Rumor: Nintendo Switch Listed at $300, 15 Launch Games
By Boston Blake 11 January 2017
According to details from a leak on Twitter, the Nintendo Switch will be available for pre-order at Target for $300 and will release alongside 15 launch titles.
As Nintendo prepares for its major Nintendo Switch event tomorrow, retail chains are gearing up store shelves in preparation for the flood of gamers looking to purchase the console. While the Nintendo Switch isn’t due out until March, big-box stores like Walmart and Target are getting their placeholder information finalized for the new Nintendo console.
According to Twitter user Wario64, Target has generated a handful of placeholder entries in its system for the Nintendo Switch and its launch titles. If these placeholder entries are to be believed, the Nintendo Switch will sell for $299 and come alongside 15 launch titles.
15 Nintendo Switch games in Target's system https://t.co/kZRckMOV0Bhttps://t.co/gwIRTdYkQO
$299 placeholder Switch https://t.co/v5FF71LFli pic.twitter.com/QlNa2ox2x7— Wario64 (@Wario64) January 11, 2017
The $299 price tag is much closer to what gamers and analysts expect for the Nintendo Switch than the Walmart price of $399 that was leaked earlier today. In that situation, a Redditor claiming to be a Walmart employee shared a photo of a Walmart price tag touting the Nintendo Switch pre-order cost at the $400 mark.
It’s no surprise to see retail chains prepare for the release of a major consumer electronic item, especially one as highly anticipated as the Nintendo Switch. With the growth of social media over the last decade, it’s become difficult for video game hardware and software makes to keep pricing and release date information under wraps thanks to leaks that come by way of retail stores, both physical and online.
What is interesting, at least in this instance, is the disparity between the prices revealed so far. Walmart’s tag claims the console will cost $399, while Target’s says $299. Analysts in Japan reported earlier this week that the Nintendo Switch would retail for no more than $250. Granted, that could be the Japanese pricing, which may differ from North America and Europe, but the differences are still noteworthy.
Ultimately, gamers need only wait until tomorrow for Nintendo to reveal the official price for the Nintendo Switch. It will be interesting to see if the Nintendo Switch comes with different hard drive space options or bundles, which would make the pricing differences more understandable. Considering PlayStation 4 and Xbox One are available with different storage space options, and often come bundled with accessories or games, there could very well be a $299 and $399 option for the Nintendo Switch.
In addition to the pricing for the Nintendo Switch, gamers are excited to see if Nintendo does, in fact, reveal 15 launch titles for the console. Doing so could shed some light on the potential power of the new console, as well as the amount of support expected from third-party game developers.
What do you think about Target’s leaked pricing for Nintendo Switch?
The Nintendo Switch is set to release March 2017.
