Nintendo Anger Fans With Overpriced Re-Releases & DLC…
Come on, Nintendo. You can be better than this. Your games are always topnotch, but some of your business practices are always questionable and leave something to be desired. Mario Kart World being $80 kind of set off a chain of events that has led to the whole industry raising prices for games. But then with the Nintendo’s own slate of things, we’re looking at situations that are just I mean, it just leaves a bad taste in people’s mouths. Starting with what they’re doing with Mario Galaxy. Now, Mario Galaxy is one of the best games ever made, and Mario Galaxy 2 somehow even surpassed it in many ways. These are games that came out a long time ago. Super Mario Galaxy 1 came out on the Wii back in November 12th, 2007, and then Mario Galaxy 2 came out back in May 23rd, 2010. We’re talking about games that are anywhere from 15 to 18 years old. And one of the things that Nintendo’s trying to do with these games is re-release them. And we saw Mario Galaxy 1 release for that 3D Allstars package that was sold for the Nintendo Switch, but for a limited time. It included Mario 64, Mario Sunshine, and Mario Galaxy. It was a bundle that was priced at $60, but the fact that it was there for a limited time for no good reason whatsoever, like they actually delisted the game completely and stopped selling it after a certain point, just made no sense. And now Nintendo is re-releasing Mario Galaxy for the Nintendo Switch 2. But they’re also bringing Mario Galaxy 2 into the fray. And these two games combined, they are being priced at $70, which is a fullpriced AAA game. And these are games that are again 15 to 18 years old. And if you buy them individually, you’re going to have to pay $40 per game. So, if you haven’t gotten either of these and you want to play them on the Switch 2, your best bet is to get it via this bundle that is $10 cheaper than if you were to buy them separately for $40 each. That will make them $80 instead of the bundle 70. But the argument is that regardless of the quality of these games, they are as old as they are. They came out 15 to 18 years ago. To price them at $70, even for that bundle, it’s just not something that people are about. People feel like that price point should be significantly lower. I mean, you look at some of the recent remasters and remakes. You look at games like Oblivion Remastered. Say what you want about Bethesda, but they actually priced this really well. They actually nailed the pricing on this because it’s the same game, but with, you know, upped graphics and resolution and frame rate and all these things. And they sold this for 50 bucks despite how comprehensive this remaster was to a point where you could label it a remake because the graphics overhaul is that significant. And they made some choice gameplay additions. And a more recent example, and I know I may be biased on this given my involvement with the series, is Yakuza Kiwami 3, but I feel like I’d be saying this even if I wasn’t involved in this franchise, this is a remake of Yakuza 3. But beyond the fact that they not only just enhanced the graphics of Yakuza 3, but also made a ton of additions and overhauls to the title, it also comes with a secondary just entire game almost called Dark Ties, which tells the story of the antagonist Mina and his origin story. And both of these come bundled in one package that is $60. Not only is this a more comprehensive overhaul of the original game, it also comes with a whole ass new campaign and it’s still bundled for less than Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 put together at $70. And those are games that again are not only 15 to 18 years old, but it’s not this full ass remake. And you know, they add a couple features here and there, like an assist mode and whatnot, but nothing to the point where you would associate that as a game that’s worth $70, and that’s kind of been the general sentiment. Which is why if you go to the comment section right here of the announcement of Mario Galaxy 1 plus 2 for the Nintendo Switch, you’ll find that the likes to dislikes ratio is not particularly favorable. And the comment section are not particularly kind. Uh saying things like, “In space, there’s no gravity for the price to drop. Uh, I’m so glad Nintendo let us watch this for free without paying $70. Top comments are all criticizing the price point. Enter my magical world of Space of Wonder. Okay, Mario, $70? No, Mario, make it $40 because it’s the 40th anniversary, so on and so forth. Boy, am I glad I have the original copies of these games? It’d be one thing if they added a bunch of new content and gameplay features, but it is ultimately just a resolution uplift and a performance uplift. And that just doesn’t warrant the full price point that this game, this bundle is charging. That’s certainly the general sentiment. Uh, if you look at what the community feedback has been, great games, but crazy prices for their age. These games were $20 for the re-release on the Wii U. Galaxy 1 was part of a $60 three game bundle on Switch. Now you got to pay $40 for each. feels like modern Nintendo has completely lost the plot. Yeah, I mean, I personally have to agree on that front when it comes to the pricing of this particular package. And then there’s the fact that those who already purchased the 3D Allstars bundle that was $60 and included Galaxy 1 will have to repurchase Mario Galaxy 1 in order to get all the enhancements. People who purchase uh 3D Allstars seemingly don’t get all of the additional elements, the uh the higher resolution, the better performance, the uh you know, little additional features here and there. uh they don’t get that uh for free. They have to reby Galaxy once more. Now, you can buy Galaxy 2 separately for $40 and still have Galaxy 1 with 3D Allstars, but that means that the experience you get is Galaxy 2 running at full resolution, full performance, taking advantage of the Switch 2 hardware, while Galaxy 1 runs like a Switch One game. And so you get this dichotomy of experience that uh wouldn’t be the case if Nintendo at least provided a free update or free upgrade for people who own 3D Allstars. So that it’s in line with you know this re-release of Galaxy 1 and 2 for the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2. So that’s one area where Nintendo has recently faced backlash over what many people feel is just a bit of a greedy and unnecessarily stingy move. And then you’ve got Pokemon Legends ZA. This is a highly anticipated title due to the fact that, you know, battles happen in real time and it’s, you know, that open world experience. Uh, but with that said, Nintendo recently announced a DLC and this is a DLC that’s being announced prior to the game’s launch, and it’s a hefty price point, too. We’re looking at a $30 DLC, the Mega Dimension DLC, that pushes the price of owning every new Mega Evolution to $100 on the Nintendo Switch 2, and that’s not including subscription. So, what comes with this $30 DLC? It basically comes with new story content as well as new Mega Evolutions. So, for example, you got Mega Raichu X and Mega Raichu Y. But then you’ve got certain Mega Evolutions like the Callar, Pokemon, Del Fox, Chestnut, and Greninja. Their mega evolutions are locked behind essentially an online component as IGN highlighted right here with small print revealing these will only be available post launch as rewards for competing in online ranked battles which require a Nintendo Switch online subscription. And these three mega evolutions don’t come in all at once once the game drops. They will be released throughout the course of seasons. So, you have to maintain your Switch online subscription over the course of multiple months in order to get the full breadth of content that is offered by this DLC. And that’s paired with a price point of the DLC being $30. And so, we’re looking at a package that the base price is essentially $100 to get the full breath of content. To get all of the Mega Evolutions offered by the title, you have to pay $100 plus multiple months worth of subscription for the Switch online. And we compare that price point to some of the most recent releases that are far more fleshed out and cost less like Hollite Silkong costing $20 or Hades 2 that’s coming out soon costing $30 and Clear Obscure Expedition 33 being a full-fledged almost like AAA quality game made at a double A level costing 50 bucks. I mean it’s just uh it’s inexcusable for some something like this to cost $30 and to mandate that you pay for additional subscription that it payw walls to the degree that it does. And that’s why if you go to the video that announces this paid DLC right here, Pokemon Legends ZA Mega Dimension from the Nintendo Direct, you’ll find also that the likes to dislikes ratio is not particularly favorable. In fact, is significantly more unfavorable than even the Mario Galaxy 1 and 2 announcement. So, scrolling through the comments, you’ll find people complaining about aspects of this announcement, such as having a DLC before the actual release of the game is diabolical. We used to call that a postgame, not DLC. They have the audacity to open pre-orders for DLC with no gameplay footage for a game that hasn’t even come out yet. So on and so forth. This is generally what top comments look like. Isn’t Pokémon already the highest grossing multimedia franchise in the world? Is paid DLC before the game launch necessary? Absolutely not. That is definitely not something that is vital for Nintendo to keep the lights on. They’re raking it in so hard right now with all of their successful releases that this is completely unnecessary. And yet, you know, enough money isn’t enough for them. They want all the money. Some people are getting the impression that this DLC is basically deliberately cut content. And that’s the risk you run into when you announce DLC this early and then you price it in a way where it’s not ideal. And then you lock a lot of significant content behind that DLC after you’ve priced your games at essentially full AAA level. And then last but not least, we have the announcement of Donkey Kong Bonanza DLC. Now, Donkey Kong Bonanza is a fabulous game. Again, when it comes to like the production value and the quality and the creative boundaries that are pushed when it comes to Nintendo games, that stuff’s always topnotch. But it’s just these business moves that really highlights that Nintendo is ultimately a corporation run by suits who really want to rake it in in ways that really make investors happy and in ways that are not necessary for them to quote unquote keep the lights on where, you know, it comes out on the consumer’s end for them to continue paying extra for things that should have been included in the base package or that should have been priced significantly less. So right here we have the video itself. DK Island plus Emerald Rush Pay DLC available later today on Nintendo eShop as of the publishing of this video, which was back in September 12, 2025. And as you can see right here, the likes to dislikes ratio here is also not particularly favorable. And scrolling down, more comments just really uh expressing disdain over Nintendo’s business strategies. I don’t think anyone expected Bonanza would get DLC this early. And then furthermore, people realized once they got their hands on this DLC that it’s a lot shorter than they expected. So comments saying things like that will be $20 for a DLC that will last an hour or two. And given how shortly after Bonanza’s launch this came out, people felt like this could have just been included in the game or it could have just been like free additional content. So people are saying things like honestly hurts to see this not be in the base game. These are what the top comments look like. And we got folks saying things like if it was five or even $10, I think people would have been more okay with it, but $20 is crazy for something that should have been the normal post game or a free update. that or they should have added more content for the DLC. $20 is literally a fourth of the base price, but this DLC doesn’t offer a fourth of that content. Honestly, I feel like if they added Linky Kong or Funky Kong, they would be less complaining, too. $20 and all. Point is, it needs to be cheaper or have more content. And that generally seems to be the agreement with this particular DLC. Yeah, that’s kind of been the trifecta of things that people have been discussing recently after the most recent Nintendo Direct, which showed off a lot of great games. And again, when it comes to the actual quality of games and the kinds of experiences you can get with Nintendo exclusive, that’s always topnotch. But I just wish Nintendo would be less ruthless with some of their pricing models and their DLC models. Uh I mean, they talk about how it’s all about being familyfriendly and accessible, but with these kinds of price points, especially with the current economy, uh it it just feels like they are not really holding up to their ideals. And when all this is paired with the fact that Nintendo basically kickstarted the $80 era of video games, it’s just really unfortunate that this is the stuff that plagues Nintendo when they could have so much more loyalty and they could have so much more goodwill and still maintain their business and still be incredibly successful if they dial back on the way they do business here. There are companies who know that they can get away with doing certain things and still show restraint. you know, freaking Silk Song could have released for $40 and people would have bought that in droves. But because they knew they could still price it at $20 and be okay, they just decided to price it at $20 uh instead of pushing for more because they wanted to make the game as accessible as possible. And that kind of stuff is incredibly commendable and stuff that you know a lot of indies tend to apply because they ex they they genuinely show appreciation to the community but the big corporations ultimately they put on the guise of expressing that kind of appreciation but their actions often don’t show that I feel because these corporations are ultimately run by suits who have very specific goals that are not tied to you know delivering the best consumer experience. They want to deliver the best investor experience. So yeah, I think just this kind of greed will continue to hurt Nintendo though. Whether it’ll make enough of a financial dent for Nintendo to, you know, change its ways or feel like they’re pressured to change their ways, that’s an area that’s a little uh a little more gray. But this is what you need to know about why there’s some backlash recently with the latest Nintendo Direct. Uh people are hyped about their games, but not their business practices. And this is one man’s take. Let me know in the comments below what your thoughts and opinions are on Nintendo’s recent pricings. And to be further updated on all things gaming news, reviews, and discussions, stay tuned right here on Yong. Yeah. I’ll see you guys next time. Yong out.
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SOURCES
1: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/mario-kart-world-switch-2/?srsltid=AfmBOooBmkr03NJH94LJrheYJo2cM6Np4x8gFXll1iKiOnrKXSS3reUe
2: https://www.metacritic.com/game/super-mario-galaxy/
3: https://www.metacritic.com/game/super-mario-galaxy-2/
4: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/super-mario-galaxy-plus-super-mario-galaxy-2-switch/
5: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/super-mario-galaxy-switch/
6: https://www.nintendo.com/us/store/products/super-mario-galaxy-2-switch/
7: https://store.steampowered.com/app/3937550/Yakuza_Kiwami_3__Dark_Ties/
8: https://store.steampowered.com/app/2623190/The_Elder_Scrolls_IV_Oblivion_Remastered/
9: https://youtu.be/rmwOnsJoj8M?si=CJfxd0USyUpFJMEW
10: https://www.thegamer.com/super-mario-3d-all-stars-price-cost-expensive-fans-dont-care/
11: https://gamefaqs.gamespot.com/boards/507478-nintendo-switch-2/81040555?page=0
12: https://www.ign.com/articles/pokmon-legends-z-as-30-mega-dimension-dlc-pushes-price-of-owning-every-new-mega-evolution-to-100-on-nintendo-switch-2
13: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ExUYVdlA6eI
14: https://www.pokemon.com/us/pokemon-news/pokemon-legends-z-a-mega-dimension-is-coming-soon
15: https://youtu.be/44xycnG2mKo?si=9HGJCLXZVp2dktMu
16: https://www.gamesradar.com/platforms/nintendo/paid-dlc-for-donkey-kong-banaza-switch-2-expansion-is-just-too-small-to-be-worth-usd20-players-say-i-like-my-bananas-without-scum-and-greed/
17: https://www.reddit.com/r/donkeykong/comments/1ni327g/dlc_that_release_a_month_after_release_is_cut/
18: https://www.metacritic.com/game/donkey-kong-bananza-dk-island-and-emerald-rush/critic-reviews/?platform=nintendo-switch-2