Top 10 Greediest Decisions Nintendo Has Made

Memory cards have been a constant headache for Nintendo consoles ever since the GameCube days. Back then, it was tough finding a GameCube game in stores. Fast forward to today with the Switch and it’s a different story, one more about the ridiculous prices. If you’re wanting a microSD card made specifically for the Switch, you’re more than likely to pay more than what a typical microSD card costs. Luckily, you can just get a regular microSD for cheap, which is why this inconvenience is at the bottom of the list. But if you absolutely need a Mushroom or Power Star emblazoned on your microSD, you’re going to pay a premium for it.

The Nintendo Switch Online program has been one of the most egregious rewards programs we’ve ever been a part of. One of the reasons for this is because of how many products are locked behind one specific requirement: you must be a Switch Online member in order to BUY the product. If you want that wireless N64 controller or a neat Dodo Airlines shirt, you must pay for Switch Online to be given permission to PAY for that controller or shirt! We suppose this was the answer to discouraging scalpers from hoarding Nintendo merchandise, but come on - what good are our Platinum Coins if the only thing we can redeem them for are dumb things like…postcards and sticky notes?

While we’re on the subject of Nintendo-specific purchases and coins, can we address the massive problem with Gold Coins? This was simply an awful conversion rate and a dreadful tactic to get people to visit the eShop. Here’s an example: go on the eShop to buy a copy of, say, “Metroid: Dread” to get three hundred Gold Coins added to your My Nintendo Rewards. Sounds like a lot, right? So, you go and see if there’s another game you can grab…until you go to checkout and see those three hundred Gold Coins only knock three bucks off your purchase. That said, the only way Gold Coins were going to be fruitful to users was if they spent hundreds of dollars, and even then, you’re only going to get one free game if you’re shooting for a first-party Nintendo title.

At the time of this video, you can hop into a Discord call with your friends from almost any platform. Playing a game on Steam? Open up Discord separately. Playing on a PS5 or Xbox Series XS? Discord is integrated on both consoles! But Nintendo Switch? Nope! Nintendo wants you to download an app on your phone and hop in a call there! As for Switch 2, well…Nintendo has their own version of Discord that streams at a worse quality than what Discord allows. Oh, and you’ll need a Nintendo Switch Online membership to be able to do any of this. Discord is free.

One of the things Nintendo doesn’t seem to understand is that “Wii Sports” has become one of their most iconic games ever. Part of the reason for this is because it came bundled with the Wii, allowing users to start trying out their new console with a small selection of fun games. But since then, Nintendo has not bundled a game in with Wii U, Switch, or even Switch 2. Instead, the company would rather sell tech demos a la carte the same way they’ll sell a Mario game. Guys…no one was going to buy “1-2-Switch” for fifty bucks. According to former Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime in his book “Disrupting the Game”, Nintendo supposedly does not like the idea of giving away its own software for free, which was evident after he suggested bundling in “Wii Sports” for the North American market. What do you think made the game memorable to generations, huh?

Speaking of the Wii, the console had an insanely awesome service in the Wii Shop Channel called the Virtual Console, a branch of the store that sold classic Nintendo games at affordable prices. For ten to twenty bucks, you could buy a digital copy of “Mario Kart 64”, “Ocarina of Time”, “Yoshi’s Story”, and many others, and this service would carry over into the Wii U and 3DS. Why did it go away? Well, that’s because these classics are now being sold as a perk for Nintendo Switch Online. Sure, you can enjoy these titles as a Switch Online member but even so, some of us would rather buy the games we want to play, especially given the issue in our next entry.

There is no denying that the Switch Online service has increased in value over time, but even with all of the SNES, GBA, and N64 classics released so far, there are still several notable titles missing. Where is “Donkey Kong 64”? Where is “Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land”? Where is “Pokemon Red & Blue” or “Ruby & Sapphire”? Oh…you’re giving us “Nobunaga’s Ambition” on SNES this month instead? And the Game Boy versions of “Mega Man 1-5”? We don’t mean to sound ungrateful; there are truly a ton of great games on this service, but there are plenty of titles that would get new members on this service or persuade former members to renew.

For a time, Nintendo was pretty good at supporting games from a previous system. GameCube games could be played on a Wii. Game Boy and Game Boy Color games could run on Game Boy Advance, and GBA games could run on a DS. Then, DS games could run on a 3DS, but not GBA games because those were being sold on Virtual Console. And now, with Switch 2, you can play… some of your Switch games. Since the console’s reveal, Nintendo has been a bit dodgy on specifying what they mean by “compatible Switch games”. From the sound of it, those of you hanging onto your copies of “Mario 3D All-Stars” may not be able to play those soon. Speaking of which…

This collection was released as a means to celebrate Mario’s 35th anniversary, and it allowed Switch players to revisit “Super Mario 64”, “Super Mario Sunshine”, and “Super Mario Galaxy”. However, Nintendo put a mighty big and strange asterisk on this celebratory package: it would only be available for roughly half a year, being released on September 18, 2020 and delisted the following March. Why Nintendo did this in the first place is anyone’s guess, but despite the limited availability, “Super Mario 3D All-Stars” would manage to sell more than nine million copies. For those of you with physical copies, they now go for roughly a hundred bucks on resale websites.

“Mario Kart World” has generated about as much ire as it has hype among audiences. While folks are itching to play the next blockbuster kart racer, its eighty to ninety-dollar price tag has inflicted a lot of sticker shock. It was especially mind-boggling when folks took notice of “Donkey Kong Bananza” being sold for seventy bucks both digitally and physically. Let’s be honest - we all know “Mario Kart World” is going to sell gangbusters regardless, but…really? We’re going to push a near-hundred-dollar price tag on people?


What do you think is the greediest move Nintendo has pulled? Let us know down in the comments.