Nintendo reveals new Animal Crossing packs and Switch Lite colors
Nintendo has unveiled its hardware plans for the holidays for 2023, including the return of the very familiar Nintendo Switch bundle along with two new Nintendo Switch Lite options.
Starting October 6, Nintendo will be selling the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Nintendo Switch bundle for $299.99. This will include a Nintendo Switch base model, a digital copy of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, and a three-month individual membership to Nintendo Switch Online.
The Mario Kart 8 Deluxe bundle has become a holiday tradition for Nintendo, as the company has followed this strategy for several years in a row. In a recent IGN interview with Doug Bowser, the president of Nintendo of America explained why the company continues to offer this bundle every year.
“Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is in just about everyone’s catalog, and so we think it’s a great entry point for families coming to Nintendo systems because it has a plug-and-play mentality where you just…when you get the unit, plug it in, and go,” Bowser said. Playing Mario Kart and having fun as a family.
But Nintendo will also release two new batches of hardware the same day the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Bundle returns to shelves. The Nintendo Switch Lite Animal Crossing: New Horizons bundle comes in two different editions: Isabelle’s Aloha Edition and Timmy & Tommy’s Aloha Edition. These two bundles will retail for $199.99 each and include the Switch Lite with a new leaf design on the front and back, and a digital copy of Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
The Isabelle’s Aloha version comes in coral and is exclusive to Target, while the Timmy & Tommy’s Aloha version comes in turquoise and will only be available at Walmart.
It appears that Nintendo is still not considering lowering the price of the Nintendo Switch, even as the device approaches its seventh birthday. Instead, the company chooses to bundle the software with the unit while keeping the price constant.
“(We have) the Switch Lite at $199.99, the base model at $299.99, and then the OLED at $349.99. We think there’s tremendous value at these price points for consumers, and just look at our results in the first quarter of this fiscal year,” Bowser said. When asked about NoA’s position on a possible price drop: “Let’s see that the demand is still there.”
“As a result, we think about opportunities to attract more consumers and encourage people to come, especially during the holiday period. We think the best way, and it has worked for us in the past, is through the packages themselves, and by offering a program that they can engage with and start with their catalog So that’s really the direction we’ve been taking.
For more, check out our website Full interview with Doug Bowserwhere we talk to the head of NoA about Charles Martinet’s new role as Mario’s ambassador, Why is the Nintendo Switch still in high demand?and how 2023 was an “amazing year” for Nintendo.
Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over seven years of experience in the games industry with minor lines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine and Lifewire. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.
