Nobody is really talking about this, but the yen is very weak right now. Most people predicted $400+ for the next-gen console, but that would make it close to 60,000 yen in Japan. That's about $200 more on a normal dollar to yen exchange rate at 1:100. Nintendo doesn't have a history of selling their hardware this high, and with competition being more fierce than ever it's hard to believe it would sell as much in Japan at this price. Obviously the JP market is important to them, so what do you guys think they will do? Here are some options
1. It would still sell like crazy even with the expensive price
2. Release them with the weak yen in mind, and hope it would get better so they can gradually lower the price
3. Take the loss and sell it cheaper in all regions
4. Region lock, and sell the console "cheaper" in Japan
5. Focus on other markets/regions more to account for the less JP sales
6. Release with a couple of games bundled with the console
7. Sell parts separately to cut the price like the joycons, dock, charging cable etc.
8. Keep supporting the current Switch for another generation
9. Give up on hardware all together
10. Give up on traditional gaming consoles and focus on something new, the next Wii/DS
11. Give up on gaming and focus elsewhere
I think 2 is the best choice here, the hardcore fans are the ones that typically buys them first anyways, and they don't care about the price as we saw with the PS5 and scalping issues. It can also look better when price is decreased later on. The casuals/kids can buy or play the current Switch in the meantime. However, if things don't get better, Nintendo might have to act accordingly. 9 is honestly the safest move, but it's hard to believe Nintendo would take this action and it wouldn't be this gen considering how much R&D cost would go to waste.
Last edited by Shatts - on 29 August 2023
