Nintendo's Switch 2 pricing strategy keeps getting smarter and smarter

Nintendo had us all worried (twice), but it's as perfectly positioned as it could be at an impossible time Back when the pricing of the Nintendo Switch 2 was announced, in April 2025, everyone was worried about tariffs. Ah, those innocent days, 14 whole months ago, when we thought the biggest threat to the cost of our game consoles was the capricious economic policy of President Donald Trump's administration. What babes we were. How little we knew. Nintendo said it had accounted for the impact of tariffs with the Switch 2's initial sticker price of $450 (although, a few weeks later, it was forced to increase the cost of some accessories). Everyone complained anyway. At $450, the Switch 2 was a whole 50% more than the Switch had been at launch, and similarly priced to the base model of PlayStation 5. Even adjusted for inflation, it was Nintendo's most expensive console ever. It seemed a worryingly high price for a handheld console. Was Nintendo giving away one of its great advantages in the market — the affordability of its hardware? Nintendo executives were submitted to grillings on price. Armchair strategists wondered if the company had scored a massive own goal. It turns out that