The Switch 2 will still sell well and it's games. Especially in Japan. The Switch 2 (Japan Model) is roughly $200 USD less than the PS5 Disc. Even the Multi Language Switch 2 Model in Japan is roughly $100 USD less.

I can't imagine the Switch 2 selling any less than the 3DS at its absolute worst.

But Sony can cause some serious havoc if they cut price. Having the PS5 Digital being cheaper than the Switch 2 while it can play GTA6 is not going to be a fun comparison.

This stuff never matters, people said this with the first Switch too "OMG! How can it be the same price as the PS4! Don't they know Sony has XYZ games!". 

Unless you can put a PS5 in your backpack or coat pocket and play it anywhere you want and it has Mario Kart and Donkey Kong and Metroid and all the other Nintendo IP staples, then a PS5 is not doing anything. The PS5 doesn't even stop regular Switch 1 sales let alone Switch 2 and the Switch OLED at $350 is only $50 less than a PS5 Digital Edition. 

The early adopter crowd and Nintendo's IP fans are going to drive initial Switch 2 sales, they're not in the market for a PS5, they either already have one (early adopter crowd to whom PS5 is by now old news) or are never buying one. 

Checked up on what Sean Malstrom thinks - I don't think he was ever wrong about Nintendo ever since he predicted Wii's success back in days.

He is quite negative about Switch 2.

Switch 2 has several things going for it that the Wii U and 3DS did not.

Right off the bat there is three, if not four, large scale "epic" Nintendo titles at least in the first 5-6 months ... Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Banaza (looks like a Odyssey scope platformer), Metroid Prime 4, and then maybe you can add Pokemon Z-A to that as well.

That's a lot more than the Wii U, which launched with a 2D Mario game ... which I mean no offense to 2D Mario but it's not exactly a showpiece kind of franchise these days you launch a new console with (it's not 1991 anymore). The NSMB series did well on the back of nostalgia, but it's was a bad choice to launch a console with in 2012/2013 with when they had already brought back 2D Mario several times in a short span.

The Wii U and 3DS were banking heavily on the casual crowd coming out and supporting them with titles like Nintendo Land and Nintendogs + Cats too and that audience dipped out to go iPhone gaming instead, and that killed Nintendo. Nintendo isn't relying on that with this transition, all the big games are core Nintendo IP with some scale to them.

The Wii U did have some decent 3rd party games to launch with like Call of Duty and Assassin's Creed ... the problem with that though was there was no real big value to those games. They already existed on the PS3/360 ... so these versions had some extra menu commands from the Wii U Game Pad ... whoopity doo. There's just no added value there. 

Switch 2 benefits more from 3rd party games like Elden Ring, FF7 Remake Integrade, Call of Duty. Why you ask? Because the total portability aspect is still a much larger hook. Most people do not own a Steam Deck or ROG Ally, so Switch 2 is going to be the first time they're going to see games of scale like FF7 Remake, Elden Ring, Madden NFL, Cyberpunk 2077, etc. etc. playable on a portable device. The hardware concept is just a lot better in this respect for Nintendo, it makes even 3rd party games more valuable to them. You can't put your PS5 in your pocket and play it on the go in any reasonable way. 

PS5 sales don't need to take away from the Switch 2 to cause havoc. Nintendo is already getting slammed with bad PR for this price hike. Having more expensive games than a high end, premium console, will invite different comparisons.

It's not exactly the same as the Switch having games at the same price as PS4 titles. 

Some people whining on the internet is not really getting "slammed". $70 and even $80 games is inevitable for everyone, people who are so shocked by that don't understand a goddamn thing about what's been happening in the industry and how high budgets are getting and also probably don't understand inflation as a concept either. 

Movie tickets used to be $8 flat fifteen, twenty years ago. Shit changes. Today it's $20 in some places. Pricing for most entertainment has gone higher, gamers just think that shouldn't apply to them ever and think magical fantasy economics where games and hardware forever stay within the same pricing range as they were in like 2005 should exist forever. It's just ridiculous. 

It's also not 2005 in the sense that the vast majority (probably upwards of 70%) of Nintendo's audience are adults now and the pricing will reflect that too. When you go into a LEGO store and see like $300-$400+ price tags for a lot of their premium "toy" sets I think most people can understand those products are meant for adults, not really children even though a kid can enjoy it too. 

I would say its more than some people. I don't think us who post on enthusiast boards are blinded by inflation as a concept. You could bump a few threads on here and see other users make the same argument you are making right now. 

Its the fact that Nintendo is the one pushing the envelope on it. The same Nintendo everyone thought were immune to long development times and ballooning budgets. The same Nintendo that has dropped out the graphical arms race. The premium console experience is not the space Nintendo will excel in. But it is the space they brought the Switch 2 onto when they made their games more expensive than PS5 titles. Sure, a lot of people are going to buy the Switch 2 for its hybrid capabilities and handheld factor, but its higher prices eats into their more family friendly market.

Well, luckily hiking is a big hobby of mine.

Except Nintendo has been flourishing in the premium side of the market. The premium $350 OLED Switch was a massive success, much moreso than the budget Switch Lite model. 

Nintendo has not dropped their price on hardware basically the entire generation either whereas it used to be customary for Nintendo to go running and cut the price of their hardware sometimes as quickly as 6 months into a new generation. The Switch 1 is eight years old and is still quite expensive for the either of the regular models that can connect to a TV whereas all previous Nintendo consoles (barring the Wii U which was basically discontinued due to selling so low) have been dirt cheap by the end of their product cycle. 

I saw a news report the other day on LEGO and how the new CEO inherited the company about a decade ago and it was a mess focused on kids only and low margin, low cost products, when they started to target adults more and higher end kits with higher price points, their yearly revenue has gone through the roof over the last decade and the company has never been as popular. This checks out from what I see at my mall too, the LEGO store there is always freaking packed and half the people in there seem to be adults with no children.