Reggie Fils-Aimé Weighs In On 'Switch 2 Welcome Tour' Controversy (Sort Of)

Sorry but I dont think they are going to sell many, this should have been a built in "game"

Should this have been packed in? Yes.

Is it worth getting upset over it not being free? No. Just don’t buy it.

I’ll wait for reviews to say whether or not it’s actually worth $10. And…for Pete’s sake, it’s $10. People need to chill about it. We spend more money on a single fast food trip for one person these days…

I'm trying to find the moment where Reggie actually talks about Welcome Tour? That video is from 2 years ago, and that Reddit link does not mention Reggie.

Where does this article get the idea that Reggie has an opinion about Welcome Tour at all? Because he worked on the Wii launch in the past? It may be a new Nintendo launch, but I don't think you can assume what Reggie's stance is if he hasn't said anything?

Very interesting. In fact "Welcome Tour" makes me think of a tutorial to introduce the new console, and it bothers me that it is paid. But from the Japanese title there could be more, we'll see. It will be interesting to see the reviews and then we'll decide whether to buy it or not.

Come back, Reggie!

Astros Playroom is free with every PlayStation 5 that is a pro consumer move by Sony with how good that game/demo is that fact Nintendo thinks this welcome tour is worth a penny annoys me more than the $80 price tag

Kit, Krysta, Reggie. Your all history, good bye....

It's a bad look from Nintendo.

its less that im "upset" about it not being a pack-in game, cause it honestly looks boring and something ill get my satisfaction with just watching gameplay online, but more at the audacity that they think its worth selling separately

doesnt help how the switch 2 is already overcharging in every angle it can, and here they are selling us a pamphlet too

Welcome Tour kind of reminds me of Atari 50 a little bit... gives some insight on its history while sprinkling in games of that era, like a museum of sorts.

I personally think it's interesting, but I definitely want to know more about it before I would get it. Between this software and the Nintendo Museum, I feel like we are in an unprecedented time in Nintendo history where they actually share info they never would have.

I don't watch play throughs etc but I'm going to skip this one and watch someone else have a go - probably at double speed just to make sure I'm not missing anything.

But it feels hard to justify nikel and diming your early adopters with this.

I must admit I see this as more of an interactive demo and definitely shouldn't have a price tag attached. As much as I'm excited for the Switch 2 I doubt many will partake in a paid 'tour'.

Edit. Maybe if they brought MiiVerse back and the 'Mii Channel' it might be an enticing proposition.
I'd even welcome a 'Nintendo Worlds' type of thing similar to the interactive social space Sony had with PlayStation Home on PS3.

This is just like buying a strategy guide for the Switch 2.

Enough people will buy it, out of curiosity if nothing else, due to all the conversations surrounding it.
I would not be surprised to see a physical release...

As u said its a one off experience meaning youd play it for a minute or 2 then delete to save space,this is nintendo making it optional to get to save space on the system

The title "1-Switch-2" was right there, smh.

See? Even Reggie knows Nintendo’s new pricing philosophies are all wrong.

@dew12333 Reggie at least does his own things in tech most of the time rather than claiming “I used to work at Nintendo almost a decade ago. I know exactly what’s going on in there because I’m a super expert that has insider knowledge on all of Nintendo’s secrets. For that reason, I’m going to build my entire YouTube brand around the fact that I no longer work there,” unlike a certain other duo you mentioned.

Guess Reggie's body is not ready for Switch 2.

$10 is less than a pint of beer. People need to chill.

Wii sports wasn't a pack in Australia. To this day i have still never played.

While it is dumb that this is paid let's be real here, it's not a new kind of dumb for Nintendo, need I remind you that they sold 1-2-Switch separately for $50 even though that also should've been a pack-in (it wouldn't be a good pack-in but it would've been better than being a separate $50 purchase)

After an in depth look at Switch 2 Welcome Tour, I've come to the conclusion that the title not being a pack-in the console suddenly doesn't sound like a bad idea after all. I get that Sony did include Astro's Playroom with every PS5 purchase, but I don't know if this was factored in the console's price. As for the Welcome Tour (or should have been called exhibition), the detail in each section is super nerdy that only tech geeks would be interested in getting into this. Think of it like a museum exhibition where it shows you how a country started and how it has been evolved in a detailed way that only historians would be interested in. People who are not in technology won't be interested in this title at all. It's just $10 so it's there if you want it.

@The_Spanner yes.. $10 over here… another $10 over there… plus another $10 over there… but don’t forget those other extra $10

I won't spend money for it. At the very least, it should be included w Expansion pass subscribers.

@OtterXPT,

I would not even bother with this trash if it was free. As for the online expansion pack... I would much prefer the Zelda upgrades than this.

@EarthboundBenjy Through context and the timing of Reggie's tweet where he linked to the part of that video where he says he fought to have Wii Sports as pack in title - and the resistance he had from Japan on the issue.

@OtterXPT Not just Expansion Pass, it should be available to all NSO subs like Tetris/F-Zero 99.

And don’t get me started on the GameChat button. Absolutely bonkers that the NS2 has a physical button on your controller that is gatelocked behind a paywall!

The amount of spin from even former Nintendo employees right now is amazing. Kit&Krysta are already going with the true value argument after days of at least entertaining the arguments. Someone clearly got a call from the Big N. Reggie is full corpo. No matter how much I miss him in the public limelight of Nintendo. He's a master of talking from both sides of his mouth.

@Yoshi3 I think if people are worrying about money at that level they shouldn't be thinking about getting a Switch 2.

@The_Spanner it’s not a worry about money it’s just like a slap, like it’s partially a manual. I wouldn’t have care too much about it had it been included, would have been a really neat idea for a manual. But the fact that they are doing it like this just is a huge bad pr move in my book and I hope they can see that. Just kinda of an insultingly dumb decision.

If they'd included it as a pack-in everybody would probably be saying they should've made it a separate purchase and taken $10 off the price of the console.

Did Reggie actually comment on this though?

Have Nintendo decided on making this as an early adopter gift (lets say, the first few million consoles) the hardcore fans will be happy and whoever else that want to play it will have to pay and then, there's the collectionist crowd who could have made this an object of cult (raising its price and maybe even value) but oh well, some companies will never get it

Out of all the controversies about Switch 2's pricing, this is the only one that I cannot possibly justify. I mean, sure, from a business point of view, I do understand: they invested time and effort in it, so they want to be compensated accordingly. However, from a product perspective, it just doesn't make sense. Putting a pricetag on Welcome Tour basically guarantees that most people will skip it, and that's a real shame, because it could have been additional incentive to buy the console and give the console some character. Very similar to the Face Raiders and other apps that came packed in with the 3DS.

They could have just added $10.00 / £10.00 to the console price and include this as a free download. What I would have really loved though is some kind of spiritual successor to Nintendo Land to showcase what you can do with the controllers / system. Maybe if they offered the base 'Welcome Tour' experience for free and added a premium DLC option for more content, that could have been an option too. Hey ho, certainly not going to lose sleep over Ninty's decision.

@Pickettfury
It was a pack in title in Australia.

I disagree that we all need to chill out. Most of us can afford 10 Euro or whatever it is, but it just reeks of greediness from Nintendo and I am very surpised at them. Also, it just looks like a tutorial so yeah, no way I would buy this even if it gets knocked down in price lol. It should be free and Kart World and DK Bananza should each be 10 Euro cheaper at the very least.

Just vote with your wallet. Its not in any way a necessary purchase and I certainly won't buy it. I really can't see me (or anyone over the age of 8) needing any sort of tour of the hardware and features. I suspect it will eventually be included or given free to early adopters of the console.....3DS Ambassador anyone?

@Switch_Pro I kinda disagree. Something like this is little more than proof of concept and tech demos during development so its not like a third party team of game designers are making their living from developing it. Look at Nintendo Today which is free app and every day some new feature about the Switch, games etc. That is marketing used to build up interest in the console in the lead up to launch. What is wrong here is that you will have already shelled out for the console to buy this 'tour'...so they already got your money. No marketing needed there but it reeks of a few extra bucks in the bank rather than 'look at what your new hardware can do' Astrobot Playroom will likely have taken more development than this and that was free. That paid off with development of a superb full game. Can't see the Pro Tour of Switch coming any time soon

@EarthboundBenjy It's literally why he tweeted only this. Why do you think ex-president of Nintendo of America didn't add anything to that? It's so obvious what he did, simple deduction.

No Reggie, no free welcome tour.

Reggie out here making Miyamoto angry for his suggestions but it worked well in the end. Good on him for sticking to his guns on the decision.

I don’t think we should pay developers to make a game like this. I think it should be free and I refuse to pay $80 for a game that I buy only 1 time a generation. I’ll go back to paying for micro transactions in Fortnite and buying cod every year.

Now I fit in with the rest of the internet.

Definitely should have been a pack-in, but I don't think it really matters. People won't buy a Switch 2 for Welcome Tour (people did buy a Wii specifically for Wii Sports), so they wouldn't have profited, per se, from making it a pack-in, and most people probably wouldn't play it for more than five or ten minutes if it were. Most people won't buy it, but they'll have at least some miniscule revenue coming in from selling it separate. So yeah, it definitely should have been a pack-in, but I don't think it's as big a missed opportunity as having 1-2 Switch be a pack-in was.

$20 is the reason for all this negative switch 2 news, if nintendo just pack-in this game to switch 2 and not greedy with mario kart world (just price it at $70), all switch 2 news will be mostly positive since sony already sells $70 games.

I’ll probably pass; I couldn’t imagine playing this more than once. Still looks charming, though.

It reveals something about Nintendo nowadays that they didn’t include it as part of the console purchase like Face Raiders on 3DS. After making all the money they ever did in a single generation, there’s a level of desperation to it that’s not like a company striving for a 200 year history. Rather looking for as much as they can possibly extract up front

@Sylamp If 1-2 Switch had been a pack-in and raised the price of the Switch by $50 — I would have preferred keeping them separate.

I feel like the Iwata / Reggie leadership would not have charged for this.

My immediate takeaway (along with everyone I watched the direct with ) was lukewarm to Welcome Tour and then baffled by it not being a pack in. Not a great PR move but I'm far from annoyed about it as right now I don't feel I'm loosing out on anything.

I have no intention currently of getting it but I will at least read NLs review for it to set the record straight on its value.

Additionally, I feel like the inclusion of the Zelda upgrade packs and GameCube games as part of theexisting NSO subscription are a way bigger win than the loss we get from this decision.

I plan on buying Welcome Tour. I am interested in it. If it had been priced at higher than $15, I would have held off for a discount (or more details).

I understand, though, that many are not interested or would prefer to save their money for a different game.

P.S. I like Nintendo’s experimental stuff. I bought Game Builder Garage and enjoyed it.

However, I did not buy Labo until it was deeply discounted.

If it was $5 I'd probably snap it up without thinking about it; $10 is... just that much harder to justify as an impulse buy.

Welcome TOUR = Welcome T(o your money in) OUR (pocket).

They just forgot a few letters in the middle.

Not supporting this crap

You've made this article unnecessarily confusing by refusing to post the very tweet this article is all about.

@Shepdawg1 Exactly. People who get upset about this kind of thing obviously haven't faced any real upsetting things in their life.

To go see a film in the cinema costs £12, a Five Guys burger and fries costs £13, two Starbucks Frappuccinos costs £12, a game made by a talented bunch of designers at Nintendo for £10 that is also yours forever is fine imo.

Too many people just like to moan and want everything for free. These moron influencers are making a big deal out of nothing, I remember the days a NEO GEO game cost £200, an Imported N64 £900. If you can’t afford a game that costs £10 then maybe gaming is not for you.

@Shepdawg1 Thank you. 👏

I'll keep saying it, this was perfect to include in the NSO privileges

WTF is Nintendo smoking? They are releasing something that is as pretty as a PS4 and expect people to pay a higher price than PS5 games? Not including anything with your purchase of the console which they've always done something in some fashion to "thank" you for buying their product. I'm just curious what the hell they think they're doing. They even pulled the whole if you can't afford it go by a switch like Xbox did when they told everyone to just go get a 360. They have a great product and are making it so people don't want it. They're pulling an Apple and everyone hates Apple

Indeed, as I checked Nintendo HK site, the Chinese words used for the title are ‘秘密展’ which translates to the meaning ‘Secrets Reveal Show/Exhibition’. So there you have it, there could be delightful secrets / surprises to be shared in the Switch 2 Welcome Tour, which Nintendo thinks it justifies the asking price.

@Sebos I love your avatar very much! Haha, that would’ve been a fun title. 😄

I’m kind of torn. I am curious about how the rumbling will feel in those mini-games, but it would’ve been so much better as a pack-in.

I feel you either see the appeal of this game right away, or you don’t. It was one of my favorite parts of the direct, and I was relieved to have something interest me on Switch 2 besides Mario Kart and my Switch 1 games. We never see their engineering tricks shown so transparently and Nintendo minigames are always bangers.

I understand the argument this could have been packed in and more people would have enjoyed it, but people gloss right over pre-installed software all the time. Not going to lose sleep that it will set me back $10. My family plan share costs $10 a year, I don’t need any cases protectors or upgrade packs, and I sure as hell didn’t spend $350 on the Switch OLED’s unchanged hardware or the feature-incomplete Switch Lite.

Oh my god we need Reggie back so bad

To the “it’s only $10, you don’t have to buy it” crowd: It’s not the game itself that’s the issue, I’m perfectly content with not buying it. The issue is that this is one of the MANY recent instances of corporate greed we’ve seen from Nintendo. This, combined with the console and game prices, creates a huge problem.

Iwata and Reggie were really the ones keeping everything in line. They were always thinking and seeing things from a gamer's perspective, rather than just seeing dollar signs. I know Miyamoto is a legend for all he's contributed to Nintendo, but after listening to that Reggie interview, it just proves more and more that Miyamoto has mostly been a detriment for anything past the SNES era. He's got quite a large list of "sins". He's had far too many terrible inputs and suggestions over the years. It's actually more rare to find GOOD things he's contributed post-SNES lol

I'm guessing Reggie would have (and has, in private) plenty more to say about Nintendo's current decisions, the Switch 2 launch, it's game prices and impending NSO GC releases.

We need to brutally troll Nintendo by voting this 'Game of the Year' later on....

Nintendo needs to mocked for this shameless greed & disrespect for it's customers.

Don't have $10? Then quit yowling, don't buy the game, and read about the secrets on Reddit.

If you have to demand for things to be free, then maybe this pastime isn't for you.

@PLATINUM7 Maybe it was just launch units? I still have my OG box from EB games where i preordered back haha

Hi, professional Japanese-English translator and full-time video game localizer here chiming in to point out "Exhibition of Nintendo Switch 2 Secrets" is a garbage-tier title that doesn’t make we want to reach for my wallet. English and Japanese not only have different words, they use them differently. What’s good style in one language is often bad style in another. When considerations like these aren’t taken, we get video games named “No Sleep for Kaname Date - From AI: The Somnium Files.”

@A_WINNER_IS_Mii

Some clarification on the above: If the argument is that the Japanese title implies greater value, then that’s a real stretch in my opinion, for whatever that’s worth. And that goes double if the argument is that the backlash to the price can be pinned on the localization decision that was made. Not that localization decisions can’t and don’t affect sales. I don’t hate the title “No Sleep for Kaname Date” as a matter of translation, but when it’s paired with two other subtitles in addition to an unfamiliar Japanese name, it creates difficulties as a matter of marketing.

The "Japanese title says exhibition and that means museum and that means worth money" Reddit post actually made me bust up laughing. There is cope and then there is cope

Ya'll will really do anything other than embed a post from X, huh

Switch 2 is gonna go up to $500 and $550 with Mario Kart in the US. Just watch.

So a person who named himself Admirable Clam Brain finds a title to be odd.

What a time to be alive!

@A_WINNER_IS_Mii Sometimes the more accurate translation is actually the one that is less of a literal translation. A lot of people don't seem to get that.

Thanks for explaining the Japanese title, it indeed makes it more feel like an 'extra game for those who really want to know' than a manual (and who need that)...

One argument I didn't see yet is that of perceived value... More than 50% of ps5 owners don't even know astros playroom is there so adding it as a new game around launch (when the store is still barren) might give it some more light.

but I do hope it will be more than just a five minute experience though... I mean, even the nintendo museum didn't show any real secrets, did it...and was a cute but ultimately superficial experience if I read the reports..

The screenshots of explaining 4K by using super Mario bros 1.1 were quite interesting though

Yeah, I'm skipping the Welcome Tour. First of all, I don't really care for tech demos. And this should've been part of the package. I want to send a clear message to Nintendo that I don't want support their decision for not including it for free.

This should be free on both switches. On S1 some features are missing but it would be a great advertisement for the S2

@Ultimapunch
Probably the Dunning-Kruger effect. People take Japanese 101, or worse, use Google Translate, and suddenly they’re convinced they know more than they do. Heck, I know at least enough to do this for a living and occasionally fall into that same trap myself and get something wrong. But random guy on Reddit? Maybe not the most reliable source.

This game is a waste of space anyways so I'm glad it isn't bundle in. Also it'll be odd to hear Reggie saying this game should be free and as a pack-in when he too does the same for NintendoLand on Wii U which wasn't a pack-in (at first). When it actually became a pack-in, it's a tad too late.

The fact that Nintendo have the audacity to charge for this tells me that Nintendo are intentionally trying to miss the generation.

I feel like Nintendo are trying to fail at this point 😂

I'll use that 10 to upgrade my BOTW and more for TOTK...for Switch 2.....That is better money spent.

I think it’s like asking us to pay extra for instructions. I do think nintendo has completely missed an opportunity here.

I don't think this should be a pack-in because it's not really a game. It's more of a learning tool.

Wii Sports makes sense because it's a game, you could buy a Wii without any other launch title and have something to play.

Welcome Tour is not. I think it would give a bad 1st impression to anyone who thought its inclusion is a suitable replacement for any launch games or Switch games. I think making this tour appear to be the Wii Sports equivalent of the system would be a bigger mistake than charging for it.

This thing is a curiosity for those really interested in the hardware, but it'll probably be too boring for the majority.

@Shepdawg1 exactly it’s just $10…so why try to nickel and dime every cent out of the players. They could throw us a bone every once in a while. Nintendo is just greedy.

I'd rather the system be $10 cheaper and have this as an optional game to buy for people interested.

@Shepdawg1 This is literally the boiling frog analogy. You'll continue to say this until you're paying exorbitant prices for even the smallest of features, yet you'll still be defending it or being dismissive of it as a non-issue.

Enough is enough. Nintendo must face consequences or they're going to continue trickling these anti-consumer practices in, killing off video games in the process as they become industry-standard.

@Oracles_fanboi This is silly it's only a few weeks ago Ubisift released a full price AAA game with mobile style premium currency microtransactions. (Assassin's Creed Shadows)

If you think Nintendo charging a small amount for Switch tour is some new level of greed. Wake up and look at where the industry is lol your mind is cooked.

@Oracles_fanboi Dude…it’s a video game. The world will live on regardless of what happens, and video games aren’t a common commodity. They’re a luxury. Always have been. Always will be. And the important part of all luxuries is to remember this: you don’t need them. So yes, it is a non-issue.

And don’t forget: the impetus for your scenario is ultimately on the consumer. If the consumers buy it, that’s what the market wanted. And lest we forget, I said that it’s not worth getting upset over. Just don’t buy it. That’ll send the message. I’m not planning on buying it unless reviews say otherwise. If other people buy it, that’s their choice.