Reggie Fils-Aimé Highlights Wii Sports Pack-in Amid Switch 2 Tour Backlash

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 Switch 2 tutorial game, Welcome Tour. Through a series of tweets featuring clips from an old IGN interview, Fils-Aimé highlighted his past success in convincing Nintendo to include Wii Sports as a free pack-in with the Wii console, suggesting that a similar strategy could benefit the Switch 2.

The announcement of the Nintendo Switch 2's $449.99 price and Mario Kart World's $79.99 price has already stirred significant debate among fans. Adding fuel to the fire, the revelation during last week's Nintendo Direct that the interactive instruction manual, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, would cost $9.99 and be available only digitally has caused further uproar. Many fans believe that Welcome Tour should be included as a free pack-in with the Switch 2, similar to how Astro's Playroom was bundled with the PlayStation 5.

Welcome Tour is described by Nintendo as a "virtual exhibition" of the new hardware, offering tech demos, mini-games, and other interactive experiences to familiarize players with the Switch 2. The Nintendo Direct showcased a player avatar navigating a larger-than-life Switch 2, exploring features and engaging in mini-games like Speed Golf, Dodge the Spiked Balls, and a Maracas Physics Demo.

Fils-Aimé's tweets drew parallels to his past battles with Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto. In the first clip, Fils-Aimé recounted Miyamoto's resistance to including Wii Sports as a pack-in, a decision he eventually won in regions outside Japan. The second clip highlighted a similar struggle to bundle Wii Play with the Wii Remote. Fils-Aimé's final tweet emphasized the successful outcomes of these decisions, noting that Wii Sports became a phenomenon in markets where it was included, and Wii Play became the fifth best-selling piece of software on the Wii.

While Fils-Aimé did not directly criticize Nintendo's current strategy, his tweets suggest that offering Welcome Tour as a free pack-in could have mirrored the success of Wii Sports. Fans have picked up on this, with some on social media humorously suggesting that Fils-Aimé is responding to their comments about the Switch 2.

In a recent interview with IGN, Nintendo of America's Vice President of Product and Player Experience, Bill Trinen, defended the $9.99 price tag for Welcome Tour. He emphasized that the game offers much more than what was shown in the Nintendo Direct and during media hands-on sessions. Trinen pointed out that Welcome Tour is particularly valuable for tech enthusiasts interested in the system's specifications and features, and he argued that the price reflects the care and effort put into the product.

As part of Nintendo's next-generation strategy, the pricing and bundling decisions around the Switch 2 and its games, including Welcome Tour, continue to generate discussion and debate. Trinen also addressed questions about the $80 price point for Switch 2 games and the $450 price for the console itself, adding to the ongoing conversation about Nintendo's approach to its latest hardware.