counterpoint that is reasonable would be to bring up inflation. Nintendo's price point has risen more than inflation but it hasn't been as exasperated as everyone has made it out to be. People have genuinely forgotten how crazy inflation has been. Got to understand that the price of the switch with adjusted for inflation has come down almost 100 bucks. You also have to understand that with inflation, some of the games released for the NES were in the $100 range today

[@lightninstriker10]

Honestly the short version of the Switch Tax explanation is this; Because they can and we keep paying it. Like.. there's just not much more to it than that.

[@gladesucks7907]

Bring back Player’s Choice

[@nathanwithrow35]

Where I live a new switch game is bound to pop up at any pawn shop sooner or later. And at reasonable prices. That's where I usually go for my games.

[@stratfender89]

Pretty much all of the games you mentioned are ones I didn't pick up because of the $60 price tag. Nintendo is missing out on making $200 in the long term when it's going for $60 dollars in the short term.

[@MxndRot]

Switch Tax??? Its Nintendo, so that means I'm a Tax Evader :D **bends paperclip and looks at joycon rail**

[@justjoeblow420]

I ended up completely skipping the Switch as by the time I finally had the spare money to consider one the Deck had been announced and I decided budget wise even if it costed me a bit more I would come out ahead, and two years and change into owning a Steam Deck I can safely say I was correct. I ended up just borrowing a buddies Switch for the few first party games I really wanted to play like Mario Odyssey.

[@Blazio]

One of the reasons I can't wait for the Switch 2 is so Switch 1 games hopefully finally get that price drop.

[@GianfrancoLaRotta]

Amazing-tacular!! 8:11

[@sowsow6677]

basically what i noticed with the switch is that the games are double the price of what they are on other consoles

[@nachos1162]

I feel like controllers at max should be like 40 bucks. I hate that a spare controller is the same price or even more expensive than a brand new game depending on the console. I remember going to get a new pro controller and seeing the price and go "bro that's more expensive than a game, why is this more expensive than a game? This shit is essential to playing games so why is it so fucking expensive???" Like, I know there's the argument that "well it's integral to the experience so they can charge you more because you absolutely need it and will use it more than a game" but think about it. The joy cons break from drift after like 4 months of use, why should they be charging 80 bucks for them if they're gonna break so fast? They aren't worth 80 bucks at that point!

[@LumiosNoctis]

In France, it's easy to find switch games at 44 bucks at release

[@ovahdos]

To be fair i literally put 500+ hours in to Advance Wars Reboot Camp and loved every minute of it lol That works out to literally only .1299 cents per hour in my case even factoring in the 8.25% Texas state sales tax for a total of $64.95 for the full physical game. Still veryyyy well worth it imo and I got more play out of that game than any other game i've ever purchased or played on the switch the entire time the console has been out

[@otis1716]

Pre-owned is the way to go. For games at least

[@flipadoodles8677]

I waited so long for breath of the wild to go on sale that tears of the kingdom came out.

[@CW0123]

Although I don’t agree with the way in which Luigi Mansion 2 brought attention to the insane scam that is US health insurance I’m glad his message is being heard.

[@TheSonicFan4]

The funny thing is everything is like $20 more in Canada

[@benamisai-kham5892]

Its so insane that the only great way to get deals on first party games is to happen upon the right store or waiting to purchase at the right time on amazon- which even then, its usually only between $10-20 off depending on circumstances. Nintendo barely puts their first party games on sale in the eShop and it's infrequent enough that some have only been on sale maybe once or twice because of how selective they are with which games are deemed alright to go on sale on the eShop.

[@DubsBrown]

Worst part of switch tax is you don’t even get achievements/trophies. Sure it’s not a deal breaker, but when the same game is $15 more it better not have features missing.

[@joeyisabsb1]

I have close to 100 Switch games and noticed I mostly buy third party games and not Nintendo first party ones. It doesnt really have to do with the cost, i just think Nintendo first party games are either too easy or feel too much for kids.

[@Soapy_Papoose]

Just the Nintendo tax, it has always been a thing.

[@BonJoviBeatlesLedZep]

One of the main reasons i still haven't gotten a Switch. My next hardware purchases will be Quest 3S, Retroid Pocket 5, and Steam Deck. Then maybe a 4070 or something.

[@crobinson2624]

Remember the good old days when you didn’t have any money and your parents couldn’t afford to buy every game and your parents would say you had to pick one over the others because they didn’t have $120 to buy two games for you.

[@mistabrown830]

That’s why a used ps4 or Xbox one is the best budget console to have rn all their used games are cheap.

[@aaronc.brewster6527]

Thanks Scatt

[@ViruxFN.23luvu]

Also let’s not mention that if u m0d certain consoles u can play them for free

[@TheGameSolvers]

ive been talking about this for year and its why i just never got into nintendo

[@lckfan3696]

Witcher 3 at the time of release on switch was not worth 70 dollars.

[@SonicTheCutehog]

Nintendo selling Scott's soul for $60

[@LadyAnnaMindpretzel]

Having to pay $60 just for the privilege of playing DK Returns without Wii waggle is super annoying.

[@dylarper]

Digital versions of games should be $10 cheaper than the physical versions

[@spudsT]

The great irony of physical media… remember how PSP proprietary memory cards and discs were costly? Oops! Handhelds without a spinning disc will be costly to manufacture. Case in point: Undertale digital vs physical. Careful what you wish for, physical devotees ;) ;)

[@nathanwithrow35]

Honestly Nintendo could bring back Nintendo selects but they choose not to. That pisses me off.

[@TwistedLullabies]

Ain't no party like a Scott Party

[@rogerr472]

Dust off that switch bro

[@trevorbraun2574]

…and yet they’ve sold (checks notes) 1.7 trillion copies to date

[@normalguy7951]

Ok so just to remind you guys 60 dollars for a new game on switch (Zelda botw/totk, Super Mario Oddysey, Smash Ultimate, and basically other new games) is actually a really good price point for the quality they provide and they are not overpriced , but for remakes it can be kind of a bummer although let’s not forget that there’s lots of players who are new to Nintendo and haven’t had the chance to buy the original games, so Nintendo is giving them a new chance themselves.

[@untoward]

because $30 is the new $20..... and who doesn't love a sale $49 is $20 off.. and $20 isn't worth what it used to be

[@parcosmaulo1]

good thing nintendo has a terrible track record when it comes to their consoles security, i love that for no particular reason :)

[@sebastianmcc14]

It's crazy because I've had the switch since 2017 and only have a few games. (Odyssey, BoTW, ToTK, Smash, Animal Crossing, Luigi's Mansion 3, Mario Maker 2, and pokemon shield) after 7 years on all my other systems i usually have a giant collection. Can't even count the amount of Wii games and 3ds games i have. The prices are just too high for too long. Odyssey should not be 60 in 2024.

[@markcampbell8590]

The high price of Nintendo games especially for third parties on Switch is what makes me sort of use other ecosystems more. I buy way more games on Steam and Playstation physical games than Switch, not to mention they run way better and I don't care for portably all that much.

[@fortynights1513]

Ergo: The first party Nintendo games are the reason you’d buy a Switch?

[@MateuLeGrillepain]

This is probably why Amazon France offers discounts Like, when you consider that European prices include tax it was actually cheaper to import Kirby and the Forgotten Land and Fire Emblem Warriors Three Hopes (although the euro was massively inflated at the time)

[@mjdf122]

We’re all paying Woz tax

[@obviobvi]

Nintendo values the work of their developers, recognizes the value of their intellectual property, and is willing to charge you what their games are worth. The rest of the industry has conditioned you to wait one month to get their “AAA” games on sale for $6.99, and they’re mercilessly laying off employees and bleeding money

[@crispymattastic]

Bought my switch in 2018 and enjoyed it a ton but as the years go by it frustrates the hell outta me now.

[@jas0n17-bad4]

I love you scott

[@904funny]

I legit thought this was about the upcoming tariffs

[@Dr._Nicolas]

nobody buys their crap so they have to compensate with extra money