Bowser—not to be confused with that Bowser, Mario’s forever arch nemesis—spoke with both The Verge’s Andrew Webster and Wired’s Farokhmanesh about the Switch 2 on a few different topics. In regards to pricing, he relayed to both outlets that Trump’s reciprocal tariffs did not play a role in Nintendo’s initial price strategy.
“Put [the April 2nd announcement] aside, any previous tariffs were not factored into the price itself,” he told Webster. “The news is fresh, and like many companies right now, we are actively assessing what the impact might be.”
In other words, the Switch 2 could very well end up costing more than $449.99 in the US (and more than $499.99 for the Switch 2 + Mario Kart World bundle) whenever Nintendo settles on a new preorder date, though that’s getting ahead of things. Nintendo could also decide to leave pricing alone.
Bowser told Farikhmanesh that the tariffs announcement, which came hours after Nintendo revealed the Switch 2 in full, “creates a challenge” and is “something we’re going to have to address.” He also added that part of Nintendo’s strategy up to this point has been to “diversify the places where we’re manufacturing our hardware and accessories.”
That diversification strategy was put into place largely to maneuver around the challenges that came with the Covid-19 epidemic. However, the situation is different now, with tariffs reaching 46% in Vietnam, 49% in Cambodia, and 54% in China (among others).
“You want to consider pricing relative to the Switch since we still have that in distribution,” Browser said. “But, really, the consideration was driven more by what is a part of this particular gaming experience versus what it is relative to the Switch 1.”
Some of those upgrades include a bigger display, redesigned Joy-Con controllers, faster hardware, more storage, and the ability to play at 4K and 120 frames per second in TV mode (docked).
“We wanted to make sure that we were rewarding loyal players,” Bowser says. “Those that have been playing on [the Switch] for quite some time that we knew would be those upgraders—those that were eager to dive into play. That’s why some of the gates, if you will, have been a part of the preorder process.”
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