this post was submitted on 04 Apr 2025

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Switch 2 price is a "strategic balancing act," and there's a reason why Japan is getting a separate model that's $110 cheaper than the US' $450 console, analysts suggest (www.gamesradar.com)

submitted 15 hours ago by [email protected] to c/[email protected]

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[–] [email protected] 43 points 14 hours ago (6 children)

Okay, so if the uncertainty about tariffs are a factor in the price then why aren't the consoles cheaper everywhere outside the US? If you look at it, they're (taking exchange rates into consideration) even more expensive elsewhere. In Europe, it's €450 which translates to almost 500 dollars. And Europe is not even the worst one, the homies in Canada and Australia are getting screwed even harder.

I think it's more or less just a cash grab. They know people will buy it even at this premium price and they don't care if they lose some sales. The increase is so big that even if you lose some sales, you'll make more money in the end anyway. It's gross.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 6 hours ago* (last edited 6 hours ago) (1 children)

In Canada it’s $629CAD, in Ontario with 13% sales tax that comes to about $710CAD, which is about $9CAD higher than 450EUR.

In the US, $450USD comes to $639CAD, which means the pre-tax CAD price is actually CHEAPER than the USD price. On top of all of that, they just announced preorders are paused in the US due to tariffs.

I actually think Canada is getting off pretty good here. If you can get your hands on 2, I suspect the Canadian model will be doing gang busters on eBay for all the Americans looking for one, so that’s a nice bonus too.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 19 minutes ago

switch 2 is way less versatile than the steam deck and way more in CAD. I got my 512GB deck for $419. I can watch streaming services (or plex/jellyfin etc), I can use it as a full computer, I can run tons of emulators for retro games, I can use all my storefronts.... I already own literally hundreds of games on it. Hard sell for me after getting a deck, and I say that as someone who loved and played the shit out of my switch1.

[–] [email protected] 26 points 14 hours ago (3 children)

They thought the same with the 3DS, and had to cut the price due to poor sales. Hopefully something similar happens this time around. They're excluding a massive amount of people who can't afford the system and its games, particularly in these times where normal people keep getting poorer.

[–] [email protected] 18 points 14 hours ago (2 children)

I'd hope that that happens but in my experience a lot of people just bitch about stuff being more expensive while spending money on it anyway (I've done this before as well). And that sends a wrong signal because then others start doing it too. Just look at all the major streaming platforms and their account sharing crackdowns. So many people crying about it and the end result was still record profits for those companies.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 12 hours ago

You're annoyingly right.

I've been careful to stick true to my bitching though. I've cut all but one streaming service and supplemented with piracy.

I've had a switch since the pandemic and my kids love it, but if I have to move systems to keep getting new games, we'll be alright.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 13 hours ago

I mean there's peeps spending thousands on GPUs that really aren't worth it. The latest console at tenth of the price doesn't seem to be something they'd skip out on...

[–] [email protected] 6 points 13 hours ago

switch ambassador program incoming 🫠

[–] [email protected] 1 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

Article is paywalled.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 10 hours ago

Sorry, it let me see it when I clicked on the link. Here's the archived page: https://archive.ph/RoaEN

Nintendo cuts 3DS price amid poor sales - July 28 2011 Nintendo is slashing the price of its 3DS handheld game console by up to 40 per cent just four months after its launch, with poor sales leading to a Y25bn ($321m) quarterly loss.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 9 hours ago (2 children)

Yeah, the Canadian price was a shocker for my friends and I. Unless we can all sell our original switches for enough to offset the costs to be similar to what the switch 1 costs, none of us are going to get it. Also, we have been paying $70-90 for games for a while, but fuck over $100 for a game. I've got enough backlog to keep me busy. I'd rather get a steamdeck and get more milage.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 9 hours ago

Yeah the console is one thing but the Switch 1 game price was my absolute cap. I can't justify shelling out that much money per game. I will definitely be making a steam deck my next console instead.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 8 hours ago

I've been getting GOG games on sale, probably 50+ games ready I've never played. No need for new stuff. Finishing Wolfenstein New Order now, then on to the next Wolfenstein.

[–] [email protected] 8 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

so if the uncertainty about tariffs are a factor in the price

It is. They just delayed the preorders because of the tariff.

[–] [email protected] 3 points 14 hours ago

For the US only. Other countries won't be getting a price increase.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 13 hours ago* (last edited 13 hours ago) (1 children)

It's cheaper in Australia. It's AU$700 which is US$427 at the moment, and Australian prices always includes tax. If you exclude tax, it's US$385.

[–] [email protected] 2 points 11 hours ago

Oh wow, 700 is insane, even if the exchange rate technically makes it cheaper.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 13 hours ago

why aren’t the consoles cheaper everywhere outside the US?

Prices are rarely the same across regions to begin with.

For example, the original Switch launched at $299 in the US and €329 in Europe (or ~350 USD at 2017 exchange rates).

[–] [email protected] 11 points 12 hours ago (2 children)

$80 software is rough, but I don’t actually think $450 for the hardware is as unreasonable as people are making it out to be. It's not like packing this hardware into a tablet form factor is gonna be cheap.

Remember when the PS3 was $599 in 2006? Adjusted for inflation, that's $948 today.

[–] [email protected] 16 points 11 hours ago* (last edited 11 hours ago) (1 children)

Inflation got us good, wish my income had inflated as well...

[–] [email protected] 4 points 11 hours ago

True.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 10 hours ago

Inflation doesn't mean everything increases prices uniformly. Desktop PCs, for example, were more expensive in absolute value in the 1980s, and the average desktop would cost more than $4000 if they had kept with inflation.

[–] [email protected] 17 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

No thanks, I'd get a steam deck instead.

[–] [email protected] 12 points 13 hours ago (2 children)

Okay… I hope you enjoy your steam deck then.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 5 hours ago (1 children)

The unmentioned subtext here is that the steam deck emulates Switch games better than the native hardware plays them, will likely also play Switch 2 games, and costs less at $399 while also giving you access to around 80% of the PC gaming space as well.

Switch 2 is a bad deal

[–] [email protected] 1 points 17 minutes ago

Lots to know still, I'm skeptical on playing switch 2 games on the deck because in the demo videos the switch 2 seems to play some games better than the steam deck. But ya, I know I've had little issues and higher FPS on the few switch games I've loaded on here.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 6 hours ago

We will.

[–] [email protected] 6 points 12 hours ago (1 children)

There's no Must Have launch game.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 16 minutes ago

Uhhhm... what about WELCOME TOUR?!

[–] [email protected] 9 points 14 hours ago (1 children)

In Norway it's 630 USD or 570 Euros. It'll be interesting to see if the price goes down, the biggest stores have reduced it by around 9-10 USD/euro.

[–] [email protected] 1 points 1 hour ago

Same here in Finland.

[–] [email protected] 5 points 12 hours ago

Unfortunately, unless the price drops, I'm probably not getting one. I can't justify spending $530 dollars (console plus a game) on a console. While Mario Kart World looks fun, it's probably not half a grands worth of fun.

I mean it's not like I'm hurting for entertainment, thanks to various online giveaways I have a huge backlog of games that I've never played, as well as a homebrewed 3DS and Wii.

[–] [email protected] 4 points 12 hours ago

Because fuckin scalpers is why

[–] [email protected] 2 points 13 hours ago

Its called GREED.