Nintendo says tariffs aren’t the reason the Switch 2 costs $449.99 (The Verge)

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Nintendo says tariffs aren’t the reason the Switch 2 costs $449.99

Sticker shock.
www.theverge.com

In addition to a new console and lineup of games, Nintendo also revealed some sticker shock at its Switch 2 event last week. The console will cost $449.99 — a big jump from the original Switch, which debuted at $299.99 in 2017. Some have speculated that the price hike was at least partly due to the ongoing confusion around President Donald Trump's planned tariffs. The timing was certainly awkward; Trump announced a fresh, wide-ranging wave of global tariffs the same day as Nintendo's event.

But Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser says that tariffs did not directly impact the console's original price tag. "Put [the April 2nd announcement] aside. Any previous tariffs were not factored into the price itself," he explained, speaking to me the day after the event.

That may be true, but the impact of the April 2nd tariff announcement is already being felt. Just two days after its event, Nintendo announced that it was delaying Switch 2 preorders, which were originally slated to begin on April 9th, in order to "assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions." There's currently no new preorder date, and whether the price of the console will be changed is unclear. "The news is fresh, and like many companies right now, we are actively assessing what the impact may be," Bowser says.
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So why is the Switch 2 so expensive? When I asked Bowser, he rattled off a list of the new console's features: the bigger LCD screen, the more powerful internals, the Joy-Con controllers that have been "enlarged and redesigned for durability," the GameChat social layer built into the console, and more. "We want to make sure that this is a device that is approachable, that consumers will see as part of their overall entertainment experiences and will understand that it has longevity to it," Bowser says. "And all of those factors really go into the consideration of the price."

The Switch 2's price tag also puts it in the premium spot in Nintendo's lineup. Even with the announcement of the new console, Nintendo will still be selling all three models of the original Switch — the base unit, the OLED version, and the Switch Lite — for the foreseeable future. But Bowser gave an unclear response when asked if the existing Switch devices, which top out at $349.99, had an impact on the decision to charge $449.99 for the Switch 2. "You want to consider pricing relative to the Switch since we still have that in distribution," he says. "But, really, the consideration was driven more by what is a part of this particular gaming experience versus what it is relative to the Switch 1."

The console isn't the only part of the Switch lineup that's gotten more expensive. Select Switch 2 games have also received a price bump. For example, Mario Kart World will cost $79.99 when it comes out on June 5th, compared to the standard $59.99 for first-party games on the original Switch. Speaking generally about determining pricing for games, Bowser says that "each game, we believe, is a unique experience," and thus prices can vary accordingly.
That's how Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour — a game that teaches players details about the Switch 2 and offers tech demos highlighting its key features — ended up as a paid game instead of a free pack-in title like Wii Sports or Astro's Playroom. "As this game was being developed, what's been packed into it is a depth of minigame experiences," Bowser says. "They're very deep, they're very repeatable. And so, as we looked at that depth of play experience and opportunity, we felt that $9.99 was a fair price to ask for that."
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Well of course, it cost as much in Europe too and even worse elsewhere. It's just greed. (edit: I'm mostly thinking of the games, the console price is not too surprising)
 
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The system price isn't as bad as the software price. I didn't really have a huge problem with $450. No one expected anything below $400.
 
Maybe I'm just an asshole but like I don't find in 2025 a console that will lend years of entertainment for 450 to 500 bucks that catastrophic.

Imo I think most games will land in that DK range of 70, but the thing is we get so many other sales and deals on gaming of other platforms I think it evens out given Nintendo prices don't ever really go on sale.

But for those that think Nintendo is all consumer friendly weren't around in the 90s when they gave zero fucks to finger blast us at about 100.00 for snes games
 
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Well they need to fix that quickly. $500 for the unit should cover it. And some games at.$70 and $60 are too cheap, slap an 80 across the board.
 
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So why is the Switch 2 so expensive? When I asked Bowser, he rattled off a list of the new console's features: the bigger LCD screen, the more powerful internals, the Joy-Con controllers that have been "enlarged and redesigned for durability," the GameChat social layer built into the console, and more. "We want to make sure that this is a device that is approachable, that consumers will see as part of their overall entertainment experiences and will understand that it has longevity to it," Bowser says. "And all of those factors really go into the consideration of the price."
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Lol bigger LCD screen? The Joy Con controller? The Game Chat? Lol

He is basically saying "Nvidia d*** is getting bigger and we need our margins"
 
Yeah I mean it's a decently powerful handheld with a 120hz, hdr, gsync compatible screen.

Add that Nintendo likes to make a bit of profit on their hardware, and 449 makes complete sense.
 
I can understand being upset over $80 games and maybe $90 physical editions in Europe but $450 for this thing is really not that bad.

You are getting 1080p 120 hz hdr vrr screen in a portable that has nvidia ray tracing and dlss. 10x more powerful than the switch.

Lets focus on $80 game prices for games. Console price is fine.
 
Punished Miku said:
The system price isn't as bad as the software price. I didn't really have a huge problem with $450. No one expected anything below $400.
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The price is exorbitant for a device that doesn't have hall effect, OLED or even current-ish gen SoC (it's 2 gens behind).

Standard storage is also very pitiful and will likely require you to shell out for an expensive new standard SD Card if you are a digital customer.

Also I can assure you that a lot of people here expected $350-$400, we even had a guy posing as an insider and saying it will launch at $350 for some godforsaken reason.


Topher said:
The pricing was leaked back in January by Nick.



edited: misread the title
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He was shockingly on the money here lol.
 
LordOcidax said:
$449 is totally fine for the Switch 2 price. The software (MKW) side is another topic, still a non issue for me.
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One of my other hobbies include fragrances and lol some of these gamers would shit a brick if they seen how much Creeds cost or other brands I buy, theyd absolutely lose their minds.
 
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It's expensive but I don't find the price to be that insane given the reported features and performance.
For me it's the software price that is the dealbreaker. $70-80 with no price drops or sales? no thx.
 
I'd say the pricing of the console itself is fine, but the 1st party software pricing is not, especially for Europeans like myself who prefer to buy physical over digital.
 
Fbh said:
It's expensive but I don't find the price to be that insane given the reported features and performance.
For me it's the software price that is the dealbreaker. $70-80 with no price drops or sales? no thx.
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I have a feeling they're gonna bring Nintendo Selects back because this shit can't work. This is inevitably going to sell lower than they expected.

I'll be genuinely shocked if this still ends up pulling Switch 1 numbers despite the recession and the higher game/console prices.
 
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Hollywood Hitman said:
One of my other hobbies include fragrances and lol some of these gamers would shit a brick if they seen how much Creeds cost or other brands I buy, theyd absolutely lose their minds.
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Agree, video games is a hobby not an necessity… BTW, some people acting like if the games are going to cost +70 more, when is just a 20 dollars increase and going to cost the same as the competition (Except MKW that is +10 more). The price of the console is great actually.
 
LOL, that people are willing to line up and buy a console priced at 340 dollars in Japan for 450+ in the US and call that a good deal with a 110 dollar mark up before tariffs is laughable.

This is obviously not 450 dollars worth of kit.
 
SweetTooth said:
Lol bigger LCD screen? The Joy Con controller? The Game Chat? Lol

He is basically saying "Nvidia d*** is getting bigger and we need our margins"
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Switch 2 tech deserves that price point

120hz, VRR, HDR, Nvidia DLSS, ray tracing, 1.7TF portable, and 3.1TF docked.

Steamdeck $420 vs Switch 2 $450

TGcvi0x.png

GnxvMTaXYAAlp2B
 
SlimySnake said:
I can understand being upset over $80 games and maybe $90 physical editions in Europe but $450 for this thing is really not that bad.

You are getting 1080p 120 hz hdr vrr screen in a portable that has nvidia ray tracing and dlss. 10x more powerful than the switch.

Lets focus on $80 game prices for games. Console price is fine.
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I'm as bothered as I was about Nintendo charging $80 as I was for Sony charging $70
I dont like it but I'm also not angry
 
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Mibu no ookami said:
LOL, that people are willing to line up and buy a console priced at 340 dollars in Japan for 450+ in the US and call that a good deal with a 110 dollar mark up before tariffs is laughable.

This is obviously not 450 dollars worth of kit.
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It's marked up to the gills, but sometimes people volunteer to be fleeced.
 
LordOcidax said:
Agree, video games is a hobby not an necessity… BTW, some people acting like if the games are going to cost +70 more, when is just a 20 dollars increase and going to cost the same as the competition (Except MKW that is +10 more). The price of the console is great actually.
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Yea and when you think about how the deluxe versions of most games are 90 100+ etc... It's like it's just par for the course.
 
Griffon said:
Well of course, it cost as much in Europe too and even worse elsewhere. It's just greed. (edit: I'm mostly thinking of the games, the console price is not too surprising)
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It costs 20% less in Europe since that includes VAT. US price is pure greed indeed.
 
Hollywood Hitman said:
Yea and when you think about how the deluxe versions of most games are 90 100+ etc... It's like it's just par for the course.
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Deluxe versions are optional, so are the vast majority of uber-expensive fragrance brands.

You can buy regular editions of games and reasonably priced perfumes just fine. Your comparison doesn't make sense.
 
Switch 2 is doing things other PC handhelds aren't and it's significantly cheaper.

The price makes sense. Everyone here was predicting between $399.99 and $449.99 and considering Nintendo wants to make profit off every unit sold, $449 makes even more sense.
 
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Mibu no ookami said:
LOL, that people are willing to line up and buy a console priced at 340 dollars in Japan for 450+ in the US and call that a good deal with a 110 dollar mark up before tariffs is laughable.

This is obviously not 450 dollars worth of kit.
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Nintendo care for their more loyal fanbase, not like Sony 😂, btw the Switch 2 console lenguaje locked for Japan is an amazing strategy to avoid international scalpers, Sony should take notes… And the Switch 2 totally worth 450.
 
Astray said:
Deluxe versions are optional, so are the vast majority of uber-expensive fragrance brands.

You can buy regular editions of games and reasonably priced perfumes just fine. Your comparison doesn't make sense.
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Regular versions of most games are 69 bucks, few more bucks isn't that catastrophic. But DK is 70 so it's already on par.
 
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From that same article, if you want to know how greedy modern Nintendo has become:

"Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour — a game that teaches players details about the Switch 2 and offers tech demos highlighting its key features — ended up as a paid game instead of a free pack-in title"

In the past Nintendo has included games with its consoles/handhelds like Tetris, Super Mario Bros., and Wii Sports. This "welcome tour" game (tech demo) should be an included freebie, courteously introducing buyers to their new console in a whimsical way.

But instead: "we looked at that depth of play experience and opportunity, we felt that $9.99 was a fair price to ask for that"-Doug Bowser
 
Sure. The price is bonkers all over the globe, so any US-only effect is obviously not included.
 
QLQ said:
Well they need to fix that quickly. $500 for the unit should cover it. And some games at.$70 and $60 are too cheap, slap an 80 across the board.
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Yeah, this is a bad statement to me. What will it be with tariffs?
 
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