Reggie Fils-Aimé, the former president of Nintendo of America, has subtly weighed in on the controversy surrounding Nintendo’s decision to charge for the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour through a series of tweets that reference the story of Wii Sports. Amidst the uproar over the $449.99 price of the Switch 2 and Mario Kart World's $79.99 price tag, fans were particularly surprised by Nintendo's choice to monetize the interactive instruction manual, Welcome Tour.
During last week's Nintendo Direct, the company unveiled Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, a game scheduled to launch alongside the Switch 2 in June. It serves as a guided tour of the new console in an interactive video game format. Described as a "virtual exhibition" of the new hardware, Nintendo explained that "through tech demos, minigames, and other interactions, players will get to know the new system inside and out in ways they may never have known about otherwise."
The Nintendo Direct showcased a player avatar navigating a giant Switch 2, learning about its features and facts. The game also features mini-games like Speed Golf, Dodge the Spiked Balls, and a Maracas Physics Demo. IGN has confirmed that Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is priced at $9.99 and available only digitally. While this is less expensive than other Switch 2 games, many Nintendo fans have expressed their dissatisfaction with the cost, arguing that it should have been a free pack-in, similar to Astro's Playroom for the PlayStation 5.
Fils-Aimé's tweets feature clips from a two-year-old IGN interview where he discussed his efforts to include Wii Sports as a free pack-in with the Wii console. In the first clip, he notes the resistance from Shigeru Miyamoto, stating, "it is an understatement to say that Mr. Miyamoto pushed back" on the idea. Despite this, Fils-Aimé successfully argued for Wii Sports to be bundled with the Wii everywhere except Japan.
The story of Wii Sports pack in ...https://t.co/LhflSFWaL3
— Reggie Fils-Aimé (@Reggie) April 9, 2025
The second clip highlights a similar struggle to include Wii Play with the Wii Remote, which also met with Miyamoto’s disapproval. Fils-Aimé remarked, "He was not happy about that either." The final clip underscores the success of these decisions, with Fils-Aimé noting, "In the Americas and in Europe, Wii Sports was packed in with the Wii proposition... It was obvious that in the markets where Wii Sports was packed in that we became much more of a phenomenon. Wii Sports itself became much more of a phenomenon."
And the results.https://t.co/xrFTDeJMQf
— Reggie Fils-Aimé (@Reggie) April 9, 2025
While Fils-Aimé does not directly address the Switch 2 strategy, his tweets imply that free pack-ins have proven beneficial for Nintendo in the past, suggesting a similar approach might work for the Switch 2. Fans have caught on to his message, with one commenting, "Hahaha, guys I think Reggie is watching our comments about the Switch 2," and another stating, "We know you would have packed in Welcome Tour."
In a recent interview with IGN, Nintendo of America's Vice President of Product and Player Experience, Bill Trinen, provided more insight into Welcome Tour. Conducted at a Switch 2 preview event in New York before the announcement of delayed pre-orders due to Trump's tariffs, Trinen emphasized the depth of the game. He explained, "It's an interesting product... There's a lot of great detail in there. For some people, I think there are people who are particularly interested in the tech and the specs of the system... It's really for people that want more information about the system rather than necessarily a quick intro to everything it does."
Trinen also justified the $9.99 price, saying, "And for that reason and just the amount of care and work that the team put into it, I think it was decided that, 'Yeah, this feels like $9.99 is not an exorbitant price. It feels like a good value for what you're getting out of the product.'"
Welcome Tour is just one aspect of Nintendo's next-gen strategy that has sparked controversy. Trinen also addressed questions regarding the company’s decision to price Switch 2 games at $80 and the console itself at $450.
