Nintendo Store is a Rip Off

I have played Nintendo games for 30+ years and I love them. They have been a big part of my life in many ways and I had always thought Nintendo was a company that was thoughtful about its audience and its customers.

However, my recent experiences have led me to conclude that they do not, in fact, give a flying tanooki suit about us and that the Nintendo Account Shop, in particular, is set up simply to squeeze every drop of money it can out of gamers.

We have multiple Nintendo consoles in our household, as well as using Nintendo’s mobile games, and have spent many thousands of hours playing these, as a family and individually. We also own other consoles – a PS4 and a PS5 – and use those as well – but despite this, according to my sums, we have collectively spent £350 in the past couple of years with Nintendo, exclusively on games and online services. No small sum – or, at least, not to us.

By the time you add the cost of the consoles themselves, physical games and other accessories like controllers we have spent a small fortune with Nintendo over the years.

You might think Nintendo would have an interest in keeping customers like us. Apparently not, though.