Nintendo Switch Price Analysis: Fear Of Failure & Joy-Con Tech Spiked The Console’s Cost

Nintendo Switch is priced at $299, and some fans feel it's a bit steep compared to the rumored $250 cost. We can’t know precisely why the Switch is on the expensive side, but we have a few ideas. Fear of failure and Joy-Cons seem like the most likely culprits.

Fear Of Failure : There’s no denying Nintendo hasn’t been very successful over the past few years. After all, the Wii U is still being outsold by Sony’s PlayStation Vita and has penetration numbers that closely resemble Sega’s Dreamcast. That machine was such a downer that it put Sega out of the console business entirely.

With that in mind, Nintendo had to approach the Switch with caution. What if, heaven forbid, the console doesn’t catch on as quickly as its makers hope? Having an MSRP that’s too close to the manufacturing cost doesn’t offer any room for a price drop without selling units at a loss. Historically, that’s something Nintendo has always refused to do. In a sense, a $250 price may have legitimately been too low in case drastic measures need to be taken later on.

Expensive Tech : One thing that was also made abundantly clear by Nintendo producer Yoshiaki Koizumi is that the Switch’s Joy-Con controllers have lots of fancy features. Most notably, both the right and left remotes have advanced motion tracking, HD Rumble haptic feedback and an IR camera for sensing player gestures.

That stuff is all intended to offer unique gameplay experiences, and it may very well do so. It comes at a hefty cost to consumers, though. A single Joy-Con remote sells for $50 while a dual pack will be at retailers for $80. For comparison's sake, controllers for PS4 and Xbox One can occasionally be purchased for half that price.

As a premiere purveyor of games, Nintendo has to know that that accessory cost is a bit high after spending $299 on a console. From our perspective, that price wouldn’t be the final one unless it absolutely had to be. Those advanced features could be sucking up the cost. Obviously other components like the screen and chipsets contribute substantially as well, but Switch controllers could easily be more basic without much fuss from players.

Our Take : Between Joy-Cons and past failures, we think Nintendo is charging $299 for the Switch to secure the platform’s future while making it a reasonably profitable venture. It’s $299 because it has to be.

Nintendo Switch is set to launch worldwide March 3.
What do you think of the price of the Nintendo Switch? Are fear and advanced tech making this console expensive? Tell us in the comments section!