Honestly, I’d prefer to write about anything other than anew tariff-infused trade waraffecting theSwitch 2’spre-order window and potentially price. One, I’d rather think about anything other than the money math. Two, the price of a video game console isn’t nearly the most important thing happening in the world right now.
This stupid ass trade war will affect billions of people and those hurt the most by it probably don’t give a rat’s ass about whether or not a console costs $450 or $550. That said, this is a video game site, and Idogive a rat’s ass about whether or not a console costs $450 or $550. And, folks, this isn’t going to stop at the Nintendo Switch 2.
I’ll admit, I’m aNintendofanboy. Also, full disclosure, I was once an employee of the company. I wish I could say that I’m a paid shill, but I was never fully briefed on whether or not there was a paid shill program. And, baby, if there is, the paid shills are definitely going to be younger and more attractive than me. I’m the person you’d pay to praise Nintendo if you wanted people to feel bad, rethink their lives, and go with aPS5 Proinstead.
All that said, I know Nintendo makes strange business decisions. I also know that if $450 was thepre-tariffprice, then some fans might be really screwed on a theoretical newer, bigger price. And if too many fans are screwed on that bigger price, thenthe console itself is going to struggle, which will make developers struggle. “Who cares about companies? Why are you defending corporations?” Thank you, please hold that thought for the next paragraph.
To be clear, the health and wellbeing of a video game company are not what’s important to me. What’s important to me is thatpeoplework for video game companies. And I do mean companies, plural. If Nintendo - a company that absolutely, positively does not want to ever comment on current events - is worried, then I assure you that they areallworried. Worse, once one company raises prices for a premium product,others will almost always follow suit. Because that’s how the world works.
Every Console Will Feel The Pinch
Sony’salready raised the price of the PS5 once in some regions, you don’t think they won’t do it another time? You think the PS5 Pro can’t get more expensive? You think graphics cards for your big strong gaming PC will get any cheaper? And, again, this isaftergraphics cards have already shot up in price. Sure, they could all move their sources and factories to America - but that itself would cost a lot of money, take years, and still not solve theothertariffs fromothercountries.
Yes, I understand the reason we’re talking about the Switch 2 is because Nintendo just had its big announcement and my country is running their finances like an infant trying to balance the budget inSimCityby just clicking random buttons then hitting “tornado” instead. I didn’t want to get political right after we finally stopped having to discusswhether or not a Black historical figurewaslegally allowed to be in a video game, but here we are and there my Switch 2 pre-order isn’t.
And the cause of it isn’t a mysterious force of nature out of everyone’s hands - it’s people trying to squash a fly on a stained glass window by swinging a hammer at it. But, whether you like it or not, video games are an art form that is enjoyed by a lot of people across the political spectrum. And, no matter where you live on that spectrum, this is going to affect you.
Things Will Keep Getting Worse
Are you excited forGrand Theft Auto 6? Me too! Let’s just hope it’s not delayed and pushed to the PlayStation 6 or theXbox Just Kidding There Won’t Be One. Because any new consoles -especiallyhigh-end ones - are going to soon eclipse the price of a premium phone. And premium phones are going to eclipse the price of tablets, and so on and so forth. It’s the circle of life! It’ll be nice when everything just slides up a level of ‘expensive’. One more time, I’m not saying things weren’t already expensive or difficult. They were! But just because something is currently bad doesn’t mean it’s solved if it gets much worse.
You think the video game industry is struggling now? You think there have beena lot of layoffs? Just wait. While digital goods aren’t under pressure yet, physical ones sure are! Like owning a physical copy of a game? Might cost a little more. Like buying merch? Might cost a little more. Like getting a special edition of a game? Might cost a little more.
Every aspect of this goofy big kid toy hobby is going to get more expensive, which likely means fewer purchases, which likely means fewer people benefitting. Is it at the top of the list of most important problems right now? No. Is it going to cause a lot of workers - both at developers and fan-centric businesses alike - to lose their jobs? Yes. Will that only make the economy worse? Also, yes.
Let me hit that again: more people in this industry will lose their jobs. A lot of workers in a lot of industries will, but let’s just stick to games here. You might or might not care about layoffs depending on your level of empathy and whether or not you consider empathy a sin. But if you want to keep havinggoodgames, you don’t want them to keep firing the experienced workers as they’ve already been doing. And you definitely don’t want them toacceleratethat process.
Even in the unlikely event that a game developer isn’t affected in any way, a trade war is still a pretty convenient excuse to let go of your staff and raise prices at the same time. I’m not talking about the natural march of inflation, I’m talking about massive hikes that are going to make your eyes explode like crushed grapes. This will come for every aspect of what we enjoy.
So what? What’s there to do about it? I don’t know. I wish I did. I respect that a lot of people are frustrated with Nintendo, first because of the higher prices on the console and games and now the announcement that they have to consider thingsjust a little more. I’m not trying to talk you out of that. You’re free to have all the anger you want. But if you think what just happened is the exception rather than the rule, you’re about to be in for a real fun ride down Priced Out Mountain.
As things stand, game consoles are going to become more expensive,games are going to become more expensive, game accessories are going to become more expensive, game merch is going to become more expensive, and - at the end of the day - the industry mightstillbe in a worse position than it was before. Anyway, good luck everyone.
