Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aime has explained precisely why the Switch hasn’t been bundled with any games, such as eccentric party title 1-2-Switch, which many have pointed out would’ve been the perfect companion for Nintendo’s new console.
Speaking to GameSpot earlier today, Fils-Aime said that Nintendo’s top priority when it came to launching the system was finding the right price point. The Japanese giant eventually decided that hitting $299 would be absolutely critical.
“Certainly, lower is always better, but at a $349 or $399 price point, we just didn’t feel that was the right place to be,” he explained.
“Obviously the inclusion of the two Joy-Con, critically important; all the right cables, the dock, critically important. We also have to do this from a financial perspective as well. Once we got to that bundle, it really needed to be at $299 without a piece of software.”
Fils-Aime said the decision was also motivated by a desire to give consumers more buying power, as a $299 price allows Nintendo to remain competitive without forcing specific software on players.
Talking pointedly about releasing 1-2-Switch as a standalone title, he suggested the game is a more expansive effort than Wii Sports, which was bundled with the Wii and helped showcase the console’s unique capabilities.
“You make the comment about Wii Sports, and certainly, the analogy that it’s a great utilization of the Joy-Con and shows off the capabilities of the system, that is absolutely true,” he continued.
“I would say, though, that 1-2-Switch has many more experiences. It’s a wider pallet of experiences, potentially more akin to Wii Play than to Wii Sports. And, again, from that standpoint, Wii Play was a standalone piece of software both with a controller at the time and without.”
You can find out more about Nintendo’s launch tactics by reading the full interview over on GameSpot.
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2017