Nintendo Switch has finally become something of a known quantity, but rumors about the 2017 console continue to fly. Based on the most recent reports, here are a few reasons why the system’s expected price, specs and games have us slightly concerned. It’s not doom and gloom yet, but there are some possible warning signs to consider.
The Price May Be More Than You Think: Laura Kate Dale of LetsPlayVideoGames kicked up the rumor mill a few weeks ago when she revealed the supposed wholesale price of the Nintendo Switch to be £199.99. This roughly equates to the $250 and the $329 CAD that mysteriously showed up on Canadian retail sites. The report also added that a separate sku including a game and increased internal storage would be sold for $300. Those price points are pretty agreeable, but they don’t tell the full story.
A major part of this rumor that many fans seem to misunderstand is the clear difference between retail and wholesale price. What Dale’s words actually tell us is that stores will buy the Switch from Nintendo at those rates. Retailers are in business to make money, however, so that means outlets could theoretically add to that wholesale price and take a small profit for themselves. For example, Sony charges about $50 per game disc, and GameStop sells it to us for $60. For a more expensive product like the Switch, that cost differential could be even wider. In reality, a $250 wholesale price could mean something like $275 or $300 for gamers.
That may not seem terrible if you’re a hardcore fan who knows what the Switch can do, but, considering the PS4 and Xbox One were discounted to about $200 on Black Friday and are typically $250 or $300 otherwise, the Switch’s starting cost may not be low enough given the vast software libraries and install bases of competing platforms. If the price is close to or more than the two leaders, it may be difficult to break average consumers away from what they already accept.
Specs May Be Too Weak: Wall Street Journal reporter and trusted Nintendo insider Takashi Mochizuki recently said the Nintendo Switch wouldn’t have specs as powerful as the PS4 and Xbox One. That’s not surprising since it’s a portable, but any level of hardware differential may be harder to overcome in 2017 than in past generations. With PS4 Pro and Xbox One Scorpio providing mid-term chip upgrades, Sony and Microsoft’s consoles will be more powerful than ever.
Power separation will likely be meaningless when it comes to Nintendo’s exclusive software, but what about third-party support? Are the likes of EA, Take-Two and Activision really going to spend time and money downgrading their massive open-world experiences to work on the Switch? Barring a massive install base, we suspect not. Would such a process even be possible? As stellar as Nintendo exclusives are, the Switch needs decent third-party support to overcome the failures of the Wii U. Potential spec disadvantages don’t make meeting that requirement too easy.
Tons Of Ports: As much as we’ve talked about the Nintendo Switch game library, many discussions about it are still technically based on rumors. The only tentpole title we can confirm right now is The Legend Of Zelda: Breath Of The Wild. Beyond that, it seems like a near certainty we’ll be getting a new Mario game and augmented ports of Mario Kart 8, Splatoon, Skyrim, Super Smash Bros., Super Mario Maker and Pokémon Sun And Moon .
All of those titles were amazing when we played them the first time, but that’s still a lot of ports for what’s supposed to be a new console launch. Even with some added content, the base experiences will be very similar to products that most consumers mostly ignored once already. It doesn’t seem appropriate for Mario and Zelda to both release on day one, so just how “new” will the Switch’s launch catalog be? We’ll likely hear more during the Switch event in January, but right now this just seems like a repeat of a generation that failed despite the quality of its games.
Nintendo Switch is expected to release in March 2017.
Are we right to be a little concerned for the Switch based on these rumors? Will a high price or low specs matter? Tell us in the comments section!
