Former Nintendo Of America President Seemingly Digs At A Switch 2 Launch Game

Former Nintendo of America president, Reggie Fils-Aime, took to social media to make what appears to be a slight jab at a controversially priced Nintendo Switch 2 launch game. Nintendo recently explained its strategy behind the "variable pricing" of Switch 2 games, and one of those games was the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, which many consider to be more of a tech demo for the Switch 2 hardware rather than an actual game, and it's $10, unlike something like the free Astro's Playroom for PS5. Fils-Aime decided to remind people of a previous successful free launch Wii game.

On X, Fils-Aime made a series of three posts sharing video clips that detail the story of how Wii Sports ended up being included as a free pack-in game for the Wii, how a Wii Remote was included with Wii Play, and a final video detailing the results of those decisions. The clips were taken from a 2022 interview Fils-Aime did with IGN. While this is not a direct message towards the current executives at Nintendo or their pricing strategies, observers are guessing that Fils-Aime isn't completely content with the way Nintendo has handled the Switch 2 reveal and pricing.

Reggie Fils-Aime Reminds Us Of Wii Sports Success

A Very Popular Free Game

Wii Sports was a free game that came bundled with every new Wii console in all territories except Japan, and it ended up being one of the most popular games on the console. Fils-Aime detailed that it was a challenging task to convince Shigeru Miyamoto, who was the general manager of Nintendo EAD at the time, to make Wii Sports a free game. But with the Wii showcasing all the functions of the Wii hardware, as well as a way to get new people interested in gaming, Fils-Aime eventually convinced Miyamoto. Retrospectively, most people would probably agree that the strategy worked.

Nintendo Switch 2 Has Me Worried For The Future Of Physical Games

With Switch 2 games becoming more expensive in multiple regions, one concerning change paints a bleak future for physical releases in general.

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For the Switch 2, there is no free game, and the more expensive Switch 2 bundle that comes with Mario Kart World is $500, so it doesn't seem like Nintendo's strategy is to get more people interested in gaming this time, which may hurt the Switch 2 long-term. Additionally, the Welcome Tour game costs money despite essentially being a virtual tech demo for the Switch 2 and, more than likely, it's not going to live up to the same success that the free Wii Sports had on the Wii.

The Switch 2 Welcome Tour Situation Is Disappointing

But The Switch 1 Also Had An Odd Paid Game That Made Little Impact

The Switch 2 Welcome Tour situation is odd, but the original Nintendo Switch also had a paid tech demo-esque game. 1-2 Switch was a disappointing game for the Switch that aimed to show off the hardware functions of the Switch with various mini-games but fell flat. However, the Nintendo Switch went on to sell over 150 million units, so 1-2 Switch didn't matter in the long-run. And on the other hand, Nintendo Land came with the Wii U, but that console was an overall flop.

While it would have been nice to get a free game with the Nintendo Switch 2, it doesn't seem likely that the lack of a free game will impact the console that much, especially when customers can buy the bundle with Mario Kart World for $50 more than the base Nintendo Switch 2 offering while also saving $30 on the controversially priced game. Still, free content is never a bad thing, and it's disappointing the Nintendo Switch 2 won't have a free game that could potentially get more people interested in video games.