FOMO won, I own a Switch 2 now

Well, that didn’t even last two months.

Just after the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, I wrote about how, despite the tremendous amount of FOMO, I, like so many gamers, felt the Nintendo Switch 2 wasn’t a necessary purchase just yet. Most consoles don’t provide marked upgrades at launch and often won’t have a robust games line-up for some time. The Switch 2 is no different, with only Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza as must-play exclusives in the immediate launch window. Yet, I couldn’t help myself.

Yes, the FOMO won; now I own a Switch 2. Perhaps it’s an attempt at a post-purchase justification, but I think buying a Switch 2 now — and they’ve been somewhat in stock lately — is actually a wise decision for US consumers at the moment.

While it didn’t launch with the largest lineup of exclusives, Nintendo’s book club-like approach to releasing games suggests its lineup will only grow. Mario Kart World is a blast, and I’m enjoying its new features more than I thought I would. 24 racers create more opportunity for chaos (always welcome), driving track to track in a Grand Prix is a fun wrinkle to races, and the Knockout Tour mode, in which racers are gradually eliminated before the final four duke it out for first place, is obnoxiously enjoyable. Donkey Kong Bananza is no slouch either, and Kong’s “punch everything” mentality is an interesting juxtaposition to the platforming-focused Super Mario Odyssey, which I was just playing before picking up a Switch 2.

The upgrades to original Nintendo Switch games make the purchase easier to swallow as well. I enjoyed the hell out of Pokémon Scarlet at launch and through its DLC — my playthrough is over 160 hours — but that enjoyment came in spite of its poor performance on the original console. Its boost on Switch 2 doesn’t change the bland environments, but the framerate is so much smoother that it makes exploring Paldea a much more welcome experience. Pokémon populate the world in droves now, and I’m excited to leverage that for some shiny hunting.

Despite the great games, though, the main reason I pulled the trigger on a Switch 2 was because of its price. Not because its sticker price is cheap — $500 for the Mario Kart World bundle is nothing to sneeze at — but because it realistically could be at its lowest price for a while.

President Donald Trump’s tariff policies have been tough to follow, due to confounding timelines and the frequency at which they’re modified. Speaking about the effect of tariffs on the video games industry, New York University professor Joost van Dreunen told Polygon in February, “It’s not just that your console is going to be more expensive […] It’s everything around it as well.” Trump announced tariffs on April 2, the same day the Nintendo Switch 2 was fully showcased, and Nintendo reacted by delaying preorders before upping the costs of some Nintendo Switch 2 accessories.

Tariffs on countries like Canada, Japan, and Cambodia are set to go into effect Aug. 1, though who really knows at this point if that’ll happen. Even if tariffs don’t directly impact Nintendo’s newest console, the tariffs the administration has so far put forward could cost the average American household an additional $2,400 in 2025, according to Yale Budget Lab.

And video games are steadily getting more expensive; even though Microsoft wisely backed off of its $80 price tag for the forthcoming The Outer Worlds 2, Nintendo is sticking to it with some of its games, like Mario Kart World. More concerning, however, are the hardware prices and how this current generation is bucking a trend — instead of prices dropping as time goes on, consoles are going up in price. The Xbox Series X increased by $100 earlier this year while the baby Xbox (Xbox Series S) went up by $80 (to $380 for its 512 GB model), taking away some of the cost-efficient charm it once had. Though the US market hasn’t been affected yet, Sony has been raising the price of the PlayStation 5 around the globe.

One has to wonder if in due time the Switch 2 will see the same fate. Instead of the console receiving a price reduction in a few years (when a more robust games lineup could help convince more people to upgrade), it’s entirely possible it gets more expensive than its already robust $450 launch price.

Ultimately, I had to pair the facts with speculation. I knew I was going to eventually get a Switch 2 (fact), but if the price could potentially go up (speculation), why not just bite the bullet now? These are the kind of mental gymnastics I did the other day before confirming purchase on my shiny new Switch 2.

I’ve been loving it since and have been playing on it every day; the Switch 2 pulled a Uno Reverse in replacing my Steam Deck as my go-to handheld after the Deck replaced my OLED Switch two years ago. I recognize I’m still in the honeymoon phase and that new console shine may wear off soon, but, until then, I got bananas to destroy.