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Nintendo aims to match Switch success with new console

Article (news)

Agence France-Presse

TOKYO — Nintendo hopes to match the runaway success of the Switch when its leveled-up new console hits shelves Thursday, with strong early sales expected despite the gadget&#x27;s high price.Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to its predecessor, which has sold 152 million units since launching in 2017 — making it the third best-selling video game console of all time.But despite buzz among fans and robust demand for pre-orders, headwinds for Nintendo include uncertainty over US trade tariffs and whether enough people are willing to shell out.The Switch 2 &quot;is priced relatively high&quot; compared to the original device, company president Shuntaro Furukawa said at a financial results briefing in May.&quot;So even if there is momentum around the launch, we know it will not be easy to keep that momentum going over the long term,&quot; he warned.Sales of the Switch, which can connect to a TV or be played on the go, were boosted by the popularity of games like &quot;Animal Crossing&quot; as a pandemic lockdown pastime.The Japanese company forecasts it will shift 15 million Switch 2 consoles in the current financial year, roughly equal to the original in the same period after its release.The new device costs $449.99 in the United States, over a third more than the Switch. A Japan-only version is cheaper, at 49,980 yen ($350).New Switch 2 games such as &quot;Donkey Kong Bonanza&quot; and &quot;Mario Kart World&quot; — which allows players to go exploring off-grid — are also more expensive than existing Switch titles.Most original Switch games can be played on the Switch 2, and some Switch blockbusters such as &quot;Zelda: Breath of the Wild&quot; will have enhanced editions released for the new incarnation.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/technology/2025/4/2/nintendo-s-megahit-switch-console-what-to-know-1323">Nintendo&#x27;s megahit Switch console: what to know </a></div><div>&#x27;Super excited&#x27; </div>&quot;People were a bit shocked by the price of &#x27;Mario Kart World&#x27;, the first $80 game that we&#x27;ve ever seen,&quot; said Krysta Yang of the Nintendo-focused Kit &amp; Krysta Podcast.While the company is &quot;going to have to do some work&quot; to convince more casual gamers that it&#x27;s worth upgrading, Nintendo fans are &quot;super excited&quot;, she told AFP.The Switch 2 will have eight times the memory of the first Switch, and its controllers, which attach with magnets, can also be used like a desktop computer mouse.Although the new console is not radically different, &quot;a lot of people (are) saying, &#x27;this is what I wanted, I wanted a more powerful Switch — don&#x27;t mess with a good thing&#x27;,&quot; said Yang, a former Nintendo employee.New functions allowing users to chat as they play online and temporarily share games with friends could also be a big draw, said David Gibson of MST Financial.&quot;It&#x27;s a way to appeal to an audience which has got used much more to the idea of streaming games and watching games, as well as playing games,&quot; he told AFP, predicting that the Switch 2 will break records in terms of early sales.And success is crucial for Nintendo.While the &quot;Super Mario&quot; maker is diversifying into theme parks and hit movies, around 90 percent of its revenue still comes from the Switch business, analysts say.<div><a href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/sports/esports/2025/1/18/gamers-tear-into-musk-for-faking-video-game-prowess-1128">Gamers tear into Musk for &#x27;faking&#x27; video game prowess </a></div><div>Tariff trouble?</div>Nintendo delayed pre-orders for the Switch 2 in the United States by two weeks as it assessed the impact from President Donald Trump&#x27;s global assault on free trade.But its pre-orders have since sold out in the US market and elsewhere, with the company boasting of particularly high demand in Japan.Furukawa said in May that Nintendo&#x27;s financial projections are based on the assumption of US tariffs of 10 percent on products produced in Japan, Vietnam, and Cambodia, and 145 percent on China.&quot;Hardware for North America is mainly produced in Vietnam,&quot; he added.Trump&#x27;s hefty so-called &quot;reciprocal&quot; tariff of 46 percent on goods from Vietnam is on pause, while those on China have been slashed.Tariff uncertainty could in fact push consumers to buy a Switch 2 sooner, because they are worried that the price could go up, Yang said.Charlotte Massicault, director of multimedia and gaming at the French retail giant Fnac Darty, told AFP that pre-sale demand has been &quot;well above what we imagined&quot;.&quot;For us, this will be a record in terms of first-day sales for a games console,&quot; she said.The Switch 2 is &quot;less of a family-focused product, and more of a &#x27;gamer&#x27; product&quot; compared to the Switch, she said.&quot;That&#x27;s what Nintendo wanted, and it works.&quot;<div>© Agence France-Presse</div>

Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to its predecessor, which has sold 152 million units since launching in 2017 — making it the third best-selling video game console of all time.

Featuring a bigger screen and more processing power, the Switch 2 is an upgrade to its predecessor, which has sold 152 million units since launching in 2017 — making it the third best-selling video game console of all time.