Last month Nintendo announced the Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros., a throwback gaming system for 2020 based on the Game & Watch handhelds of the past. For South Africans hoping to pick up this retro device, they will be paying R1 299.

That price is rather steep, however, considering the overseas pricing. In the US the system is priced at $49.99. At the time of writing that US amount converts to R810.96, making the difference between the prices glaring to say the least.

It is worth noting that, while US RRP are usually used as the gold standard for international pricing, it’s a bit misleading as they usually don’t include tax. UK prices are usually closer to what we pay in South Africa.

In that regard the Game & Watch: Super Mario Bros. system is priced at £44.99. This converts to R953.03 at the time of writing. In this better case scenario South Africans are paying around R350 more compared to those in the UK.

Nintendo hardware as well as other luxury items in the country like LEGO have been seeing massive price increases as of late. The combined problems of a weakening Rand and pandemic-related shipping problems have been dire for local consumers.

We’ve seen the price of the Game & Watch hinted at by local retailers but the R1 299 comes from the official Nintendo distributors in South Africa.

So what are you getting for your money? The system plays three games: Super Mario Bros., Super Mario Bros.: Lost Levels and the Mario version of the simple game Ball. There’s also a clock function included.

The device itself has a more modern LCD screen and a USB Type-C charging port. As a retro console it is still rather simple and we think most people will be buying this as a collector’s piece instead of a device to actually play games on.

The Game & Watch is up for pre-order ahead of its 13th November release.