Of all the first-party video game publishers, Nintendo is the most resistant to sales and discounts. The Switch is 7 years old, and Nintendo is still asking $59.99 for launch-year titles like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey. That’s not great! However, there are certain times of year when Nintendo does drop prices, and Black Friday 2024 will absolutely be one of them. With solid rumors and speculation pointing to the Switch 2 releasing next year, Black Friday 2024 is Nintendo’s last chance to make a big push to sell Switch hardware. Presumably, next holiday season will be all about the follow-up to the Switch (Nintendo expects to have plenty of stock available). So let’s hope for unprecedented discounts on all the best Switch games this year. Here’s what I’d like to see.What We Already Know: Nintendo Switch Black Friday 2024 BundleNintendo Switch OLED: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Bundle31Includes Switch OLED console, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (digital), and 12 months Individual Nintendo Switch Online Membership.Nintendo Switch: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Bundle25Includes Switch console, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe (digital), and 12 months Individual Nintendo Switch Online Membership.Every year in the lead-up to Black Friday, Nintendo releases a Nintendo Switch + Mario Kart 8 Deluxe bundle for the price you’d usually pay for a Switch without a pack-in game. This year, Nintendo is also throwing in a 12-month individual Nintendo Switch Online subscription for good measure. These bundles (one for the standard Switch and one for the OLED) are already available. You can buy them at the links above.First-Party Switch Games on Sale for $24.99, PleaseOn Black Friday, Switch games made by other companies besides Nintendo often drop to extremely low prices at retailers like Amazon and Walmart, sometimes under the $10 mark. I don’t expect Nintendo to go that far, but how about a Black Friday doorbuster sale that drops some of the older Switch games below half price? I’d love to see some Mario or Pokemon games from the first three or four years of the console’s life span drop to $24.99. I’m talking games like The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Super Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, and Super Smash Bros. Ultimate. We’ve seen some of these games go as low as $30 before, but not below that. It’s time, Nintendo.Meaningful Discounts on 2024 Nintendo Switch GamesThis year hasn’t been the most fruitful for Switch owners, at least in terms of new games. Don’t get me wrong: The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is phenomenal, Mario Party people seem to love Jamboree, and there’s more upcoming Switch games than you’d expect. But a lot of this year’s first-party Switch releases were either remasters or smaller games that didn’t make much of a splash with audiences. For instance, Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD is a lesser game than the excellent Luigi’s Mansion 3. Endless Ocean: Luminous was a rare dud. Even Princess Peach: Showtime, the first game to star everyone’s favorite Mushroom Kingdom royal in forever, wasn’t exactly a blockbuster hit.Maybe you took a pass on some of these games. So it would be great if we could see some deep discounts on them to entice Switch owners to pick them up before moving on to the Switch’s successor.I’d also like to see deepest-ever discounts on other recent Switch games, like The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door, and Super Mario RPG. What better way to send off the Switch than by pricing these games low enough that fans will feel eager to pick them up?Looking for discounts sooner rather than later? Check out our guide to the best Nintendo Switch deals happening right now. Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN’s board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on Threads and Bluesky.
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