Paris (AFP) – Nintendo’s new Switch console will be launched on June 5, the Japanese video game giant said Wednesday, starting the countdown for one of the most hotly awaited gaming launches in years. Millions of fans tuned in on YouTube for an hour-long presentation about the Switch 2 — an update to the 2017 original model that has sold around 150 million units.
But shares in the Kyoto-based company tanked nearly six percent in early Japanese trade on Thursday, partly on profit-taking but also as investors apparently baulked at the gadget’s high price. The shares’ fall also followed US President Donald Trump’s announcement of sweeping global tariffs, including 46 percent on Vietnam and 49 percent on Cambodia, where Nintendo has reportedly shifted an increasing amount of production in recent years.
The Switch 2 retains many of its predecessor’s features, including its detachable “Joy-Con” controllers. But it comes with a larger, higher resolution screen and quicker processing speeds. After giving a glimpse of the new console in mid-January, Nintendo provided further details about some of the changes including a “C” button that activates “GameChat,” allowing players to speak with one another while playing. “Even when you’re apart, you can play games and hang out as if you were together in the same room,” the firm said.
Nintendo also announced a new version of its best-selling Mario Kart game, “Mario Kart World,” which allows players to go exploring off-grid. Other notable new games, intended to drive uptake of the more expensive hardware, include “Donkey Kong Bonanza” and “Kirby Air Riders.” They will be priced around 30 percent higher than existing Switch games at 80-90 euros ($86-$97), while the console will also be at least a third more than its predecessor. The recommended retail price is listed as $449.99 in the United States, £395.99 in Britain, and 469.99 euros in France — which quickly became a sore point among commentators on game sites and forums.
“These price tags have created such negativity around its release that I’m actually flabbergasted,” streamer Sendo DX wrote on social media platform X. The Switch 2 will have eight times the memory of the first Switch at 256 GB, and a screen that measures 7.9 inches (20 centimeters) versus 6.2 inches for the original. Its controllers, which attach with magnets rather than sliding on, can also be used like a desktop computer mouse, a new functionality the company clearly hopes game developers will make use of. A new “GameShare” function will also enable users to share games with friends to allow them to temporarily play together.
Analysts had predicted that the company would opt to bring out an improved iteration of a winning formula, rather than announce revolutionary changes — and that appeared to be the case overall. Gamers “mention performance and game software, but in reality, they seem to want the same experience as the original Switch,” Hideki Yasuda, an analyst at Japanese brokerage Toyo Securities, had said beforehand. “I think what they truly want is simply higher performance.”
The Switch won favour with all ages thanks to its hybrid concept, which allows players to use it on the go and connect to a TV. Despite recent diversification efforts into movies and theme parks, Nintendo’s core business still relies heavily on video games. The company cut profit forecasts in February due to slowing sales of the original Switch, but its shares have risen this year overall on expectations of strong demand for the Switch 2. Nintendo could sell around 19 million units in 2025 and 21 million the following year, Toyo Securities estimated.
The video game industry has been struggling with a global slowdown, with sales down by 35 percent in 2024 year-on-year in the United States, according to US market research firm Circana.
© 2024 AFP
