OPINION : report say Nintendo may be holding off the Switch firing to stop scalpers getting their mitts on computer hardware and jacklight up prices for gamers . It ’d be a majuscule first step to battle a drill that should n’t be sound in the first place .
The latest scuttlebutt hem in theSwitch 2release suggest itmay have slipped to March 2025 . New reportage over the weekend may tell us why .
The reputableNikkei agencyin Nintendo ’s Japanese homeland is report Nintendo wants to ensure it has stockpiled enough consoles to satisfy requirement when the cabinet eventually does go on sale .
The idea behind that , the report says , is to discourage the scalper seeking to take vantage of the shortage to boost prices on the secondary market .
Even through it means we might be waiting a well longer catamenia – possibly us much as six months longer than initially planned – for the Switch 2 , I ’d be all in favour . Scalping is an absolute curse and has been out of control for years now .
For the first couple of years of the current Xbox and PlayStation generation the proceeds was rife , with scalpers using bots to quickly snap up flock of online stock , to betray them on for well above the RRP .
Nintendo buff look to take hold of themselves a Switch cabinet , particularlyduring the early calendar month of the pandemic , were particularly obstruct by the predatory practice .
Unbridled capitalism
Largely because the United States welcomes uncurbed capitalist economy at all costs , nothing is ever done about this . It ’s black that there ’s a simple “ supply and demand ” rationale applied to these crook .
The spot is not quite as gross as the concert ticket blandishment , where the scalper never even has to take possession of a physical product in order of magnitude to make a fortune from rip off genuine fans , but it ’s not far off either .
So Nintendo looking to head this off at the pass by simple building as many Switch 2 consoles as it can to ensure everyone who wants one can get one would be a most welcome development .
This would correspond real change . Historically , Nintendo has been more than ok with fostering a fevered requirement for its consoles . The original Wii for instance was notoriously hard to get for a couple of years . The company was often accuse of under - producing on determination to keep need sky high-pitched .
However , it was the Switch ’s launch in 2017 that really sparked the issues with scalper snapping up the supply Nintendo was able-bodied to get on the market and jacking up the prices to up to £ 400-£500 .
“ With regard to resale measurement when found new hardware , we recognise that the most important matter is to first make and ship in number that can fit customer demand , ” Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said in July last year when asked how it would ensure the console would be buy by those who wish to play games on it . “ We will then view whether there are any other potential metre that can be taken . ”
However , the companionship relies heavily on third - party retailer to stock consoles and games well beyond the post - launch scramble for computer hardware , and those vender have zero concern about who buy the cabinet and what happens to it after it is shipped .
There ’s only so much Nintendo can do , but making certain there are enough Switch 2 console to ensure the request toll remains the selling price in the immense majority of instances , would be a bang-up step forward .
