Video games consoles have never been at a place where they were cheap. More affordable, of course, but never quite inexpensive.Nintendohas teetered on this line for most of its existence, playing a balacing act across consoles on underselling them to capitalise on boosted sales, or higher retail costs to cash in early.

With the Switch 2, the pendulum has swung back to high costs from the offset, a decision that is not met with happiness due to other financial burdens striking the world at the moment. Yet is the Switch 2 really the most expensive of Nintendo’s consoles? Seeing some of its other consoles might not make buying the Switch 2 any easier, but at least you’ll get to see some other hilariously expensive consoles.

The Price Of Every Nintendo Console At Launch

Starting with international console shipping back with the NES, Nintendo sought to take advantage of the video game crash in the US with their own consoles.The company had little by way of competition, and so could charge whatever they wanted.

The console wasn’t cheap then, though it sure does look comparatively affordable now. Let’s take a look at them all now.

For consoles prior to the introduction of Euro,Pounds are used instead.

1983, 1985, 1986

¥14,800, $179, £179.99

1990, 1991, 1992

¥25,000, $199, £150

1989, 1990

¥12,500, $89.99, £69.99

1996, 1997

¥25,000, $199.99, £250

2001, 2002

¥25,000, $199, €199

2001

¥9,800, $99.99, €120

2004, 2005

¥15,000, $149.99, €149.99

2006

¥25,000, $249.99, €249.99

3DS

2011

2012

¥26,250, $299, €349

2017

¥29,980, $299.99, €329.99

2025

¥49,980, $449.99, €469.99

This only includesconsoles which launched internationally,and so the Color TV series and others have been excluded.

At first glance, it would seem as though Nintendo kept the prices of their consoles quite low for a considerable length of time, withmore intense price increases only appearing around the Wii. For the international launches anyway, as the Japanese consoles took an immediate price hike with the launch of the SNES, being almost double the price of its predecessor.

Nintendo Consoles Adjusted For Inflation

Of course, money does not remain the same over time. It ebbs and flows, and is subject to a great many economic conditions, withinflation key among them. It’s when looking at these adjusted prices that we start to see the discrepancies between what seems affordable and expensive. Let’s take a closer look below.

¥20,489, $536, £515

¥31,031, $469, £329

¥15,991, $225, £172

¥28,955, $398, £468

¥28,783, $357, €299

¥11,283, $181, €187

¥17,473, $249, €207

¥29,132, $401, €331

¥29,409, $360, €313

¥30,893, $420, €431

Switch

¥33,831, $392, €403

What becomes apparent here immediately is that theinternational prices for the time were actually quite obscene. For certain consoles, such as the N64, they were followed by quick price cuts across Europe due to its inflated price compared to other regions. In retrospect, though still expensive, the Wii doesn’t seem so dramatic a price jump.

Interestingly, Japan is almost the opposite.In general, prices stayed stagnantor at times even went lower, with none of them reaching the adjusted price of the SNES until the original Switch.

Which Nintendo Console Is The Most Expensive?

Obviously, there are many circumstances that go into defining purchasing power beyond just inflation, though for the raw numerical values, it is a decent indicator. So let’s check out whatthe most expensive console is in the three major regionswe’re focusing on.

So without a doubt,the Switch 2 is quite an expensive console, though not the most extortionate when taking inflation into account. The same cannot be said for the console in Japan, which is likely by a region-locked version is available for sale to cut down on the otherwise quite high price.