By Harold Goldberg
UPDATE: On Friday, Nintendo postponed preorders of its Switch 2. With the stock markets in freefall, and no talk of tariffs at its event on Thursday, the company may be now re-considering how tariffs will effect the price of its new console. Says Nintendo, the preorder halt was done “in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions. Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged.” Will the launch date remain as June 5 as well? At this point – for any company – nothing is etched in stone.
Yesterday, I attended Nintendo’s Switch 2 press event in Manhattan with two colleagues from The New York Times. It was a grand day for the Japanese company, particularly Nintendo of America’s executives, many of whom were present at the sprawling 5th Avenue venue.
The news came a day before today’s tariff-induced, worldwide stock market crash, the full effects of which we may not know for months to come. Will sales for the $450 device be affected when it releases on June 5, 2025? None of the executives I spoke briefly with were really saying.
In fact, they all seemed like proud parents as they showed their newborn to the world. And there was reason to be proud. It’s been eight years since the first Switch was introduced. The world is ready for a new console with better graphics and useful bells and whistles like magnetic Joy-Con controllers and GameChat, launched via a video chat C button. It puts a thought-bubble of your talkative likeness into some of the games as you talk. In other words, the new machine is not being foisted upon us, as some other companies’ consoles have been in the past.
I do worry about the price, however, and not just for Switch 2 itself. As Circle member Stephen Totilo noted this morning in Game File, that $450 plus tax cost, adjusted for inflation, is somewhat akin to the cost of the original Switch ($299). However, the price of the invigorating, open world Mario Kart World will be $80 – plus tax. (You can buy Switch 2 and save $30 with the game and console as a bundle for $500.)
I worry about pricing because, as a nonprofit which serves young people, our Playing With Purpose programs teach underserved students about the world of games, about games writing and games narrative. Many don’t have the newest console at home. Many play games on their phone due to the lack of funds. Can they afford $450 for a Switch 2 or $80 for a new game? Probably not.
Which is not to say the new console won’t be a good investment that will last the better part of a decade.
I’m looking forward to reviewing some of these games in my role as a critic for The New York Times. Almost every game I played had its own fresh vibe, including the Paralympic-inspired Drag X Drive basketball game, which uses the Joy-Cons as a mouse. Giovanni Colantonio and I handily beat the other team we played. I wasn’t so fortunate in Mario Kart World as I didn’t make it past the first round in the 24-cart elimination game. My editor beat me and he wasn’t eliminated until the next round. How embarrassing.
Completely engaging were the words I spewed after I played Donkey Kong Bananza, a single player game somewhat reminiscent of Dig Dug, but with that giant, lovable gorilla as the star. I checked out the map to see the level design, which was thoughtful and intricate yet still firmly family-oriented.
The only experience I didn’t enjoy, Welcome Tour, acted as a tech demo for the system. If it’s included at all, it should be added free with the Switch 2. But Nintendo is charging for it. It won’t cost much, but why not give fans a break?
Nintendo lucked out in the sense that the stock market crashed within 24 hours after the show due to the Trump administration’s stupid tariff move. Still, many will flock to buy the Switch 2 because some won’t be affected as much as those who are the lower rungs of the nation’s economy. In fact, Switch 2 may well sell out its initial run like the Wii did. Like the original Switch, demand will be high. And with tariffs, there may be supply chain issues. So Switch 2 may be hard to get.
But yesterday was a day for joy, a day for excitement, a day for wonder. Nintendo presented a new baby to the world, and most people are looking at the newborn with some degree of admiration.
Author journalist Harold Goldberg is the founder of the New York Videogame Critics Circle and the New York Game Awards.
