The only thing that can sink the Switch 2 is Nintendos greed Readers FeatureGameCentralPublished March 29, 2025 1:00am Could Nintendo be its own worst enemy? (YouTube)A reader looks forward to the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct but worries that Nintendos penny-pinching could bring them down.Were nearly there. On Wednesday the Nintendo Switch 2 will be properly unveiled and unless its all some crazy bait and switch well find out everything about the console and its launch games. I cant wait. Any console reveal is exciting but with Nintendo its always something special.The current Switch is probably going to end up as the most successful console of all-time and I dont know who could argue that it doesnt deserve to be in at least contention for the best ever. Its near endless list of classic games is unbelievable and all the more so because in most cases thats as a result of completely revamping decades old franchises that were already thought of as near perfect.But you should never have heroes. Nintendo is great at making games and console theyre easily the best in the world but theyre still a greedy and shortsighted company, like all the rest. They can be very anti-consumer at times, especially when theyre coming off a hot streak, and I just hope that doesnt end up scuppering the Switch 2.Lets get this out of the way first: Nintendo games never going down in price is not anti-consumer. Refusing to fix broke Joy-Cons and not having a proper digital account system is anti-consumer but selling games at a price people are willing to pay is not. Games, from any publisher, are sold at the maximum price that a company thinks people will pay for it and for Nintendo thats almost always full price.There is no incentive for Nintendo to lower the price if people think its good value for money and are still willing to pay it. That is the business reward for making good games: people pay their money and are satisfied with the end result. Asking Nintendo to reduce prices is like asking them to make worse games so theyll be cheaper.No, Nintendos faults lie elsewhere. They have got better at digital accounts but theyre still not there and part of the problem is that games is all Nintendo does, so they have to make the maximum amount of money they can from that. They cant go around giving things away for free like Microsoft or Sony.Thats why the Virtual Game Card thing seemed so overcomplicated and fiddly. Did it remind you of Xbox Ones game sharing rules? It did me and I know its the first thing a lot of other people thought of too. Microsoft learnt from that and now theyre very generous with things like game sharing and backwards compatibility and game upgrades but they can afford to be.Not only are Nintendos game sharing rules a lot more restrictive but I fear they are going to charge for upgrades from Switch 1 to 2 games. We know theyre going to do that, but I really cant imagine that being free. Im not even saying its unfair for Nintendo to ask for the money but its just going to cost them a lot of negativity if its too expensive.Gamers are weird. Theyll pay huge amounts of money for pointless cosmetic, but theyll hurl death threats at anyone they think is charging them a dollar more than theyre willing to pay. I dont feel Nintendo has ever properly understood that about Western gamers, and while Im not defending anyone, I worry it could create multiple flashpoints for the Switch 2.More TrendingMaybe Im wrong. Maybe Nintendo will be unusually generous, but the Virtual Game Card immediately makes me think they wont be.By reader Lostkeys The Switch 2 may have some hidden costs (Nintendo)The readers features do not necessarily represent the views of GameCentral or Metro.You can submit your own 500 to 600-word reader feature at any time, which if used will be published in the next appropriate weekend slot. Just contact us at gamecentral@metro.co.uk or use our Submit Stuff page and you wont need to send an email.GameCentralSign up for exclusive analysis, latest releases, and bonus community content.This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply. Your information will be used in line with our Privacy Policy