Nintendo will soon be selling a Super Mario Galaxy bundle for the Switch 2. The discount only saves you $20 off of games that originally came to the Wii starting nearly 20 years ago. Given the recent flood of price hikes on gaming consoles, however, this might be the best deal fans get, as the AI race makes everything else more expensive.
“From April 12 through May 9, purchase Nintendo Switch 2 at the same time as the physical or digital version of these galactic adventures and save $20 at participating retailers such as Amazon, Best Buy, GameStop, Target and Walmart (available online and/or instore at select locations),” reads a new press release Nintendo put out on April 6. With the console normally $450 and Super Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 normally $70, it puts the combined purchase at $500.
That’s the same price as the Switch 2 launch bundle that included Mario Kart World, normally an $80 purchase. That deal is currently sold out after Nintendo previously said it would be phased out. That was a new game and Mario Galaxy 1 & 2 are technically remasters of games that came out three console generations ago, even if they are some of the best in the series overall. A year after fans called for Nintendo to lower the Switch 2’s pricing scheme, you can already see a new level of stinginess creeping into its strategy to grow the new console’s install base.
But with analysts and former Nintendo employees already claiming a price hike is inevitable, this Mario Galaxy bundle is probably the best players can expect in an era of AI-fueled RAM shortages, trade wars, and high fuel prices. Even at $500, the Switch 2 is still less than the cheapest PS5 following Sony’s recent price increases. Who knows? By Christmas we could be looking down the barrel of a $600 Zelda: Ocarina of Time Switch 2 bundle which I’m sure would somehow still sell just fine.
