Former Nintendo of America boss Reggie Fils-Aimé has pointed to the story of Wii pack-in sport Wii Sports in thinly-veiled tweets addressing the controversy surrounding Nintendo’s choice to cost for Switch 2 tutorial sport Welcome Tour.
Amid the furore round the $449.99 value of the Switch 2 and Mario Kart World’s $79.99 price ticket, there was additionally shock at Nintendo’s choice to cost for interactive instruction guide, Welcome Tour.
Nintendo revealed Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour throughout its Nintendo Direct final week. It’s a sport set to launch alongside the Switch 2 in June that provides a guided tour of the console itself in online game kind.
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is described as a “digital exhibition” of the brand new {hardware}. Per Nintendo: “via tech demos, minigames and different interactions, gamers will get to know the brand new system inside and outside in methods they might by no means have recognized about in any other case.”
The Nintendo Direct confirmed footage of a small participant avatar exploring a super-sized Switch 2, studying concerning the totally different options and information concerning the console. It additionally contains mini-games corresponding to Speed Golf, Dodge the Spiked Balls, and a Maracas Physics Demo.
IGN has confirmed that Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour prices $9.99 and is a digital-only product. That’s considerably cheaper than different Switch 2 video games, however IGN has already reported to the complaints from some Nintendo followers that Welcome Tour prices cash in any respect, with many saying it must be a Switch 2 pack-in, as DualSense tech demo sport Astro’s Playroom was for PlayStation 5.
Now, Fils-Aimé has tweeted three clips from IGN’s two-year-old interview with the previous Nintendo govt wherein he mentioned the interior battle he had with legendary developer Shigeru Miyamoto to get Wii Sports as a free pack-in for the vastly profitable Wii console.
In the primary clip, Fils-Aimé says “it’s an understatement to say that Mr. Miyamoto pushed again” on the decision to make Wii Sports a Wii console pack-in. As we all know, this can be a battle Fils-Aimé received to a level, with Wii Sports bundled with the Wii in all places besides Japan.
The story of Wii Sports pack in …https://t.co/LhflSFWaL3
— Reggie Fils-Aimé (@Reggie) April 9, 2025
The second interview clip Fils-Aimé tweeted pointed to an identical battle to bundle Wii Play with the Wii Remote. In the clip from our interview, Fils-Aimé revealed he “pissed off” Miyamoto as soon as once more with the suggestion. “He was not glad about that both.”
And lastly, tweeting “and the outcomes,” Fils-Aimé clipped out the part from our interview wherein he reveals that each one this was, in the end, the suitable name.
“In the Americas and in Europe Wii Sports was packed in with the Wii proposition. It was not in Japan, which created a little bit of a take a look at market. It was apparent that within the markets the place Wii Sports was packed in that we grew to become far more of a phenomenon. Wii Sports itself grew to become far more of a phenomenon.
“We did pack the Remote with Wii Play. And it grew to become the fifth best-selling piece of software program within the historical past of the Wii.”
And the outcomes.https://t.co/xrFTDeJMQf
— Reggie Fils-Aimé (@Reggie) April 9, 2025
It’s clear to see what Fils-Aimé is doing right here. Although he’s in a roundabout way commenting on Nintendo’s Switch 2 technique, he’s making the purpose that free pack-ins have labored prior to now for Nintendo consoles,so it stands to motive that it could accomplish that once more for Switch 2.
Fans know what’s up, too. “Hahaha, guys I believe Reggie is watching our feedback concerning the Switch 2,” mentioned one X / Twitter person. “We know you’d have packed in Welcome Tour,” mentioned one other.
This week, IGN revealed its interview with Nintendo of America’s Vice President of Product and Player Experience, Bill Trinen, performed at a latest Switch 2 preview occasion in New York, however earlier than Nintendo introduced the delay to pre-orders attributable to Trump’s tariffs.
Trinen mentioned there’s extra to Welcome Tour than it seems based mostly on the displaying throughout the Nintendo Direct and even throughout latest hands-on alternatives the media had entry to. Based on what’s really within the sport, Nintendo determined $9.99 “will not be an exorbitant value,” he continued.
“It’s an fascinating product,” Trinen started. “We’re really preparing as we speak, we’ll be doing a little Nintendo Treehouse Live segments and protecting loads of video games intimately. That’s considered one of them. And I believe folks will be capable of see via Treehouse Live most likely slightly bit extra perhaps than you had been capable of see on the present ground. It’s a fairly strong piece of software program. There’s loads of nice element in there.
“For some folks, I believe there are people who find themselves significantly within the tech and the specs of the system and issues like that, for them I believe it will be an important product. It’s actually for those that need extra details about the system somewhat than essentially a fast intro to every part it does.
“And for that motive and simply the quantity of care and work that the workforce put into it, I believe it was determined that, ‘Yeah, this looks like $9.99 will not be an exorbitant value. It looks like a great worth for what you are getting out of the product.’ “
Welcome Tour is in fact only one a part of Nintendo’s next-gen push to develop into embroiled in controversy, and we’ve additionally received Trinen’s response to questions surrounding the corporate’s choice to go for $80 Switch 2 video games, in addition to going for $450 for the Switch 2 itself.
Photo by Susan Goldman/Bloomberg by way of Getty Images.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can attain Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
