3 ms·

Interestingly Japan will have 2 versions, a japanese language only (+region locked to japan accounts) and a global one. Mostly because of the weak yen + the ins

Interestingly Japan will have 2 versions, a japanese language only (+region locked to japan accounts) and a global one. Mostly because of the weak yen + the insane amount of scalping that happened previously. Switch 2 JP Only: 49,980 Yen (~333 USD) Switch 2 Global: 69,980 Yen (~466 USD) https://www.nintendo.com/jp/hardware/switch2/lineup/index.html https://www.nintendo.com/jp/hardware/switch2/lineup/index.ht... And the JP only version's launch price is still almost double of the Switch 1's (30,000 Yen) But I'm actually glad that they look after the local market!

tigeroil 2y ago
I suspect they also know full well that the global ones will be resold in China.
greggsy 2y ago
Cripes that’s incredibly expensive for a lower spec handheld
- johnnyanmac 2y ago
  The specs seems to exceed that of the Steam Deck. And that was barely selling at a profit for a while. I'm not really mad at the specs.
  - downrightmike 2y ago
    But no linux or steam
    - johnnyanmac 2y ago
      I mean, yes?. Also no Playstation or Xbox. If Linux/steam is your deal breaker nothing Nintendo did would change your mind.
      - bmacho 2y ago
        The same is illegal for Apple, to sell phones and be a middleman for every app purchase. I hope the EU will do something about it.
        nolist_policy 2y ago
        The Switch doesn't have enough users or revenue to fall under the DMA.
        johnnyanmac 2y ago
        Maybe game consoles will come down the road. But I'm doubtful. These consoles are ephemeral compared to the IOS platform and aren't thought of as used for general computing (even if the hardware can be used as such). All the console manufacturers are also software developers, so I fear pushing too hard will simply mean the end of dedicated game consoles instead of the freedom of them
philistine 2y ago
It's fascinating because its the reverse of the usual way to solve this problem. Typically, games would be region-locked. For the first time Nintendo has locked the console itself to a language and a region. I guess the benefit for Nintendo is that outside of the reduced price, there are zero benefits for players to having a Japanese version. It used to be that a Japanese 3DS was cool to have.

tigeroil 2y ago

I suspect they also know full well that the global ones will be resold in China.

greggsy 2y ago

Cripes that’s incredibly expensive for a lower spec handheld

johnnyanmac 2y ago
The specs seems to exceed that of the Steam Deck. And that was barely selling at a profit for a while. I'm not really mad at the specs.
- downrightmike 2y ago
  But no linux or steam
  - johnnyanmac 2y ago
    I mean, yes?. Also no Playstation or Xbox. If Linux/steam is your deal breaker nothing Nintendo did would change your mind.
    - bmacho 2y ago
      The same is illegal for Apple, to sell phones and be a middleman for every app purchase. I hope the EU will do something about it.
      - nolist_policy 2y ago
        The Switch doesn't have enough users or revenue to fall under the DMA.
      - johnnyanmac 2y ago
        Maybe game consoles will come down the road. But I'm doubtful. These consoles are ephemeral compared to the IOS platform and aren't thought of as used for general computing (even if the hardware can be used as such). All the console manufacturers are also software developers, so I fear pushing too hard will simply mean the end of dedicated game consoles instead of the freedom of them

philistine 2y ago

It's fascinating because its the reverse of the usual way to solve this problem. Typically, games would be region-locked. For the first time Nintendo has locked the console itself to a language and a region. I guess the benefit for Nintendo is that outside of the reduced price, there are zero benefits for players to having a Japanese version. It used to be that a Japanese 3DS was cool to have.