It’s beginning to feel like gaming isn’t for everyone – Digital Trends (2025)

TITLE
It’s beginning to feel like gaming isn’t for everyone

AUTHOR
Moises Taveras

PUBLICATION
Digital Trends

YEAR
2025

ARTICLE TYPE
Article

FROM THE ARTICLE
Over the years, the Nintendo brand has shifted to meet the times, but through it all, it’s at least felt synonymous with one image (or turn of phrase, I guess): E for Everyone. Over the decades, the legendary developer and publisher has always had an ethos that has guided its games and consoles into the hands of gamers regardless of age and background. With the Switch 2, it’s beginning to feel that that may not be true anymore.

The Switch 2 was fully unveiled earlier this month, and despite the fervor and excitement surrounding it, there’s been a pretty noticeable tension around its various exorbitant prices. The system itself was tentatively priced at $450 and a bundle including Mario Kart World was coming in at $500 before the threat of US tariffs on every conceivable stretch of land — even those with no human life on them — forced Nintendo’s hand, delaying preorders in the US and Canada. The thinking is that when they do become available, they will have already experienced a price hike, which is wild considering the fact that the newest Mario Kart game alone was being sold at the prohibitive cost of $80.

In the days that have followed, many have debated the personal cost of these exciting new prospects, and while these are valid conversations to have, a far more crucial one feels like it keeps getting buried.

COMPANIES MENTIONED
Nintendo

GAMES MENTIONED
Mario Kart World

PLATFORMS MENTIONED
Switch 2