Pokemon Pokopia might be the sleeper hit of the year, but it's a game that you'll have to shell out a little bit extra for if you're planning to grab it through Amazon. With the game in high demand, Amazon temporarily hiked the price on the physical edition of Pokemon Pokopia up from $70 to $80, but at the time of writing, it has dropped back down to $70--possibly due to some bad press and people complaining online. Still, Amazon could have set a worrying precedent for the future.
What makes the situation even stranger is that Pokemon Pokopia is a Game-Key Card release--that means there's no game on the cartridge, as it's essentially an authentication key that you can use to download the game directly to your Switch 2 console and play it so long as it remains inserted. Third-party studios have largely embraced this format for a wide variety of releases, but Pokemon Pokopia is the first Nintendo exclusive to adopt this physical format, which has raised questions amongst video game preservationists about the future of their purchases.
Amazon is also offering a digital download code for Pokemon Pokopia at its MSRP for $70, but what's really worrying here is that the company could kickstart a new trend with game releases. After all, if the largest online retail platform can get away with charging more than the listed MSRP, what's to stop other retailers from doing the same? Back when we started to see video game prices increase from $60 to $70 starting in 2020 for standard editions, the industry quickly shifted to this new pricing status quo, and we've even seen Nintendo launch games like Mario Kart World for $80.
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