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.
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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.