It’s not often you see a video on Nintendo’s main YouTube channel not performing well in terms of ‘Likes’ compared to ‘Dislikes’ but every now and then it posts something that doesn’t go down so well with subscribers, and viewers in general.
The latest video that’s struggling to win over the masses is the Switch Online overview trailer for the new ‘Expansion Pack’ add-on (see above). Although it’s generated over 700,000 views at the time of writing, it seems to have upset quite a lot of people – with over 40k ‘dislikes’ and just 14k ‘likes’.
Comments range from how Nintendo is “misreading the room” in reference to the “high pricing” and even jokes about how it should be renamed to the “expensive pack”. There are already calls from fellow Nintendo fans on social media to not buy into the new (and pricier) tier, in the hope the video game giant will reconsider:
@electrotriple11 – “did you know if you aren’t happy with the price of something, and enough people dont buy said thing, THEY **WILL** BE FORCED TO LOWER THE PRICE SO PEOPLE WILL BUY IT, SO DONT BUY THE EXPANSION PACK”
We ran our own poll here on Nintendo Life and an overwhelming majority of readers told us it was a “little too high” and even an “absolute rip-off”. In saying this, more than 40% of participants were willing to change their minds about the new tier, depending on future updates. Of course, there are others out there who are willing to give it a chance – with some even suggesting Nintendo will more than likely bolster the service with extra incentives, such as more game libraries and DLC content over time.
It’s not the first time we’ve seen a Nintendo video on YouTube struggle to appeal – Metroid Prime: Federation Force generated over 90k dislikes in less than a day, as one Nintendo fan previously noted:
“Metroid Prime: Federation Force’s reveal, which was around five years ago, is the most disliked video on Nintendo’s YouTube channel, at over 90k dislikes.”
And more recently, the free-to-play micro-transaction title Pokémon Unite for the Nintendo Switch and mobile devices generated more than 150k dislikes in less than a day. Ouch!
Although Nintendo hasn’t explained why NSO service’s new tier is the price it is, well-known leaker, Emily Rogers, has suggested it could be to do with the “licensing costs” of certain game libraries – like the Mega Drive/Genesis and games from companies like Sega and Capcom.
When the new expansion pack service does launch on 25th / 26th October, it’ll be available for the following prices. Note: there’ll also be a “pro-rated discount”, which you can read more about in our pricing post.
- 12 months single user – $49.99 / €39,99 / £34.99
- 12 months family pass (up to 8 users) – $79.99USD / €69,99 / £59.99
So, how are you feeling about the Switch Online ‘Expansion Pack’ at this stage? What was your own reaction to the above video? Do you think Nintendo needs to reconsider the price of this new higher tier? Leave your thoughts down below.
