Hold Up, Mate! Is Nintendo's Mario Galaxy Pricing Really as Bonkers as Everyone Thinks?
AI Gaming News Author · Eurogamer ·
Jeff dives into the heated debate surrounding Nintendo's pricing of the Super Mario Galaxy re-releases, challenging the widespread expectation that all old games should be cheap while acknowledging Nintendo's broader pricing strategies. He argues that truly great games, like cinematic masterpieces, retain their value regardless of age due to their timeless quality.
Right then, gather 'round, mates. Nintendo's gone and done it again – stirred up a hornet's nest of online debate, this time over the pricing of their Super Mario Galaxy re-releases on Switch. You'd think they’d announced a new console that only runs on unicorn tears and ancient prophecies, judging by some of the chatter.
Our pals over at Eurogamer, bless 'em, recently tossed this very question into the digital arena: are these new Mario Galaxy re-releases actually too expensive? It's a fair dinkum query, because for some reason, we've all collectively decided that digital goods, especially games, should just naturally depreciate faster than a wizard's robes after a rogue explosion.
You know the drill, don't ya? Buy a fancy new spellbook, wait a year, and suddenly it's half price in the dusty corner of the magic shop. Or, as Tom Orry from Eurogamer pointed out in his rather insightful piece, it’s like sniffing out that suspiciously cheap, slightly ropey sandwich at the supermarket – a bargain if you don’t mind living dangerously. We've become accustomed to the notion that if something isn't fresh off the digital presses, its value plummets. Remember when Gamestation dropped Skyrim to twenty quid less than a month after launch back in 2011? Bloody hell, that was a moment. A defining era for discount hunters, perhaps.
But then there's Nintendo. The wizards who apparently run their own economy, where the laws of depreciation are more like 'suggestions' than hard rules. They’ve dropped Super Mario Galaxy and Super Mario Galaxy 2 onto the Switch (and the mythical Switch 2, because why not throw that into the mix?) for £34 each digitally, or a bundle for £59. And the internet, as it always does, erupted like a cauldron overflowing with indignation.
“How dare they charge that much for games that are 18 and 15 years old, respectively!” cried the masses. “And without massive overhauls, too!”
Now, hold your horses. I'm with Tom Orry from Eurogamer on this one – some of that derision? It's a bit... off the mark. Taken at face value, of course, games getting cheaper is brilliant. Who doesn't love a good bargain? And if a publisher wants to throw out budget lines, that's grand. But Nintendo setting a price for two iconic, borderline immaculate video games, and people arguing they aren't worth that much money, is a very different kettle of fish.
Because here’s the thing, mate: the very best games don't age. They don't get worse. They stand as tall today as they did on release. It's like finding a perfectly preserved ancient artefact; its value isn't diminished by its age, but often enhanced. I even fired up the old Galaxy last night – the one from the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection back in 2020 – just to make sure I wasn't wearing some heavy-duty nostalgia goggles. And you know what? It’s still 100 percent an incredible game. The art style? Ageless. The joyousness in design? Unmatched, perhaps only by its own sequel. Frankly, £34 for either of these is a bargain that only ceases to be such if your view on the industry is one you've lived through from generation to generation.
Present someone entirely new to video games with Mario Galaxy and a bunch of other recent 3D platformers, and I'd be genuinely astonished if the vast majority didn't pick Nintendo's micro-planet-hopping adventure as the best and most-deserving of its price tag. That’s a testament to timeless design, not some corporate pricing trick.
And if you want a truly mind-bending comparison, let's peek at the film industry. If you've ever, like me, accidentally purchased 'The Matrix' enough times to build a small shrine to cinematic re-releases – from VHS, through DVD, Blu-ray, digital streams, and now Ultra HD Blu-ray – you'll know that these films, many from the 80s or 90s, aren't getting cheaper with each re-release. They're often getting *more* expensive. And the improvements? They're not always the eyebrow-raising leaps we saw from VHS to DVD anymore. If we metaphorically say the Wii is DVD, Switch is Blu-ray, and Switch 2 is Ultra HD, and the improvements are largely visual clarity, then Nintendo's argument for premium pricing on its classics starts looking a lot less like a dubious spell and more like common practice in other creative industries.
Look, no one's forcing your hand here. You aren't required to buy these re-releases. Unless you're trying to get hold of truly rare games, you can usually pick up the original versions for way less than the marginally improved versions releasing on new hardware. The original Galaxy games on Wii aren't exactly buried in an ancient tomb; you can find them for under fifteen quid each if you hunt around. The choice, as always, is yours, fellow digital adventurer.
Now, am I saying Nintendo's a perfect saint in the pricing realm? Bloody hell, no. They’ve certainly been raising eyebrows lately, what with Switch 2 games potentially costing more than their predecessors, and some of their DLC practices. The Donkey Kong Bananza and Switch 2 Edition upgrades to games like Mario Party 8 have been criticised, and I reckon that DK Island & Emerald Rush DLC feeling like it should have been in the initial game's release is a fair point – a bit like finding half a biscuit in the wizard's treat jar when you expected a whole one. Increasing game prices can be seen as adapting to market conditions, but some DLC feels a bit more... opportunistic.
And yet, none of this makes me think the Super Mario Galaxy releases on Switch and Switch 2 are too expensive. Great art is expensive. Ultimately, the argument comes down to what consumers are willing to pay to get it. Given that these two games rank among the very best ever made – a true digital masterpiece – and Nintendo knows this, I don't think they're going to have any problem convincing people to part with their money. It's not just a game; it's a piece of gaming history that still shines brighter than a thousand newly conjured spells.
So, is the backlash truly warranted, or are we just struggling to adjust our expectations to the idea that some quality truly is timeless? My digital tea leaves tell me it's a bit of both, but mostly, it's a testament to Nintendo knowing the true value of their own magic.
*** *Originally published by Eurogamer on Sept. 21, 2025, with contributions from Editorial Director Tom Orry.*
Tags: Nintendo, Mario Galaxy, Game Pricing, Re-releases, Gaming Industry
Original article: Eurogamer