Why Nintendo can get away with a $450 Switch 2 price

The Verge

Nintendo’s charging a lot more for the Switch 2, particularly once you count the higher price of games – but don’t be too jealous of buyers in Japan! The Verge’s Sean Hollister explains why the Japan-only model isn’t necessarily cheaper, and why Nintendo will likely get away with a higher price tag everywhere.

Transcript

00:00By now you've probably heard, the Nintendo Switch 2 will cost at least $450.

00:05That's $150 more than the original.

00:08Games will cost more too, it won't come with a free game, you'll have to pay extra for

00:12HD patches, it even has an entire button you'll eventually have to pay to use.

00:17But for some, the most disappointing part is this.

00:20Consumers in Japan only have to pay $330 for the new Switch.

00:26Except that last part isn't true, and I no longer think the company's being distinctly

00:30unfair to gamers outside Japan.

00:33The $450 price makes more sense when you consider what's happened to the dollar and the yen.

00:39Let's talk about inflation, exchange rates, scalpers, and why Nintendo can get away with

00:44a higher price now.

00:46I don't have to explain inflation to you.

00:49You see it at the grocery store.

00:51Since the first Nintendo Switch arrived eight years ago, your dollars don't stretch as far.

00:56Heck, if Nintendo announced the original $300 Switch today, it would cost nearly $400.

01:01But Nintendo never did raise that price, it still costs $300.

01:05The Switch 2 is Nintendo's first real chance to start charging more.

01:09In Japan, Nintendo hasn't really raised the price either, it still costs around 33,000 yen.

01:14But Japan has not had the same inflation as the US during the past eight years.

01:19Prices have only gone up around 10%, and wages have stayed relatively low.

01:24So while Nintendo can get away with charging over $400 in the US, it would be harder to

01:28charge $400 in Japan.

01:29People there would hate it even more than we do, especially when you consider the yen.

01:36Let's talk exchange rates.

01:38Does it seem unfair to you that we have to pay $450 while they pay $330?

01:43Sure, if it were true, but Japanese residents aren't paying in dollars.

01:47They're paying nearly 50,000 yen.

01:50Some Japanese streamers have publicly said that 50,000 yen feels like $450 or $500 given

01:57how much money people earn in Japan.

01:59So why are US gamers saying the Japanese model only costs $330?

02:03That's because each dollar is worth a different amount of yen every single day depending on

02:09an ever-changing exchange rate.

02:11And recently, the yen has been seriously weak against the dollar and other currencies.

02:17On April 2, 2025, the day Nintendo announced the switch to, each dollar was worth almost

02:22150 yen, which made it seem like the Japanese model costs just $330.

02:28But it isn't always that way.

02:30On January 13, 2017, the day Nintendo announced the original $300 switch, you could only get

02:36114 yen per US dollar.

02:39If today's exchange rates were the same as back then, the Japan-only Switch 2 would cost

02:43$434 in US currency.

02:46And if you look at exchange rates from 2018, 2019, 2020, even 2021, today's Japan-only

02:52Switch 2 might be worth more than $450.

02:55Okay, still don't think the Japanese price is fair?

02:59Consider this.

03:00At $450, Nintendo is charging us 50% more for the Switch 2 than the original Switch.

03:06That's exactly what's happening in Japan, too.

03:0949,980 yen is 51% more than what Nintendo charges for the Switch 1 there.

03:16The other thing you should know about exchange rates is that they haven't necessarily been

03:20fair to Japanese consumers, who've watched as tourists cart away suitcases full of classic

03:25video games and other goods that they can't afford as easily.

03:28Because today's dollars buy 30% more in Japan than they did 8 years ago, tourism is at an

03:34all-time high.

03:36And not all are treating the country with respect.

03:38Plus, many local merchants have realized they can raise prices because tourists will pay

03:42them.

03:43I hate the idea of a Japan-only, region-locked Switch 2, but it makes sense for this moment.

03:49That way, Nintendo can make sure Japanese gamers still get a shot at the console, instead of

03:54watching as foreigners snipe the Switch 2 out from under them and scalp them all around the

03:58world.

03:59But regardless of which country you live in, why does the Switch 2 cost 50% more than the

04:05LG?

04:06Nintendo told us new features justified the price and it blamed inflation too, but those

04:11aren't satisfying answers.

04:14Here's what I think.

04:15I think the real reason is that Nintendo can get away with the price because there's so

04:19little competition.

04:21There's no true PlayStation handheld, no Xbox handheld yet.

04:26Nintendo sometimes sells more Switches in a single month than handheld gaming PCs can

04:31sell in a full year.

04:33And in Japan, the competition's even thinner.

04:36Even the cheapest Steam Deck costs 20% more than a Switch 2 in yen, and the cheapest Sony

04:40PS5 costs 46% more.

04:43From what I've heard, Japanese gamers aren't terribly annoyed about the new price.

04:48They're just thanking Nintendo it's not even higher.

04:52So I guess the hardware's price is… fair?

04:55But that doesn't mean I'm looking forward to paying $80 per game, $10 per HD upgrade,

05:01$20 for a subscription to the console's new chat button, and $10 for the Switch 2 welcome

05:05pack that you probably should have been a pack-in.

05:08It feels expensive.

05:10At least you could have given us an OLED screen for that amount of cash.

05:14We're going to have a full review of the Switch 2 where we get into its true value for money.

05:23And if you like our journalism, please come support us by becoming a subscriber at The Verge.

05:27Thank you very much.

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