There's a lot of uproar around the Nintendo Switch 2 and the prices of the console and the games. One particular sticking point is the price of Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, a tech demo that features a few mini-games and a hub area that explains new features in the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware.
It's like how Astro's Playroom takes players through what's new about the PS5, except Astro's Playroom was free and a full-blown 3D platformer with its mini-tech-demo games weaved into a few incredibly designed platforming levels. Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour doesn't look nearly as clever in its setup, nor do the mini-games look as good as the levels you get in Astro's Playroom.
So why is Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour not a free pack-in game with the console? Former Nintendo of America head Reggie Fils-Aimé seems to have weighed in on why players are being asked to spend $10 USD on the title, referencing a specific point in his time with Nintendo.
Fils-Amié shared a few seemingly pointed clips from an interview with IGN in 2022 when he released his book Disrupting the Game: From the Bronx to the Top of Nintendo. Fils-Aimé shared three clips from the nearly 50-minute long interview that centered around how, during the development of the Nintendo Wii, Fils-Aimé had to fight for Wii Sports to be a free pack-in game at launch.
When he first suggested to Nintendo legend Shigeru Miyamoto that Wii Sports be a free game, Miyamoto pushed back against the suggestion. Fils-Aimé goes even further than to say that Miyamoto just 'pushed back,' emphasizing how upset the suggestion made Miyamoto.
"It's an understatement to say that Mr. Miyamoto pushed back," Fils-Aimé began. "Literally, when I first made this suggestion, Mr. Miyamoto said,' Reggie, Nintendo does not give away software for free. You don't understand how hard our developers work to create compelling content like this.'"
Fils-Aimé knew that wasn't true because he knew he got free software with his SNES growing up. He continued to argue his case about why he believed Wii Sports should come free with the console, and after its success, he made the same suggestion again with Wii Play, which upset Miyamoto again. Even after the success of Wii Sports being free, he was still very resistant to giving any software away for free alongside hardware.
So is Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour a paid title because Fils-Aimé wasn't there to convince the rest of Nintendo, Miyamoto included, that they shouldn't charge for it? That's the kind of question we'll never know the answer to. Still, the fact that Fils-Aimé chose to share this now three-year-old interview when players are debating and complaining about the cost of everything Nintendo Switch 2, including Welcome Tour, seems to explain the thinking that went into making Welcome Tour a paid title.
It also seems to be Fils-Aimé pointing to a time when he was right about Nintendo making a piece of software free with the hardware. Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour would have likely benefited the Nintendo Switch 2 by being free, instead of its cost being another addition to the list of complaints players have about Nintendo Switch 2.
About the author: David has been writing about videogames, technology, and culture since 2020, with a focus on reporting daily news across multiple publications, including GameDaily.Biz, GameSkinny, and PlayStation Universe before joining Wccftech in 2025. David started contributing as Canada/US reporter for Wccftech's gaming section in 2025. Besides being up-to-date on the industry's movements, he loves interviewing developers, reviewing games, and writing intricate essays about the symbolism and layered meanings to be found in rich narratives as he's done for publications like GamesIndustry.Biz, LostInCult, and others. Outside of games he loves movies, music, theatre, his hometown, and his family, though not necessarily in that order.
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