While excitement for the Switch 2 is still at a high across the internet, there is one big factor that is currently putting a damper on things: the price. Nintendo revealed that the console itself will be $450 USD when it launches, with a bundle pack including Mario Kart World for $500. Mario Kart World will be $80 USD on its own, which is pretty absurd. Those prices are likely inflated thanks to the current tariffs the United States has put on basically every country, (with some experts suggesting Nintendo is building a buffer in case tariffs hit supply chains harder than expected) so the logical conclusion would be to import a Japanese console to save some money. Well, Nintendo thought of that and will be selling a Japanese-only region-locked version of the system in its home country.
As spotted by many different outlets, Nintendo of Japan has revealed that retail versions of the Switch 2 in Japan will be a Japanese-language-only version of the system that retails for far less than the international one. Going for 49,980 yen, that makes this region-locked version of the console roughly equivalent to $334 USD. The downside will be that you can only use the console in Japanese and can only link a Japanese Nintendo Account for online play. If you’d like to get a multi-language model in Japan, it will be available exclusively through the Japanese My Nintendo Store and run you 69,980 yen, or about $467 USD.
For those unaware, the value of Japan’s currency has been falling in recent years thanks to rising inflation. A single yen is currently equivalent to around $0.0067, which is pretty dour. In the past, 1 yen was roughly equal to one cent and has lost nearly 40 percent of its value in the last few years. As such, importing English-friendly versions of Japanese games has been a decent way to save around $20 since they’re simply cheaper when exchange rates take effect.
As VGC notes, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa stated that the company would take steps to combat reselling of its consoles with the Switch 2, and this has taken the form of a region-locked console. Dr. Serkan Toto, CEO of Tokyo-based consultancy agency Kantan Games, told VGC that Japanese customers are unlikely to be bothered by a region-locked system. “The vast majority of Japanese users do not care about multi-lingual hardware, so the price for the international version is inconsequential,” he said.
What’s interesting is that the current Switch goes for roughly $220 in Japan. While that won’t help with gamers trying to get cheaper Switch 2’s, it does mean you can pick up a second (or third) Switch for relatively cheap right now.
Written by Peter Glagowski
Peter has been a freelance gaming and film critic for over seven years. His passion for Nintendo is only matched by the size of his collection.
