10 ms·
Nintendo announces price increases for Nintendo Switch 2
- maxglute 5mo agoTBH would be nice if AI crunch kills Nintendo hardware business model.
- schnitzelstoat 5mo agoThe price increases aren't massive though, I think I'll still wait for a mainline Mario game.
- asukachikaru 5mo agoIt's relatively mild for EU and US, but for JP it's a 20% increase. Finally going to get one after the announcement.
- worthless-trash 5mo agoI remember reading that the screen is worse than v1, is that still true ?
- schnitzelstoat 5mo agoYes, there is no OLED version like they later released for the original Switch. OLED is probably better overall but it can be harder to use in bright sunshine and you have the risk of burn-in if you accidentally leave the screen turned on for hours or something.
- gambiting 5mo agoI have the switch 2 and an OLED steam deck and it's not even close - the switch 2 screen is just not very good. To a point where if you have grey on grey movement you can see visible smearing like it's some old LCD from 20 years ago. When an OLED version comes out I'll definitely upgrade(so I guess the joke is on me, because I'll end up buying the same console twice just to have the screen that it should have had from the beginning)
- nokeya 5mo agoReally? They released a second generation with screen being worse than installed in the first generation (even non-oled version)? We have two switches in our family, both first gen, one usual and one oled. Standalone, usual screen is bearable, compared to oled it is quite bad, but if the new screen is even worse?? I can’t find any explanation for this except of greediness from Nintendo
- jezzamon 5mo agoI have the originals of both, the screen is much better on the switch 2. Don't have any other similar devices or the OLED version. In the Switch 2 Welcome Tour app they even have demos to highlight the improvement in the screen quality compared to the switch
- avadodin 5mo agoThey showed some good will towards protecting the local market against blatant currency manipulation but it is an important market for them and at this point it doesn't look like the JCB is going to react. They just "intervened" the Gopher back to what it was a few weeks ago.
- __natty__ 5mo agoFor adults, sure. For kids saving for the console it may be problematic.
- echelon 5mo agoI'll wait for the Ocarina of Time remake. The leaks have been coming out for months now and say it is supposedly coming out this fall. The upcoming Legend of Zelda film sets seem to be based on Ocarina of Time, recent merchandise (LEGO sets, etc.) are based on Ocarina of Time to enhance marketing, etc. Nintendo just dropped the official Starfox 64 remake news yesterday, so this rumor is likely pretty legitimate. I don't play games much anymore, but that's something I will absolutely revisit due to nostalgia.
- uncircle 5mo agoEntertainment companies have unlocked the infinite money glitch with remakes; not only companies but also people are afraid of trying something new, so why not profit from nostalgia. I called it years ago, but I didn’t expect how people would love to play the same story and watch the same movie over and over again. Incidentally they will be also easier to AI generate, as part of their existing data set. It truly is the end game for our stale and uninspired culture. I missed Breath of the Wild, I’ll play it on the Switch 4 remake in a couple of years. /rant
- hootz 5mo agoAnd they charge a lot for them, too. The Luigi's Mansion 2 remake is too expensive for a graphical upgrade of a 3DS game.
- philistine 5mo agoThe announced StarFox 64 remake is, on a very strict count, the second time they have remade StarFox 64. If you count StarFox Zero, which is kind of a remake but also not, we are on our third remake of StarFox 64. A game, mind you, which was kind of a remake of the original StarFox on Super Nintendo.
- mcphage 5mo ago> Entertainment companies have unlocked the infinite money glitch with remakes; not only companies but also people are afraid of trying something new, so why not profit from nostalgia. The thing is, though—Ocarina of Time is a good game. It was a good game almost 30 years ago when it first came out, and it's still a good game today. But there are generations of gamers who never played it. So why not spend some money to polish it up for modern audiences, and release it for newer consoles?
- -warren 5mo agoI know it's stupid and phschological, but there's a line in my head on what the absolute maximum I'd pay for the nsw2 once the right game comes out. That line is $450. At $500, I will think twice about just buying nsw1 games, moving to thr steam deck, or digging out old consoles (which is fun too!) I'm really having a hard time (stupid, I know) giving my kid a $500 toy. Somehow I'm ok with a $300 toy (nsw1) or even a $400 toy (old smartphone).
- SwtCyber 5mo agoSame. My wallet can survive the price increase, but it's waiting for Mario to personally justify it
- gentleman11 5mo agoBased on their switch 1 track record, a new mario will run at 5fps on native nintendo hardware on the final boss (eg, bowsers fury)
- AntiUSAbah 5mo agoNever buy a switch later. Nintendo prices don't fall and if, it takes ages.
- hootz 5mo agoYep, they refuse to lower prices to try to maintain value over time. That's why most second hand physical first party games cost the same, people know the digital or first-hand physical game prices won't ever go down.
- EZ-E 5mo agoIs Mario Kart on the switch 1 still $70?
- schnitzelstoat 5mo agoIt's €80 digital and €90 physical here in Spain. :(
- NDlurker 5mo agoI paid like $10 for a used copy of the Wii U version
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- stevenwoo 5mo agoI just checked and it’s $53 at Costco. Also free to rent without waitlist at local library.
- gekoxyz 5mo agoyour local library rents Nintendo Switch games???
- cknoxrun 5mo agoI'm not sure where the original poster is from, but where I'm at (Canada) my local library has a large gaming collection, including Switch 2 games. The bigger games you have to wait a while on the hold list, but there are plenty of games available at any time, for free.
- stevenwoo 5mo agoI live in Santa Clara County in northern California, the county library has Playstation, XBox and Switch games for rent (you do have to take either a box or a slip of paper to the counter to get the physical game - they do not leave them out like movies.) There is a long wait period for the latest releases. I think I had to wait almost a year for The 100 Line: Last Defense Academy, and it took me two rental periods of 21+ days to play through it.
- ankitsanghi 5mo agoI'll buy it once Winds and Waves comes out. The increase isn't THAT much.
- dottjt 5mo agoDoes this exclude Australia?
- brandrick 5mo agoNo - https://www.vooks.net/nintendo-raising-switch-2-switch-and-switch-online-pricing/ https://www.vooks.net/nintendo-raising-switch-2-switch-and-s...
- dude250711 5mo ago[flagged]
- butler14 5mo ago£385 in argos and smyths at the mo for any UK folk!
- prism56 5mo agoPicked mine up last week, they had a deal with a game too which dropped £20 off Mario Wonder.
- moron4hire 5mo agoI remember when Nintendo bundled the best Mario game with their consoles, not the worst.
- prism56 5mo agoWait what. Wonder is incredible...
- moron4hire 5mo agoI genuinely hate it. I think it controls like shit. It feels like the Megaman 8 of the Mario series.
- prism56 5mo agoI thought the controls were a massive improvement compared to the New Super Mario Bros games. So much tighter, like the older Mario platformers.
- everyone 5mo agoYou can still 100% get a great 2nd hand gaming pc for that amount. That will play all games, including all console games from every era, and will last for 10 years at least. Also you can use it to make music / art / software and also do most jobs. A lot of sellers will even throw in the peripherals for free. I might buy up a few now while they are left. Also never buy 1st hand desktop hardware, total waste of money, the price drop from 1st hand to 2nd hand is insane, but desktop components dont degrade that much, theyre still mostly following IBM's sane design pattern, so you're getting a massive price drop with no downside.
- ageitgey 5mo agoThe value of the yen compared to other currencies has fallen through the floor since 2022, so this isn't unexpected - Nintendo had to do something to equalize prices somewhat. The dollar's global value has also weakened noticeably since (checks notes) April 2, 2025 and Canada has had currency struggles as well the last few years.
- phoronixrly 5mo agoIf you consider the jump in price of DRAM due to hyperscalers to not be a considerable factor in this increase, please state so. Your comment leaving this out makes it harder to trust.
- ageitgey 5mo agoDRAM prices increase everywhere, so it should affect the worldwide market in the same way. But Nintendo is raising prices mostly in Japan. Japan's local currency devaluation is more about US vs Japan differences in central bank policy and interest rates (and a million other issues) and is mostly separate from DRAM prices.
- motbus3 5mo agoThe truth is that you can increase prices by 50% and if you loose 50% of sales you are still in a good place as your costs also drop. They have little uncertainty to work with, they don't need their consumers as much. They're continuing their anti consumer policies
- mysterydip 5mo agoHardware is just one aspect of sales though. I assume they have much higher margin on software, especially rereleases of existing games on whatever the next platform is.
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- gcr 5mo ago
- jFriedensreich 5mo agoAnd new prices for playing cards not even set yet... TIL nintendo still makes cards in japan.
- zinekeller 5mo agoI can see why you thought it was, but "Open Price" in Japan means that the manufacturer has forgo setting the price themselves, unlike the previous policy that the price is dictated by Nintendo (in this case). The wholeseller's price... is simply not disclosed here, there's an NDA on that one (even with other companies such as Sony).
- mghackerlady 5mo agoPlaying cards is how they started, so why not keep making them?
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- deleted 5mo ago[deleted]
- hdaf1298 5mo agoThat is another victim of all hardware being hoovered up by AI fraudsters. People need to go to the classic class warfare methods: - Do not buy anything new, especially graphics cards. Buy on Ebay but avoid bidding wars. - Use adblockers and do not pay for any company's services if the company promotes AI. - If it is true that Nintendo is lobbying against AI in Japan, still buy Nintendo of course. The AI people think they don't need us, let their stocks crash.
- falcor84 5mo ago> Do not buy anything new, especially graphics cards. Buy on Ebay but avoid bidding wars. And what then? If you did manage to convince everyone to stop buying consumer graphics cards, wouldn't Nvidia just reasonably dedicate 100% of its resources to AI?
- johnnyanmac 5mo agoIf we got even 10% to stop buying we'd be in a good place. 20% would cause a panic. Nvidia may not focus on consumers right now, but it's still a huge chunk to have wither away. If we all 100% could coordinate anything, we'd fix so many issues overnight. Meanwhile, societal change starts to happen when a mere 4% of a population start to be aware and protest.
- Jolter 5mo agoClassic class warfare. ”Buy on eBay”. Sure worked for the bolsheviks!
- ymolodtsov 5mo agoI assume by "AI fraudsters" you mean companies whose product are in extremely high demand by everyone.
- pjc50 5mo agoJust because something is heavily in demand doesn't mean it's not fraudulent.
- pjmlp 5mo agoSwitch 1 still has more games than I have time to play, plenty of them around to get.
- kyrra 5mo agoI bought a switch 2 for one main reason: speed. Switch 2 is backwards compatible with switch 1. Switch 2 has better FPS for Switch 1 games. Like BotW stops having terrible FPS drops in certain scenarios. Switch 2 loads games faster. There are test videos out there, but it's up to twice as fast. I like the joycon 2 controllers ergonomics more.
- pjmlp 5mo agoFor some people the speed is worth the money, for others it isn't I started gaming with Nintendo's Game&Watch handhelds, Timex 2068, PC MS-DOS 3.3, Amiga, and so on, so I do understand something about upgrading hardware for speed, or deal with what one has at home.
- kyrra 5mo agoI have been partially wanting one for the new one for a couple of the games, but then all four of my existing joy-cons on my Switch 1 started to have drift or other issues. So that sort of halfway saved me some money towards something I already wanted. Though I sadly learned afterwards that you could send in controllers with drift and Nintendo would fix it for free.
- someguyiguess 5mo agoYep. They'll do anything but build their controllers with hall effect joysticks.
- bzzzt 5mo agoI've played BotW on Switch 1 and the Switch 2 upgraded edition. While some scenes are a bit choppy on Switch 1 it's never in the way of gameplay and even on Switch 1 one of the best video games of the last decade. Of course Switch 2 is faster and the better console (it should be), but if you're focussing on raw performance you're in the wrong crowd. Even on PS5 you have load times and performance tradeoffs. There will be a time when we're wondering how we put up with the 'impossibly slow' current generation of consoles like we're doing with the 8-bits machines now.
- thrownawaysz 5mo agoI wish I have the means to travel to Japan right now because prices never been cheaper, especially food. Feels like missing out on a great opportunity
- merpkz 5mo agoWhat a wild statement, how much you have to eat in Japan to offset the airline ticket prices?
- Wowfunhappy 5mo agoI’m assuming GP would like to visit Japan anyway.
- jermaustin1 5mo agoWhy would they have to offset the cost? They are just saying, being in Japan is a cheaper experience right now than ever before (not sure if it is true). The cost to get there is their only impediment. They still want to go and eat food and see experiences they cannot get at home. Also, if the trip is of sufficient length, you can totally offset the cost. When I lived in NYC, I used to travel to the UK a few times a year, and the flights between NYC and London were around $500 round trip. The cost of eating in the UK was typically 1/2 that of NYC, plus cool castles and history.
- sowbug 5mo agoVacations aren't about net profitability. You can visit Japan and enjoy reasonable prices when you're there. Or you can go to many other popular destinations and be repeatedly insulted by $600 hotel rooms, $30 burgers, and $15 bottled beers.
- BoxedEmpathy 5mo agoAbout a month for me
- cyberrock 5mo agoJapanese storefronts still have rather limited stock of only Japan-locked consoles (shop region and console language locked to Japan). IIUC right now the only way to get the usual international console is through the Nintendo online shop with a 50-hour playtime JP Nintendo account. You'd probably better off taking a side trip to Korea or Taiwan.
- k__ 5mo agoHas this ever happened before?
- handoflixue 5mo agoI was wondering the same thing - I grew up thinking of console prices as something that invariably fell over time
- Jensson 5mo agoRam prices went up, normally they go down.
- handoflixue 5mo agoYeah, given everything I'm not entirely surprised - I'm just curious if this is literally the first time a console has gone up in price post-release, or if I just wasn't paying attention the other times.
- echelon 5mo agoPlayStation 5 has a price increase in August, 2022. I think this was the very first time this happened. Xbox Series X had one in June, 2023. Nintendo Switch (original) had a price increase last year. I don't remember this ever happening before the 2020s unless it was due to retailer shortages or markups.
- philistine 5mo agoNEC temporarily raised the price of the TurboExpress due to low screen yields in 1991. That is the only price increase I was able to find.
- roxolotl 5mo agoThis is the story imo. For a large percent of people, basically everyone born after 1980, technology has always reduced in price and increased in capabilities over their entire life. If sustained, which if you start with the Xbox price increase it probably already is, this is a secular change in the market for technology.
- TodorGrudev 5mo ago[dead]
- pier25 5mo agoProbably related to RAM and storage prices going up just like with the PS5.
- throwaway270925 5mo agoProbably related to "we are getting away with it in the current climate" just like with the PS5.
- johnnyanmac 5mo agoThey aren't really. IIRC the Switch 2 over holiday season didn't meet expectations (but I think it still hit their 2025 target). The supply shock must be really bad and these consoles are simply playing the best of a bad hand. I doubt any of this was profitable for games.
- SwtCyber 5mo agoThat's probably part of it, though I'd guess currency and regional price alignment are doing a lot of the work too
- kmfrk 5mo agoThe Switch 2 also released right in the midst of the tariff mayhem, Nintendo really couldn't catch a break with this generation.
- sitzkrieg 5mo agolike they need a break
- ksidcjiwjciwj 5mo ago“Catch a break” Please. It’s fucking Nintendo. It deserves to be fucked over as much as humanly possible.
- Jensson 5mo agoIts the only video game developer that didn't ruin their franchises with bullshit so far, they have stuck around in the industry with a good reputation for quality for 40 years for this reason. No other developer has stayed around that long with consistent quality sequels. Almost every other big video game developer deserves to get fucked over much harder for ruining their franchises with cheap sequels and adding endless micro transactions and pay to win everywhere.
- SwtCyber 5mo agoThe Switch 2 price bump isn't too surprising, but increasing the price of the old Switch models this late is pretty wild...
- mghackerlady 5mo agois the lite still 200? because if not they're shooting themselves in the foot
- epicide 5mo agoThey don't list price changes for the Lite outside of Japan, but I'm sure it's coming too. The Japanese Switch 2 is going up by 20%. The US model is going up by about 10%. In Japan, the Lite is going up by over 35%. If we assume a similar pattern (US going up by about half as much as in Japan), then that'd take the $230 Lite to more like $270. I still like my Switch Lite, but almost $300 after tax for it would be absurd.
- hectdev 5mo agoIf it is a matter of cost of manufacturing and shipping going up, doesn't that make sense? Can't speak to the digital services going up, however.
- hx8 5mo agoHistorically last generation hardware is sold at steep discounts compared to original MSRP. The insanity is we live in a world where manufacturing 9 year old hardware has increasing manufacturing and shipping cost, where this was not the case. Another layer of insanity is that Nintendo did the analysis and decided it's going to make sales at this increased price.
- nothercastle 5mo agoProfits must be maintained at all costs
- nielsbot 5mo ago
- zeafoamrun 5mo agoI know Nintendo is the slowest game company to ever lower prices, but raising them! Not something you see every day.
- archargelod 5mo agoOut of big 3, they took the longest to increase prices too. Some things are still the same.
- bix6 5mo agoI’m waiting for a special edition and some games that make the upgrade worthwhile.
- tejohnso 5mo agoWonder if you could indicate why you're waiting for a Switch 2 vs say a Steam Deck? Or do you also have a deck? I ask because I'm planning to gift one or the other. The recipient already has a Switch 1, so I thought it would be pretty lame to give a Switch 2 rather than "upgrading" to a deck. In my mind, being able to play any steam game, on a device with highly praised controls, is the better upgrade, not the Switch 2.
- darkxanthos 5mo agoIf someone has a switch, gifting a steam deck isn't an upgrade necessarily. You're giving them a platform that can't play most of the games they probably love. Not because of specs of course. A switch 2 is actually an upgrade. Almost all of their current games will run better and they'll be able to play more demanding switch 2 only games as they continue to trickle out.
- tejohnso 5mo agoI should have mentioned current game play is skewed more toward steam on pc than switch. I'm definitely not getting the impression that the switch games are loved.
- acid-rocker 5mo agoI have a Switch 1 and would love to get a Steam Deck in the near future. If there is ever a new mainline Mario 3D game I might consider getting the Switch 2 but for now there is no reason for me to get it. I rather want to play my Indie games Steam collection but on the couch.
- einsteinx2 5mo agoI have both, and if they already have a good steam library I’d definitely go with the steam deck for them. They’ll immediately have a bunch of games to play on it (and synced game progress).
- perarneng 5mo agoSo all electronics are doomed? This does not seem to good for the global economy .
- archargelod 5mo agoThis might lead to less e-waste and resource-efficient programming. Not likely, but one can dream.
- metadat 5mo agoI bought a Steam Deck earlier this year and haven’t touched my Switch since. Nintendo hardware and games were already obscenely overpriced imo, so this is essentially a nail in the coffin for folks who were already questioning Nintendo’s prices and value proposition. Does Nintendo intentionally make its hardware really underpowered and cheap in terms of chips to juice profits? In the past this was more the case, but with the Switch 2 the hardware bill of materials is actually more costly relative to previous products like the Switch 1. Poor timing of market forces (Sam Altman spending VC money to purchase all the world’s memory chips). Ouch.
- jjordan 5mo agoNintendo hardware IMO is mostly reasonably priced. Their first party game library is why many buy into the ecosystem and they charge a premium for it. The original Switch was under-powered but also the first of its kind. The Switch 2 was mostly a hardware bump with additional polish to the rough edges of the original Switch.
- campbell000 5mo ago[dead]
- chaostheory 5mo agoYeah, the emulator support is nice
- nsxwolf 5mo agoDoes anyone really find the Switch 2 to be underpowered? Is the Steam Deck really that much more powerful, and is it worth the extra 100 grams of weight? Metroid Prime 4 looks amazing, and you can choose 4K@60 or 1080p@120. I don't really care about generated frames or whatever AI magic the console is doing to pull it off, it looks great.
- someguyiguess 5mo agoThe steam deck is 4 year old hardware. The Switch 2 came out last summer. So if they're about on-par performance-wise, doesn't that prove OP's point?
- _imnothere 5mo agoFriendly reminder: The pennies are going to be used to bring community devs lawsuits.
- grougnax 5mo agoLegal reminder: it is not allowed to steal someone else's creation and make money from it. Yes, getting money from your Patreon followers to instead of selling directly your Ocarina of Time remake is not allowed.
- jgbuddy 5mo agoFunny the European and US models have the same price. effectively a 20% discount buying it in europe.
- bsimpson 5mo agoThe EUR is often worth more than the USD, which leads to complaints when they are given the same nominal price (500 bucks, in this case). Europeans think they're getting overcharged. One big difference is sales tax. If you remove the 20% VAT and apply the currency conversion, a European Switch would cost an American $472 after these changes. Tax is added here, so it could cost an American as much as $550 back home.
- temporallobe 5mo agoI bought a Switch 2 about 6 months ago. My biggest disappointment with it so far has been the lack of first-party games.
- mcphage 5mo agoIf you haven't tried Pokemon Pokopia, it's really excellent. A great mixture of Pokemon, Minecraft, and Animal Crossing. Largely developed by the same team at Koei Techmo that did Dragon Quest Builders 2, and it has a lot of the same structure and feeling of that game, but replaces the combat with building environments to attract different Pokemon. It's been a system seller for the Switch 2, and deservedly so.
- AdmiralAsshat 5mo agoYeah, okay, "market conditions", RAM more expensive, hardware more expensive, fine... But then why are they also increasing the price of their online services? The games run locally! Fuck you, Nintendo.
- andrekandre 5mo ago> Effective Date of MSRP Revisions in Japan: May 25, 2026 > Effective Date of Price Revisions in the United States, Canada, and Europe: September 1, 2026 interesting, i wonder what the cause of such time lag in us vs japan is for... maybe the super low japan price is hurting them badly so they need to up the price there sooner?