Shawn Layden on $80 Switch 2 Games: 'If It's the Only Place You Can Play Mario, You Get Your Wallet Out' - News
by William D'Angelo , posted on 11 April 2025 / 4,760 Views
Former PlayStation boss Shawn Layden in an interview on the PlayerDriven podcast discussed the Nintendo Switch 2 and the higher price of software on Nintendo's next console.
"They poked through the ceiling of price elasticity, where we thought none existed before," said Layden (via VideoGamesChronicle). "Recently it went to 70, and people went crazy, I think Nintendo’s pulling the Band-Aid right off and saying 'looks like it’s $80 for a frontline game on the new platform.'
"But right here you see, 'wow, that’s kind of a hefty price hike from Switch 1 to Switch 2 wow, $80 for a game?' If it’s the only place you can play Mario, then you get your wallet out and you buy into it. That first-party exclusivity kind of mitigates the sticker shock, if you will, of these price hikes, because you want the content so bad."
Mario Kart World is priced at $80 and will launch alongside the Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5. Donkey Kong Bananza is priced at $70 and will launch on July 17.
The Nintendo Switch 2 will launch on Thursday, June 5 for $449.99 USD / $629.99 CAD / £395.99 / €469.99 / 49,800 yen in the US. A Mario Kart World Bundle will also be available for $499.99 USD / $699.99 / £429.99 / €509.99 / 53,980 yen.
A life-long and avid gamer, William D'Angelo was first introduced to VGChartz in 2007. After years of supporting the site, he was brought on in 2010 as a junior analyst, working his way up to lead analyst in 2012 and taking over the hardware estimates in 2017. He has expanded his involvement in the gaming community by producing content on his own YouTube channel and Twitch channel. You can contact the author on Bluesky.
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Or you don't. You don't have to buy something just because it exists.
a lot of people pay $18 a month for Netflix $216 a year and go months without watching a show on it.
Yea... I've got 5 or 6 subscriptions and I barely touch them lol
This is the reason I hate online multiplayer costing money on consoles: I'd be paying for multiplayer only, which I'd play only rarely, and I'd be missing out on the included games almost entirely, because I wouldn't have enough time to play almost any of those games.
true. Most people get suckered into free trials and forget to cancel by the trial end. I'm prob in the minority that keeps records on the phone calender to remind me when to cancel . Multiplied.
What if you really want that something?
No Shawn. Im passing on Nintendo for the first time in my life. Own all their consoles since gameboy color. Breaking a 3 decade trend.
missing out on all the great games then
just buy the games from guntree or ebay etc once people have played and want to sell.
Or i just emulate on my pc.
Gotta Mario where you can Mario
Nah. I have a NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube, Wii, Wii-U, Switch 1 and just about every handheld they ever released. I don't NEED the Switch 2 to play Mario. I'm good.
May as well price it at $100 with that logic, maybe $200.
Hey, why not a grand?
"Yeah, we're called 2K because that's what we price our games at!"
GTA 6 will do just that if rumors are true
Honestly, just no.
You don't just blindly pay $20 more for games. All this is going to lead to is much lower game sales. MK8D is gonna end up with what like 70 million sales. Meanwhile, MKW, despite looking like it's the biggest advance for the series ever, probably won't do much more than half that number.
That said, considering it's a pack-in for $50 and digitally $70, and the main thing to buy at launch, MKW will still do extremely well, but very few people are going to be buying it for $80.
I'd buy exactly zero games for $80. I'd begrudgingly buy open world 3D Zelda, 3D Mario, maybe Smash, and Mario Kart at $70. Rest I would buy at $60 or less.
I almost feel like that's the point... they definitely want to sell you the bundle
Yeah and the only problem with that is the bundle is not the only SKU haha. So a lot of people are gonna be buying the non-bundled system and then have to pay $70 or $80 for Mario Kart.
The problem is that Nintendo is getting greedy...and it shows with things such as Breath of the Wild not having the DLC included in the Switch 2 launch. Either pony up $20 for the pass and make it a 90$ purchase if you don't own it already, or pay that $20 a year fee for NSO to get it for "free".
If the games were still $59.99 and the console was $399.99, we might all be talking about whether or not the Switch 2 was going to break records. Instead, it's this.
It's crazy to think how ignorant the leadership is. Actually, it's almost impossible. If the rest of us remember the 3DS debacle, surely they would, right?
EXACTLY!
$400 system with Welcome Tour packed-in (because why wouldn't it be), and $60 games (even $60 digital / $70 physical) and keep joycons at $80 considering Switch joycons are already outrageously priced, and free Zelda upgrades considering those are just very basic performance upgrades with no new content, and the only thing anyone would be complaining about is where the hell is Mario at launch!
Before they announced DK instead of Mario, I was like holy hell they are actually trying to outdo the Switch's success! I was blown away up until then, the system was more than I imagined it would be. Then no Mario in sight and I was like oof that's a big obvious blunder but okay they screwed up the launch but Mario Kart and the system both look incredible enough that as long as Mario is a holiday title and they announce it soon then it's a temporary mistake and a weaker than expected launch period first party lineup probably won't hurt the system too much.
Then all the pricing hit and ever since that the only thing anyone is talking about is how badly Nintendo is screwing up and trying to take advantage of their consumers.
Yes it is pure ignorance and greed from leadership and it is so fixable. Companies are now 3 for 3 with screwing things up after they dominate the industry with a 150m+ selling system. Every time a company has sold so much they've gotten greedy and lost all perspective on prices and come out with a system way overpriced that cut their next system sales by 45-50%. PS3 did it first, then 3DS, now Switch 2. It's crazy Nintendo hasn't learned from this considering they already did it once.
Nintendo is indeed known for occasionally making just incomprehensible bone-headed decisions. And they've surely done it again with Switch 2 pricing. This screw up is going to cost them billions of dollars over the course of Switch 2's lifecycle. And it's soooo obvious, the whole internet understood this immediately. The crazy thing is that it seems even Nintendo knew this would be a big screw up because they were too afraid to even include the prices in the Direct. And yet they went ahead with the screwup anyway.
If they really needed to, they would find a way to make a basic version and sell it for 400$
What? PS1 games were $39.99 when I use to buy them. PS2 games were $49.99. $59.99 didn't become standard until 2005.
And if Nintendo can't put a console out at a price point that won't make the internet hate them, then they should just pack it in, because that is a part of selling video games and consoles... getting people to like you enough to buy their products.
I play, therefore I pay.
Wrong, Shawn. If you have any sense at all, you'll wait for a sale.
That sort of answer is exactly why I see everyone online saying they are just waiting to pirate it
Most of those people would pirate it if it's costs $30 each for the games. There are just too many thief and immoral people in the world.
If you have to pay, because you have no alternative (except not byung at all)... doesnt that mean that Nintendo holds a monopoly? And what does the law say about monopolies?
No shawn, i've got like 20 mario games on the switch to last me a life time
Yeah I'd rather not pay 80 for something that don't cost more than rdr2
This guy came from EA. Let us not pretend that if this article was from EA the comments would be different.
Oh no! This gives me flash backs to the Xbox One launch and Don Mattrick saying people should just play Xbox 360 if they don't want to be always online. Remember PS3 launching at $599? Given his background he should remember. Trying to not actually swear but Shaun you idiot, I don't need the Switch 2 to play Mario, I have a SNES, N64, Wii, 3DS and Switch that already do that. I can play the legacy games through emulators on my PC and on Switch Online. Why does success always make them arrogant? The amount of games I own, Nintendo and otherwise, I can wait 10 years or longer for the Switch 2 for all I care. I never finished Super Mario Galaxy 1 and 2, I'll play those instead if this is their attitude. Good businesses don't alienate their life long customers!
Arrogance also happened to Sony after the heavy successful PS2. Looks like it's time for Nintendo (again) to learn that they can't do everything.
Not true, wait for the inevitable emulator and play on PC
It really depends on the game. For the ones I love I would gladly pay. I get hundreds of hours out of those kind of games.
Further proof that exclusives are bad for the industry. More platforms lead to more options which lead into more deals and savings for the customers.
Mario, Mario Kart, Zelda, a 3D Kirby game like Forgotten Lands, Fire Emblem, Xenoblade, maybe even a long game like Animal Crossing I'm okay paying $80. A 2D game like Yoshi or 2D Kirby, an older remake, Mario sports games I didn't buy those at $60 so I'm not going to buy them at $70 or $80.
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