Nintendo finally showed off the Switch 2, and the internet responded the way it always does: with a mix of genuine excitement and immediate rage over the price.
The console lands at $449.99, and if you want the bundle with the new Mario Kart, that'll be $499.99.
That's a real jump from the original Switch, which launched at $299.99 back when we were all younger and had hope.
Nintendo is also charging for a lot of things that used to be free, which is going over about as well as you'd expect.
The biggest drama isn't the console itself.
A physical copy of the new Mario Kart runs $79.99, making it the first Nintendo game to crack the eighty-dollar barrier.
Nintendo tried to soften this by calling it "variable pricing," which is corporate-speak for "we saw Sony do it and figured why not." Then there's the tech demo situation.
Nintendo is selling a "Switch 2 Welcome Tour" game that basically explains how the console works.
People on Reddit are calling it a paid tutorial, and honestly, they're not wrong.
The screen is bigger, the Joy-Cons finally use magnets instead of that cursed rail system, and there's a new C-button for GameChat.
The dock now supports 4K output, which matters if you own a TV from this decade.
Nintendo also confirmed that Switch 1 games will work, though some titles need compatibility patches.
That's the good news buried under all the pricing discourse.
Preorders were supposed to open on April 9, then Nintendo delayed them because of tariff concerns.
When they finally went live, retailers crashed, scalpers did scalper things, and normal humans got stuck refreshing Target's website at 3 a.m.
If you're wondering whether to buy one, here's the honest answer: probably wait.
The launch lineup is thin beyond Mario Kart, and Nintendo has a history of releasing a better version of its handhelds a couple years in.
The Switch 2 will almost certainly be a great console.
It's just hard to feel great about paying premium prices for a company that used to be the affordable option.
Nintendo is betting that nostalgia and brand loyalty will carry them through the backlash.
Whether it works at $450 with $80 games is a different question entirely. **The Verdict** Nintendo built a better machine and then got greedy with the pricing.
The Switch 2 will sell out anyway because we're all powerless against Mario, but that doesn't make the $80 game price tag sting any less.
Final Thoughts
Wait for the library to fill out, or wait for the inevitable OLED refresh, and let the early adopters fund Nintendo's next round of questionable decisions.