Today's big Nintendo Switch 2 Direct has just wrapped up, and although a price wasn't announced during the stream for whatever reason, it's now been confirmed that it'll retail at $449.99 - or $499.99 with the new Mario Kart thrown in.
That's pretty expensive for a Nintendo console, and it potentially puts the price in-line with the upcoming ASUS Xbox handheld, which has been rumoured to be landing somewhere around the $499 - $599 mark when it's revealed.
Here's what Windows Central said about this a little while ago:
"...a base model price range of between $499 and $599 potentially."
That makes things interesting! Nobody's expecting an ASUS Xbox handheld to beat the Nintendo Switch 2 in terms of sales, of course, but it might cause a few headaches for Xbox fans who need to decide between one or the other.
Personally, I'm much more interested in whatever ASUS and Xbox are cooking up right now - but then again I'm biased! At the same time, I really do love my Switch 1, but the Switch 2 reveal wasn't all that impressive to me.
So yeah... your move ASUS! Let's see what you got, as time is running out before the Switch 2 launches on June 5th.
What do you think you'll be spending your money on as things stand? Tell us in the poll and comments.
Comments 35
Well, if you have a ROG Ally or a Steam Deck the new Xbox handheld must be a "generational leap" for me to be interested and, to be honest, it doesn't seem to be. As for Switch I am not interested in Nintendo games so...
I'm only interested in an Xbox handheld that can play Xbox games, I'm funny like that.
I am not at all impressed with the switch 2 reveal, especially at this price. I will probably end up with it because I buy all platforms but so far I'm not liking what I'm seeing.
I'm holding out for the 2027 version myself.
If the Asus has an OLED screen, I'm going with that.
I mean the ASUS ROG Ally and ROG Ally X launched at $599 and $799 respectively so matching Switch 2's $449 would be a pretty large price cut for new hardware with an Xbox logo. We'll see.
I just became way more interested in whatever this is.
The price of the games on Switch 2 is too much
Crazy how the Nintendo Switch 2 is going to cost more at launch than the starting price of the Steam Deck. The Nintendo Switch 2 is going to cost more than an Xbox Series S and the same price as an all digital Series X or PS5. The Nintendo Switch 2 is only $100 cheaper than the Legion Legion Go S (SteamOS) base model. What universe is this?? Like is digital foundry going to do a tech breakdown and blow us all away? You know I'm going to be honest, I hope Nintendo's curse of every other console failing continues because I do not want to live in a reality where the gaming industry has accepted the insane price to value proposition Nintendo has given us.
@themightyant They really don't have to match it. As long as the starting price doesn't go over $600 then for delivering a more powerful system that's still an open windows PC they'll be a lot more competitive to the switch 2 than I expected due to that price bump. The switch has gone from a base model launch of $300 to $450, that's insane and makes the gap between the Switch and any PC handheld in terms of price so much smaller. Then we start looking at features and technical specifications and available games/services and the cost of those games and it's not that much of an up sell. Like arguably it's not one at all when any given PC handheld comes with multiple storefronts (with really low prices and some literally giving away free games), no paid online, and free cloud saves. Though of course there's always going be the big difference between battery life.
It still comes down to marketing to the general public, which PC Handhelds will have a MUCH harder time doing than Nintendo, but Nintendo kinda just gave the biggest boon to any future PC handheld and the current PC handhelds on the market. The Xbox and ASUS collab device aside, the Steam Deck starts at $400 and runs on the much more usefriendly SteamOS. Valve could REALLY take advantage of the Switch 2 price and get really aggressive.
@belmont Everything that's out there suggests that most of the "xbox" work will be on the software side. Hardware wise this is still an ASUS device and an OEM.
I personally expect the handheld to be similar to copilot+ PCs in that it shows off new software, gets that new software early, but then that new software is made available to everyone after some months. I have a lenovo legion go myself and I've been following the new chips and tech out there and there's nothing to make me want an upgrade this soon. I do believe that Microsoft will be shipping a big windows update to improve gaming sometime after the ASUS device drops and that's exciting for me.
@WildConcept6 Of course they don't have to match it. It's just that's what the premise of the article was. I agree I don't think they will. Switch will sell 2+ million of units in it's first month, this is unlikely to hit that in it's lifetime.
But it's likely not going in direct competition to Nintendo Switch 2, this is primarily aimed at PC gamers who want a portable PC that plays Game Pass. It's a different segment, though there will be a little cross over. Some may have to decide one or the other.
There is no Xbox handheld, there's a Windows PC handheld. Such a weird thing to call it because it has no ability to play the Xbox console games you own. Just PC versions of things.
@abe_hikura yeah if it just plays PC games whg add the xbox na.e at all, its false advertising
This is the make or break moment for Asus XBox Handheld. Nintendo has an unbeatable brand with games and characters loved all over the world.
Steam Deck has a 399.99 model that can play all the same games that their most expensive Steam Deck model can.
At this point everything will depend on their price unless Xbox suddenly comes out with a surprise OS that can play our console collections.
@Utena-mobile You forgot to mention the £75 price tag on the Nintendo games like Mario Kart , not many people will be buying more than a couple of games a year at that price, many won't buy it full stop unless they lower the ridiculous price of the games.
@Valhura So who is advertising? Microsoft are not, they haven't even announced it yet.
@Rog-X Yeah, I just found out about that a little while ago. And considering that Nintendo games rarely if ever drop in price this is a huge issue. The more I find out about this direct the less excited I am about the Switch.
$500 for fairly equivalent to Switch 2 specs could be killer deal if Microsoft puts it weight behind it in promotions.
@themightyant 100%. My only real thought process is that due to the price there might be a slight percentage of gamers that pick up a PC handheld (which is comparatively less more expensive in regards to the switch 2 than the original switch (god that's confusing but you get it)). But yeah, ultimately PC handhelds will remain a far far more niche market for the foreseeable future, with signs of growth much further down the line.
Nintendo does also still have the curse of every other console failing (like the GameCube sold 20 million and then the Wii 100 mil and then the WiiU 13 mil), and the price is quite a bit more than the original switch so it'll be interesting to see. Most likely they'll be more stable now that they've merged home console and handheld lines (and the DS consistently sold well each iteration), but it'll be interesting to see. That doesn't really have much to do with PC handheld sales though other than the small subset of users who might pick up a PC handheld instead of a Switch 2. Even at its worst the Switch 2 will likely far outsell PC handhelds and each OEM will be a small portion of that.
I do think times are changing though. Analytics continues to show that the console market is very still with most hardware purchases being upgrades. Whereas PC, cloud, and mobile are all growing and growing more each year. I really don't see how Nintendo expects to (or if they want to) attract brand new gamers by offering the Switch 2 as a standard upgrade at $150 more than the base price of the Switch. Alternatively, it's getting consistently easier and cheaper to access gaming through these other platforms. The switch price also suggests we truly will see the PS6 (and maybe even next Xbox) priced at $600 (or more based on the PS5 Pro). Consoles are consistently approaching the price of PC rigs and not doing much to actually match their value (like we still have to pay for paid online games and cloud saves (except for Xbox which has free cloud saves) and there's still only one storefront as the likes of Nintendo charges a whooping $80 as the base price for a new exclusive game). If these trends don't change, consoles will push people to PC or for that matter cloud and maybe even mobile once the tech in smartphones gets good enough (and apple had games like AC Mirage ported just to show off that they're getting there).
I'm hoping my current Ally can host the new UI, I don't want to buy another one.
Switch 2 probably won't be essential until 2026.
I'll be surprised if I don't end up with both!
If it allows me to play games I own on steam then would consider it. But the price might be a bit too high for me. I'd rather just save my money and upgrade my PC.
Put an Xbox sticker on the Switch and it's just as much an Xbox as the Asus.
I like Xbox but Nintendo has decades of experience in this and actually design their games for the device itself instead of trying to get their games to as many devices as possible which leads to many not tailored different experiences. I would prob get both though if the Xbox handheld is compelling enough
Probably just stick with my Deck tbh.
@WildConcept6 I agree 95%. I believe the data shows Xbox and PlayStation aren't really growing it's largely the same players duking it out each gen. But Nintendo has grown and there's now a larger playerbase there. But you are right PC is growing sharply, although most of this is in China, Asia and MENA territories.
Consoles generally aren't growing the same way, only slightly. It will be interesting to see how this changes over the next 10-20+ years as the generations grow and ours starts to peter out. Young people don't seem to have the same interest in expensive consoles and are happy playing on sub-par mobiles.
But as you said the TOP smartphones can already play games like AC: Mirage (albeit badly) and Cloud is on the horizon. In 10-20 years consoles may not be necessary that's where Xbox (and less publicised Sony too) are hedging their bets.
No way the ROG comes in at a similar price.
Wasn't hugely impressed with switch2, won't be buying one of them. Battery life as low as 2 hours?
The badged rog is more appealing, but again I'd not use a handheld with windows, so I can save my money.
@Titntin I have a Rog Ally, I use the option to boot directly to Armoury Crate and my game librarys,(you don't have to go near windows desktop) just out of curiosity what do you think you have to do differently because it's a windows handheld ?
Having the windows options there is an added bonus for me especially being able to dock it and use it as a normal PC.
I already have a ROG Ally. The specs would need to be seriously tantalizing to persuade me to purchase another handheld PC. Specifically, it would need to run Monster Hunter Wilds on medium settings at 30 fps.
If it has the z2 go chip it should be 499$ MAX... With at least 24gb ram.
The pricing sucks on Nintendo exclusive games but I personally dont need many of them.
People are missing that 3rd party stuff has always received a lot of discounts on switch ones, many times matching the steam sales.
So I think switch2 would be solid 3rd party machine that also plays nintendo games + all the bells & whistles like mouse if you like such things.
Also not many noticed that it has 1080p screen with 120 fps and HDR which while is not OLED is a very solid choice surpassing steam deck original screen.
I feel like they really did good job on the tech side, and the main problem is them being very greedy with pricing on own games.
Definitely sucks but man many people myself included want to play zelda at 60 fps, new mario kart and such.
Thats the thing we nintendo - its expensive but they have those games that people want. So people will still buy it en masse.
PC handhelds are too niche, so it wont even be a competition.
Of course swtich 2. It will be definitely cheaper than asus xbox pc handheld and have games that are not available anywhere else and likely be more convenient as a portable console (but we will see about that).
Yeah if you want strictly a companion and extension of your PC library in the portable form then yes any PC handheld would do better.
499-599 now, but post tariffs probably $750-$900. Putting it in the "nope" category.
@Millionski "Games that are not available anywhere else". See, that's where you're wrong buddy. You can play all switch 1 exclusives with mods and cheats and higher resolutions than even the switch 2. Only a very small portion of games will get any upgrades to textures and graphical fidelity in switch 2 (not even botw or totk will get them)
Hope it has an oled screen to poop one switch 2 going back to lcd
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