Nintendo has revealed the full specs, capabilities and price for the upcoming console, the Nintendo Switch. Several games were also unveiled such as "Splatoon 2" and "Super Mario Odyssey" but none of them are going to be bundled with the system. Nintendo has now addressed why the Switch will not have a bundled game with it upon launch.
The primary reason why no game was bundled with the Switch was to ensure the console could be sold at a $299 price tag, Nintendo of America President Reggie Fils-Aime explained in an interview with Gamespot. Adding a game would require them to raise the launch price above the $300 mark.
The Joy-Con controllers cost $79.99 each and the only method of keeping the Switch under the $300 mark and include a game would require removing one of the Joy-Cons from the bundle. For Fils-Aime, raising the Switch's price to $349 or $399 did not feel right.
"From a US price point, we wanted to be at $299," Fils-Aime stated. "What's going to be included? Obviously the inclusion of the two Joy-Con, critically important; all the right cables, the dock, critically important. Once we got to that bundle, it really needed to be at $299 without a piece of software."
This also means there will not be any unique, limited designs, Game Rant reported. Previous Nintendo consoles and portable devices had limited edition designs sharing a theme with a bundled game such as the Wii U's limited edition Hylian Crest gamepad.
Without a game bundled with the Switch the console is launching with a price tag that is consistent with the prices of previous Nintendo products. The Wii U launched with a $299 price tag and the Wii before it released with a $250 price tag.
The Nintendo Switch will release on March 3. The full Nintendo Switch presentation can be viewed below: