Nintendo Co is opening sales of the Switch 2 today, and shoppers are scouting out stores to increase their chances of getting a hold of the US$450 console.

The global launch marks one of the biggest gadget debuts in years, recalling the first-day mania surrounding the iPhone of a decade ago. 

At home in Japan, websites are giving fans advice on the electronics stores most likely to have models in stock, while retailers have asked Nintendo to ship as many units as possible to sate high demand. Over in the US, GameStop Corp and Best Buy Co stores expect the Switch to sell out on launch day. The retailers are organising events for gamers to try out the Switch 2 in person. Shares of Nintendo fell 1.9% in Tokyo Thursday.

The console’s arrival is a watershed moment for the industry, as it may steer business decisions by partners and competitors for years to come. At a time of thinning margins and exploding budgets for new game productions, a popular new console may provide a counterbalance to the increasing dominance of a handful of live-service games. 

The long-awaited Switch 2 succeeds an eight-year-old global hit in the original Switch, which pioneered a hybrid design that allows play both at home on a TV and on the move. 

Nintendo needs a strong debut to generate momentum and confidence in the product’s future - something that the pre-order demand suggests is a given. A splashy first-day in-store debut around the world is a central prong of that strategy. 

"The Switch 2 is all that Nintendo has, so failure is not an option,” industry consultancy Kantan Games Inc. Chief Executive Officer Serkan Toto said.

The Kyoto-based company is entering uncharted waters with the higher $450 price tag. President Shuntaro Furukawa has said the company may have to raise that even higher, as tariffs from Washington roil trade and logistics this year, and that may pose a challenge to its long-term sales potential. The push for a sparkling debut will get a boost in Japan from Nintendo’s decision to offer a country-specific edition of the Switch 2 priced at 49,980 yen ($350).

At the time of its release in 2017, the first Switch had virtually no competition in the high-powered handheld gaming arena. Its success has bred a litter of new rivals, from Valve Corp’s Steam Deck to Asustek Computer Inc and Lenovo Group Ltd products. Nintendo nemesis Sony Group Corp is working on a return to the segment with an upcoming portable capable of playing PlayStation 5 games, Bloomberg News has reported.

Ultimately, the console’s success hinges on Nintendo’s ability to continue to design compelling games of its own while also accommodating titles from outside publishers, such as the Call of Duty franchise.

The Switch 2’s more powerful architecture makes it easier to run high-end PC games as well as mobile games, marking a move into arenas Nintendo’s traditionally had to view from the sidelines, according to Hirokazu Hamamura, a deputy director at Zen University’s Center for Industrial History.

"The Switch 2 may expand Nintendo’s audience beyond its usual demographic,” he said.

In development since 2019, the Switch 2 will retain compatibility with existing Nintendo Switch games, giving it an enviable library of titles on launch day. The new console will also be the first in Nintendo’s stable to welcome US$80 games, with the upcoming Mario Kart World being the first major title on any console priced that high.

The Switch 2’s new game-key card system – where a memory cartridge serves only to unlock a download of the game from the internet – has been welcomed by software makers. It makes distribution simpler and cheaper, helping with profitability.

"More expensive games, along with cartridges that just contain code to download data, may not make gamers happy, but software publishers are thanking Nintendo as they face rising costs to make games,” said Naoko Kino, who runs Kyos Co, a consultancy that offers support services to developers.

The rise of titles like Fortnite and Minecraft has corralled playing time into fewer franchises, often sending players away from consoles to PC and mobile platforms. Street Fighter creator Capcom Co shifted its development resources to focus on PC gaming platform Steam, seeing it as a better way to connect to young players in more than 200 countries and regions. Following the Osaka-based company’s success, many other Japanese publishers such as Final Fantasy developer Square Enix Holdings Co are trying to follow suit.

"If the Switch 2 underwhelms, the migration by publishers to the PC world is only likely to accelerate,” Kino said.  – Bloomberg