Top 10 Greediest Decisions Nintendo Has Made

WatchMojo

Nintendo creates joy, but that joy often comes with a hefty price tag. Welcome to WatchMojo, and today we're looking at some of the greediest and most controversial decisions from Nintendo.

Transcript

00:00Welcome to WatchMojo and today we're counting down our picks for the top 10 most egregious

00:09decisions Nintendo has ever made. On Nintendo Switch 2, you can play Nintendo Switch 2 games

00:15as well as compatible Nintendo Switch games. Physical and digital games are supported.

00:22Number 10. Upcharging Memory Cards. Nintendo Switch is a home video game console.

00:27You connect it to your television to play games. Memory cards have been a constant headache for

00:32Nintendo consoles ever since the GameCube days. Back then, it was tough finding a GameCube game in

00:37stores. Fast forward to today with the Switch and it's a different story, one more about the

00:42ridiculous prices. If you're wanting a microSD card made specifically for the Switch, you're more than

00:47likely to pay more than what a typical microSD card costs. Luckily, you can just get a regular microSD

00:52for cheap, which is why this inconvenience is at the bottom of the list. But if you absolutely

00:57need a mushroom or PowerStar emblazoned on your microSD, you're going to pay a premium for it.

01:03Nintendo Switch Switch and Play.

01:05Number 9. Nintendo Switch Online Exclusive Products.

01:09The Nintendo Switch Online program has been one of the most egregious rewards programs we've ever been

01:13a part of. One of the reasons for this is because of how many products are locked behind one specific

01:18requirement. You must be a Switch Online member in order to buy the product. If you want that wireless

01:23N64 controller or a neat Dodo Airlines shirt, you must pay for Switch Online to be given permission to

01:29pay for that controller or shirt. We suppose this was the answer to discouraging scalpers from hoarding

01:34Nintendo merchandise, but come on. What good are our Platinum Coins if the only thing we can redeem them

01:39for are dumb things like postcards and sticky notes? Members will also receive special offers.

01:46What are they? Check Nintendo.com for more information.

01:49Number 8. A terrible conversion rate for gold coins. While we're on the subject of Nintendo-specific

01:54purchases and coins, can we address the massive problem with gold coins? This was simply an awful

01:59conversion rate and a dreadful tactic to get people to visit the eShop. Here's an example. Go to the eShop

02:04to buy a copy of, say, Metroid Dread to get 300 gold coins added to your My Nintendo rewards.

02:10Sounds like a lot, right? So, you go and see if there's another game you can grab,

02:14until you go to checkout and see that those 300 gold coins only knock off 3 bucks off your purchase.

02:19That said, the only way gold coins were going to be fruitful to users was if they spent hundreds of

02:24dollars, and even then, you're only going to get one free game if you're shooting for a first-party

02:29Nintendo title. Number 7. Ignoring proper online integration.

02:34With this feature, you'll be able to communicate with friends and family while playing a game.

02:39At the time of this video, you can hop into a Discord call with your friends from almost any platform.

02:44Playing on Steam? Open up Discord separately. Playing on a PS5 or Xbox Series X and S?

02:49Discord is integrated on both consoles. But Nintendo Switch? Nope. Nintendo wants you to download an app on

02:55your phone and hop in a call there. As for Switch 2? Well, Nintendo has their own version of Discord

03:00that streams at a worse quality than what Discord allows. Oh, and you'll need a Nintendo Switch

03:05Online membership to be able to do any of this. Discord is free.

03:09Decide your own rules for a retro game competition. Or hold a sports competition between families.

03:17Number 6. The lack of bundle in games.

03:26One of the things Nintendo doesn't seem to understand is that Wii Sports has become one of

03:30their most iconic games ever. Part of the reason for this is because it came bundled with the Wii,

03:34allowing users to start trying out their new console with a small selection of fun games. But since then,

03:40Nintendo has not bundled a game in with Wii U, Switch, or even Switch 2. Instead, the company would rather

03:46sell tech demos a la carte the same way they'll sell a Mario game. Guys, no one was going to buy

03:51One 2 Switch for 50 bucks. According to former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé in

03:56his book Disrupting the Game, Nintendo supposedly does not like the idea of giving away its own

04:01software for free, which was evident after he suggested bundling in Wii Sports for the North

04:06American market. What do you think made the game memorable to generations, huh?

04:17Number 5. The death of the Virtual Console.

04:25Speaking of the Wii, the console had an insanely awesome service with the Wii Shop channel called

04:29the Virtual Console, a branch of the store that sold classic Nintendo games at affordable prices.

04:34For 10 to 20 bucks, you could buy a digital copy of Mario Kart 64, Ocarina of Time,

04:39Yoshi's Story, and many others, and the service would carry over into the Wii U and 3DS.

04:44Why did it go away? Well, that's because these classics are now being sold as a perk for Nintendo

04:49Switch Online. Sure, you can enjoy these titles as a Switch Online member, but even so,

04:53some of us would rather buy the games we want to play, especially given the issue in our next entry.

04:58Enjoy playing the games and DLC that Nintendo Switch Online plus Expansion Pack offers.

05:03Number 4. Drip-feeding Retro Titles.

05:11There is no denying that the Switch Online service has increased in value over time,

05:15but even with all of the SNES, GBA, and N64 classics released so far,

05:19there are still several notable titles missing. Where is Donkey Kong 64? Where is Kirby, Nightmare,

05:25and Dreamland? Where is Pokemon Red and Blue or Ruby and Sapphire? Oh, you're giving us Nobunaga's

05:30ambition on SNES this month instead? And the Game Boy versions of Mega Man's 1 through 5? Look,

05:35we don't mean to sound ungrateful. There are truly a ton of great games on this service,

05:39but there are plenty of titles that would get new members on this service or persuade former members

05:44to renew.

05:55Number 3. Backwards Compatibility Failures.

06:03For a time, Nintendo was pretty good at supporting games from a previous system.

06:07GameCube games could be played on a Wii, Game Boy and Game Boy Color games could run on a Game Boy Advance,

06:12and GBA games could run on a DS. Then, DS games could run on a 3DS, but not GBA games because

06:18those were being sold on Virtual Console. And now, the Switch 2, you can play some of your Switch games.

06:24Since the console's reveal, Nintendo has been a bit dodgy on specifying what they mean by compatible

06:29Switch games. From the sound of it, those of you hanging onto your copies of Mario 3D All-Stars

06:33may not be able to play those soon. Speaking of which…

06:42Number 2. Super Mario 3D All-Stars.

06:53This collection was released as a means to celebrate Mario's 35th anniversary,

06:57and it allowed Switch players to revisit Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy.

07:03However, Nintendo put a mighty big and strange asterisk on this celebratory package.

07:08It would only be available for roughly half a year, being released on September 18, 2020,

07:13and delisted the following March. Why Nintendo did this in the first place is anyone's guess,

07:18but despite the limited availability, Super Mario 3D All-Stars would manage to sell more than 9 million

07:23copies. For those of you with physical copies, they now go for roughly $100 on resale websites.

07:28Before we continue, be sure to subscribe to our channel and ring the bell to get notified about

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07:49you're on your phone, make sure to go into your settings and switch on notifications.

07:53Mario Kart World has generated about as much ire as it has hype among audiences. While folks are

08:09itching to play the next blockbuster Kart Racer, its $80 to $90 price tag has inflicted a lot of

08:14sticker shock. It was especially mind-boggling when folks took notice of Donkey Kong Bonanza being sold

08:18for $70 both digitally and physically. Let's be honest, we all know Mario Kart World is going

08:23to sell gangbusters regardless, but really? We're going to push a near $100 price tag on people?

08:29Mario Kart World! The game launches on the same day as Nintendo Switch 2.

08:35What do you think is the greediest move Nintendo has pulled? Let us know down in the comments.

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09:14We're going tovlooking

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