I don't know what they're thinking. My guess is that they're just trying to earn as much off of early adopters like myself. But this pricing is near 3DS bad, so I can see them slashing it early on, but only if they don't sell as much as they would have liked.
I'm actually kind of ok with the price of the accessories. The Pro controller isn't that much more expensive than say a PS4 controller, but you also get the HD rumble and NFC reader. The charging grip pricing is ok, and the dock is expensive, but docks always are. Surface Pro docks would sell for €+200, and they're just pieces of plastic with some ports as well. As for the controllers, Nintendo should have just said 'you get 2 controllers with the Switch', because 2 controllers for €90 is an ok price, as is one for €50. I think most games will only require one Joycon for multiplayer anyway.
Personally I'm considering getting an extra pair of Joycons with a charging grip. That way I have 2 full-option controllers for serious gaming, and 4 Joycons for stuff like Mario Kart, Smash, ... Still debating if I should go for coloured ones or all grey ones though.
The Foxconn leak from last year sheds some light on why the joy-cons are so expensive:
Ok, now we are hearing the battery is really high capacity.
Thraktor on GAF said:Battery Size
At 4310 mAh, Switch has by far the highest-capacity battery of any gaming device ever made. Here's what's currently out there:
3DS / 2DS - 1300 mAh
New 3DS - 1400 mAh
(New) 3DS XL - 1750 mAh
PS Vita - 2200 mAh
That's about twice the capacity of PS Vita or almost three and a half times the capacity of the 3DS or 2DS.
The more I think about the Joycon pricing, the less it bothers me. Back when the Wii launched, I bought 3 extra Wiimotes and an extra nunckuch. That way I could play most games with 4 players, and some with 2. Thinking back, that set me back about €170. If I want the same setup for Switch, I need 2 extra Joycons and a charging grip, which will set me back somewhere between €100-€120. Not only am I cheaper off, I also don't need to constantly feed the Joycons batteries like I used to with the Wiimotes.
Meh.
So....
Japanese devs share their interest in Switch
These devs are all saying the Switch is great value for its tech.
Here's what Tekken's Harada said:
"I wasn’t expecting them to begin the presentation by announcing the price. The price is exactly what I’d expect from a marketing point of view, but if you count all the individual peripherals…The full thing is pretty cheap, and I say that as someone familiar with the inner workings of the system. I have no idea how they kept the price that low."
And there are more devs quoted on the price too.
I don't think anyone's debating that it's too high a price for what you're getting. It's just plain too high. I think people in general would have been happier if the Switch didn't support motion controls, an IR camera and HD rumble and would have cost €250.
SupremeAC said:I don't think anyone's debating that it's too high a price for what you're getting. It's just plain too high. I think people in general would have been happier if the Switch didn't support motion controls, an IR camera and HD rumble and would have cost €250.
Yeah I probably would have been more happy with this myself. For me these features will be kind of cool at first but then after that they'll be just kind of 'meh'. It was the same for the 3D of the 3DS. At first it was cool but looking back now I don't really care about it and would have preferred that they had made a slightly more powerful system instead.
3D is awesome.
I hope there is a 3D Switch revision.
As for the Japanese developer comments, has everybody read them? The way they are talking about HD rumble is kinda awesome.
Shame I cannot copy/paste from that N.Everything webpage. The developers say that the HD rumble is "really amazing". They are saying that used with the rest of the systems features it can be more revelatory than the Wii was.
I think that is going to be an awesome feature and its the thing I'm most looking forward to trying.
Have you guys read the impressions online at GAF or from the hands on events? They are saying it's the real deal.
I'm looking forward to the HD rumble, but it's a tech that's heavily reliant on how well the developer can code for it, so many games might just end up ignoring it, or using it badly. Also, I remember everyone being in a fuss over the Xbone pad's rumble, how you could feel a kamehameha (or whatever) erupt from your palm to your fingertips as well, but I haven't heard anyone mention any of that post-release either.
SupremeAC said:I'm looking forward to the HD rumble, but it's a tech that's heavily reliant on how well the developer can code for it, so many games might just end up ignoring it, or using it badly. Also, I remember everyone being in a fuss over the Xbone pad's rumble, how you could feel a kamehameha (or whatever) erupt from your palm to your fingertips as well, but I haven't heard anyone mention any of that post-release either.
I hear the Xbones pad had advanced trigger rumble which according to GAF aint that good. Some people have said HD rumble is no big deal as the Steam and Occulus controllers already have some haptics. But then the actual owners of those controllers say that nothing in them has felt remotely like the feelings and demos of HD rumble has.
All the hands on from HD rumble capable games has been extremely positive. Words like "really amazing" or "the real deal" or "game changing" even "mindblowing" have been used. One preview said that on the ball counting game on 1,2 Switch, the journalists passed on the joycons to 20 other people so they could feel it, instead of getting on with the demo.
I think Immersion said they were pushing the software APIs through, I think developers will be able to choose between different vibrations from a stock list, wood, metal, glass etc. and then tweak things significantly too. Imagine being in a storm and feeling like wind blowing inside the joycons or the pattering of rain. Since its built into every Switch controller, every game can potentially use it. I'm really looking forward to it and don't mind the system costing a bit more for it.
We'll see. The Wii had dev software available to easily code it to recognize specific motions, but still many games' motion controls were horrible. I can see the potential in this, but there's a wide gap between potential and actual use. Lets see what 3rd parties can manage with it.
SupremeAC said:We'll see. The Wii had dev software available to easily code it to recognize specific motions, but still many games' motion controls were horrible. I can see the potential in this, but there's a wide gap between potential and actual use. Lets see what 3rd parties can manage with it.
The wii hardware wasn't advanced enough to do it accurately though. Motionplus changed that.
The tech in the Switch sounds more advanced that what's in the latest Vive and Occulus, even Steam controllers.
My point was simply that even with impressive middleware, devs will still be able to do a bad job at it. I'm not doubting the hardware, I'm doubting the amount of effort some devs will be investing in it.
This is true.
Nintendo bullshit to put it simply.
I mean fucking controllers for the price of a video game.
Gagan said:Nintendo bullshit to put it simply.
I mean fucking controllers for the price of a video game.
I really don't see how anyone can look at the price of the controllers and find they're overcharging. Every Joycon is in essence a wiimote. Not only can you get 2 Joycons €20 cheaper than you could get 2 wiimotes, but there's already 2 bundled with the system.
Compared to PS4/Xbone:
- You want 2 controllers? Switch has you covered, Sony and MS charge you €50-60
- You want 4 controllers? €80 on Switch, €150-180 on PS4 or Xbone.
I guess you could make the argument that some games will require 8 Joycons for 4 player multiplayer, but I'm going to go out on a limb here and say those will onlt be a very small minority.
So lets break this down.
Shield TV which uses the X1 chip is $200 I hear.
So Switch base cost is $200. Switch also has a smaller form factor but we will disregard this in terms of cost.
Then the switch has a dock, GAF has said that similar 3rd party docks of its type don't sell for any less than $50.
So now we are at $250 for Switch.
Then Switch has a multi-touchscreen, a battery, speakers, touchsense haptic feedback (touchsceen buttons), two controllers with gyros in - as well as a new form of super advanced rumble that can simulate various feelings - and an IR camera that can sense hand motions and distance.
Switch is $300 in the U.S?
^So all of that last paragraph you are getting for $50
Here in the UK Switch is actually launching at £20 less than the Wii U premium did.
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But wtf is going on with the pricing of all the accersories? I don't get what is going on here. Part of this is that the leakers which we put faith in, kept saying things like the docks would be low cost and come later and that the console would be much cheaper than most of us would expect.
The pro controller cost though? The dock being....$90? or something? Are Nintendo essentially price gourging here, trying to boost their bottom line? Games are 60 rather than 40 (Wii U price) here in the UK. It just seems mindless.
Personally I think they will drop the price of the system itself before Christmas for the holidays. And that they are charging a premium for early adopters.