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We've just moved into a new office here at Nintendo Life, and one of the first things we decided we needed pronto was a second Switch dock for the TV, so we could bring in our consoles and use them when we were really supposed to be working.

Back when the Switch was released, Nintendo made a point of promoting the fact that yes, you can buy a second dock for your console; despite the high price, it made a lot of sense, as in many households there's going to be more than one television and logic dictates that you're going to want to use your system in more than one room. A 'dock set' was duly released which included the dock, a power supply and a HDMI cable – everything you needed to get your Switch up-and-running on a second TV.

So, when we recently moved offices, this was towards the top of our shopping list – but could we find one of these packs brand new? Could we heck.

We've spent a few days hunting online and – in the UK, at least – official Switch docks are like rocking horse poop. Nintendo's official UK store has been sold out at least since the start of the year, if not before. Any retailer that happens to have the pack in stock is selling it for an inflated price, and even CEX – a leading UK store which deals in pre-owned goods – is selling second-hand docks for relatively high prices. Call us picky, but we'd rather have a new dock, not one that has already been sullied by another human being.

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UK retailer CEX has Switch docks in stock, but they're still limited to single units at only a handful of its high street stores. And £55? Pfffft.

Why is the dock so hard to get hold of? Why has Nintendo not made sure there's a plentiful supply of these things available at all times? It would seem that in the UK at least, Nintendo hasn't produced fresh stock of these docks for quite some time, and given that we're over two years into the Switch's lifespan and there's still no sign of new units arriving, it seems the firm has decided that selling the dock on its own doesn't make a great deal of sense.

As to why this is the case, there are a number of potential reasons. Perhaps, outside of a few vocal voices, there really isn't all that much demand for a second Switch dock. Nintendo's wish is that everyone in your house owns a Switch, rather than a household just having a single console between everyone. It might seem greedy but it's no different a situation than what we currently have with mobile phone or tablet ownership; people tend to want their own, personal device. If this is happening place in some homes – and we have no reason to suspect it isn't – then it may be that people actually have more docks than they really need; if there's only one main TV but three Switch consoles, then two of those docks are going spare.

We've also got to take into account that there are more than a few third-party Switch docks on the market, and despite fears that they are bricking systems, the lower price of these alternative options may well have wiped out any demand for the official dock, hence Nintendo ending production.

Have you had trouble finding a second Switch dock? Or have you simply opted for a cheaper third-party option? Maybe you're lucky enough to have a second Switch in the house so you've never needed another dock? Let us know by voting in the poll and leaving a comment below.

Have you tried to buy a second Switch dock? (323 votes)

  1. Yes, I managed to get an official dock27%
  2. Yes, I took the third-party route5%
  3. We have multiple Switch consoles in the house so it's not an issue8%
  4. No, I don't need or want a second dock46%
  5. No, I've not been able to find one14%

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