The Nintendo Switch 2 has officially arrived, bringing with it long lines of eager gamers anxious to get their hands on the latest video game console when it was released overnight.
Posts on social media showed people lined up Wednesday into Thursday at the Best Buy location in Seattle’s Northgate neighborhood. A post on Reddit said more than 500 people circled the building, waiting to snag their pre-orders.
Other retailers including Walmart, Target and GameStop were also participating in the release for the device, which is selling for $449.99 with a library of launch titles that includes new entries in the Mario Kart, Metroid Prime, Kirby, and Hyrule Warriors franchises.
Reports showed lines in cities across the country and in Japan, where consoles were sold through a competitive lottery system that Nintendo said got about 2.2 million applications, according to The Associated Press.
The Switch 2 comes eight years after Nintendo released the original version of the console. The company, which maintains an American headquarters in Redmond, Wash., sold about 150 million Switch units, making it the third-best-selling console of all time, behind the PS2 and the Nintendo DS, according to NBC News.
Nintendo has said it expects to sell 15 million Switch 2 consoles for the fiscal year through March 2026, AP reported.
New Switch 2 features include interactive chat, a larger screen and new games. But Nintendo didn’t reinvent the wheel, GeekWire games contributor Thomas Wilde wrote in April. Instead, Switch 2 simply builds on the Switch.
“The marquee feature for the Switch 2 is, once again, its ability to switch on the fly between a portable and desktop machine, with several quality-of-life improvements over the original model such as magnetic controller docks. It’s an unusually conservative move from a company that’s known for taking big, random swings,” Wilde wrote.
The pre-order process generated high demand in April, leading to frustrating delays and quick sell-outs of the console.
Nintendo of America President Doug Bowser told “CBS Mornings Plus” on Thursday that the company has been “delighted with demand” thus far.
“Pre-orders did sell out in a very quick period of time, but it’s important for consumers to understand that retailers typically allocate a portion of the overall allocation that we provide them for pre-orders, and then they save a portion for in-store,” Bowser said. “So, on launch day today, they can go to their favorite store and hopefully find a Nintendo Switch 2.”
Previously:
- Game on: Seattle Mariners add Nintendo patch to jerseys in new sponsorship deal
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