Nintendo stealth price increases are raising the cost of games by 50% or more

Out of this world prices (Nintendo)

Nintendo prices are on the rise, but not just in terms of individual games, as DLC and extra hardware pushes the cost ever upwards.

The Nintendo Switch 2 might have become the fastest-selling console ever, but its launch was preceded by a fair amount of negativity in regards to the price of its software and peripherals.

The main focal point of this hubbub was Mario Kart World, which is Nintendo’s most expensive game to date at £66.99 digitally and £74.99 physically. The outcry might have been bigger if it wasn’t for the Mario Kart World Switch 2 bundle, which knocked off £40 from its digital price.

While there’s an argument that the game’s quality justifies the price, even with its flaws, it was harder to swallow for something like Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour – a title that you would’ve expected to be bundled in as a freebie on past Nintendo consoles, like the Wii or 3DS.

Ever since the Switch 2’s reveal it’s become clear that pricing for the new console is going to be very different from its predecessor. This was highlighted last week when the Super Mario Galaxy 1+2 compilation was announced during the latest Nintendo Direct.

As revealed on the Nintendo eShop, the price for this double pack is £58.99 (a physical price is yet to be confirmed, but it will almost certainly be more). Alternatively, you can buy each title separately for £33.99, so if you already have Super Mario Galaxy as part of the Super Mario 3D All-Stars compilation, you can just buy its sequel.

While these new versions do promise improvements over the originals, like an overhauled UI, new storybook content, and enhanced resolution, £33.99 is still a steep price – especially when digital re-releases of both games came out on the Wii U in 2015 for £17.99 each.

There’s a chance Nintendo is underselling the improvements in these games, like the impressive Switch remaster of Metroid Prime which cost £34.99. However, considering the Super Mario 1+2 Galaxy compilation doesn’t have ‘remastered’ in its title that’s probably wishful thinking.

Super Mario Galaxy 1+2 are two of the greatest video games ever made, so if you’ve never played either, you could argue both games are worth double that amount. However, the high cost of other games and merchandise in the Direct seem to spell out a worrying trend.

Donkey Kong Bananza DLC, DK Island & Emerald Rush, costs a whopping £16.99, and as outlined in our review, isn’t worth anything close to that, When you add this onto the game’s digital price, the whole package comes to £75.98 in total (and even more if you bought it physically).

Considering Donkey Kong Bananza only launched two months ago, it wouldn’t be entirely cynical to suggest Nintendo removed this part of the game to package it as DLC at an inflated price. It’s even possible Donkey Kong Bananza was supposed to be £75 to begin with, like Mario Kart World, but they cut this part out to avoid a double dose of sticker shock ahead of the Switch 2 launch.

DK Island & Emerald Rush is no bargain (Nintendo)

We’ll likely never know if this is the case, but it certainly makes sense – especially as DLC for Donkey Kong Bananza before Mario Kart World feels odd considering how much the latter is clearly crying out for updates and new additions, while Bananza was already impressively complete.

But the potential damage to your wallet doesn’t end there. DLC for Pokémon Legends: Z-A was also announced during the Direct, which means that it will now cost £83.98 (£74.98 on Switch 1) to get everything – and there’s more fear of missing out with Pokémon too, for those that want to catch ’em all.

Not only that, but even if you do buy the base game and the DLC you still have to go online – which costs a minimum of £3.49 a month – in order to get three of the mega evolutions.

It seems clear that Nintendo is aiming for at least a £75 price point for all of their major games now – most games were £50 on the original Switch – even if the cost of the base game is relatively low and they make up the rest through DLC.

Although that’s positively cheap compared to the Virtual Boy announcement, which will cost you £66.99 for the full-scale recreation of the failed VR-based console (without the controller).

It gets worse though, as that’s on top of the Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription you need to access the games, which costs £34.99 for a year – since, unlike the based Nintendo Switch Online subscription, the Expansion Pack can’t be paid for monthly.

You can at least get a cardboard version of the Virtual Boy viewer for £16.99, but that’s still a minimum of £51.98 and £101.98 for the superior version.

Beyond these games, Nintendo fans had another price shock in the recently announced wave of amiibo. Two premium figures for Kirby Air Riders will cost a massive $49.99 each in the US, which are the most expensive figures yet. A UK price is yet to be announced.

The two figures, of Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee, appear to have a hiked price because of the ability to swap out each amiibo from their vehicle base. In Kirby’s case, this is the Warp Star, whereas Bandana Waddle Dee gets a Winged Star. Both figures are set to launch on November 20, 2025.

While not as expensive, amiibo for Super Mario Galaxy and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond are similarly higher than the norm. An amiibo of Samus and her new bike is $39.99, while larger Mario and Rosalina figures cost the same.

The prices of amiibo in the US have been quietly raised over the past year, with recently released figures for Zelda and Street Fighter going up by $10 to $39.99 in the wake of US tariffs. The average figures, meanwhile, cost $19.99, an increase from $15.99.

In comparison, UK prices are pretty reasonable at £12.99 for average figures, and between £17.99 and £21.99 for premium statues. It’s unclear how much these Mario Galaxy or Kirby Air Riders amiibo will cost here, but a larger Detective Pikachu amiibo, apparently similar to the Mario Galaxy ones in size, cost £19.99 – the same as the Yarn Yoshi amiibo. This, however, was in 2018 and 2015, respectively.

All of these prices might be a reflection of the economic landscape today, or the high costs to develop games in 2025, but either way, it’s a sign that the Switch 2 generation might take a serious toll on our wallets in the years to come.

The most expensive amiibo ever (Nintendo)

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