Nintendo Explains Its Controversial Decision To Charge $10 For The Switch 2 Welcome Tour
Nintendo has finally spoken out regarding its controversial decision to charge for Welcome Tour, a game designed as a tutorial for the Nintendo Switch 2. While the initial reveal of Welcome Tour was received well by players, with many comparing it to the PlayStation 5’s Astro’s Playroom or the Steam Deck’s Aperture Desk Job, the community was stunned to discover that it would not be included as a free game with every Switch 2. With many accusing Nintendo of greedy pricing, the company shared why it feels Welcome Tour is worth the $9.99 price tag.
Speaking to IGN, Bill Trinen, Vice President of Player & Product Experience of Nintendo of America, described Welcome Tour as “a pretty robust piece of software,” noting that the company thought the $9.99 price was justified due to the value players will get out of the experience:
For some people, I think there are people who are particularly interested in the tech and the specs of the system and things like that, for them I think it’s going to be a great product. It’s really for people that want more information about the system rather than necessarily a quick intro to everything it does. And for that reason and just the amount of care and work that the team put into it, I think it was decided that, ‘Yeah, this feels like $9.99 is not an exorbitant price. It feels like a good value for what you’re getting out of the product.’
Beyond the brief snippets of gameplay shown off during the Switch 2 Direct and the following Treehouse Live broadcast, Nintendo hasn’t shown off a great deal of what players can expect from Welcome Tour. Despite the company’s justification of the price, many players are still not convinced by the decision.
Welcome Tour Feels Like A Pack-In Game
Nintendo’s Choice To Charge For It Feels Odd
By Nintendo’s own description of Welcome Tour, the game is designed as a means of illustrating everything players will want to know about the Nintendo Switch 2. Besides including various points of interest that break down some of the tech and hardware of the console, it also includes mini-games to show off the Switch 2’s new features. Some of the highlighted experiences include a game of minigolf, where players use the Joy-Con 2 as a mouse to putt the ball, or a “Maracas Physics Demo” that uses the controllers’ motion sensors.
Following the excellent Astro’s Playroom, which was seemingly a more fleshed-out “tutorial” for the PlayStation 5, it’s bold for Nintendo to charge users to play Welcome Tour. While players will have to wait to see the full scale of the game, it’s certainly odd to charge extra for what is, effectively, a manual on how to best use the Switch 2. Nintendo has a track record of offering excellent pack-in games, like Wii Sports for the Wii, so going a different route with Welcome Tour has rubbed the community the wrong way.
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Welcome Tour Won’t Be An Essential Experience
There will undoubtedly be an abundance of guides on how to get the most out of the Nintendo Switch 2 when it launches, so playing Welcome Tour won’t be necessary for many consumers. Having said that, I do find it concerning that Nintendo is charging players for what looks like, by all accounts, a pack-in tutorial game. Whether or not Welcome Tour manages to make the company money remains to be seen, but I hope it doesn’t set an unfortunate precedent for the future.
Source: IGN
