"Drop the price": Nintendo's Treehouse stream overshadowed by players noisily protesting the Switch 2's hefty cost

Mario Kart World screenshot showing Toad elated after hitting a boost pad on a bike
(Image credit: Nintendo)

The first Nintendo Switch 2 Treehouse has just kicked off with some hands-on gameplay of Mario Kart World, but the live chat is just spamming one message: "drop the price."

Mario Kart World is making waves due its whopping $80 price tag. It's even got people worried that GTA 6 will follow suit and go all the way to $100. Everyone is making their voice heard by continuously commenting "drop the price," normally in all caps, in the live chat for the current Treehouse that's showing off the new gameplay.

Unfortunately, Nintendo isn't a company known for listening to anyone. It typically just does whatever it wants and seems to do very well anyway. So, it's unlikely these comments will do anything to dissuade the company from its current pricing strategy. It's more likely that the only thing that will make it drop the price is if people don't buy the game. Luckily, there is a Switch 2 bundle that effectively makes the game a more reasonable $50, so if you do want the game, I'd recommend you pre-order the Switch 2.

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Other upcoming Switch 2 games aren't as expensive, fortunately. Donkey Kong Banaza will be $70, which I'm not saying is cheap, but I am saying it's less than $80.

The Switch 2 itself is 50% more in the US than the original Switch was, a price increase that almost perfectly aligns with the tariffs Trump has imposed on goods from Cambodia and Vietnam, where the console is now manufactured. There is a cheaper Japan-only version though.

For now, get caught up on all the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct news.

Issy van der Velde
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I'm Issy, a freelancer who you'll now occasionally see over here covering news on GamesRadar. I've always had a passion for playing games, but I learned how to write about them while doing my Film and TV degrees at the University of Warwick and contributing to the student paper, The Boar. After university I worked at TheGamer before heading up the news section at Dot Esports. Now you'll find me freelancing for Rolling Stone, NME, Inverse, and many more places. I love all things horror, narrative-driven, and indie, and I mainly play on my PS5. I'm currently clearing my backlog and loving Dishonored 2.