Nintendo has always been a part of who I am. The first video game I ever played, Mario Kart Wii, is one of the most iconic titles in its unrivaled catalog.
However, lately, I have felt jaded. It may be due to my age and growing responsibilities, but the growing discontent across the Nintendo fan base as a whole indicates a larger issue that is at play.
An issue that boils down to one word: greed.
The most prominent controversy they’ve faced in over a decade is the price of the signature launch title for their new console, the Nintendo Switch 2, Mario Kart World. Despite the industry standard being at around $70 for only a few years, the company charged a hefty $80 for a standalone copy of the game.
We live in a time of significant economic insecurity, and video games remain a relatively cheap distraction from the problems in our lives. Maybe in a different time, Nintendo would’ve understood this and possibly relied on a large enough sale of the game to make a profit. But that company is long gone, and this one created yet another industry-wide price hike, as Sony increased the PS5 price in response.
However, just one instance of stinginess doesn’t explain the whole story. This is what brings forward their long, tumultuous relationship with their most active fanbase, the Super Smash Bros. competitive community.
Since the popularization of the series, the vast majority of major tournaments have been grassroots-run, meaning Nintendo itself has no involvement besides having ownership of the game. This opened the door for tournaments to not only feature the latest game in the series, but arguably the most revered game in the franchise, Super Smash Bros. Melee.
However, as COVID-19 became a global pandemic in 2020, the lack of an online play option—due to the game being released in 2001 on the GameCube—made tournaments on the original hardware virtually impossible.
This is where emulation, a free way to play and modify games online, came in. Virtually all high-profile melee tournaments started using modified versions of the game that allowed for online play. This even continued after the pandemic, as the easy access made joining a tournament a much less costly endeavor. Well… that is until Nintendo stepped in.
In October 2023, Nintendo issued an all-out ban on every modified version of any competitive game in its catalog. In addition, they also placed restrictions on other aspects of grassroots Nintendo tournaments, including sponsorship arrangements, the number of entrants and how large a prize pool can be.
In turn, these competitions have become much less lucrative, making it more difficult to earn money as a Smash pro or as someone who plays a role in organizing tournaments.
All for what? A minute percentage of people opting to fork over hundreds of dollars for travel purposes?
Nintendo is perfectly within its legal right to go after emulators, but doing so has alienated millions of its loyal followers who simply want to further engage with franchises that mean something to them.
It’s the reason why taking this approach is considered taboo by comparable companies in the industry, with companies such as SEGA taking a more laissez-faire approach. Not to mention the fact that a large reason why emulation is so prevalent to begin with is that Nintendo itself has refused to re-release many of its classic titles.
While the Nintendo Switch Online service has rectified that issue to an extent, the price of membership, along with its sparse release schedule, has barely done anything to write the wrongs of the past.
This brings us to the final nail in the coffin, the games themselves.
Besides Mario Kart World, there won’t be another major mainline series Switch 2 exclusive coming out until at least the middle of 2026.
Donkey Kong Bananza, Kirby Air Ride, Metroid Prime 4 and Yoshi and Mysterious Book have already come out or are set to release before then. Still, none of those hold a candle to some of the other top-notch series fans universally enjoy.
This is astonishingly disappointing, considering the Switch 2 is only three months old.
In comparison, the launch year of the first system had two of the most critically acclaimed games of the year, The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario, both released within the first seven months.
The games that are on the market for Switch haven’t been received in nearly the same capacity, either. Mario Kart World has received very mixed opinions, and games such as Mario Party Jamboree + Jamboree TV have been exposed for blatant false advertising.
With the exception of the PS5 and Xbox Series consoles, which were both released during the COVID-19 pandemic, a launch year for a system is rarely ever this barren in terms of high-profile, first-party titles. It’s staggering.
This piece is not supposed to be some call to action for a boycott of Nintendo. Most, if not all, video game companies have their issues, with some going even beyond displeasing their fan base.
The issue here is that most of the issues mentioned are unique to this one company.
Nintendo stands above all other video game companies in terms of its history and fan base. It’s high time those in charge realize who’s at the core of what they do. Not their shareholders, their consumers.
