Nintendo Switch possibly getting $50 price cut and "leaks" for the next Direct

Hello everyone and welcome to the weekly Nintendo recap. We got some exciting news this week regarding a possible Nintendo Switch price cut that could make the original Switch only sell for $250. Additionally, a self-proclaimed leaker tweeted about what they expect to see in the next Nintendo Direct. There's also been a development with the fraud claim against Wata Games and Heritage Auctions, which are accused of marking up the costs of retro video games just to line the pockets of those involved. In other news, Sonic's latest remaster released, but to a glitchy start that's got people asking for refunds.

Switch price could drop next week

UPDATE: September 13, 2021: The Nintendo Switch has received a price cut in Europe. It still remains to be seen if a similar price cut will come to the United States. We'll update when we learn more.

On Thursday, Twitter user @nintendalerts who has been known to relay reliable information in the past, stated that the price of the original Nintendo Switch that released in 2017 will be getting a price cut down to 270 Euros next Monday or soon after that. That's equivalent to about $250 USD, so a $50 reduction from the original MSRP. So if you're thinking of getting a Switch this weekend, you might want to hold off for a few days just in case.

It makes sense this is happening considering that the first Nintendo Switch is outdated now that we have the Switch V2 with longer battery life and the upcoming Switch OLED model that releases this October. It's an interesting choice given that this could cannibalize the sales of that OLED model. Still, making it easier to purchase the Switch gets more people into the Nintendo ecosystem and thus makes it possible for them to sell more Switch games.

Wata Games co-founder selling his own retro games on eBay

A few weeks back I talked about a potentially shady situation between Heritage Auctions and Wata Games which were both accused by YouTuber, Karl Jobst in a well-researched video, of hiking up the market costs of retro games for their own gain. This attention spawned after an unopened Super Mario 64 sold for $2 million a few weeks ago. There's since been an unsurprising development in the accusation.

VGC reported this week that Mark Haspel, one of the co-founders of Wata Games, has been selling retro games graded by his company as a side gig on eBay. This was discovered when journalist Seth Abramson noticed that a few rated games he'd bought over the summer were all from the same seller, Haspel, and that the seller had included his name and email. When Abramson last checked, Haspel was "selling 74 Wata-graded Atari 2600 games with a total value of $46,405."

That's a lot of potential money and this is is definitely a shady practice. If you're able to make a profit off of the games that you are in charge of rating, of course you'll want to rate them higher than you might otherwise. Now, Wata does have a policy that prohibts employees from selling their own rated games, but apparently Haspel felt like he was above his own company's rules. Makes you question buying any retro graded games on the market right now, especially since so many have jumped up in price in recent months.

Sonic Colors: Ultimate trips over glitches

Things haven't gone very well for the famous hedgehog in recent years and that bad luck has continued with the recent launch of Sonic Colors: Ultimate on Tuesday. This is a remaster of a classic Wii game, however several people have reported horrible glitches including ones that freeze the game, make flashing lights obscure the courses, or a glitch that even results in a dead screen. Nintendo is aware of the issues and is refunding digital orders from the eShop. In the meanwhile, Blind Squirrell Games, the devs behind the port, have stated they are "listening and preparing a patch for release as soon as possible."

It's nice to see a company responding so quickly to these issues, but it does put me in mind of Baldo The Guardian Owls once again. With so many glitchy games landing on the eShop recently it really makes the credibility of Nintendo's digital purchasing platform go down. The Japanese gaming company really should tighten regulations so players don't have to experience incomplete or buggy games like this.

"Leaks" for the Future Nintendo Direct

If you've been looking around online recently, you'll have seen that the Nintendo community is abuzz talking about a potential Nintendo Direct in the near future. Now, there is absolutely no concrete evidence that any of this is real, but self proclaimed "Nintendo Leak insider" @SamusHunter2 on Twitter posted a thread detailing supposed leaks for said event.

They are as follows:

• Xenoblade Chronicles 3 official announcement.
• Game Boy and Game Boy Color games on Nintendo Switch Online
• A "major update" for Animal Crossing New Horizons that will most likely bring fan-favorite Brewster and his coffee bar to the game.
• The last Super Smash Bros. Ultimate DLC fighter reveal.

Considering all of the gossip surrounding these games in the last few months, an upcoming Nintendo Direct could very likely address all of these things. After all, we found out about Xenoblade Chronicles 3 just a few weeks ago thanks to a slip by voice actress, Jenna Coleman. Plus, Nintendo Life and Eurogamer confirmed with their sources that GB and GBC games were coming to NSO. Nintendo did state that it would be working on ACNH updates and of course we're obviously awaiting the very last DLC fighter for Smash. Not to mention, Nintendo usually does have a Direct in September or October. With any luck we'll learn about it soon.

Have a great weekend

That wraps up this weeks Nintendo discussion. September is a relatively slow month when it comes to Nintendo gaming, but there will be plenty of releases starting next month. What games are you looking forward to most this weekend? Are there any games you're excited to play? Tell us about it in the comments below.

Until next time.

- Rebecca Spear