Nintendo delays Switch 2 preorders over tariff concerns

Are we tired of winning yet America ?
- most americans are tired, honestly. source: I am very fucking tired.
  
  I am too and I'm also tired...
  
  Still, almost half are OK and happy about this 😮‍💨
- Tbh I was tired way before any of this.
- Are... Are we great again, yet?
  
  Brown people can still drink from the same fountains still, so no. /s
  
  The jury is still out it seems
- Unfortunately, we'll probably keep winning for at least the next few months, it looks like the party is just getting started.
- Not until Nintendo picks up and moves to America.

In the US. Key part there is "in the US". You guys deal with this nonsense. I intend to be playing my MSRP Vietnamese/Chinese console at launch, thankyouverymuch.
Hell, I'll take whatever stock you don't, maybe we can get a tenner or two shaved off the price. I'm sure the "let's sneak in the exchange rate and pretend it's VAT" thing is starting to look less appealing right about now.
- The Chinese release of the Switch has like 18 games in total
  
  You misunderstood, I said it's Vietnamese/Chinese because that's where a lot of the components are manufactured and why the tariffs are a problem for US distribution in particular but not for other regions.
- The launch date for the US remains the same.
  
  Well, yeah, but if the final store price is 750 instead of 450 the number of consoles allocated to the US market, let alone sold through, may be much lower.
  Given that tariffs could be lifted at random, just like they were set, not even scalpers would want to buy tech that could drop in price dramatically any day.

This is a rare case where a piece of consumer electronics is going to be quite a bit cheaper in Australia compared to the USA! Usually stuff costs more in Australia.
The Switch is currently US$450 and will probably go up with tariffs. Meanwhile, it's listed as AU$700 in Australia, which is AU$630 before tax (all advertised prices include tax), which is US$385.
I imagine this is going to happen for a lot of devices. I'm an Aussie living in the USA and I never thought I'd see the day when buying stuff in Australia would be cheaper. Australia has better consumer protection too, around things like repairs/refunds due to major issues even outside the warranty period.
- In Europe it's €385+taxes (all advertised prices must include tax) which is $425+tax, with two (mandatory) years of warranty included in price
- I've got* no idea how this'll work out. Nvidia is American.
- Regardless of price, Nintendo is a shit legacy company that is riding on the coattails of the 90's.
  They never have games on steep discounts like their competitors, ensure emulations and artistic expressions are shut down immediately, and barely change shit to their flagship games such as Pokemon. They're creatively stale and are blessed to have a rabid fan base who can't see through it.
  I got a switch since my kid brought grades home, but that's the last piece of electronic device I'll ever buy from Nintendo. This is someone who has played back in its heyday the N64.
  People who 'boycott' and go back to buying what they boycotted because said company pushed out a halfass apology tweet deserve to lose their money.
  Edit: lol at the Nintendo fan boys downvoting
  
  You seem to be missing the point, the Nintendo Switch is handily the most popular game console in US gaming history. It has officially sold more units than the PS2.
  I’m sorry that you don’t appreciate the switch, it’s an amazing general purpose gaming console.
  
  They're definitely creatively stale, but they're also undeniably good at what they do. They have by far the best selling console of the last generation, and are the only console company to consistently post healthy profits on their operation.
  Is it a bit naff that their next generation of games will almost certainly be yet another Zelda, yet another Mario, yet another Pokémon? Absolutely. But if their next Zelda game is yet another best-selling critically acclaimed success, who are we to say that they've got the wrong approach?
  
  What's this boycott and half assed apology thing? I completely missed whatever that was.
  
  Fucking PREACH!

Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions. Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged.
Wonder if the price of the console and even the cartridge games will change.
- I think they necessarily will. I can't imagine retailers eating the lost margin.
  
  Retailers won't eat it all, consumers will
- Carts and console could very much change. Some estimates say up to 50% up.
  Given that digital games will not this could make the Switch a de facto digital-only thing in the US.
  I mean, assuming Trump isn't beaten with a stick into submission in the next couple of weeks. We'll see.
  
  He's hanging out at a golf tournament today. I don't think he's feeling the pressure.
  
  Either way, this situation is pretty damn funny to me. But then I do hate Nintendo for going against emulators and I won't give them another cent ever.
- Absolutely. The console is manufactured in Vietnam, which now has a 46% tariff. I really doubt that Nintendo's profit margin is high enough to allow them to just eat that cost.
  
  Couldn't they move it to another country first to reduce it a bit?
  
  The console is manufactured in Vietnam
  Which begs the question of why the console is going to be $100 cheaper for Japanese than anyone else even before you factor in the tariff situation.
- Cartridge games for the Switch 2 aren't even cartridge games anymore, haven't you heard? There's no game on the cartridges just a passkey.
  
  Yeah that's a big no from me my last handheld console was the Vita and I felt even that was overpriced for games that were actually on the cartridge.
  If everything is actually digital I'm simply not buying Sony killed my account with them because I didn't login within 6 months and I'd actually bought games there so screw digital
  
  They just replace the code-in-a-box releases we had with gen 1 of the switch. They're still doing the regular cartridges with the game on the card.

Dammm, the best part is everyone speculated that the price it's at now was to predict and get ahead of tarrif pricing by already setting it higher. The fact that it's not is scary.
- I think the $450 USD was just keeping up with inflation.
  $300 in March 2017 when the switch originally launched is equivalent to almost $400 today ($392 and some change). S2 is launching at $450, if they were only expecting 15%-ish tariffs then maybe, but it should then be cheaper outside of the US if tariffs were the only reason. Electronic component prices have gone up beyond inflation growth, I think it would be easier to blame it on that.
  $80-90 games before tariffs sucks, but games have been $60 for as long as I can remember, and they’re only getting more expensive to make.
  
  I would say it's more that some studios are spending even more to make them, games don't have to cost more to make as you can now make a lot more with a smaller team than you could 20 years ago.
  
  No, it's one of the most expensive Nintendo consoles ever. Only beat by the NES and the SNES. Those released when prices were at all time highs for this stuff.
  
  and some games arnt even worth 60$ to begin with
  
  Would tariffs apply to the games as well?
  
  God damn everyone has heard this stupid ass argument and it just makes you stupid to repeat it. Shut up.
- The market wasn't expecting the tariffs to be as insane as they were — which is why it crashed. They had been expecting 10% maximums, not minimums.
- That was the first thing I thought of too.
- Well we knew the price didn't include the tarrifs when we saw Europe get absolutely crazy high prices. Higher than the US and a lot higher if we take into account the dollar tanking right now.

Did anyone check with reddit to see if THIS story would be allowed to use one of the classic angry face Luigi Mario Kart gifs in response or are they still scared of that one?
- Did anyone check with reddit
  Blanket no on that one
- Did anyone check with reddit
- Surprised Reddit just hasn't shut down r/Nintendo since Spez and Musk are scared of a 5 letter word.
- Still scared.
- Nope.

Everyone pissing themselves over Nintendo not putting the price in the Direct when the reason why was pretty obvious, I thought.

*in the USA
- You can tell Americans think their country is the Internet, and the Internet is oriented for Americans.
  
  You're not wrong. But OP just wrote what the title said and the article quickly clarifies its for the US.
- I would never had imagined that in my lifetime I’d see gringos reverse-smuggling game consoles from Mexico. I guess you could smuggle them from Canada too, but Mexico has always smuggled merch from USA. We even have a term for it: “fayuca”.
  The lucky ones that live near the border can cross, shop switches 2 at non-orange prices, open them and smuggle the back as personal devices.
  
  Oh, you think Canadians aren’t going to get in on tariff evasion? They 100% will.
  The tremendous irony is America was founded to evade massive tariffs, sorta… and now we’re doing it to our self.

🤣 all those Republican Nintendo fans have to love all this winning. What a bunch of dumbasses.
- I really wonder how big that demographic is. My impression is that most Republicans would be culturally turned off by Nintendo’s brand.
  
  Don't ever tell them about that one quest in BOTW

This is the kind of creature comfort inconvenience that will tank this administration’s popularity. Americans are fickle and will not accept this kind of disruption to their lives.
- One can only hope, but knowing how fucking stupid my right-wing, sycophantic, fellow countrymen are I doubt much will change.
  Pretty sure everyone who voted against him already hates him though.
  
  I’ve been feeling like there are quite a few parallels to the Brexit mess in this past election and this administration’s policies. It took a while for the reality of Brexit to evaporate away the magical thinking; I think it’s just a matter of time before the same happens here as the cost of living shoots up as a result of these tariffs.
- More importantly, people who don't pay attention to politics and didn't realize that any of this had any consequences to their lives just suddenly felt it

For the US only, lol
- Where does it say that?
  
  Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions.
  From the article.
  Not sure if the same thing but in Japan the Pre-purchase reservation lottery has already opened.

I see a lot of people ragging on the switch and comparing it to the Steam Deck. I own both but
I’m gonna say this: they’re not even direct competitors. They don’t offer the same experiences at all.
The beauty of the Switch is the ease of use, modularity of control, and communal nature of it. Even if switch online sucks, playing with other switches or 8 people in the same room with certain games is unbelievably easy. The plug and play usability and every single game you can buy from the internal store just works.
Not to mention the dock is flawless and literally easy to use. For all its problems, the switch is a surprisingly well executed idea. There’s a reason they sold hundreds of millions of them.
Steam is catching up, but there’s still a ways to go between proton compatible games, connecting controllers, plugging into a dock without having to bend down and plug a cable etc. The Switch is simply put: easy.
That said, Nintendo is stupid for pricing the Switch 2 out of the “no brainer” casual gamer territory.
- I see a lot of people saying they shouldn't be compared, but it still does make sense to do so as most can't afford both.
  
  And outside of coop couch, the switch pales in comparison on just about everything else.
  Game prices: higher
  Feel in hands? Awkward
  Removable controllers: pop off or loosen during solo gameplay causing everything to pause in order to fix it, which can, but isn't always, be a quick easy fix.
  Plus, games like Animal Crossing that allow coop couch still demand individual switch consoles if you want the full experience for multiple people.
- As owner and early adopter of both - disagree.
  Switch is gathering dust for me and everytime I pull it out i feel like getting my steamdeck instead.
  The only exception I can think off is low profile traveling but that's a very small niche if people.
- you can fix the online problems with a USB-to-ethernet adapter on the dock
- Yeah, people are removed about first party titles never going down in price, meanwhile I'm here enjoying my 300Eur indie machine.
- Also most of Nintendo’s target audience has no idea that the Steam Deck exists. Like if a kid asks their parents for a Switch 2 the parents aren’t going to suggest the Steam Deck since they don’t know what it is. Nintendo does a shit ton of traditional advertising, the Nintendo brand has an enormous mind share among the general audience. The mind share for Steam is almost non existent outside of PC gamers.
  And many kids I know who play PC games don’t even have Steam installed. Since they only play Roblox and Fortnite on their PC. Nintendo is not competing with the Steam Deck. Their real competition is Apple and Android because of Fortnite, Roblox and TikTok.
- That’s a bit unnecessary. I’m just pointing out people are trying to compare two things that aren’t the same.
  By that logic though, I think Nintendo has a “dumb cock” for charging as much as they are for Switch 2, so I’m not really sure what it tastes like.

I delayed my preorder when I saw the bullshit price gouging for game prices.
- Have you seen that nowhere is selling switch games for $90?
  Look into it.
  
  Where did I say $90?
  Look into it

don't worry good America people I'd play the games in your stead while you're busy supporting your local brands

guess i will stick with this one🥲

    
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Formatting looks wonky, but the message comes through. Awesome effort. 😀

You can still get a Steam Deck and save a ton of games.

Nintendo going to suck trump dick so they can get the pricepoint they want.
- No they won't. They'll just ship extra units to Canada and Mexico to account for fans going across the border to buy them.
  
  Nintendo should open popup stores for the first year along the US border 😅.

The Switch 2 looks like absolute garbage so they can keep it.
My next console purchase with be a Steam Deck.
- i have a steam deck and it's awesome but it's silly to think that it looks like garbage. the switch 2 looks pretty awesome.
- I'll probably get the Switch 2 eventually, but not for a year or two. I also have a Steam Deck, and they're both great.
  I'll be interested to see a comparison between the Steam Deck and Switch 2 since the Switch 2 could have better performance (but probably comparable).
  
  That's the thing. It's 2025. The Switch came out in 2017 and the Switch 2 is barely a step up from the Switch OLED. Which, BTW, isn't even and option on the Switch 2. And 256 memory? Is that a joke? Plus their new scheme is to not have the games on the physical cartridge but to only have a key code on the cartridge that transfers to the console. And that's not even looking and the drastically inflated price of the games. Not just new games but all the old ones are priced out at $80 to $90 a piece as well.
- Ask about your use case
  You might do better with just a htpc
  
  And many smart TVs can use the Steam Link app, so you may not need any new hardware at all if you just want to connect your PC to your TV.

ELI5 smuggling a Switch2 over the Mexico or Canadian border. Not that I would recommend that or anything. For science. And fanfic.
- Que?
  
  Me llama Han Solo y quiero jugar videojuegos de Switch2. Además, no me gusta pagar Trumpiffs. Theoretically.
- You have always been able to smuggle goods across borders. It's also always been illegal if you get caught.
  People still do it, typically fags and booze as they have high taxes on them.
- Put it in your butt

Yeah, bullshit. They're just using tariffs to further increase the price.
100 bucks cheaper in Japan than any other region? 90 dollar games that never go on sale?
Get bent, Nintendo, I'll stick to the steam deck and wait for emulation.
- Someone doesn't understand the full story. The Yen is weak. Super weak when compared to the US dollar. Hence the price difference for their country.
  Additionally, those special consoles will be soft region locked. Only JP accounts can be added to them and will display Japanese only if the game supports that language.
  Games never go on sale, what are you on about? We see Nintendo games go on sale frequently. Sorry they're not the $5 dumpster trash that EA/Ubisoft shits out every year with their latest madden or CoD/Just Dance games riddled with bugs.
  
  The Nordic prices are ridiculous though. It's the equivalent of adding ~200 euro to the regular European price. I bet lots of people here are going to import from other EU countries
  
  They should absolutely be selling their NES games for $5 or less instead of the original prices innthe 90s lol
  Quit sucking corporate cock
  Snap out of it fanboy
- Tariffs causing price increase would be good for me politically

Looks like it has some promising titles but I don't think price wise it can compete with the ryzen based handheld pcs like the steam deck etc. It doesn't make much sense so far as I can tell but I'm still curious what titles it gets and how the battery life compares
- No OLED screen at that price point was the deal-breaker for me.
  
  Yeah I get that it's obvious they are going to introduce an oled later. Very predictable imo and yeah if I ever buy one it's going to be oled as well.
  But yeah I'm at least waiting to see if the battery life is decent and what other titles it gets beforehand, right now I feel it has potential But at this moment in time I'd rather have a pc based handheld.
- The Switch 2 chip is effectively older than the now aging (but fantastic for the price/size) Van Gogh chip in the Steam Deck. It shouldn’t be expensive to make.
- It's not competing with the Steam Deck though.
  The Switch 2 is competing for casual gamers and puts the couch experience first. That's why detachable controllers are such a big deal, and why graphics quality never was a major concern.
  The Steam Deck is targeting the PC gamer crowd who pretty much never play on the couch or local multiplayer. It's far more important to be ergonomic to hold, have greater compatibility with PC games, and give the user more control (tinker with settings and mods).
  They're two very different products targeting two very different groups of people. I own both, and the Switch is mostly for family time while the Steam Deck is for me time. I wouldn't buy a Switch if I was single, and I wouldn't buy a Steam Deck if the goal was party games. They're very different products.

~~$442~~ Wait, new us price (since its built in china, for a Japanese company) is $1000

Is this global or just USA?
- I think it's just USA. Nowhere else has introduced new tariffs for stuff from Japan to my knowledge.
  Edit: Another article that clarifies it is just the US.
  https://www.gamespot.com/articles/nintendo-switch-2-preorder-guide-mario-kart-world-bundle/1100-6530531/
  Here is the full statement Nintendo sent GameSpot on April 4:
  "Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions. Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged."

No worries not Nintendo! I don't like you so I wasn't gonna buy one due to all the lawsuits.