Tokyo (EFE).- The Nintendo Switch 2 console was released this Thursday worldwide, amid high demand that exhausted the pre-order stock allocated for Japan, and with which the Kyoto-based company wants to maintain the commercial success of its predecessor, which has sold more than 152 million units.
The anticipation for this new console resulted in long queues at Japanese stores, such as the one at Bic Camera in Ikebukuro, Tokyo, where a hundred people waited to receive one of the units that could only be accessed in the Asian country through a raffle.
The first in line was Koji Takahashi, a resident of neighboring Saitama Prefecture, who arrived at the location shortly before six in the morning, four hours before the opening of business hours.
The Japanese, who has been playing video games since the Game & Watch handhelds that were marketed between the 80s and 90s, remembers how many years ago to play video games of such high resolution it was essential to do so on a television. "Being able to play in a format that is not connected to the TV, but in your own hands (as the Switches allow), is incredible," he says.Two versions against speculation
One of the particularities of the Japanese market is that its buyers have launch access to two versions: one entirely in Japanese and another multilingual, with a price difference of 40%, 49,980 yen (310 euros) for the first, compared to 69,980 yen (430 euros) for the second.
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This decision is intended to combat speculation and bulk purchases of devices by tourists thanks to a favorable exchange rate due to the current weakness of the yen, but it has also generated criticism among the community of foreign residents in Japan who are directly affected if they prefer to purchase the console in their own languages.
Financial Lifeline
The Switch 2 launch is happening amid great anticipation not only from fans, but also from investors, who want to see if it will be able to maintain the popularity of Switch, the best-selling home console from Nintendo (over 152 million units sold as of the end of last March) or if it could be affected by a Wii U phenomenon, the company's biggest commercial failure.
Nintendo, which has not provided specific data on the number of launch shipment units, expects to market 15 million Switch 2 consoles in its current fiscal year, which will end on March 31, 2026.
Investors also expect Switch 2 to revive profits that had been declining in line with the aging of the original hardware, which is now in its eighth year of life. Nintendo is confident that Switch 2 will boost its sales and that they will grow by 63.1% year-on-year in the fiscal year, to 1.9 trillion yen, about 11.64 billion euros at the current exchange rate, according to its latest financial report.