The Switch 2 is finally here, and the early reviews read like a love letter.
Sharper screen, sturdier kickstand, magnetic controllers that actually stay put.
Nintendo did the thing fans begged for and fixed almost everything wrong with the original.
There is just one problem nobody at the launch party wanted to mention out loud.
That is before the $79.99 launch titles, before the $84.99 Pro Controller, before the memory card you will need because the built-in storage disappears the moment you download two modern games.
Add a case, a screen protector, and a second controller so your kid can lose gracefully, and you are staring down six hundred dollars for a handheld.
Six hundred dollars is a mortgage payment in some zip codes.
It is two weeks of groceries for a family of four.
And Nintendo, a company that built its empire on being the affordable option, just quietly joined Sony and Microsoft in the premium tier without anyone blinking.
The original Switch launched at $299 in 2017.
Adjusted for inflation, that is about $390 today.
The new one is not just keeping pace with inflation.
Meanwhile, wages for the bottom half of American workers have barely budged in real terms since before the pandemic.
That is why preorders sold out in minutes while resellers immediately listed units at $700 and up.
The people who actually wanted to play Mario Kart on launch day are now competing with bots and side hustlers.
It is the same story as concert tickets, sneakers, and graphics cards.
Everything fun in America now comes with a scalper tax.
Not because they can comfortably afford it, but because the alternative is telling your kid no for the third Christmas in a row.
Gaming has become one of the last affordable luxuries for families who cannot swing a Disney trip or season tickets.
When that luxury prices itself out of reach, something small but real breaks.
It is probably the best handheld Nintendo has ever made.
But a great product launched into an economy that punishes anyone without a cushion is not just a gadget story.
We keep celebrating companies for making beautiful things while ignoring who gets left standing outside the store.
A console should not require a payment plan.
Final Thoughts
If it does, the problem was never the hardware.