# Switch 2 both is and isn't Nintendo's Most Expensive Console I saw an article over on Polygon last night titled "[Even with inflation, Switch 2 is Nintendo’s priciest console ever](https://www.polygon.com/nintendo-switch-2/551545/price-history-comparison-inflation)." I hate to break it to author Christopher Grant and the Polygon audience, but that is not true. It sounded wrong off the bat to me and I'm no economist. Turns out that it is true only when considering the *Mario Kart World* bundle option and ignoring one permutation of the NES. To be fair to Chris, he does call out the various NES bundles over its lifetime and acknowledges that price of the Deluxe bundle. Chris got the pricing wrong for the Wii U of all things—and he forgot the Virtual Boy! I know! Sacrilege. This perspective only works if you look through the lens of inflation in a very specific way. So let's go through a little history and the [Inflation Calculator](https://www.usinflationcalculator.com) to find out the truth. | Console | Release Date | Original Price | Inflation-adjusted price (April 2025) | Inflation-adjusted percentage (April 2025) | | :--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------: | :---------------: | :-----------------: | :-----------------------------------: | :----------------------------------------: | | [Color TV-Game](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_TV-Game) | June 1977 | ¥9,800 / $35.35[^1] | $186.55 | 427.7% | | **[NES Deluxe Set](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System) (w/ ROB, Zapper light gun, *Gyromite* and *Duck Hunt*)** | **October 1985** | **$179.99** | **$534.95** | **197.2%** | | [NES Control Deck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System) (w/out pack-in game)[^2] | April 1986 | $89.99 | $262.58 | 191.8% | | [NES Control Deck](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System) (w/ *Super Mario Bros.*)[^2] | April 1986 | $99.99 | $291.76 | 191.8% | | [NES Action Set](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Entertainment_System) (w/ Zapper light gun, *Super Mario Bros. and Duck Hunt* cartridge)[^2] | April 1988 | $109.99 | $297.33 | 170.3% | | **[Super NES](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_Nintendo_Entertainment_System#Launch) (w/ *Super Mario World*)** | **August 1991** | **$199.99** | **$469.58** | **134.8%** | | [Virtual Boy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Virtual_Boy#Release) (w/ *Mario Tennis*) | August 1995 | $179.95 | $377.61 | 109.8% | | [Nintendo 64](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_64) | September 1996 | $199.99 | $407.63 | 103.8% | | [GameCube](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/GameCube) | November 2001 | $199.99 | $361.34 | 80.7% | | [Wii](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii) (w/ *Wii Sports*) | November 2006 | $249.99 | $396.56 | 58.6% | | [Wii U](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_U) (Basic) | November 2012 | $299.99 | $417.85 | 39.3% | | **[Wii U](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wii_U) (Deluxe Bundle w/ *Nintendo Land*)** | **November 2012** | **$349.99** | **$487.50** | **39.3%** | | Nintendo Switch | March 2017 | $299.99 | $391.39 | 30.5% | | Nintendo Switch 2 | June 2025 | $449.99 | N/A | N/A | | Nintendo Switch 2 (w/ *Mario Kart World*) | June 2025 | $499.99 | N/A | N/A | So, I took the core of Chris' table and added a few things. First up, for kicks and giggles, I added the [Color Game-TV](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Color_TV-Game). I added the Virtual Boy and correctly identified the Wii U launch variants. I feel like removing the various NES bundles would be a valid thing since these weren't launch prices, but the NES launch was [special](https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/10/19/in-their-words-remembering-the-launch-of-the-nintendo-entertainment-system). Which brings me to the the question of the article—how are we defining "most expensive?" Pure dollar amount? Do we factor in pack-in games and their value or are we just trying to assess hardware? Do we sprinkle in a little consumer logic from the times these launches occurred? Let's be real: Polygon's goal was to write an enticing headline for the clicks and ad revenue. Chris has got to keep the lights on. Since Chris' table features numbers from February 2025 inflation data, I'd bet he wrote this article then when the Nintendo Switch 2 was teased, hoping it'd get pricing info then. It has just sat in the hopper since then. And that method clearly works. I wouldn't have wrote this [[I'll Have Two Servings of Claim Chowder Please|Claim Chowder]]-y piece if I had not the drive to fact check some random article. It's not de facto wrong, but it is misleading and, I think, against the spirit of the prompt. The hobby and business of video games is expensive and always has been. The console is vital to getting inside people's homes and then you have them for the console's lifecycle, making money off subsequent game sales. The product and the promise of its software must be enticing to get a consumer to part with their hard-earned money. Some promises pan out in huge ways, like the Game Boy with *Tetris* and then *Pokémon* or the Wii with *Wii Sports* and the allure of motion controls. Some stumbled out of the gate or never picked up full speed like the Nintendo 64 or GameCube. Some fell flat on their face like the Wii U. Dollar for dollar, the Switch 2 is an expensive piece of kit. The games are too. I'm not saying it isn't expensive. It's also a [[Nintendo Switch 2 Reveal Thoughts & Impressions#The Silicon Tablet|lot more tech]] than I expected or would have ever fit inside a previous console. That's the march of progress and of technology. Sure, numbers on chart make for quick click flashes in the pan, but we gotta be willing to dig a little deeper. --- Out of Nintendo's home console launches, I count three consoles that out price the Nintendo Switch 2, one of those also beating out the *Mario Kart World* bundle. All three consoles were bundled with a game: The NES had its Deluxe bundle with R.O.B, the Zapper, *Gyromite*, and *[[Duck Hunt]]*; the SNES had *Super Mario World*, and the Wii U Deluxe bundle had *Nintendo Land*. Circumstances make two of these interesting. That NES bundle was limited to the NYC and LA. Like I said, the NES launch was special. The Wii U deluxe bundle is more interesting because, who was *really* buying the "Basic" bundle with 8GBs of storage for $300? This is that "consumer logic" I was mentioning. I don't know a single person that bought the Basic model. I maybe saw one White Wii U out in the wild in my life. If we go bundle-for-bundle, only the NES out prices the Switch 2. Hardware-for-hardware, nothing out prices the Switch 2, with the closest being the Wii U basic console and the Nintendo 64. If we apply more consumer logic and buy the *must-have* game with the console—*Super Mario 64*, *New Super Mario Bros. U*, and *Mario Kart World*—we get a table that looks like this. | Console | Release Date | Original Price + *The* Game | Inflation-adjusted price (April 2025) | Inflation-adjusted percentage (April 2025) | | :--------------------------------------------------: | :------------: | :----------------------------: | :-----------------------------------: | :----------------------------------------: | | Nintendo 64 + *Super Mario 64* | September 1996 | $199.99 + $66.99 = **$266.98** | $407.63 + $136.54 = $**544.17** | 288.1% | | Wii U (Basic) + *New Super Mario Bros. U* | November 2012 | $299.99 + $59.99 = **$359.98** | $417.85 + $85.56 = **$501.41** | 39.3% | | Nintendo Switch 2 + *Mario Kart World* (non-bundled) | | $449.99 + $79.99 = **$529.98** | N/A | N/A | All within a $50 ball park of each other...but let's hone in on the game prices here. What do the must have titles for each of these consoles look like over time? | Game | Release Date | Original Price | Inflation-adjusted price (April 2025) | Inflation-adjusted percentage (April 2025) | | :---------------------------------------: | :----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------: | :------------: | :-----------------------------------: | :----------------------------------------: | | *Super Mario Bros.* | October 1985 | $25[^3] | $74.27 | 197.2% | | ***Super Mario World*** | **[September 1992](https://www.videogamesage.com/forums/topic/4559-when-did-the-standalone-release-of-super-mario-world-come-out/)** | **$51.99** | **$118.51** | **127.9%** | | *Red Alarm* | August 1995 | $39.99 | $83.92 | 109.8% | | ***Super Mario 64*** | **September 1996** | **$66.99** | **$136.54** | **103.8%** | | *Luigi's Mansion* | November 2001 | $49.99 | $90.32 | 80.7% | | *The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess* | November 2006 | $49.99 | $79.30 | 58.6% | | *New Super Mario Bros. U* | November 2012 | $59.99 | $85.86 | 39.3% | | *The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild* | March 2017 | $59.99 | $78.27 | 30.5% | | *Mario Kart World* | June 2025 | $79.99 | N/A | N/A | Man, *Mario* and *Zelda* do a whole lot of generational-lifting, don't they? Kind of makes the likes of an open-world *Mario Kart* game with a massive roster, plenty of modes, and online play look like a steal at $80, right? Sort of, but not really! It's all perspective! There was nothing like *[[Super Mario World]]* and *Super Mario 64* at their respective launches. Genre-defining titles, both of em. Hindsight is 20/20 and it helps when we are looking back at legendary titles. Like I said before, the games are where the platform holders make their money. It's why they prefer digital sales; more to take from using their shops. People usually only buy one or two consoles during its lifecycle. I figure they buy more games than that. Does this mean a company should sell at a loss and make it up in the software? *Noooo*??? That's up to each business. Nintendo does generally try to run a profit on their console sales, not a loss. After looking up all this data (which was way more than I thought I'd do when I sat down to write this), I am surprised at how consistent-ish the video game industry has held over my lifetime and before it. From my first home console (N64) to today, the inflation-adjusted price is in the ball park of $375-450. That's impressive to me. I hope these tables serve as a big picture reminder for you. We may be reacting to the price in the moment, but these are prices that make sense both historically and today. --- Since the Nintendo Switch 2 is also a handheld console, here's a table for those devices too. Some one had to do it. Christopher wasn't. | Console | Release Date | Original Price | Inflation-adjusted price (April 2025) | Inflation-adjusted percentage (April 2025) | |:--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------:|:--------------:|:-------------------:|:-------------------------------------:|:------------------------------------------:| | [Game & Watch](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_%26_Watch) | April 1980 | ¥5,800 / $22.78[^1] | $88.41 | 288.1% | | [Game Boy](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy) (w/ *Tetris*) | July 1989 | $89.99 | $232.09 | 157.9% | | [Game Boy Color](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_Color) | November 1998 | $79.95 | $156.86 | 96.2% | | [Game Boy Advance](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_Advance) | June 2001 | $99.99 | $180.66 | 80.7% | | [Game Boy Advance SP](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_Advance_SP) | March 2003 | $99.99 | $173.79 | 73.8% | | [Nintendo DS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS) (w/ *Metroid Prime: First Hunt*) | November 2004 | $149.99 | $253.93 | 69.3% | | [Game Boy Micro](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Game_Boy_Micro) | September 2005 | $99.99 | $173.79 | 73.8% | | [Nintendo DS Lite](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS#Nintendo_DS_Lite) | June 2006 | $129.99 | $206.20 | 58.6% | | [Nintendo DSi](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DSi) | April 2009 | $169.99 | $253.40 | 49.1% | | [Nintendo DSi XL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DSi) | March 2010 | $189.99 | $278.64 | 46.7% | | [Nintendo 3DS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_3DS) | March 2011 | $249.99 | $355.41 | 42.2% | | [Nintendo 3DS XL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_3DS) | August 2012 | $199.99 | $278.56 | 39.3% | | [Nintendo 2DS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_2DS) | October 2013 | $129.99 | $178.45 | 37.3% | | [New Nintendo 3DS XL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Nintendo_3DS) | February 2015 | $199.99 | $269.84 | 34.9% | | [New Nintendo 3DS](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/New_Nintendo_3DS) (w/ *Animal Crossing: Happy Home Designer*) | September 2015 | $219.99 | $296.83 | 34.9% | | Nintendo Switch | March 2017 | $299.99 | $391.39 | 30.5% | | [New 2DS XL](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_2DS#New_Nintendo_2DS_XL) | July 2017 | $149.99 | $195.69 | 30.5% | | Nintendo Switch 2 | June 2025 | $449.99 | N/A | N/A | | Nintendo Switch 2 (w/ *Mario Kart World*) | June 2025 | $499.99 | N/A | N/A | Hi. If you made it all the way down here: Between *Wii Sports* and *Tetris*, what was the best pack-in game? I think that's a pretty tough call. My pick will be *Wii Sports*. [^1]: If I did [my math](https://www.poundsterlinglive.com/bank-of-england-spot/historical-spot-exchange-rates/usd/USD-to-JPY-1977) right... [^2]: According to Wikipedia, which I assume is where Christopher Grant got his numbers, the pricing for these three needs a citation. While I don't necessarily doubt them, given the fact that the [NES launch](https://www.ign.com/articles/2015/10/19/in-their-words-remembering-the-launch-of-the-nintendo-entertainment-system) wasn't like those we have today and [material](https://gamehistory.org/nes-launch-collection-1985/) has been lost through the ages. [^3]: The only source I could find on launch pricing for *[[Super Mario Bros.]]* was [this CNET article](https://www.cnet.com/tech/gaming/super-mario-bros-auction-breaks-record-with-660k-sale/) and I'm not entirely confident in that as a definitive source.