- 17 hours ago
Category
😹
FunTranscript
00:04Many of us love the endless, enjoyable experiences that Nintendo has delivered over the years.
00:10But there's no denying, some of the company's business practices have left a bit of a stain on that legacy.
00:15Welcome to Mojo Plays, and today we're looking at some of the greediest decisions Nintendo has ever made.
00:28But before we dive in, we publish new content all week long, so be sure to subscribe and ring the
00:33bell to get notified about our latest videos.
00:37Overcharging for re-releases
00:39Donkey Kong has stolen all the mini Mario toys from the factory, and it's up to Mario to track him
00:47down.
00:48Given its incredible popularity, the Switch has seen a lot of re-releases of older Nintendo games, whether they be
00:54remasters, remakes, or ports.
00:57The big issue most have with this is that Nintendo tends to charge full price for them, or at least
01:02close to it.
01:03At first, it was nice to see some Wii U games make the jump so that they wouldn't be stuck
01:07on a console barely anyone played.
01:09But then Nintendo kept doing it, eventually revisiting games from the Wii, its handheld systems, or even releases from third
01:16-party developers.
01:1780 appealing levels are in store, including the additional levels from the Nintendo 3DS version.
01:26Even if some of these came with extra features, charging this much for a game that was originally released 10
01:32to 15 years ago is something Nintendo has grown, unfortunately, pretty comfortable with.
01:37Pre-orders begin today on Nintendo eShop.
01:41Super Mario 3D All-Stars
01:53In honor of Mario's 35th anniversary, Nintendo released a bundle with HD ports for Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine,
02:01and Super Mario Galaxy.
02:03People found several issues with this.
02:05One, the price.
02:07Like we said, Nintendo likes to charge full price in these situations, no matter how old the original games are.
02:12Second, the absence of Super Mario Galaxy 2 seemed like a huge oversight.
02:17But mostly what got everyone angry was Nintendo's release plan.
02:21It was released on September 18th, 2020, but both physical and digital versions would only be available through the following
02:28March.
02:28Many criticized Nintendo for trying to scare people into buying, and it worked.
02:33The collection sold 9 million units in just a few months.
02:43We weren't too thrilled when Nintendo released an HD port bundle of Galaxy 1 and 2, either.
02:49$70 for both, $40 individually, but boy oh boy, at least they're not available for a limited time.
02:54Two journeys across the cosmos come together as one.
02:59No sale for you.
03:07Nintendo has some of the most recognizable IPs in video games.
03:12And unfortunately, they know it.
03:14While prices of first-party releases from Sony and Microsoft usually drop after they've been available for some time,
03:20allowing new players to discover them, that rarely happens with Nintendo.
03:33Games starring Mario, Link, Samus, the Inklings, and all the rest are almost always kept at full price,
03:40both in stores and on Nintendo's eShop, even years after they've been released.
03:45At best, some will go on a brief sale around some holiday, dropping to $40 at minimum.
03:59Legal Vultures
04:10Nintendo has a long history of taking legal action against creators inspired by their games.
04:15Over the years, we've seen countless fan games taken down, from people only wishing to show how much they love
04:21Nintendo's worlds.
04:22We understand wanting to be protective of your IP, but many of these were clearly made with love.
04:28And this practice led to something much worse, because these days, Nintendo is confident enough to take legal action against
04:35other developers.
04:44In 2024, Nintendo and the Pokemon Company filed a lawsuit against Pocket Pair, the studio behind Palworld, for infringement.
04:53Nintendo would later file a series of patents to try to use against the studio, with only one of 23
04:59getting approved.
05:00As of March, 2026, the case is still ongoing, but hopefully this doesn't set a precedent for Nintendo moving forward.
05:19Switch Online Exclusive Products and Services
05:23The new plan will include all elements of the base Nintendo Switch Online membership,
05:29as well as the ability to play the included Nintendo 64 and Genesis games.
05:34Switch Online has other big issues that we'll get to later, but first, we have to talk about its exclusivity.
05:40For the various game catalogs a membership offers, Nintendo has reissued replicas of their system's controllers,
05:46so you can play them the intended way.
05:48The only problem is that you already have to be paying for a membership just for the chance to buy
05:53them.
05:53It kind of feels like double-dipping on your customers.
05:56But we're sure there are others out there who would like to buy high-quality first-party controllers of retro
06:01consoles,
06:02without paying for a subscription.
06:04Then there's Nintendo Music, an app that launched in 2024 that's also only available to Switch Online members.
06:11Nintendo does not allow their soundtracks on traditional music streamers,
06:15and has taken legal action against YouTube channels in the past as well.
06:18Why allow any of that, when they could use the music to sell more subscriptions?
06:23Enjoy Nintendo Game Music!
06:25Now on your smart device!
06:28Charging for pack-in games.
06:35Nice throw!
06:40We all recognize the quality of a pack-in game, and we're not talking about bundles.
06:46We mean games designed to show off the new features of the system that it's packaged with.
06:51Wii Sports is perhaps the best pack-in game ever made,
06:54even if Nintendo of America's president at the time, Reggie Fils-Aimé,
06:58had to fight for it to be included for free.
07:00The Wii U had Nintendo Land, which obviously wasn't as successful,
07:04but was still a bit of fun for showing off what the gamepad could do.
07:07Then came the Switch.
07:09Most of us were too distracted by Breath of the Wild to worry too much about 1-2 Switch,
07:14which absolutely should have been the system's tech demo.
07:17But then came Switch 2 and Welcome Tour.
07:27Although Nintendo only charged 10 bucks for it,
07:30it was very clearly built to teach you about all the updates and features to the console.
07:35This wasn't a good look,
07:37especially in comparison to the PlayStation 5's free pack-in, Astro's Playroom.
07:47The pricing of Switch 2 games.
08:00One of the hot-button issues surrounding the Switch 2 at launch were the prices of its games.
08:05Namely, Welcome Tour, which we already mentioned,
08:08and Mario Kart World, with its hefty price tag of 80 US dollars.
08:12Even a lot of the more die-hard Among Us found it hard to argue that the game was worth
08:17such a high price.
08:18And it honestly seemed like a way to drum up more sales for the console's bundle.
08:22For an extra $50, it came with a digital version of the game.
08:26Still, that controversy has followed the console's first year,
08:29popping up in the discussion for several games.
08:31Most felt okay about the $70 price tag of Donkey Kong Bonanza,
08:36although Nintendo charging $20 for DLC that felt like it should have been in the game anyway wasn't great.
08:45Overpriced games and DLC were also big talking points for the Pokemon series,
08:50both with Zeta A and Pocopia.
08:52Still, as vocally upset as people tend to get,
08:55the sales numbers speak for themselves.
09:07No more Virtual Console.
09:10Super Mario RPG
09:13Sonic the Hedgehog Donkey Kong 3
09:15Adventures of Lolo 1 and 2
09:19Beginning with the Wii, Nintendo made many of its past games available to purchase and download through the Virtual Console.
09:25It continued through the 3DS and Wii U eras,
09:28allowing us to either re-experience a classic or discover something we missed along the way.
09:33While it could be argued as a way Nintendo got players to purchase the same games again,
09:37come on, it's still better than what we have now.
09:39With the Switch, Nintendo jumped on the fat of subscription services,
09:43doing away with the Virtual Console.
09:45If you aren't a member, and there's a specific retro game you want to play,
09:48too bad, because that's the only way to play it on Nintendo's current platform.
09:52And while there are a lot of great games on the service,
09:55there are still a lot of glaring omissions that were available on Virtual Console.
10:00Regardless, Nintendo would rather charge us a big blanket sum for a group of games and DLC,
10:05rather than a small fee for the option to choose.
10:08After this presentation, you can play these Game Boy titles with the Nintendo Switch Online Membership.
10:13The Amiibo Problem
10:15Amiibo will expand the gameplay experience of supporting titles
10:18and bring about new types of fun
10:21and new ways to interact with your favorite Nintendo characters.
10:25When Nintendo first began releasing Amiibo,
10:27they launched at $12.99 US apiece.
10:31When you look at the prices for some of the more recent releases,
10:34say those of Mario or Rosalina for the Galaxy Switch bundle,
10:37they can now launch at $39.99.
10:40While they have gotten better in quality,
10:42unless they're one of the specially made Amiibo,
10:45nothing justifies that high of a price jump.
10:47Spend your money how you want,
10:49but what's more aggravating is when Nintendo locks useful features behind them.
10:53Like the ability to instantly travel to the sky from any point on the surface in Skyward Sword,
10:58instead of just at a save statue.
11:00Or the ability to listen to music instead of the desert's ambiance in Metroid Prime 4.
11:20Before we continue, check out this single from Sound Mojo's Adia,
11:24Songs from Iran,
11:26reimagining Persian melodies as modern rock, metal, and pop songs.
11:29Check out the full track and album below.
11:32My heart belongs to you.
11:44The Nintendo Creators Program
11:53In 2015, Nintendo began its Creators Program.
11:57The company had been pretty strict on content creators showing copyrighted footage of its games in the past,
12:03but the program would allow them to show whatever they want, at a price, of course.
12:08Anyone who signed up for the program had to give Nintendo around 30% of their ad revenue.
12:14Channels that didn't sign up, but still covered Nintendo games,
12:17risked being flagged or demonetized.
12:20It understandably ticked a lot of people off, considering these types of creators were already giving Nintendo what was essentially
12:27free press.
12:28The program would thankfully come to an end in 2018, though Nintendo still gave a list of rules for creators
12:34to follow.
12:34Honestly, the audacity to try this in the Wii U era is astounding.
12:42What do you think is the greediest decision Nintendo has ever made?
12:46Are there any big ones that we left off?
12:48Share your thoughts with us in the comments, and we will see you next time.
Comments