nintendo of america
HipHopWired Featured Video
CLOSE
Source: Nintendo / Nintendo Switch 2
After a delay, primarily due to Donald Trump’s blatant abuse of tariffs, Nintendo was forced to postpone pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2 for fans in the US. After some waiting, the day has arrived for gamers stateside to secure Nintendo’s new console, and as expected, things did not go smoothly.
Although people have been complaining about the Switch 2’s price, demand is still strong. Gamers had a frustrating time trying to secure a Nintendo Switch 2 due to several sites offering pre-orders crashing under the high volume of traffic.
Best Buy, Target, and Walmart all experienced issues with their websites on Thursday morning once pre-orders for the Switch 2 went live, according to Downdetector.
For about 45 minutes, starting around midnight, following the announcement that pre-orders for the Switch 2 went live, more than 2,000 customers reported experiencing issues while trying to connect to Target’s website.
Best Buy wasn’t any better. Even though they required customers to have an account on the website, a tactic to combat scalping, customers began encountering issues around 9 PM on Wednesday, which persisted until 2 AM on Thursday.
GameStop, remember them? Kicked off their Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders on Thursday at 11 AM; spoiler alert, it was also a hot mess.
Still, some were able to secure their Nintendo Switch 2 consoles, even though it required some searching. To those people, congratulations on your major accomplishment.
The Buzz & Discourse Around The Nintendo Switch 2
The Nintendo Switch 2 is set to launch on June 5, a date Nintendo says will hold firm. Since its announcement, there has been considerable excitement, as well as considerable discourse, particularly regarding the costs of its games.
Mario Kart World, one of the console’s launch titles, will cost $80, and that is not sitting well with some gamers.
Many were worried that Nintendo would raise the price of the console in response to Trump’s tariffs, but the company has recently announced that the console’s price will remain unchanged. However, they did raise the price on accessories.
Welp.
You can see more reactions to the Switch 2 pre-order situation in the gallery below.
1. Felt this
3. Gotta kill time somehow
8. Nature is healing
HipHopWired Featured Video
Nintendo / Nintendo Switch 2
Mark your calendars, U.S. Nintendo fans, you can now officially preorder your Switch 2 on April 24.
Nintendo announced the new preorder date for U.S. customers and revealed that the price for the Switch will also remain at $449.99 for the base console and $499.99 for the Mario Kart World bundle.
Prices for both physical and digital versions of Mario Kart World ($79.99) and Donkey Kong Bananza ($69.99) will remain unchanged.
However, there is some bad news: the price of Nintendo Switch 2 accessories is going up. The Switch 2 Joy-Con, Switch 2 Pro Controller, and Switch 2 Camera are seeing price bumps.
The Joy-Con 2, originally priced at $89.99, will now be priced at $94.99. The Pro Controller increased from $79.99 to $84.99, and the Nintendo Switch 2 Camera rose from $49.99 to $54.99.
Gamers who usually use video games as an escape from politics are now seeing how politics can invade their space.
All of these moves by Nintendo are a direct result of Donald Trump’s abuse of tariffs. Originally, preorders for the Switch 2 were supposed to begin on April 9, but were delayed after Orange Mussolini announced his tariffs, which would affect everyone, including an island inhabited by penguins and seals.
In response to his boneheaded actions, Nintendo said it was delaying Switch 2 preorders in the U.S. “to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions,” but also stated that the June 5 release date remains unchanged.
How We Got Here
On April 8, Nintendo also delayed preorders for the Switch 2 in Canada “in order to align with the timing of preorders to be determined in the US.”
After watching the global economy tank and the U.S. stock market nosedive for a few days, Trump issued a 90-day pause on some of the tariffs, but kept the 145 percent tariff on China in place.
Then, news broke that the Trump administration had announced exemptions for smartphones, computers, and chips. Unfortunately, gaming consoles were not on the list, but then Trump said that “no one is getting off the hook.”
In anticipation of Trump’s tariffs, Nintendo began stockpiling the Switch 2 in the United States and shifted most of its non-Chinese production there.
The Switch 2’s announcement has been a clusterf***, with some issues being on Nintendo’s part, but mainly due to the company trying to navigate Trump’s erratic behavior with the tariffs.
Let’s hope this date stands firm, and people won’t have to choose between putting food on the table or getting a Switch 2 at this point.
HipHopWired Featured Video
Nintendo / Nintendo Switch 2
Unfortunately, Nintendo is sticking to its no-achievement formula for the Nintendo Switch 2.
Switch 2 will not join PlayStation and Xbox because Nintendo is sticking to its guns by not adding its own version of achievements. Nintendo confirmed the sad news in a recent interview with Polygon.
Nintendo’s vice president of player and product experience simply said “Nope” when Polygon asked if potential Switch 2 owners can expect to see trophies or achievements on the console.
With the Switch 2 passing on an achievement system, the console stays in line with its predecessor by leaving the ball in the developer’s courts to implement their own in-game trophies.
Ubisoft already does that with Ubisoft Connect, which rewards players for completing tasks in their games and gives them points they can redeem and use towards in-game purchases. Those achievements do pop up while playing games on the Switch.
But there is some sliver of an achievement system when you play the Switch 2 versions of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of The Wild and Tears of The Kingdom.
The company revealed that players will earn medals for completing in-game tasks like traveling long distances or collecting large amounts of rupees via Zelda Notes inside the Nintendo app.
You can also compare your progress to that of other players globally.
We guess it’s a start, but honestly, Nintendo needs to stop being stubborn about achievements. Players do enjoy them, and they keep playing games for a longer period of time.
Who wouldn’t want to see a trophy pop for collecting all 900 Korok Seeds in Breath of The Wild?
We’re just saying.
-
Pages