On the most recent Nintendo Direct, the company featured an hour-long presentation all about their upcoming new console, the Switch 2. Many fans were excited for the announcements, and found enjoyment in the improvements, new features, and games coming to the system. However, not everyone was impressed. Two former rival executives for Playstation and Xbox have come out and publically trashed the new system. It is not just rivals that are concerned, though, as two former Nintendo PR executives have also come out to voice their concerns.
Nintendo Switch 2 Is Polarizing in the Gaming Industry
While many fans reacted positively to the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct on Tuesday, soon after, the gaming industry as a whole was more tepid. Some concerns currently include the increased price for games as well as the selection of games that was announced. Many have pointed to the catalog announced as being mainly remakes or remasters of games at full price, as well as charging for Switch 2 upgraded versions of games players already own.
These decisions upset many in the gaming community and opened the eyes of two former Nintendo PR executives. These execs heavily criticized Nintendo, highlighting that the company was not transparent about pricing during their Switch 2 presentation despite the hour-long time slot to do so. Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang claim the omission was intentional, and it came across as “disrespectful” to assume players would spend whatever they asked. Unfortunately, Nintendo may be right with that; consumers will pay what the market will bear.
Even the welcome tour for the Switch 2 cost money, and by the next day, consumers were expressing their anger at the way Nintendo handled pricing reveals. While the Switch console itself is still receiving positive reactions in terms of the specs and updates, the cost and lack of transparency have caused serious backlash. Ellis and Yang went so far as to say that Nintendo has completely lost control of the situation, and that they have created a crisis on their hands that they can no longer reign back in.
Final Thoughts
There is no question that Nintendo’s decision to slow-roll Switch 2 pricing was a bad move. Perhaps they anticipated the anger at prices and hoped to sneak it by customers. Perhaps they didn’t anticipate it being an issue at all. Whatever the reason, it is a massive miscalculation. That said, I don’t believe it is a true crisis. The fact is, no one who has reacted negatively has trashed the console; it has been the stuff surrounding the console. The actual, physical product is well received, and there is still some excitement surrounding certain game releases as well.
In the end, once the system goes on sale, the consumer will still buy. While the backlash is bad, and it is a public relations nightmare right now, I doubt in the long term it will effect the sales or success of the release. Switch was one of the most popular systems of all time, and the improvements coming to Switch 2 should only build on that success, regardless of anger around the finances.
