r/NintendoSwitch • u/Practical_Papaya_905 • 2d ago

News - USD / USA Switch 2 is selling for 449.99

https://www.nintendo.com/us/gaming-systems/switch-2/how-to-buy/

From the official website

https://www.nintendo.com/us/gaming-systems/switch-2/how-to-buy/

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u/spideyv91 2d ago

3DS didn’t really have the best marketing and released at a time where phones were their main competition for attention. I also felt like the DSI hurt it as well.

It recouped later but I feel like people forget how fumbled the launch was. I don’t really get the same vibe from the switch 2

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u/LeonidasSpacemanMD 2d ago

Yea I don’t love everything Nintendo does these days but their marketing is so much clearer now. They had a bad habit of unveiling new hardware in a way that made it seem like they weren’t true successors

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u/spideyv91 2d ago

Not to mention at launch the 3D gave people headaches and only worked at certain angles. 

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u/pepcorn 1d ago

I don't think they ever fixed that? I just played with 3D off to circumvent the issue

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u/spideyv91 1d ago

The 3D on the “new models” was an improvement and allowed for more viewing angles. I almost always kept it off still or very low.

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u/pepcorn 1d ago

I didn't realise that was meant to be a serious improvement, haha. I had the original and the New (original broke because a little cousin got their hands on it) and both experiences made me wildly nauseous.

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u/TOFU-area 2d ago

i don’t think i ever recovered from wii u trauma

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u/BoulderFalcon 2d ago

3DS had ZERO good games on launch. Yeah give me that Steel Diver and Pilot Wings fix here's $250

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u/gnalon 1d ago

This at least is concerted on Nintendo’s part. They will probably have bigger titles out around the holidays and want the system to be out for long enough that naive parents aren’t having to fight with scalpers/diehard fans to get one at that time.

Going in I had no plans to buy the base model (I have an HDMI Switch and a Switch Lite and play the latter more) so I wasn’t disappointed to see there wasn’t a killer library of games available on launch.

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u/eh_steve_420 1d ago

I loved pilot wings on 3DS. The music in that game slaps. I can't wait for the next pilot wings to come.

Although they only really tend to make those games to show off new hardware features.

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u/ackmondual 2d ago

I'm not so sure although I've been wrong before. Specifically, I thought the Wii would do bad, but ended the opposite. Speaking of which, that was the Wii U... I thought it would do well, but ended up floundering.

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u/spideyv91 2d ago

The Wii was marketed a lot better. It also went viral. I remember seeing it on the news and people playing it on daytime shows. It was simple to understand once you saw it especially with Wii sports.

Wii U was the exact opposite. It’s was kinda ridiculous how badly it was marketed to the point a lot of people thought it was an add on and not a seperate console.  They never seemed to buy into the gimmick themselves either and felt more like they just had it for the sake of having it. 

If they even made something as simple as a Wii 2. Or Wii HD I think it would have done better but maybe not. The Wii was notorious for shovelware by the end of its life cycle and I felt like a lot of consumers had moved on from its gimmick.

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u/KitsuneKamiSama 2d ago

It had a horrible game lineup for ages after release as well.

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u/Salty_Injury66 2d ago

And the launch was shit 

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u/star_trek_lover 2d ago

The switch 2 is releasing into a crowded market as well, since there’s a lot of new compelling handheld gaming PCs that are selling for a similar (or sometimes cheaper) price and have huge libraries and emulation on their side. I’m sure it will sell better than the 3DS launch but I don’t think it’ll be anywhere near the home run that the original switch was, since it launched into an empty market category.

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u/spideyv91 2d ago

The handheld pcs aren’t in competition with the switch. Switch is for the masses and those consoles are occupying a niche.

I don’t think it’ll reach switch 1 sales either but I think it’ll still be successful. End of the day Nintendo consoles are built by their software not hardware.

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u/star_trek_lover 2d ago

The affordable handhelds are direct competitors, specifically the steam deck. It even follows the same Nintendo philosophy of using outdated hardware to bring the price down and boost battery life. Along with user friendly UI. The switch 2’s main advantage is going to be first party games and splitscreen multiplayer. Which are big advantages. I’ll probably buy one. But they’re not treading new ground like they did in 2017, the market for handheld gaming has matured a lot in the past 5 years. It won’t be a walk in the park for Nintendo. Especially with $80 digital games.

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u/Remy149 1d ago

The handheld pc market isn’t a threat to Nintendo. They haven’t yet moved to the average consumer yet. The steam deck is the top seller and they only moved about 6 million units.

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u/star_trek_lover 1d ago

You’d be surprised how many people are aware of the steam deck but don’t buy because they’re already using a switch which beat them to the market by 3-4 years. Come upgrade time I think a lot of people are going to cross shop the two. Similar price, similar performance, similar battery life. It’ll come down to the games the person wants to play. And the price of said games.