I can’t wait for the Nintendo Switch 2. It’s been nearly five years since the release of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S, so it’s nice to have another console launch on the horizon, especially with all of the exciting games already slated for Nintendo’s new hardware, including two of my personal top ten games of all time – Elden Ring and Cyberpunk 2077.
However, among all of those great announcements at the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct, which also featured the new Mario game, a new Kirby game, and an assortment of ports, is Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, a game with a modest price tag of $10. You may wonder why we’re here. What issue could I possibly have with a launch day game that cheap? Well, friends, I’ll tell you what my problem is: I don’t want to pay money for an experience that teaches me how to use my new console.
That’s all Welcome Tour is, a glorified tour of the Nintendo Switch 2. So at least Nintendo got the name of this one right, I guess. In a recent interview with IGN, Nintendo of America’s vice president of product and player experience, Bill Trinen, shed some light on the decision to put a price tag on the tech demo. However, I can’t see his argument winning over the masses of Nintendo fans in an uproar about paying for a tech demo.
Trinen claims that “it’s a pretty robust piece of software. There’s a lot of great detail in there. 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.” Do you know what else is a great product, free, and essentially a platforming adventure? Astro’s Playroom.
Trinen adds, “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.'” I don’t want to diminish anyone’s work, but did you guys play Astro’s Playroom? I keep returning to the PS5’s tech demo because it set an unbelievably high standard that Nintendo clearly doesn’t intend to jump for.
The amount of work that Team Asobi and Japan Studio put into Sony’s technical platformer that honors its history is highly commendable, especially as Sony didn’t try to fleece anybody of their hard-earned cash. Instead, it made the launch of the PS5 all the more exciting, giving us a good time learning what the DualSense can do – the game is so good that it spurned a full-fledged adventure for the little white and blue bot in 2024, going on to win the coveted Game of the Year title at The Game Awards.
Honestly, Sony could have charged money for Astro’s Playroom and been much more justified in doing so. Sure, I’ve yet to try the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, but first impressions certainly leave me believing that there’s more to Sony’s product. Come on, Nintendo, if you think it’s only worth $9.99, have a show of good faith to the people who line your pockets and give them the tutorial that teaches them the features of their new console for free.
I know the word ‘free’ isn’t exactly part of Nintendo’s vocabulary; the company initially didn’t even want to bundle the Nintendo Wii with Wii Sports. Good ‘ol Reggie Fils-Aimé, the former president of Nintendo of America, had quite the fight to make this happen, with Mario creator Shigeru Miyamoto firmly stating, “We do not give away our software.” Of course, Fils-Aimé won that round, even if it earned him the ire of one of the best videogame designers in the world. Now, I can completely understand where Miyamoto is coming from regarding full games (though I certainly appreciated getting Wii Sports with my console), but I’ll say it again: Welcome Tour is a tutorial.
I’m not even mad about the Nintendo Switch 2 price. I actually think it’s somewhat reasonable, but paying for a tutorial about how something works is where I draw the line – I don’t have tons of money, Nintendo, and Cyberpunk 2077 is finally coming to one of your consoles when the Nintendo Switch 2 release date arrives, and let me tell you, it’s not cheap being a mercenary in Night City.
Plus, I’ve dropped some cash on the Switch 2 Pro and GameCube controllers because how can I finally enjoy a Wind Waker Switch experience without that nostalgic throwback? So, for all the money millions of people are spending on Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders, I think you can throw us a bone in the form of a free tutorial detailing the cool new features of the console.