Key Takeaways
- Nintendo Switch 2 hit stores at midnight. Retailers like Best Buy adjusted their hours for the occasion.
- The $450 gaming console provides a better audio and visual experience than the original, and controllers that magnetically attach to its sides, Nintendo said.
- The release has been widely anticipated. Nintendo delayed pre-orders for about two weeks to assess the impact of U.S. tariffs.
澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网: Gamers can finally get their hands𓄧 on Switch 2.🧸
Nintendo released its first new console system in eight years at midnight, capping off months of excitement—and♛ some apprehension, as Americans looking to snag one of the souped-up systems weathered delays and a competitive pre-order process. Those who managed to buy a Switch 2 online before it hit stores are celebrating, as are retailers anticipating a rush ✃in foot traffic now that they have the system in stock.
Nintendo fan Jesus Garcia, who said he planned to pick up his preordered console at Best Buy (BBY) early today, told Investopedia he was excited to see “the new experiences” embedded in Switch 2. Garcia, who lives in Texas and supervises a claims team for a trucking company, said he'd planned to take the day off to play the newest🃏 "Mario Kart" game.
Best Buy planned to keeping stores open late and hand out commemorative coins with the Switch’s logo, according to its website. GameStop (GME) started celebrating the release at 3 p.m. Wednesday, with “interactive demos, giveaways, and Mario Kart-themed surprises,” the company said in an email. Target (TGT) said it would use tickets to manage traffic in its electronics section.
Garcia stayed up late to place a preorder in late April, a transaction he said took more than half an hour. Other consumers 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:weren’t so lucky, and complained that retailers’ sites crashed or quickly sold out. The preorder process was 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:delayed domestically by about two weeks꧅ so Nintendo, which is based in Japan, could assess the U.S.’s new tariff p🅠olicies.
“I really hated it because it was a sought-after product, and I wanted to make sure I got one,” said Garcia, adding he was “getting nervous.”
The new Switch model has an enhanced audio system and a bigger screen, Nintendo said. Controllers magnetically attach to the side of consoles and can be used like a computer mouse, according to the company. To boost performance, Nvidia (NVDA) developed a chip “unlike anything we’ve built before” for Switch 2, the chipmaker’s CEO Jensen Huang said.
Nintendo anticipates 澳洲幸运𝓡5官方开奖结果体彩网:selling 15 million Switch 2 consoles before its ♑fiscal year ends in March. The company sold 10.8 million of the original mo𝕴del last year.
Retailers hope to capture—and capitalize🌄 on—the hype. Target wants to be “the retail destination for all things Nintendo Switch,” Chief Commercial Officer Rick Gomez said on a recent earnings conference call.
Best Buy believes the release will bolster business, executives said last week. JPMorgan 澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果体彩网:cited the impact of Switch 2 in a note that conc💦luded Best Buy stock is “worth the risk.”
This article has been updated since it was first published.