We're just days away from what will presumably be a substantial set of reveals and details on the Nintendo Switch, yet retailers continue to struggle to hold their nerve. Last year we reported on GAME opening pre-orders in the UK with a bonker's placeholder price of £999.99. Some have now been picking up on GameStop listings but we suggest not worrying about their prices; they're evidently sloppy placeholders from some of the retailer's regional subsidiaries.
Reader Nazareno kindly point us to this GameStop Italy page, which is taking Switch pre-orders at €399.98, which is just about feasible enough to be worrying - if you're in the camp that thinks that's too big a price. Like with the aforementioned GAME example, however, it's purely a placeholder, with translated text near the bottom of the page making that clear. It states that a release date is still to come, and if the price turns out to be lower pre-orders will be refunded the difference.
It's not the only regional GameStop that's gone off the deep end. GameStop Germany also has an actual pre-order page, but its price is a random €777.77, while a search on GameStop Ireland returns results (showing at €499.99), but the product page is actually a dead link. Intriguingly, the 'main' GameStop site for the US is still showing an information page where users can sign up for more details in the future; that's a more sensible approach.
A lot of retailers, to be fair, have been holding steady, many with information pages where users can sign up for notifications. Some, however, simply can't hold fire.
Ultimately it's not worth taking these pre-order pages too seriously; they don't even state what you get with your purchase, precisely, as they aren't yet displaying bundle or SKU details. Though it may be tempting to get a pre-order down, paying over-the-odds ahead of time in the hope that the price will then be lowered to a fair number is risky, to put it mildly.
In any case, all should become clearer on 12th/13th January.
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Comments 41
I think anyone who gives GameStop money is mad.
...At which it will become evident that preordering will be pointless as there is either a ton of stock, or none whatsoever.
And I'm 'sort of' joking.
Oh cool: something that isn't about Laura Kate Dale sitting on a toilet for once!
I've pre ordered mine and I didn't need to pay a deposit,just my name and address was sufficient and the guy in the shop is confident he'll have them in for launch day, I have my doubts I'll get it day one though, more likely a few days after. They did have PS 4 Pro and Xbone S on time so maybe I'll get lucky.
Don't forget GameSeek have already thrown their hand in with a £200 pre-order price. Which they guarantee is the price they will sell to people who pre-order at.
Cant wait for the big reveal
Have a £20 deposit down in store at Game UK. Just need to pick the bundle when they are announced on probably 13th of this month.
I would rather pick up in store on the morning rather than wait in all day for delivery. Mind you I got my Nes Mini a day early from Amazon UK.
It's not too long until the 13th January. I don't see the point in preordering until after we've got lots of juicy details from the Switch event.
I think they won't have enough stock at launch, so I'm glad I preordered from GAME after the reveal trailer. When they have more details I'm free to cancel and get my deposit back anyway, if I wanted to.
People shouldn't preorder until they see the actual reveal. So far the only thing we've seen from Switch might as well have been a CGI, "not actual game footage"" ad for Switch. The Jimmy Fallon thing only showed Zelda, which was nothing new.
Jan. 12 can't come hear soon enough. WIll Nintendo rise from the ashes like a Phoenix, or will the final nail in the coffin be hammered in and the day of Nintendo as a hardware dev officially be numbered?
@XCWarrior Janurary 12th isn't going to be a make-or-break day for Nintendo. If the Switch fails, they still have the DS line to continue.
@Rhydas
Lol, and it's actually real.
€777.77 ?!
That's enough for me to sing...
Na na-na-na na-na-na-na-na-na-na... XD
Note: 7 in Japanese is Shici / Nana (I choose Nana)
Back to topic. Well, kinda embarrassing to see fake prices like that. 8 more days to go, better we keep patience.
@XCWarrior
I pray for Nintendo to become PhoeniX. Switch must have to be a PhoeniX or else...
I'll wait and see what Smyths Toys offer here in Dublin, cause if it's really gonna launch on the 17th here that's Patrick's day and I'd want it for the weekend.
Unless, the big blow out on the 12/13th is pants and no Zelda or Mario I'll wait till the summer or Xmas.
@GauBan
That "guarantee" is not a true guarantee though. A pre-order does not equal a sale contract. So the retailer can always cancel the order.
@XCWarrior You sound like Nintendo has never had two-generation black stripes in the past. XD
I can't say here what I think of GameStop. Expect them to charge more than the RRP.
The blonde girl in the Switch video/picture above reminds me of the blonde girl in that Bridge to Terabithia movie.
@abbyhitter I find her to look like C-18 from Dragon Ball lol.
@Nonno_Umby Yeah, she does look like that Android too.
@Mart1ndo why? They are very good to deal with pre-orders (at least here in Germany). I bought almost all of my Zelda Special Editions with them.
Pre ordered mine with game before Christmas.
@Anti-Matter can you also pray that they have enough stock, and while your at it pray for me to have a lot of money. I need the prayers more than Nintendo as they already a multi billion business
"Shame there's no final price, or bundle specs, or actual details..."
You can't give a price when there's nothing confirmed. I think they are to soon with the pre-orders!
My local EB Australia store had my initial preorder deposit of $10 back when it was still NX. I have been putting more money in and will tomorrow have it up to nearly AU $300.
Easiest way for me to buy one.
Nintendo is really bungling this one. They missed Christmas sales on all platforms by not running deals, they missed a decent pre-order window to determine demand and gear up sales, and they have now failed to get after Christmas pre-orders rolling for people who had left over cash. They are now going to come in with low stock, little to no third party launch support, and a two month window to generate buzz for the average consumer. It's almost like they are hoping this console flops.
I'm sorry but those who say they've already pre-ordered with GAME or whoever haven't actually pre-ordered anything. You'll still have to go in and confirm your bundle/sku by which point they can still tell you they've already filled preorders.
I honestly don't understand people who 'preorder' for vague, non-specific things like the Switch will be until January 12th.
@GiooiG I took this route as well. The store guy was adamant it would secure a day one unit and I could choose a bundle nearer release. Still, we're talking about Game, so who knows.
@nhSnork What do you mean by "black stripes." Nintendo has not been in this bad of a financial situation in a long time. Look at their hardware sales since 2009:
https://www.statista.com/statistics/227012/lifetime-unit-sales-of-nintendos-home-consoles/
@Anti-Matter Uh... sure?
@Mega_Yarn_Poochy If Switch fails, they would lose a lot of the remaining reputation they have left. I wouldn't say with 100% certainity Nintendo can survive on just a 4DS. See above Link for why I don't think they can survive on just one system.
I won't preorder the Switch... I'l try my hand at getting one from the Nintendo store in NY. Let's hope there is enough stock there for the launch, at least!
I've pre-ordered mine, and they only wanted £20!!
They also said that I was the first to pre-order too
@setezerocinco
Where I live (Ireland) I find them very expensive. Plus a lot of new games they have are missing the plastic. Luckily they are other options.
I just got an email from Nintendo of Canada inviting me to a nintendo switch preview event in Toronto on the 28th. Not sure if this is happening in other regions but it seems its for My Nintendo Members
Hahahahaha looks like all the people that wanted a $200 "second console" are SOL. That's what happens when you're impatient and expect Nintendo to sell a home console for a handheld price(Nintendo has said Switch is first and foremost a home console). Best believe if this is true the usual whiners and complainers will be out in full force. Just wanted to warn everybody. 😂😂 Anyways $399 was right around what I expected to pay so if true then it sounds good to me.
@XCWarrior the chart illustrates exactly what I meant. Nintendo 64 lost Nintendo's leadership in the field, not only dwarfed by PS1 but also selling lower than SNES. Gamecube didn't fare much better than Wii U has. We know what happened next. And Switch doesn't even seem likely to sell as low, considering it offers a feature in demand among quite a few adult gamers who want to play home console scale games but don't spend enough time at home for that. Its main schtick is comparatively more transparent than Wii U's tablet gamepad, neat as the latter idea was. As for reputation... Nintendo's survived Virtual Boy. XD
@capitalism If you're expecting to pay $399 then I think you will be in for a pleasant surprise. It wont be anywhere near that much.My guess is there will be a base unit for sub £200/ $250 with a deluxe set for around 50 more.The PS4 can be had for $250 with a game,the Pro for $399 or less.The Switch wont even be as powerful as the Xbox One,what makes you think Nintendo can get away with selling it at PS4 Pro and possibly Scorpio prices?
@capitalism Personally, I don't care how much Switch costs: I'll get it regardless of the price. But I sincerely doubt it's going to be as high as £400. Maybe £300, sure, but I just don't think Nintendo will try for that much after the Wii U. The cheaper it is, the more people buy it - obviously. So too high a price for people who can't afford Switch will put them off. And most people won't pay that much for a home console anyway - it's £400-£500 is pushing it with PS4 and Xbone (in the UK), even. Nintendo usually shoots for the cheaper option of all consoles, so I can't see that changing too much anytime soon.
@Balki Last time I checked they were taking money at checkout. Which constitutes and retail contract. But the Guarantee is that if the price changes they will honor the lowest price. As stated on their site "With our Pre-order Price Guarantee, you can order now and if the GameSeek price increases between the time you place your order and the release date, you'll be charged the lower price"
@nhSnork Switch will need to have the following to be competitive, and we don't know if it has any of these:
1) Huge internal storrage (500 gigs minimum) for people who want to go digital.
2) Battery life that doesn't stink.
3) Going to need to come or a cheap case will need to be sold seperately to take Switch with you on the go, because it doesn't fit your pocket.
4) Durable. Meaning if you go to work and your 5 year old comes home and take switch out to and drops it, it will still function. 3DS is shown a trend toward less durable Nintendo products. Both of mine have failed on me... my NES, N64, Gameboy, GBa, Gamecube, all still work.
5) Will the system have all the FPSs? If not, it won't get a huge market share out of the Nintendo faithful.
6) Price. This is the biggie. If its more than $249, which is what Xb1 and PS4 are at, then it won't make a huge splash. Unless of course, it has headset-less VR. Cause like you said, Nintendo make the Virtual Boy, so they've had 20+ y ears to figure out how to do VR without a clunky headset.
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