Indie games aren't on carts though. They also have the Nintendo markup. And expensive re-releases of gen+ old games. I want to love Nintendo again but they are some greedy bastards sometimes.
They do what they do because they know they can get away with it. IMO, articles like this is precisely
how they manage to get away with things like this, when no other company would really have the benefit of the doubt.
It's not because they think they can get away with it, or because they're greedy, but because "the current model
devalues Indies and we view them as
equal to AAA games and we don't want to
discriminate".
So when some consumer-unfortunate disparity happens (that you won't find on other platforms), it's okay because Nintendo is "all about games" and are doing it for the "greater good", and not just obviously for themselves, you know like everyone else. Not even specifically talking about the Eshop pricing right now, but just in general.
I've come to really dislike the corporate side of Nintendo. They have a great 1st-party development studio, but i
personally feel like the majority of their marketing is pretty deeply rooted in pure disingeniousness, moreso than any other developer. they do the same thing every generation, make the same promises, the same misdirections and lies, but instead of just admitting and owning their faults, they push the narrative that they're simply above all of them because whatever they're currently doing is so much bigger than it actually is. And it works
sooooo well that I can't even really be mad at the strategy.