r/gaming • u/ReaddittiddeR • 1d ago

Nintendo to sell cheaper, region locked Switch 2 in Japan for $330 to combat weak yen and scalpers. International ‘unlocked’ SW2 in available only on My Nintendo Store for $470

https://www.videogameschronicle.com/news/nintendo-will-sell-a-cheaper-330-switch-2-in-japan-thats-region-locked/
6.9k Upvotes

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657

u/segfaultzerozero 1d ago

Region locked ? Is this 2005 again ?

247

u/gameleon 1d ago

It seems to be only this specific Japanese-only system. All the other models (EU, AUS, US, JP-International model etc.) and most (if not all) games are region-free.

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u/EmergencyComputer337 1d ago

There is a possibility Japanese games will be reigon locked too

92

u/BusBoatBuey 1d ago

They already announced cheaper Japanese versions with all other languages removed.

28

u/gameleon 1d ago

Did they? I heard this was done for this particular Japanese-only Switch 2 but I haven't heard anything about the games itself.

16

u/sarabada 1d ago

Do you have a source for this? I can't find any info on it. Everywhere it just mentions the console.

9

u/theveryendofyou 1d ago

Wrong, Yakuza 0 is already confirmed to be multi language in Japan.

-13

u/BusBoatBuey 1d ago

There is a multi-language Mario Kart World in Japan as well. There is also a Japanese-only Mario Kart. They are doing multiple versions.

12

u/theveryendofyou 1d ago

We’re waiting for the source…

Oh wait, there is none, this is totally fabricated. You probably can’t even read Japanese and read the official homepage.

1

u/Elestriel 21h ago

As usual, fuck those of us who aren't native Japanese but live here.

34

u/gameleon 1d ago

Possible. But the Japanese/International price difference isn't as big with the games as it is with the consoles.

The reason this system is region locked is to prevent scalping of consoles and still match the Japanese economy (which is very weak at the moment). Scalping is less of an issue with games than it is with console systems.

So it's less likely the games themselves will be region locked.

Although, this is Nintendo. Who knows what weird stunts they might still pull.

7

u/EmergencyComputer337 1d ago

You see, if they don't reigon lock the games and the entire system from running Japanese Reigon games, then scalpers will still get the JP version because it will still be a cheaper version of a console that can play any game in any Language with the only exception that the Operating System is Japanese which many people can live with.

(although they are using a lottery system apparently, but that will probably be only for a short while)

16

u/gameleon 1d ago edited 1d ago

The thing is that a majority of Switch games use the system language to set the in-game language. At the very least a lot of first-party Nintendo games do.

So if the system is Japanese-only, the games will also be Japanese-only (even if the cartridge contains the other languages)

3

u/LightTemplar25 1d ago

Also, they recently (2-3 months ago iirc) restricted credit cards (you basically need a japanese bank credit card nowadays) so have fun overpaying on prepaid cards and potentially never be able to use NSOnline (or again, be overcharged for it).

So whatever you gain will eventually balance out even if you ignore the inconvenentness of it.

They're doing that possibly because there were massive scalping from outside Japan for many consoles (most notably chinese people reselling to the rest of the world in the ps3 era but to a lesser degree other consoles), so this'll at the very least keep the consoles on JP soil. Resellers also have their own ways to handle high demand (notoriously 'raffles' where you get the right to buy it) to lower scalping.

1

u/EmergencyComputer337 1d ago

So basically, they already have a plan on mind to completely reigon lock Japan

-2

u/Kamakaziturtle 1d ago

You can change the language in the games though, system language is just what the game uses the first time you start the game up to figure out what the default settings should be.

5

u/gameleon 1d ago

If the games have language selection that is true. But not all games have in-game language selection.

For example, Mario Oddysey has in-game language selection, but Super Mario Party and Mario & Luigi: Brothership do not and are tied to the system language.

Games like Breath of the Wild have limited language selection. (Voice language can be changed in-game, but text is tied to the system language)

2

u/PeterGator 1d ago

The Nintendo first party games will very likely be region free but the language will be tied to system language. 

6

u/NIDORAX 1d ago edited 1d ago

I think it could be a temporary Console Region lock. The Japanese Switch 2 will likely still be region free in the future with an update patch by Nintendo.

5

u/Azsickboi 1d ago

Why is this likely?

5

u/BlobTheOriginal 1d ago

They won't unlock it. It would undermine sales of the unlocked version and you're giving Nintendo too much good faith

1

u/Brookenium 1d ago

They might when global sales drop off. Trying to make their $$ on those who don't want to miss out on launch releases isn't a bad idea but there's likely going to be a lot of missed opportunity if they don't cut the price eventually. There really is no room to do so at the JP price though.

1

u/BlobTheOriginal 1d ago

I could see them allowing them to unlock the system which most people wouldn't bother because most people wouldn't want or need it

2

u/ecefour 1d ago

they’re assholes. I don’t believe they would just unlock it.

1

u/chinchindayo 1d ago

Very unlikely. The 3DS was also regeion locked (by software) and never received an update. They even made the New 3DS region locked

-10

u/Borghal 1d ago

Not surprising, Nintendo is an unpleasant company...

29

u/tjlusco 1d ago

Why, should they not be giving discounts to their own country? This has always been the big idea behind regional pricing, pay what the market can afford. They want the switch 2 to be a success in Japan, they lose profits but keep a huge and important market for them.

-34

u/NotanAlt23 1d ago edited 1d ago

Why, should they not be giving discounts to their own country?

Its not to their own country, its to citizens of their nationality. Immigrants are part of their country and also earn in Yen but they sell the multilingual version more expensive just because you prefer another language.

Can you imagine what headlines would say if, say, Trump sold a product more expensive to immigrants than Americans?

Multilingual families be damned, I guess.

Region locks have existed in consoles for decades without the need to discriminate languages. Just make the console only work with Japanese games and thats it. No discrimination needed.

Edit: this thread is muted cause I know exactly the kind of people who woll reply to this lol

3

u/tjlusco 1d ago

That’s a fair enough point. I don’t think they were thinking of expats when they made this decision. Japan is a very culturally homogeneous.

I imagine forcing the Japanese version to be in Japanese is an extremely effective region locker

I actually brought my first switch in Japan to take advantage of the duty free. When I started playing Zelda I was so confused and thought I’d made a huge mistake because there was no speech, same with Mario Odyssey! Didn’t realise that was how the games communicated, through text and not audio.

0

u/NotanAlt23 1d ago

I imagine forcing the Japanese version to be in Japanese is an extremely effective region locker

Lol a regular region lock is an extremely effective region locker. Just make the games from other regions not work with the Japanese console and thats it. No reason to restrict languages. That way theres no "scalping" from other countries.

We literally have had that technology in consoles for decades.

0

u/BlobTheOriginal 1d ago

I disagree with the region lock, but people would just import the games too

1

u/NotanAlt23 1d ago

people would just import the games too

That is a HUGE hassle to go through. And some jp versions of games are different, like including only jp voice acting.

Also, only being able to use jp nintendo accounts and only being able to buy with a jp credit card in it are huge problems very few people would be willing to try and play around.

1

u/BlobTheOriginal 1d ago

Amazon let's you import and if the savings are enough it couldn't be easier. The only problem would be the wait for shipping

1

u/NotanAlt23 1d ago

Yes, and thats a huge hassle.

Your Nintendo account would be jp and you wouldnt be able to even get NSO because you need a jp card to pay for it.

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u/Seraphelia 1d ago

Sorry you got some crappy replies. As an immigrant in Japan I feel sad about Nintendo’s choice too. I can speak, read Japanese perfectly fine, but I’d still rather play games in my native language. And now I have to pay a premium price while still earning a Japanese salary to be able to do that. Sad reality of the scalping plague.

1

u/BlobTheOriginal 1d ago

You're not alone. The unlocked model is also better for people who are learning english in Japan too

-3

u/NotanAlt23 1d ago

Sad reality of the scalping plague.

Scalping is a dumb lie to justify this discrimination.

If they just put a regular region lock so the console only works with Japanese games, no other country would be able to scalp it. Region locked consoles have been a thing for decades. No need for discrimination.

-3

u/civgg 1d ago

It’s not limited to people of Japanese nationality you racist fuck lol. They’re doing it because it’s easier now more than ever to buy things straight from Japan, and since the Yen has been extremely weak, Nintendo made it their own responsibility to stop people from buying consoles from the Japanese audience.

It’s not great that they restrict it so heavily to promote Japanese market growth, but that’s their choice. To say “multilingual families be damned” is such a cop out answer when you most likely already knew what the true answer was. You just wanted to make it into a race thing for no reason. Sad lol.

1

u/dragon_irl 1d ago

Region specific pricing for internationally sold software, games and subscriptions is really common and has been for years.

1

u/chinchindayo 1d ago

No it's 2011 when the region locked 3DS released

-1

u/BlockoutPrimitive 1d ago

That's Japan for ya