00:01it's a new day which means i need to
00:03find something new to get angry about
00:07the question is though
00:16why the hell do you cost money one video
00:19game how much are you willing to pay for
00:22it which game you ask well it doesn't
00:24[Â __Â ] matter apparently ever since the
00:27dawn of the wii u era the vast majority
00:30of first party nintendo games have been
00:32priced at the oh so familiar 59.99
00:37even before the wii u era both xbox and
00:40playstation had already adopted this
00:42price point and it has remained that way
00:48will i sound smart if i say i saw this
00:51coming people have been arguing about
00:53the quote-unquote correct number to put
00:55on the sticker for a game since the dawn
00:58of time and as far as i can tell we
01:00still haven't reached a conclusion the
01:02subject has been a victim to plenty of
01:05controversy especially when it comes to
01:07nintendo and even more especially in the
01:09past few years by no means is this the
01:12biggest controversy in gaming history
01:14but it has been a hot topic of
01:16conversation quite a few times just like
01:19with most things two sides formed in
01:21regards to this discussion one side
01:23complains that a game is too expensive
01:25in comparison to how much content or
01:27quality or whatever it offers the other
01:30side tries to justify the price with
01:32various reasons or what some may call
01:34excuses but hey you didn't hear that
01:37from me so am i here to settle this
01:40age-old argument once and for all
01:43well the answer to that question is the
01:45same one i got when i asked the bank
01:47teller if they were okay with me robbing
01:51what i am going to do though is try to
01:53explain why i think so many of these
01:55games aren't priced in a way that makes
01:57the most sense in my opinion the entire
02:00concept of pricing all first party games
02:02the same is flawed in and of itself but
02:05i'm sure you've already gathered that
02:07so like i said just about every first
02:10party release that this company puts out
02:12adopts the price point of 59.99
02:15but let's add a penny so i don't have to
02:19there are a few exceptions to this rule
02:21such as warioware get it together
02:23nintendo switch sports and game builder
02:25garage but uh well hopefully you know
02:28what exception means the thing is though
02:30all of these games priced at 60 dollars
02:32come from a variety of genres offering
02:34up a huge range in total gameplay hours
02:36differing replay values etc etc is it
02:40really reasonable to think that all of
02:42them hold the exact same monetary value
02:45well let's ask the bank teller again i'm
02:48calling the police that's bank teller
02:50language for no complaining about the
02:52price of things is easy though instead
02:55let's take it a step further and try to
02:57come up with as many excuses as possible
02:59that explain away the price of a game i
03:01mean it's only fair to do so right so
03:05the first and most obvious factor is the
03:07cost to produce the game this includes
03:10paying all the developers providing
03:11their equipment maintaining the building
03:13they work in on top of any other
03:15additional costs that directly involve
03:17the employees or production in general
03:19secondly there's the cost to market the
03:22game this includes creating the trailers
03:24placing advertisements across various
03:26forms of media and even paying the
03:28intern to make posts about it on the
03:30company's social media but most of the
03:32time that last cost is optional
03:35apparently my future employer is gonna
03:37love that i wrote tweets for six months
03:41then there's the cost to manufacture the
03:43physical copies of the games however
03:45this doesn't exclusively include making
03:48the game box and cartridge you also have
03:50to include shipping costs any deals with
03:52specific retailers that offer pre-order
03:54bonuses or merchandise and even things
03:57like promotional material such as
03:58posters cardboard cutouts and the like
04:01though this could easily be bundled in
04:03with advertisements as well now i'm sure
04:06i missed something in there in regards
04:08to the full cost but this isn't a
04:10[Â __Â ] shareholders meeting i'm just
04:12putting it into perspective now that
04:14i've mentioned physical copies of games
04:16the next point of discussion is probably
04:18pretty obvious and if it isn't obvious
04:21to you then here's a big graphic that'll
04:28digital games versus physical games yet
04:31another age-old argument or at least as
04:34old as the year where digital games
04:36became a thing the discussion has
04:38sparked concerns over game preservation
04:40drm issues and much much more but that's
04:44not exactly relevant here instead let's
04:47think about whether nintendo would want
04:49you to buy games digitally or physically
04:52will i sound stupid if i answer a
04:54rhetorical question digital games
04:56require virtually zero cost to
04:58distribute compared to physical ones
05:01they don't have to manufacture any game
05:02cases print any box art or ship them out
05:05to various retailers all they have to do
05:07is host the servers that allow people to
05:09download the games themselves and
05:11nintendo even took it a step further
05:12cutting costs even more by making their
05:14own servers perform like dog [Â __Â ] it's
05:16not like it matters or anything with
05:19that said it's probably blatantly
05:21obvious that nintendo would prefer you
05:23purchase games in a digital format in
05:25addition digital games also offer up
05:27much more convenience to the consumer
05:30mostly because since they're installed
05:32directly to your system you don't have
05:33to worry about inserting and ejecting
05:36any of those pesky cartridges or worry
05:38about where you're going to store them
05:39along with their admittedly extremely
05:42oversized cases if it were a few years
05:44ago i'd also say they don't have to go
05:46through the trouble of printing the
05:48manuals and other material that goes
05:50inside the game case itself but yeah
05:52that's not really a thing anymore at
05:55least we're murdering less trees next we
05:57could try not destroying the atmosphere
06:00maybe digital isn't that bad after all
06:03alright so if you had to choose between
06:05the preservation of video game history
06:07or our planet which one are you picking
06:10what the [Â __Â ] kind of question is that
06:13you don't need a planet to play jimmy
06:14houston's bass tournament usa either way
06:17this still doesn't answer the question
06:19as to why almost all of these games
06:22continue to release with a 60 dollar
06:25well i can think of one reason but why
06:28exactly 60 why not 65 or 55 well i'm
06:33going to let you in on a little secret
06:35i don't know why probably because
06:37everyone else is doing it the corporate
06:39world is just a big game of follow the
06:40leader with an astronomically minuscule
06:43amount of innovation thrown in every few
06:44years to spice things up so that's the
06:46most logical explanation i have though
06:49in the grand scheme of this discussion
06:51exact numbers don't really matter what
06:53we really should be talking about is why
06:55that number remains so static no matter
07:00obviously games would sell better if
07:02they were listed at a lower price but a
07:04lower price means a lower profit and we
07:07all know that's a no-no in the business
07:09world however that still begs another
07:12question could some games turn a larger
07:14profit selling at a lower price than
07:16they would being sold at the standard
07:19price now i'm no briefcase holding whack
07:22job but i think the answer to that is
07:24yes some games just aren't as exciting
07:26or compelling to the average person and
07:29you're raising the barrier to entry by
07:30pricing it in a way that scares most
07:32people away from even giving it a chance
07:35certain games don't draw people as
07:37heavily for a variety of reasons such as
07:39the genre popularity of the series
07:42difficulty or even just how it looks
07:46you want to try out this new curvy game
07:48with me the new what
07:52why do you always have to play games
07:53that are so damn political
07:58some people including myself are even
08:00willing to pay more than 60 for a
08:02certain small set of games that we think
08:04are worth the increased price point but
08:07that may be a minefield of a
08:08conversation for some people even worse
08:10than what we've already been seeing
08:12regardless one thing i am adamant about
08:14is suggesting the discontinuation of
08:17this arbitrary pricing altogether so
08:19that games aren't essentially expected
08:21to adopt the most popular pricing model
08:24at the time and yes i am aware that
08:26plenty of games do not follow the most
08:29popular pricing model but in the realm
08:31of first party nintendo games the trend
08:35what should determine the price of a
08:37game though there are so many factors
08:40that contribute to someone's perceived
08:42value of them and that's what makes this
08:44question so difficult to answer but i'm
08:47sure as hell's still gonna try the first
08:49criteria most people jump to is the
08:52hours to dollars ratio how many hours of
08:54gameplay do you get out of each dollar
08:57you spent on the game i'm gonna stop
08:59right there though because anyone with
09:01more than three and a half brain cells
09:03could tell you that it isn't that simple
09:05while i do think there is a considerable
09:07amount of merit associated with this
09:09criteria it's definitely not the end-all
09:12be-all of video game pricing factors for
09:14example if you take two games that both
09:17cost 60 dollars but one of them takes an
09:19average of around 60 hours to fully
09:21complete while the other takes nearly
09:23200 does the game that takes longer
09:26immediately hold more value than the
09:28other most people would say no they
09:31would have questions about the quality
09:33of the games what genre they were in and
09:35whatever else is important that i can't
09:37think of right now these two theoretical
09:40games that i mentioned are actually
09:42mario odyssey and breath of the wild the
09:45two most critically acclaimed titles
09:47ever released for the nintendo switch at
09:50least in the eyes of critics quality is
09:52not an issue with either of these titles
09:54and i've never personally seen anyone
09:56claim that super mario odyssey is
09:58overpriced so could you say that the
10:01quality of the game determines the price
10:03after all these games come from two
10:05entirely different genres and different
10:07genres are usually known to have varying
10:10average play times then again though
10:12quality can be highly subjective there
10:15are some people that hate both of these
10:17games and you especially can't expect a
10:19company slash developer to gauge the
10:21quality of a game they made and price it
10:24accordingly all right people so on a
10:26scale of one two incredible hope for
10:29nintendo ds what are we rating this game
10:33i'd probably give it a seven yeah same
10:36got it so i think we'll put this one at
10:3839.99 now hold on there's no way it's
10:41that good nobody asked you dip you gave
10:44ocarina of time a two you know what i
10:47have had it with you picking on me all
10:51this guy really does not get it
10:56well here's what you don't get phil i
10:58slept with your wife multiple times
11:10even if a game's average total hours for
11:13a playthrough are low that doesn't
11:15necessarily mean a person's overall
11:17playtime is going to directly correlate
11:20some games simply never end most notably
11:23in the sandbox genre other games are
11:25extremely replayable because of things
11:27like multiple endings procedural
11:29generation or randomization and the like
11:32even then though the quality discussion
11:35gets brought up again how engaging can
11:37these games remain to the player after
11:40any exorbitant number of hours for
11:42example even if we look outside of the
11:45sandbox and never ending game sphere
11:48hyrule warriors definitive edition has
11:50an absolute wealth of content to
11:53complete clocking in at an average
11:55completion time of around 400 hours if
11:59you've played any warriors game before
12:01though you would know that the vast
12:03majority of the game's content always
12:05lies in an extremely repetitive gameplay
12:08loop that basically boils down to kill
12:10lots of stuff for most people they
12:12complete the main story try out all the
12:14modes and do a few extras until they get
12:16bored and yes you will get bored no
12:19doubt about it eventually the gameplay
12:21just starts to feel mundane so
12:23continuing just isn't appealing to the
12:26average person the content is there for
12:28the player to consume but most people
12:31won't see it all because of the reasons
12:33i've mentioned so is the price still
12:36justified this criteria once again just
12:39leaves us with more questions than
12:43another argument i see brought up often
12:45in regards to unfair pricing is whether
12:47or not the game is a re-release meaning
12:50it was previously present on another
12:52console hopefully you gathered that the
12:54most common response to this is that
12:56re-releases of games should be sold at a
12:58lower price point than brand new games
13:01however as you may have guessed there's
13:02plenty of nuance in this argument as
13:04well personally i would split
13:07re-releases up into three categories
13:09that being ports remasters and remakes
13:12ports are when you take a game from one
13:14console and simply just put it on the
13:16other this can be done by transferring
13:18the code directly and allowing the game
13:20to run natively on the new console or by
13:23simply emulating it which if you live
13:25under a rock and don't know what that
13:27means here's an explanation look
13:30i'm playing super mario on the computer
13:33in the vast majority of cases ports take
13:35the least amount of time and effort to
13:37make especially if they're emulated in
13:40turn many people have argued that they
13:42shouldn't be sold at the same price as
13:43brand new releases which makes sense
13:46right one of the more recent cases of
13:48this was with super mario 3d all-stars
13:51which i feel gross even talking about
13:52this game because of how run into the
13:54ground all discussions surrounding it is
13:56but the game was a collection of 3d
13:58mario games that included super mario 64
14:00sunshine and galaxy all three of these
14:03titles were ported with zero additions
14:04or improvements other than an upscale
14:06and graphics and higher resolution ui
14:08elements oh yeah and there was an
14:10extremely bare bones music player
14:12included on the game select screen i
14:14just love having absolutely zero control
14:17over my playback no fast forward no
14:20rewind not even a pause button we're
14:23keeping it simple and
14:26i'm enjoying it on top of this both 64
14:29and sunshine were just straight up
14:31emulated this game sold for 60 dollars
14:33these are all full-fledged 3d mario
14:36games so you could make the argument
14:37that it's three games selling for 20
14:40each but since the effort appeared to be
14:42so low with the collection saying that
14:44just sounds like mental gymnastics to
14:46justify your purchase regardless i'm
14:48trying to stay neutral here so forget i
14:51said that next on the list are remasters
14:53in most cases these types of re-releases
14:55simply amount to a fresh new coat of
14:57paint new textures maybe some models are
15:00remade the music re-recorded with a new
15:02or updated feel you know just smoothing
15:05out the jagged edges and such maybe
15:07adding a few small features here and
15:09there notably this type of re-release is
15:11a considerably large step above a port
15:14in terms of the amount of work required
15:16to create them though obviously still
15:18less than creating a new game altogether
15:21this is also where we start to see the
15:23definitions of everything sort of bleed
15:25into each other as remasters are often
15:27just ports with new textures models and
15:30music while some ports have minor
15:32elements of a remaster within them many
15:34times it's up for interpretation
15:36creating yet another argument that even
15:38further darkens the skies of the pricing
15:40controversy a good example of a remaster
15:43on switch would probably be metopia
15:46originally released on the 3ds metopia
15:48was a dumbed-down rpg adventure
15:50featuring you guessed it mees the game
15:53then later came to switch in 2021 with
15:55an hd overhaul and a couple new features
15:57such as wigs and makeup customization
16:00adding a horse as a party member outings
16:02to strengthen relationships with other
16:04party members and a few other minor
16:07features in reality the new features
16:09were definitely welcome additions but
16:11most people didn't think they were
16:12enough to justify purchasing the game a
16:14second time especially at the normal
16:16switch price point hold on a second
16:19what did you say that game actually sold
16:27all you need to know is that the game
16:28sold for ten dollars more than it did
16:30originally on the 3ds and that's bad
16:33don't worry about anything else
16:36okay fine let's do another example the
16:38legend of zelda skyward sword hd you can
16:40tell it's a remaster by looking at the
16:42name see it's right there hd it stands
16:45for hey did you know that this game is a
16:47remaster skyward sword hd upscaled
16:49textures added a few quality of life
16:52improvements and added amiibo support is
16:55anyone else not frothing at the mouth to
16:56purchase this needless to say people
16:58weren't super willing to pay the 60
17:00dollars with this one and finally we
17:03have remakes these are complete from the
17:05ground up reconstructions of the source
17:07game that can drastically overhaul just
17:10about any aspect of the experience the
17:12scope of these can vary widely but it's
17:15not very necessary to explain the sheer
17:17variety anyway let me just give an
17:19example the game boy classic lynx
17:21awakening was completely remade for the
17:23switch with a completely new look and
17:26sound obviously along with improved
17:28controls quality of life improvements
17:30and even a new dungeon building side
17:32mode with a remake on this scale most
17:35people were fine with the price even
17:37though it happened to be one of the
17:38shortest zelda games ever made but we
17:40once again run into that pesky concept
17:43of subjectivity it's also important to
17:45note that these definitions are my own
17:47and the line between each type of
17:49re-release is also yet another thing
17:51filthy gamers love to argue over so try
17:54not to lose it something that every
17:56re-release has in common however is the
17:59fact that they are being released again
18:02sorry for blowing your mind there people
18:04have played these games before if there
18:06isn't enough there to justify them
18:07playing through it again they just won't
18:10be interested creating yet another
18:12instance of a fair price point being
18:14extremely difficult to agree upon
18:16especially since in this case well there
18:19are some people that haven't played
18:22can you see where the divide usually
18:24falls yet i've never played this so it's
18:27like a new game to me i played through
18:32i bought this anyway and have zero
18:35intention of ever putting the cartridge
18:36in my system if you haven't realized by
18:39now every single determinant for a
18:41game's perceived dollar value will lead
18:43us to a roadblock eventually there's no
18:46avoiding it it really just makes sense
18:49to price everything the exact same it's
18:51simply easier that way but going back to
18:53what i said earlier i truly think that
18:56some games would turn larger profits if
18:58their prices were adjusted more so on a
19:00case-by-case basis not to mention the
19:03benefits to the consumer
19:05just for a second though i do want to
19:07inject just a little bit of my
19:08completely invalid opinion into the
19:11conversation i personally believe that
19:13some games really are a no-brainer when
19:16it comes to the argument over whether or
19:17not they are unfairly priced here comes
19:20my completely personal and subjective
19:22example brace yourselves here goes i
19:25don't think that most mario sports or
19:27mario multiplayer focused games on the
19:29switch are worth 60 dollars at all games
19:31like super rush aces and battle league
19:34just showcase a complete lack of content
19:36for single players and a complete lack
19:37of variety or substance for people
19:39playing multiplayer or online while it
19:42is true that these games do never end
19:44their lack of depth unique content and
19:47overall engagement simply doesn't
19:49justify the price for me i would be much
19:52more willing to purchase these titles if
19:54they were priced at around 30 or 40
19:56dollars and especially since they appeal
19:58to the casual audience heavily i believe
20:00it would make individuals in that crowd
20:02much more likely to purchase the game at
20:04all going back to my reference of
20:06barriers to entry but once again that's
20:09just my completely invalid opinion
20:12please entirely disregard everything i
20:14just said this game is great though
20:16worth every penny when it's all said and
20:18done though each of these criteria for
20:20video game pricing has at least some
20:22amount of merit considering all of them
20:25when valuing a game instead of each one
20:27individually is most likely going to be
20:29the best course of action when it comes
20:31to making these decisions either way
20:34like i've already mentioned what we've
20:36really been doing here is simply wading
20:38through a sea of subjectivity and nuance
20:42desperately trying to find definitive
20:44answers to our burning questions about
20:46the pricing of nintendo games and you
20:48know what we learned at the end of the
20:49day nothing i just rambled for nearly 20
20:52minutes and we still have zero answers
