8 Major Worries For The Nintendo Switch In 2018

8. The "Switch Tax" Problem

As far as hardware prices go, the Switch's modest price tag is a welcome and justified alternative to the figures that Sony and Microsoft's products demand, but that value depreciates sharply when the price of the console's software is taken into account.

A definitive answer for why multi-platform titles cost more on Switch remains absent, but several outlets have posited that the link comes down to the expense of manufacturing the Switch's diddy cartridges, a figure that, per some reports, costs publishers $20 for each unit. Who ultimately ends up paying for that surplus charge? Why the consumer does, of course.

Rockstar's re-release of L.A. Noire on Switch, for example, goes for considerably more at retail than its Xbox One or PS4 counterparts, presumably for this reason. Rime developer Tequila Games opted to include a download code for the game's soundtrack ($10) for the Switch version to account for that extra cost - a commendable but non-standard gesture that publishers are by no means obliged (nor should they be) to replicate.

No, the onus here rests squarely on the Big N's shoulders.

If the use of custom media necessitates a larger price tag than CDs, then Nintendo should foot the bill, not the publisher.