If you're in Canada and visited Nintendo Badge Arcade this morning, you might have noticed that the cost for five plays has jumped from $1.29 to $1.49 (compared with $1.00 USD). Before you start thinking this is Nintendo taking advantage of eager Pokémon fans wanting to grab the new sprite badges, this sudden increase actually extends beyond the arcade.
3DS Themes offered by Nintendo, like Splatoon: Squid Sisters and
BOXBOY!: Qbby & Friends, have also been affected. Decorating your 3DS Home Menu with wallpapers of Nintendo-themed properties will now run you $2.89 CDN (from $2.49), but the prices of third-party 3DS Themes from
SEGA,
Capcom, and the like will continue as normal since they're dictated by the publisher. Given that Nintendo of Canada's pricing of 3DS Themes already lacked an impulse buy factor, this may well be a deal-breaker for many.
It should be noted that these increases are not widespread. It seems digital games have not gone up in cost (yet), and DLC for games like Super Smash Bros. for Wii U and 3DS are still being offered at the same prices they were before today. With the Canadian dollar still in flux, don't be surprised if these pricing changes continue to venture into baffling territory.