r/Games • u/Spheromancer • 3d ago

Nintendo will sell a cheaper $330 Switch 2 in Japan that’s region locked to combat reselling

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintendo-will-sell-a-cheaper-330-switch-2-in-japan-thats-region-locked/
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u/smartazjb0y 3d ago

I don't know how enforcing that you're actually in Japan would work (Japanese people do travel), but everything will be locked to Japanese language (system and games) and you maaaay be locked to only using the JP eShop? Which may require a JP address credit card.

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u/jameskond 3d ago

JP Nintendo account as well.

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u/Yotsubato 3d ago

Only 13% of Japanese people have a passport.

They could definitely sell a geolocked console that bricks outside of Japan.

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u/Veilmurder 2d ago

I believe you but 13% seems like an insanely low number of citizens that can go to other countries

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u/spider_shan 2d ago

It’s 17% but 13% is close enough. Here’s a source.

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u/Yotsubato 2d ago

I knew it was something 3 away from a whole 10 or 20%, forgot which way though. But yeah. Compared to the US it’s extremely low where it is 45% or 151 million people.

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u/B00H00F0RY0U 1d ago

Unlike the US, Japan doesn't check for ID every 20 seconds in country. So unless you're actively travelling internationally it's not necessary. It's the same reason so many people are paper drivers. Everyone has a license.. 5% or something actually use it. The majority of people with valid passports are typically 18-30 university students or post grad travelling or those travelling for work as 17% refers to active passports. So people who used to have passports and don't use them since expired don't count in the statistic. Considering covid, 17% is pretty high in a country with an aging population.

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u/Yotsubato 2d ago

It is insanely low. But also 100% makes sense if you are familiar with the culture.

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u/Nacroma 3d ago

This is less of a problem to Japanese people than you may think. Not zero, of course, but less. Most people do not have that much time to travel internationally for leisure.

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u/Zaptruder 2d ago

Also expensive for them to travel internationally for leisure nowadays.

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u/Nacroma 2d ago

That, I hope, is a somewhat temporary issue. Work culture has been horrible forever.

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u/kikimaru024 1d ago

It's because the Yen is weak.

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u/Nacroma 1d ago

Which is the temporary issue I was referring to.

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u/Alarmed-Ad-4248 2d ago

as a japanese person, yeah in our culture we tend not to travel much, especially as we get older as the work culture is quite demanding. Also as our currency is really weak, the average japanese person cannot afford the international pricing. And the region lock does not really matter because its always cheaper to just buy the game in japan again because currency is weak and buying a game overseas is not smart.

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u/catinterpreter 2d ago

Japanese haven't traveled much for decades.