The Value of a Video Game – Mario Kart World

As I begin writing this article, I know some will call me a Nintendo fanboy, perhaps a shill, or perhaps even worse. I’ve seen far too many people writing negative discourse around the cost of Mario Kart World, $109.99 according to the most up-to-date pricing from Nintendo. I’m not here to say that the cost of Mario Kart World isn’t worth it for some folks; for those folks I say, “Wait for it to go on sale!” For my family, paying around $110 CAD for Mario Kart World is totally worth it, and here is why.

Before hopping into the discussion around Mario Kart, I’m going to look at another video game my family recently got. A lot of people have said, “There isn’t enough content in Mario Kart World to justify the price.” or “How can they justify selling the game for so much when we can get games like Horizon: Forbidden West for cheaper.” Hogwarts Legacy is the last open-world, big AAA game more than one member of my family has played. Both of my older boys played the game, I played the game, and my wife REALLY played the game. All in, I’m sure we easily logged anywhere from 125-150 hours of time into it. At $79.99 CAD, I would say we got good value for our money.

Mario Kart has always been a staple in the Roffel household, as it has in the homes of millions of folks around the world. My family has spent 125-150 hours playing Hogwarts Legacy since its launch. I’m sure we’ve played Mario Kart 8 Deluxe 4-5x that amount. Yes, it would not shock me, if combined, my family has played north of 600 hours of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe.

If the Nintendo Switch 2 console lasts 6-7 years, I fully expect my family to get another 600+ hours out of the latest Mario Kart. It is inevitable. So, if we are strictly talking about the value of a dollar – and this seems to be the main argument – here is some math using a benchmark of 600 hours: 600 hours / 100 dollars = ~0.17 per hour of play. I don’t know about you, but that seems a good value. And I’m also positive that the estimate of 600 hours is low!

Why write this? Don’t get swept up in the discourse of value. The value of something is determined by the user. Don’t let others decide if Mario Kart World is worth it to you. Don’t let someone decide if the Nintendo Switch 2 is worth it for you. Make your own judgments. For those that think it’s too expensive, they can wait for a sale!