The Nintendo Switch 2 encourages players to try Welcome Tour on the console’s launch day. The tutorial introduces players to the Switch 2 and its intricacies, but the former Sony Interactive Entertainment President Shuhei Yoshida is struggling to get behind the decision.
The Switch 2 feels like a large leap over its predecessor. Its new 120 FPS, 4K HDR features will make games rightly pop like they should, but a bunch of other new features make the console a big upgrade. The Switch 2 Direct revealed a new launch-day title called Welcome Tour, and it’s designed to ease players into the new device.
Welcome Tour‘s demonstration was going swimmingly until Nintendo dropped the bombshell that it’s a paid game. This news wouldn’t be so bad if it weren’t for another game—Astro’s Playroom.
Nintendo Switch 2’s Welcome Tour Will Cause People to Miss Out
Switch 2’s Welcome Tour is $9.99. We don’t know how long it takes to complete or fully get the most out of—I’d guess an hour or two. This amount is paltry, especially when you consider the Switch 2 price and the cost of its AAA games.
However, a precedent was created in November 2020 when Sony launched the PlayStation 5 with a free digital copy of Astro’s Playroom for all players. It’s a free-to-play platformer with several hours of content, and it’s designed to show off the PS5 DualSense’s Haptic Feedback, touchpad, and much more.
The key thing to note once more is it’s free.
In an Easy Allies podcast clip, Shuhei Yoshida was asked about Nintendo charging for Welcome Tour, and the former SIE President had this to say: “I just don’t understand. You would want everyone to experience that, right? You would have a better understanding of the Switch and become a fan of the system.“
When asked about this decision and whether this and Nintendo’s other monetary-based moves concerning the Switch 2 could affect the company and the console, Shuhei Yoshida replied: “People, pay or not pay $10 for the Welcome Tour, and people who decide not to pay $10, they don’t know what they missed, right? So I don’t think that will become a backlash. I think it’s just an opportunity loss for Nintendo.“
He does try to justify Nintendo’s decision by saying: “Nintendo is preserving the value of software” and is “against free to play.”
Is Shuhei too kind at the end? Or is he right in saying Nintendo believes in charging for hard work? It’s a hotly debated topic, so we’d appreciate a comment below. You can also drop your thoughts in the Insider Gaming Forum.
