Nintendo charging $10 for the Swap 2 Welcome Tour ...

Final week, Nintendo absolutely unveiled the Switch 2 at its Direct occasion, highlighting {hardware} enhancements like its 7.9-inch 1080p show and docked 4K assist, and new options corresponding to GameChat. The corporate additionally introduced over 50 upcoming games for the console, that includes a mix of first-party and third-party titles.

For the reason that Swap 2 Direct, there was important debate surrounding the console’s pricing and the price of video games. Financial instability, fueled by the Trump Administration’s world reciprocal tariffs, has impacted the state of affairs. Initially, Nintendo set the Swap 2’s worth at $450, however this has turn out to be unsure as the corporate has postponed pre-orders exclusively in the US to evaluate the consequences of tariffs.

The pricing of video games can also be being scrutinized; for example, Mario Kart World, a launch title, is anticipated to retail at $80, representing a $10 improve from the common $70 worth level of Swap 1 video games. It is not solely $80 video games which can be giving Nintendo followers pause both. In the course of the Swap 2 Direct, Nintendo introduced a brand new title, the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, which is able to launch alongside the console on June 5, 2025.

The sport is a guided tour of the Swap 2’s options, corresponding to exhibiting you ways the Pleasure-Cons work. The concept is similar to Astro’s Playroom on the PS5, which additionally acts as a tutorial for the console. Nevertheless, there’s one key distinction between the 2. Astro’s Playroom is free. The Swap 2 Welcome Tour isn’t, which is prompting a whole lot of backlash from followers and rightfully so.

The Swap 2 Welcome Tour prices $10

You wish to be taught in regards to the Swap 2 you simply purchased? That might be $10 please

Nintendo

When the Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour was introduced, Nintendo acknowledged, “it’s going to launch as a paid digital-only recreation the identical day because the Nintendo Swap 2.” Now, due to IGN, the sport’s worth has been revealed: it’s going to price shoppers $10.

Whereas that is clearly considerably higher than the $80 price ticket for Mario Kart World, it’s nonetheless $10 an excessive amount of. The sport serves primarily as a tutorial for the Swap 2’s capabilities. That is all it’s. Gamers can stroll round an interactive world that includes the Swap 2 console and work together with numerous components of it to find out about them, corresponding to how the Pleasure-Con’s mouse management works. There are additionally mini-games that mean you can take a look at numerous capabilities of the Swap 2 that will help you perceive them earlier than you leap into your first recreation.

All this sounds nice on paper, and through the Swap 2 Direct occasion, it regarded cool and useful for any first-time avid gamers and shoppers who bought the console with out a lot data about it. Nevertheless, I feel charging $10 continues to be unfair. Here is why.

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Tutorials needs to be free

It is akin to charging for an instruction guide

Nintendo

The key criticism I’ve about this complete state of affairs is that Nintendo is charging $10 for the Swap 2 Welcome Tour. It actually baffles me. Persons are already involved in regards to the greater worth of the Swap 2 in comparison with the Swap 1 at launch, and charging $10 for a tutorial seems like a slap within the face. I perceive that many elements contributed to the Swap 2’s steep $450 price ticket (probably even greater resulting from tariffs). However realizing you additionally should pay simply to find out about it? What’s Nintendo considering right here?

In an interview with IGN, Invoice Trinen, Nintendo of America’s Vice President of Product and Participant Expertise, talked about that the Welcome Tour was an “fascinating product” and that “for some individuals, I feel there are people who find themselves notably within the tech and the specs of the system and issues like that, for them I feel it is going to be a fantastic product. It is actually for those that need extra details about the system fairly than essentially a fast intro to every thing it does.”

I acknowledge that work went into creating the sport, and I am not questioning that; it looks as if a enjoyable, well-crafted expertise. However while you pay $450 for a console, you should not should pay $10 for a gamified instruction guide. PlayStation invested quite a bit into Astro’s Playroom too, but that’s free. With the sport costing $10 how a lot is Nintendo actually going to make off it anyway? They need to be together with an advert for Mario Kart World and a few their different first-party video games within the expertise, showcasing how a lot enjoyable you might have with the console’s options in these video games as a substitute of charging $10 for it. Hopefully Nintendo reverses course on this earlier than the launch of the Swap on June 5, 2025.

Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour

Launched

June 5, 2025

Developer(s)

Nintendo

Writer(s)

Nintendo

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