Why is the Nintendo Switch Dock $90?!

Summary

The script discusses the consistently high pricing of Nintendo products, from games and amiibo to hardware like the Switch and its accessories, which often seem unjustified. Specific examples covered are the slight markup on special edition Switch OLEDs, the $60 pricing of HD remasters like Skyward Sword, and especially the $90 Nintendo Switch dock, which enables easily moving your Switch between TVs. The dock's high price tag is questioned since it's functionally just a USB-C hub, leading to speculation that the pricing could be intended to push more full Switch sales.

Takeaways

• 😒 Nintendo console and accessory prices seem unreasonably high
• 😮 The Switch dock by itself costs $90 - 1/3 the price of the console
• 🤔 No good justification for high Switch dock price
• 🎮 Switch dock functionality is basic - just an HDMI/USB-C hub
• 🤑 Higher prices may be to push more full console sales
• 😠 Many Switch accessories like Pro Controller seem overpriced
• 🤩 Switch dock still provides good flexibility to play on multiple TVs
• 😡 Sony's streaming solutions for multi-TV play are frustrating
• 👍 Switch's versatility works well for multi-TV without streaming
• 🙄 $90 Switch dock purchase felt silly but provides utility

Q & A

Why does the author think Nintendo Switch accessories and games are overpriced?

The author believes Nintendo Switch accessories like extra docks ($90), Joy-Cons ($80), and Pro Controllers ($70) are too expensive compared to similar accessories for other consoles. The author also thinks Nintendo games like Skyward Sword HD are overpriced at $60.

What does the author think about the usefulness of the Switch dock?

The author sees value in the Switch dock's ability to easily move the console from one TV to another. However, they think the dock is overpriced at $90 since it doesn't do much besides act as an HDMI and USB-C hub.

How does the Switch dock compare to Sony's PS TV and Portal?

The author sees the Switch dock as superior because it allows easy TV switching without streaming or lag, unlike Sony's remote play solutions which require Wi-Fi and have latency.

What extra feature does the author wish the Switch dock had?

The author suggests it would be cool if the Switch dock had a spring mechanism to lock the console securely in place and prevent accidents when changing game cards.

What does the OLED Switch dock upgrade add?

The OLED Switch dock includes an ethernet port. However, the author doesn't care much about the added ethernet functionality.

Why doesn't the author recommend third-party Switch docks?

The author says third-party docks could potentially damage the Switch, referring to issues with some docks bricking Switches early on. The author recommends sticking with the official dock.

What accessories does the author think add value to the Switch dock bundle?

The author believes the HDMI cable and AC adapter that come with the dock bundle justify more of the $90 price tag than the cheap-feeling dock itself.

Why doesn't the author think the OLED Switch dock ethernet port matters much?

The author doesn't care about the ethernet port because they don't think online multiplayer is important enough on the Switch to warrant a direct wired connection.

Does the author think the Switch dock is worth the $90 price?

No, the author thinks the Switch dock is overpriced at $90. They believe it provides utility but costs much less than $90 for Nintendo to manufacture.

Why might Nintendo price the Switch dock so high?

The author speculates Nintendo may intentionally price the dock high so people buy multiple Switches instead of cheaper docks for TV switching.

Outlines

00:00

😕 Why Nintendo products are so expensive

The first paragraph discusses the high prices of various Nintendo products like games, amiibo, consoles, and accessories. It questions why special edition Switch OLED consoles with minor changes cost $10 more and older ports/remakes still retail for $60. While acknowledging the quality of the Switch Pro controller, it compares its $70 price tag unfavorably to competitors' controllers with similar features that cost less.

05:02

😒 Sony's flawed multi-TV solutions

The second paragraph contrasts Nintendo's dock, which easily enables playing the Switch on multiple TVs, to Sony's poor attempts at similar functionality. It points out significant limitations with PS4 remote play and the PlayStation TV, like needing good Wi-Fi, stream lag, and lack of other features.

10:02

😱 The $90 Switch dock

The third paragraph examines the Nintendo Switch dock accessory, which enables using the Switch on another TV. It expresses disbelief at the high $90 price tag, which is almost a third of a new Switch. Upon closer inspection, the dock seems cheaply made, basically functioning as simple USB-C hub. The paragraph questions the motivation behind pricing something so basic and inexpensive to manufacture at such a premium.

Keywords

💡Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch is a video game console developed by Nintendo. It is a hybrid console that can be used as both a home console connected to a TV, and as a portable handheld console. The high prices of Nintendo Switch products like games, accessories and special edition consoles is a major theme discussed in the video.

💡Accessories

The video discusses how Nintendo Switch accessories like extra controllers and docks are very expensive compared to similar accessories for other game consoles. For example, the Nintendo Switch Pro Controller costs $70 while a PlayStation 4 controller is $60.

💡Ports and remakes

The video mentions how Nintendo often charges full price ($60) for ports and remakes of older games on the Switch, like The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword HD. This is seen as questionable pricing.

💡Special editions

Special/limited edition Nintendo Switch hardware bundles like the Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom edition cost more but don't include extra physical items, just different decorative designs.

💡Nintendo Switch dock

The dock allows the Switch to connect to a TV. The video is surprised by the $90 price tag for an extra dock, given its simple functionality as a USB-C hub.

💡Online multiplayer

The video wonders who would care enough about online multiplayer on the Switch to warrant buying the LAN adapter for the new OLED dock. Implying demand is low.

💡Nintendo's marketing

The video speculates that the high pricing could be a deliberate marketing tactic by Nintendo to push people to buy additional consoles rather than accessories to connect one console to multiple TVs.

💡Consumer demand

Despite complaints about high prices, the video admits that these products sell well, including to enthusiasts like the creator. Showing that consumers continue to buy them at current prices.

💡Third party accessories

More affordable third party docks and cables are mentioned as alternatives, but reliability and compatibility issues are a risk.

💡Console generations

The video compares Switch accessory pricing mainly to the PlayStation 4 era as a comparable generation.

Highlights

Questions why Nintendo products are so expensive, especially for the Switch

Special edition Switch OLEDs cost $10 more with no extra value

Games like Skyward Sword HD priced at $60 despite being a remake

$70 Nintendo Switch Pro Controller was more expensive than PS4 and Xbox controllers

$80 for a pair of Joy-Cons is expensive but the Switch does come with 2 controllers

Separate Nintendo Switch dock costs a ridiculous $90

The dock is a simple USB-C and HDMI hub that feels cheap

Dock doesn't do anything special besides output HDMI signal

Third party docks had issues with Switch compatibility early on

The new OLED dock pointlessly adds an Ethernet port over extra USB ports

$90 dock price is 1/3 the cost of a Switch itself

The HDMI cable and AC adapter alone may be worth $20 of the $90 dock price

High dock price seems like a tactic to push more Switch sales over accessories

Can't imagine the dock costs $90 to manufacture

Happy to have spent $90 on a basic accessory just to play on another TV

Transcripts

Hey listen to this I'm about to break

new ground with this question why is

this Nintendo product so expensive over

the years especially in the Nintendo

switch era a lot of Nintendo products

price points have been questioned I mean

we're talking pretty much anything

Nintendo's offering from games to amiibo

to consoles and take for example

Nintendo's special edition Nintendo

switch oleds uh something like the Zelda

tears of the Kingdom special edition and

the Splatoon 3 special edition $10 more

expensive no idea why I mean they don't

include anything extra if anything

consoles that actually include things

like the Mario choose choose a game

bundle uh that includes extra stuff you

get like a brand new game with that plus

you get stickers included in that bundle

whereas with tear of the Kingdom special

edition I mean that's just that's just a

dumbass Little Zelda design going on

there it looks nice and there's for sure

a bit more work that goes into something

like that compared to a a white Nintendo

switch OLED but still I mean like $10

more expensive I'm just that that's a

bit new to me then you have games stuff

like Skyward Sword HD for $60 that

alongside a lot of their remakes and

ports at that price you know it's like

oh man you're really you're really

pushing things here but man when the

switch launched uh the accessories the

lineup of

accessories these things were pretty

damn pricey the Nintendo switch Pro

contr controller retailed and still

retails for

$70 now that thing at the very least is

incredibly high quality I love the

Nintendo switch Pro Controller it's one

of the best controllers out there but is

it worth

$70 I mean like in terms of the amount

of time I've gotten out of it yeah but

still the Nintendo switch Pro Controller

was more expensive than like the dual

shock 4 for the PS4 or the Xbox One

controller specifically with the dual

shock 4 I think that's like an apt

comparison because that also has motion

control that has that dumbass light you

have the touchpad on it you know there's

a lot of stuff going on in there and it

just kind of feels like controllers are

going up in price significantly

especially look at the joycon a pair of

those

$80 absolutely nut so but uh things

start to get a slightly better once you

kind of consider the fact that hey the

Nintendo switch does technically come

with two controllers right out of the

box you detach those two joycon and

there you have two controllers to play a

Mario game or any other kind of simple

Co-op or two-player uh competitive

multiplayer game right then and there so

that's something so $80 for two joycon I

mean like I mean technically kind of two

controllers there so that's like 40

bucks a

pop

whatever it's fine I mean people are

buying them I'm buying them I'm buying

these things all the time so like who am

I to complain about a price point that I

have paid multiple times but here's

something that I didn't buy for the

longest time and I finally bit the

bullet on that is a separate Nintendo

switch dock now why did I never bite the

bullet on this before because you know

this is a great idea you know the switch

is such a unique console where you know

very easily you can bring it from one TV

to another in your house you don't need

to have multiple Nintendo switches if

you want to have you know one going on

like living room TV and one going in the

bedroom or one going in the basement

whatever you can just get multiple docks

and then you can just bring your switch

from one place to another you don't have

to unhook everything and bring it places

and whatnot this is an amazing 90 fing

dollars yeah this was wild to me

$90 for this the Nintendo switch dock

set now I picked this up on Amazon and

uh yeah I got the Japanese model and uh

it's a little it's it's in slightly

rough shape but you know it's whatever I

I I got this for the utility of it not

for the collectability of the dock set

box and as we can see you know we move

over here and Nintendo's advertising hey

you know you can play it here and then

bring it over to your bedroom with your

cat and play it there you can just bring

your switch from one dock to another it

is taking advantage of this system's

form factor to the eenth degre and I

love it I mean this is something that

other companies specifically Sony uh is

really trying to like do but in their

own stupid ass way I remember the

PlayStation TV the little box that was

uh mainly just a PSVita without anything

that made it a PS Vita and since playing

vaita games wasn't really selling the

thing and also the vaita Sony kind of

advertised it as like a PS4 Remote Play

device where instead of having to get

two PS4s or uh unplug your PS4 and bring

it into another room you can keep your

PS4 in one room and then uh go to your

other room get the PST TV and uh just

connect it to your Wi-Fi and then you

can stream your PS4 to another TV in the

house and Sony more recently is doing

that with the PlayStation portal I I who

the hell is doing this man it's like

these are like good on like a baseline

but then there's like a million

asterisks down below where it's like

okay wouldn't it be great to play your

console that's already plugged into one

TV on another without having to unplug

things or buy another console you also

have to be running it through Wi-Fi and

have fast enough Wi-Fi to stream things

and also it's going to be over streaming

so there's going to be input lag and

delay and I'm just looking at this like

why would I want this this is horrible

and Sony's like pushing for this hard I

mean they made that whole ass

PlayStation Portal Device just for this

feature I mean that's the entire point

of that thing there's nothing else can

do nothing else in the world and

Nintendo has the ability to do something

like this right here it's so easy and

they don't give a they don't care I

mean if you want it that's what they're

advertising over here but at the same

time like I can't find these in stores

anymore this is a very Niche product at

this point probably why Amazon sent me

the Japanese version but you know to be

fair it doesn't really matter I mean

like it's the exact same dock exact same

connection and setups but it is wild to

me that this is

$90 a third of the switch's price and it

all adds up you know like the Nintendo

switch is

$390 off and you're roughly talking a

Nintendo switch light I I'll give

Nintendo that their price points are

roughly matching up here but I just

think it's insane because the switch

dock is easily like the cheapest feeling

element of the Nintendo switch system so

let me take a look at what a singular

dock by itself is all about cracking

this open there she is now wow what a

surprise so what I'm talking about here

is the switch dock really doesn't have

much going on here at all uh Nintendo

has pretty much made it so then you

can't just connect like an HDMI cable to

the switch directly it has to go in the

switch dock does the switch dock do

anything no it's basically just a fancy

HDMI USB C Hub and he uses a uh very

specific USBC cable uh meaning you know

like it's like you can't just plug in

any ordinary USBC to HDMI cable n it has

to be this one now I know that there are

some third party docks out there but I

remember in the early days of the

Nintendo switch a lot of those third

party docks uh potentially messed with

the system uh now I'm sure these days uh

people have figured that out and there

are much better third party Docks but I

don't really care

about that to be honest I'll just I'll

just get this one you I'll just waste

money but yeah pretty much all this is

is just a very fancy USBC

HDMI hub I always thought it' be pretty

cool if the switch do had like a spring

mechanism I don't think it would work

well but I mean to be fair I think that

would be kind of cool because then would

lock it in because there are sometimes

where uh you know I'm trying to change

the game card on the switch when it's in

the dock and uh just trying to you know

un unhook the little game flap and uh

while it's in the dock there's a chance

it's going to wobble and it's going to

you know get out of the out of TV mode

you know like what if it Springs down

almost like a like

a like that no the dock is boring it's a

dock it connects to the TV that's it to

be fair there's the dock included in the

Nintendo switch OLED which has an

Ethernet cable anybody else find that

weird or it's just like I I I would

taking like extra USB ports over an

ethernet cable I I just kind of feel

like I don't know I don't care enough

about you know online multiplayer to

really warrant plugging an ethernet

cable into my into my game console so

I'm not really the target Dem a graphic

for that uh but I just found it weird

that they included that uh in the system

that's that's literally like everything

that they did to that system redesign

wise was all about like the screen and

just like the the actual

handheld uh and then they were like you

know what screw it let's let's add an

ethernet cable to the dock why but even

with that extra Port that's no excuse

for this to be90 damn dollar I just I I

never understood that it's a third of

the switch's price everything about this

dock just feels like fairly cheap hollow

there's nothing special to it well I

think what you get more value out of

with this purchase is the uh HDMI cable

and the USBC uh AC adapter well now this

might be worth $20 yeah so I just wanted

to talk about how weird I find that this

is so expensive maybe there's some weird

funky marketing manipulation going here

uh because you know I I would have

assumed if they pric this at like $50 or

something around there like a lot more

people would be buying these because

it's just like hey it would be nice to

play your switch on another TV by just

taking it from one Dock and putting it

uh in another uh but maybe Nintendo

would prefer people just flat out buying

a new switch instead so they might just

make this so expensive we're like no I

don't I I don't want to buy this I'll

just wait and get a special edition

Nintendo switch system that's stupid

logic it's stupid I I okay I'll just

admit I don't know why Nintendo is

pricing this so high it can't be worth

$90 to make this can't be $90 to make

you know what I would understand being

$90 if it would be like a Nintendo

switch light dock because then you you

know you buy the Nintendo switch light

for 200 bucks and then you know like

$100 more or something you can get a

dock and then you can pretty much use

that as a standard Nintendo switch they

would never do that that that's that's

that's too logical yes uh I am pretty

happy that I finally bit the bullet and

spent $9 on an accessory to play my

switch on another TV uh yay me join me

next time where I will just straight up

throw my wallet in a lake