Amid the ongoing backlash to Nintendo's shock pricing for the Switch 2 and Mario Kart World, two former Nintendo PR managers have described the situation as "a true crisis moment for Nintendo."
In a video on their YouTube channel, former Nintendo of America PR managers Kit Ellis and Krysta Yang criticized Nintendo's approach to revealing the $449.99 price of the Switch 2 and the $79.99 price of Mario Kart World. "I don’t want to blow things out of proportion, but this does feel like a true crisis moment for Nintendo," Ellis stated.
Mario Kart World isn't the only game for the Switch 2 to carry a $79.99 price tag. Other titles, such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, also come with this higher price point. Additionally, Nintendo has faced criticism for charging for the Switch 2 tutorial video game experience, Welcome Tour, which fans argue should be a free pack-in, similar to Astro's Playroom on the PlayStation 5, which serves as a complimentary tech demo for the DualSense controller.
The pricing controversy has even affected Nintendo's Treehouse livestreams, with viewers flooding the chat with messages demanding "DROP THE PRICE."
Ellis and Yang were particularly vocal about the way Nintendo disclosed the prices of the Switch 2 and its games. They highlighted the absence of pricing information in the Direct presentation as a "deliberate" omission, leading to confusion and misinformation as fans sought pricing details elsewhere.
Nintendo Switch 2 System and Accessories Gallery
The pricing for the Switch 2 and Mario Kart World was "intentionally omitted from the Direct for a reason," Yang claimed, "but handled poorly in terms of the information being scattered across different platforms, leaving fans and consumers to piece it all together."
Ellis added, "It just shows some disrespect to the consumer, where, 'oh, you just saw the Direct you’re so excited, you’re just gonna throw your money at us blindly, you’re not going to even ask the question of how much it costs because you’re so excited, aren’t you?'"
"It’s a little bit degrading almost to the intelligence of the consumer," Yang remarked.
The former NOA communications staff further discussed Nintendo's failure to address the pricing concerns, either through a public statement or in interviews with the press. This, they argued, has led to rampant speculation and misinformation filling the void.
"They are enabling the story to get out of hand, out of control," Yang said. "They have lost control of this," Ellis added.
Ellis and Yang suggested that Nintendo now lacks the consumer mindfulness it once had, following the retirement of former NOA boss Reggie Fils-Aimé and the tragic loss of former Nintendo head Satoru Iwata.
Nintendo’s communications team will now be recommending the company release an official statement, Yang said, but the approval process will be challenging, involving many people before it reaches current Nintendo boss Shuntaro Furukawa.
Nintendo will also be out of practice because it hasn’t communicated with its community or the press in a long time, the pair noted, nor has it dealt with this level of negativity since the Nintendo 3DS price debacle of 2011.
There is now concern for staff manning demo stations at the public-facing Switch 2 hands-on sessions. Fans will have legitimate questions at these events, and any responses from staff could be misconstrued as Nintendo’s official stance if shared online.
What happens next remains uncertain, but neither Ellis nor Yang expect a price drop for either the Switch 2 or its games before launch.
For more information, check out everything announced at the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct, and what the experts have to say about the Switch 2 price and Mario Kart World’s $80 price tag.
