At midnight Eastern, Nintendo opened U.S. pre-orders for its long-teased Switch 2—price unchanged at $449.99. What followed looked like Taylor Swift ticket day: Target carts froze, Walmart e-queues looped, Best Buy served error 503s. The $499 “Mario Kart World” bundle sold out in 14 minutes, according to The Verge.
Tokyo quickly warned of “severely constrained” supply through August as component makers juggle rival handhelds from Sony and Asus. Within an hour, eBay scalpers posted consoles for $800, while GameStop promised a “line-only” drop on Saturday (pack lawn chairs). Why hold the line on price? Analysts say Nintendo wants to skate under Microsoft’s and Sony’s $499 entry tags, betting families will add a second unit for kids. Investors cheered: shares closed up 3 % in Osaka, their best day since last year’s Zelda launch.
