Nintendo Is Trading Away Something That Used to Be Central to Its Identity

The Nintendo Switch, a massively successful console that first made landfall in 2017 , retailed for $ 299 .

The long-awaited Switch 2 is here, and it weighs in at an eye-popping $ 449 .

Nintendo might not flex the same graphical fidelity of its rivals, but families could expect to save money.

Video game development is taking longer and growing steadily more expensive.

Nintendo isn’t the only heavy hitter jacking up its prices.

Microsoft showed off The Outer Worlds 2 , due out in October , which is a madcap sci-fi RPG that will also be the company’s first $ 80 game.

The only question, it seems, is how much consumers are willing to pay.