Nintendo Never Goes On Sale
When I first got my Gamecube after graduating high school I bought a few fun games for it. Bloody Roar and Sonic Adventure 2. No actual Nintendo labels tho. Those cost $59.99. Being used to the way games typically worked, I expected the price of the games to dip down to 20-30 before I could get them. And this works for the most part.
But not for flagship Nintendo games.
You see, I wanted a copy of Mario Kart Double Dash. It was $59.99 if the shop had it in stock. It was always sold out. No biggie, I had other stuff to buy like food. So I waited a few years. Nope, still $59.99. Sometimes it would be on sale for $54.99 on like, Black Friday. But was always sold out.
Consoles would go on sale at some point. Gamecubes dipped to 99 bucks before they were phased out. Gameboys and DS models would see their lowest points when a new handheld model came out but would tick back up in price before being phased out only for the secondary market on them to jump.
You want a Nintendo Switch? Off the shelf its still $250. The switch 2 is $500. But they ARE on the shelves, probably because food is so expensive. Lol, it is because food is so expensive. And the games for it are $70. That's bananas. My daughters birthday is this weekend and I really wanted to get her the Pokopia game - but not bad enough to spend over $600. (Don't worry she is getting lots of Minecraft Axolotl and Pokemon stuff.) I've got a list going too. Mario Tennis for my teenage son, Donkey Kong for the kindergartener. Eventually we will get there. It's just, knowing the price of Nintendo stuff, they will be the same price in 8 years as they are now lol. Hoping the prices don't go up further by Christmas.
What game was it... Yeah, Fire Emblem Awakening for the DS. I waited seven years to get that one as the price only went up on it. Managed to get a used loose copy on eBay during the pandemic for $40.
Anyway, you can see why over here the kids play more affordable games like Minecraft and Unpacking. The older boys have steam accounts and take advantage of sales there. We have a regular Switch from 2019 and a Switch lite that has also only gone up in price. Back in the mid 2010's we had the kids play on the 2DS because they couldn't break them and the Spongebob/Zelda/Yokai Watch games were accessible. We still have 3DS's up on my shelf, and they will sit there (I removed the batteries for storage.) while they climb in value.
I understand why electronics are so expensive right now, ai farms and supply shortages, tariffs, and all that. I mean, candy bars a the gas station are $3. Crunchyroll just hiked the monthly rate. A box of girl scout cookies are $7. A meal at Whataburger is pushing $20. So yeah, expect all those high dollar games and consoles to continue collecting dust on the shelves, guys.