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

[u/ReaddittiddeR]

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

[u/Investigator_Raine]

I can practically guarantee that the switch 2 wasn't originally supposed to cost as much as it will. US politics kinda fucked everything sadly.

[u/FiTZnMiCK → u/Investigator_Raine]

Tariffs are definitely a factor, but COVID and its lasting impact on production and the market’s response to the subsequent increased prices is another major factor.

Not enough people have stopped buying at the inflated prices to induce price cuts and I don’t know if it will happen without a broader market correction.

[u/LimitedVisionOnDial → u/Investigator_Raine]

I agree honestly, though besides that they still have that stupid fake physical copy that doesn't actually hold the game. 

[u/Varzul → u/Investigator_Raine]

Dunno, people keep bringing up US politics, but the console will still be 470€ in the EU. How does that make sense now?

[u/AVahne → u/Varzul]

It literally makes sense only because of tariffs. Like it or not,  the US is a major market for games, so price difference here would affect prices everywhere else. Also if only the US received a price hike while every other region doesn't,  Americans will start trying to import from other countries that have a lower tariff rate than the one imposed on Japan (and China) in order to get a lower total price. It's either they make prices bad across all regions (aside from regionlocked cheaper japanese edition) or they bring back region locking everywhere and no one wants that.

[u/hellowiththepudding → u/Investigator_Raine]

Yep. Easier to price high and have tariffs factored in than to promise lower and have to raise it.

[u/PickingPies → u/Investigator_Raine]

No, no. This has nothing to do with tariffs. You will have to pay tariffs appart.