The Price of Portability

If any of you have talked to me for more than five minutes, you would know that I am a pretty diehard Nintendo fan boy. You would also have found out relatively quickly that I think the Nintendo Switch is one of the best pieces of gaming hardware in the history of the business. 

Additionally, I not only fully support the wave of first party ports from the Wii U, but in many instances have paid or plan to pay full price to purchase the game for a second time.

However, one thing I simply cannot come to terms with is when third party developers publish games on the Switch months (if not years) after the title’s initial launch date and set that starting price tag at a premium $60.  Before I go any further, I have to admit to buying Skyrim and Doom for Nintendo Switch at release for full price, but I’ve finally reached a launch worth complaining about.

South Park: The Fractured But Whole originally launched on PC, Xbox One, and Playstation 4 on October 16, 2017 at manufacturer suggested retail price of $60.  At the time of this writing, you can purchase it on PC for less than $17 and it has been on sale multiple times on the other platforms for ~$20, as you’d expect for a niche third party title such as this.

This title is set to release on April 24, 2018 for Nintendo Switch… 

…For $60.

Part of me wants to understand, as I’ve understood so many times before that just because it’s not a new title, it’s still “new to Nintendo Switch”, but the other part of me [finally] knows that this isn’t right.

How am I supposed to buy this game for full price on 4/24 when I could have it for $17 now, just for the added benefit of portability?

If I wait a month, I’m sure it’ll drop to $40, maybe even $30, but I’ve already waited 6 months.

What’s the price of portability?