Topic: Would You Buy a Rereleased Older Nintnendo Console If The Switch 2 Got A Price Increase

You read the article title right. Especially with that AI and ram price increase situation going on right now, some people are worried about a 2026 price increase for the Switch 2 (which would really suck, since I finally want to get one, hopefully early that year!).

So I had this idea. Suppose the Switch 2 does get a price increase, and Nintendo realized that a lot of people wouldn't want to buy it anymore. They decide to rerelease some of their older consoles like GameCube and Wii, with the exact same amounts of ram as before. Those re-rereleased consoles would allow backwards compatibility in the same way as their previous versions, and allow all games that came out on that console during its previous life cycle to be playable on it. And maybe they could also add in a few things, such as Nintendo Online (a rebranded version of Nintendo Switch Online that will work on the rereleased consoles as well) compatibility, a Nintendo eShop where you can connect your Nintendo Account and buy digital copies of games from that platform, the ability to take a snapshot using newly updated controllers available for sale, among other things. Heck, they could do a rerelease of Mario Kart Double Dash that adds in online play (and a music player, if the game doesn't already have it).

Some people keep saying that they prefer the older Nintendo console generations. So here's the big question: if Nintendo ever re-rereleased older generation consoles like the GameCube or the Wii (which will be cheaper than the Switch 2 for sure), whether they had a few new features or not, would you be interested in buying one or some of them? I might, depending on the cost, buy a Wii (because nostalgia).

@Nep-Nep-Freak
Well, with current situation of Switch 2 that doesn't look appeal to me at the moment, I will expand my retro gaming from 2000's era like Wii or PS2 or PS3 or NDS by getting the machines and the games as well to keep busy with the games I have never played before.

I don't think Nintendo will EVER re-release their old machine again. You can get the used machine from garage sale and get nostalgia with them. Take care with them and your retro machines will live longer.

I have a Wii and a Gamecube. If Nintendo re-released them I might buy that version, depending on how they do it. But I'm happy with what I have at the moment. Analogue are putting their 4K N64 on the market in an hour, but I don't think the N64 (whilst it was my favourite console release) has aged well and is worth revisiting for me.

I believe the answer to that is: oh heck yea.

Especially if they also did another manufacturing run of the old games.

AND you would completely destroy the corrupt/bloated retro market that currently exists.

Two birds with one stone.

This question hinges on at least one premise that is flat out false: the idea that rereleased older consoles would, in fact, be cheaper. Manufacturing new Wiis or Gamecubes would require a lot of parts that simply aren't in production anymore, which would make costs go up, not down. It would also require reestablishing factory lines for them, which is not cheap, and would lose almost all the old economies of scale and efficiency optimization in the process.

No, you can't just swap in whatever currently-in-production cheap chips might exist. Electronics don't work that way. Replacing one part with another, while maintaining functionality? Requires reengineering the product, which even if possible would. . . yep, add more cost. And no, you can't just say "emulation" as a magic word. . . because emulation requires considerably more processing power than the original hardware had. An emulated Gamecube would require processors probably in about the same ballpark as a Switch 1, maybe moreso. . . and that's assuming you have a good emulator, which is not guaranteed ( and developing one costs, yes, more money ).

TLDR: This is one of those "brilliant" ideas that only sounds brilliant because of a misunderstanding about what drives costs.

Isn't this what Atari is doing? That's like a super niche thing that only hardcore collectors want. (And weirdo millennials like me. Some of my students thought I was weird for wanting a Virtual Boy stand.)

Why would I buy something I already have?

If the games are good I'd play them anywhere, but honestly I think part of aging is realizing that your time will pass. Eventually the world will de-prioritize what you care about and then you won't have access to the world you enjoyed.

Games are leaving behind a lot of what I loved and now PCs are getting into planned obsolcence which is probably going to prevent me from playing games later on. There's not much reason to upgrade hardware for 90% of all games now so we don't need older consoles. But PCs are starting to become an issue. The windows 10 forced retirement and 11 being a dumpster fire makes me wonder if we will have to buy a new PC every 2 years like phones.

I have thought recently about how cool and potentially profitable it would be for Nintendo to just re-release their old games and systems, exactly as they are (or at most made easier to play on an HD tv). Not like the mini consoles, but just the systems and games, presumably with some 3rd party games as well.

Most of the reason Virtual Boy is being re-released, especially as is, is that there is a small but passionate audience for it, wanting anything cheaper and easier than buying overpriced copies from back in the day. I'm sure there's reasons they wouldn't want to go all the way with that, even for their more popular systems and games, but I do wonder if there isn't an audience who would just buy NES games and an NES from Nintendo. Obviously, it'd be a small audience, because it'd be way, way more expensive then any contemporary way to play those games, but I'm sure there's AN audience for it.

But there is a limit to these, and considering the wild success of Switch 1 AND 2, I can't imagine a scenario happening soon where things would get bad enough to focus on this. Like they made the NES Classic because the Wii U bombed, they had nothing else going on, and they stopped one system later because the Switch was a huge success, even though a Gameboy Classic would've made a lot of money.

@kkslider5552000
I still say the easiest one to do is a GameBoy, and it would sell insanely well.

It would be easy to just make it a 1:1 scale of the original and allow it to read the original GameBoy cartridges. Numerous third parties have done it and continue to release more models every year. Nintendo themselves could release a cartridge of their biggest GameBoy games for a premium price, which most people would buy, and then just leave the rest open to the consumer if they would want to dabble into other retro GameBoy games.

Seems like they're leaving easy money on the table.

The cheaper older Nintendo console that's an alternative to the Switch 2 is the Switch 1. The Lite, at least, remains priced far below any competitors as an affordable entry-level option.

While third party GameBoy recreations with working cartridge ports exist, they're all around the same price as the Switch Lite. Unless Nintendo have access to some secret sauce that could bring the price down, and I don't think that they do, it just doesn't really make a lot of sense for them to make one.

Recreating old consoles still makes sense for a company like Atari who are relatively small and mostly living on past glories anyway. That they didn't release any new hardware past 1993 keeps them in that easy-to-emulate bracket as well. Nintendo pretty much got up to that point with the NES/SNES Classics and the Game & Watches too.

That's not going to happen beyond maybe "Mini" style consoles with pre-loaded games a la the NES and SNES replica consoles.

What we would be more likely to see is a docked-only Switch 1 or Switch 2 that gets rid of all of the more expensive parts of the console (especially the screen), and reconstitute the internal parts into a form factor that is much more cost effective to produce.

Frankly, I'm annoyed that such a console is yet to surface as not everybody intends to use their Nintendo console as a handheld device. I'm a hardcore handheld player, but a docked only Switch could make a great entry level console for kids and casual gamers (and a cost-effective gift).

That would be really cool. If someone could also produce new CRT TVs, that would be perfect.

No I wouldn't. I already own them and they don't make new games for them anymore.

But good news - there's this thing called used which you can use to replicate this very idea!

We know there are users on here already hates Switch2 because it can play with PS5 any comments means nothing at this point. Prices of PS5 has gone up any saying otherwise is being disingenuous here. Tariff also affects prices at retail as well. People are free to spend their money and the what they buy. But the sales of Switch2 hasn't slowed down so that's why people like to cherry pick one point to fit their narrative always show they aren't seeing the bigger picture.

More contexts and source is needed here for anyone to make a informed opinion of what's asked here.

I would buy a new GameCube today under any circumstances. I already have two, but I'd still get a new one.

@ROMhaiku I mean a lot of used retro consoles are getting long in the tooth and eventually the supply of functioning used retro consoles will dip below the demand causing the prices to rocket into the stratosphere...plus retro games are skyrocketing already. If something like this theoretical modern retro console happened, we'd need 20-60 GB of on-board memory and a digital store with as many of the originally available games for the platform available as possible, plus NSO and occasional new digital releases since this'd be what most people would game on moving forward. Plus, Wii level hardware should allow for NSO games from NES, SNES, N64, TG-16, TG-CD, SMS, GEN, Saturn, GB, GBC, GBA, DS, VB, Neogeo, Neogeo Pocket, and others as well. Also apps like Antstream Arcade would be perfect for added content as well!

Saying used exists is dumb because used is getting older "and more expensive than modern gaming in many cases" and the newer retro hardware such as GCN and Wii are FAR more prone to failure than older consoles and even those older devices, such as the NES, SNES, and DS are failing at alarming rates alongside the memory chips that allow for saving game save data on the game cartridges themselves.

To get a bit technical and realistic for a second. I would say this question falls victim to the same misunderstanding that people who push the "just keep making the OG Switch forever" bit. There's a floor to how cheap a piece of hardware can be to manufacture new. It's not as simple as saying "make something with 1/Nth of the power for 1/Nth of the cost"

Also worth noting that they would have to produce new bespoke silicon at volume for it to make sense. Which would take significant time and R&D. Or alternatively use emulation or an FPGA, both of which would remove any cost advantage anyways (case and point the consoles made by Analogue)

Yes, RAM prices are high currently. But how well Nintendo will be able to weather this storm will depend on what prices they were able to negotiate and how much volume still exists in that contract. I don't think this is as much of a time bomb as you think. And re-releasing old hardware isn't really much of a solution

I agree that old hardware is a nice collectable thing but..... I can't see it happening outside of possibly revisiting the mini console idea. I would certainly be down for an official working replica GB with a bunch of bundled ROMs

If you are looking for a cheap option for games then get an old office pc of a skip etc. Some of those are decently powerful and might just need a better GPU added, maybe something like a RX 480. Something like that will likely emulate all the way up to Switch and possibly beyond plus of course run PC games. PC games can be very cheap. Today in the UK at least Epic games is giving away Hogwarts Legacy completely free to enjoy, no subscription just free membership. Something that costs a chunk of money on Switch and Switch 2 but will likely run much better on PC anyway. Gaming is as expensive or cheap as you want it to be. An old i5 from 2015 on a LGA1155 platform is around 6000 passmark CPU score, that is 3x more powerful than the Switch 2's ARM processors that work out about 2000 passmark CPU and 10x more powerful than the original Switch, which works out at about 600 passmark CPU score. For graphics a RX 480 is about 5 Teraflops or about 2-2.5x Switch 2 docked performance and 11-12x as powerful as Switch 1 docked performance. I've bought a RX 480 for £25 a month or so back. Also mini pcs make great little emulation units however with the huge RAM price increase the model I bought in early 2025 for £70 is now about £160 and that is based on a N100 chipset with 12GB of DDR5. While about 3x as powerful as the Switch 2 in CPU performance graphically it is around 300 Gflops so below that of docked Switch 1 performance but still capable of emulating Switch 1 in portable mode. I can play Fallout 4 on mine with a good frame rate at 720p with anti-aliasing and wii u plays brilliantly but Switch 1 is in the just playable category.

Emulators like Dolphin do absolutely amazing work with gamecube and wii games, you can upscale and even render in 3D to support 3D televisions or VR headsets. They can deliver a far superior game experience.

I feel PC is by far the best gaming format. Even games like 'Routine' work on a humble steam deck. I find horror fps games better on a small screen (i.e. less terrifying). If you look at the screen at the top it shows the CPU is only being utilised at around 40-50% and the steam deck has a passmark cpu score of about 9000. So maybe even an old pc could run a game like this. The GPU is pretty much near to being maxed out and that is about 1.6 Teraflop on Steam Deck so a RX 480 could surely manage it. An older PC can still be a very usable gaming PC.

I think many are kind of in a bubble thinking there's any sort of mass market for older consoles. The NES and SNES minis sold a couple million but then capped out.

Price elasticity of demand is a graduated, continuous function. If price increases $50, quantity demanded at that new price decreases, but it doesn't fall off a cliff. Instead of selling 20m a year, maybe they sell 15m. Which would still leave them on a trajectory for 100+ million units sold.

Price would have to increase $100-150 before any real, concerning impact would be felt. And even at $600 I suspect the NS2 could match the 3DS lifetime sales numbers.

But I don't think it's going to happen. I think Nintendo is keenly aware of the dangers and impacts of price increases, and while yes, a $50 increase would still result in Wii numbers, it would mean tens of millions less consumers buying their games. Their finance and economics experts are running all those calculations and determining opportunity cost of any potential price increase.