Nintendo raises prices on the Switch 1, making last-gen console a hard sell as the Switch 2 is increasingly easy to find in stock

Nintendo just announced a price hike for the U.S. that will hit all original Switch / Switch 1 handheld consoles, select Switch 2 accessories, and the Nintendo Sound Clock: Alarmo. According to its announcement, the company made these adjustments “based on market conditions,” and they will take effect starting August 3, 2025. Thankfully, the cost for the Nintendo Switch 2, game titles for both Switch 1 & 2, and Nintendo Switch Online memberships remain the same. However, the gaming giant also said that “price adjustments may be necessary in the future.”

This is unusual, as most companies typically drop the prices of their old models after launching next-gen products. And Nintendo has just released the Switch 2, which has been quite successful and is projected to beat the original Switch. However, it seems that these price hikes are driven by economics, especially given the uncertainty of the tariffs that President Trump applied the U.S.’s trading partners. We can't directly blame tariffs for the increasing costs of these consoles, though, as Canada was also affected by these price increases.

The price increases vary between $30 and $50 for the Switch 1 consoles, bringing the cheapest Nintendo handheld to $230 and the most expensive Switch 1 option to nearly $400. At this price, you’re better off spending $50 more and getting the Nintendo Switch 2, which starts at $449.99. This will give you much better performance and a larger screen, although you’ll be missing out on the OLED display. You can also install more games on the new handheld because it uses microSD Express cards. Although these cars are more expensive and harder to find (if you don’t know where to look), they offer better performance and allow you to load games directly from the expansion slot.

More importantly, the Switch 2 is now readily available. This isn’t like the PlayStation 5 launch fiasco, where scalpers made a ton of money buying up Sony’s consoles because it had little to no supply. So, as long as you know where to buy it, you can easily pick up a Nintendo Switch 2 console at any time.

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