Video games consoles have never been at a place where they were cheap. More affordable, of course, but never quite inexpensive. Nintendo has teetered on this line for most of its existence, playing a balacing act across consoles on underselling them to capitalise on boosted sales, or higher retail costs to cash in early.
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Posts 1With the Switch 2, the pendulum has swung back to high costs from the offset, a decision that is not met with happiness due to other financial burdens striking the world at the moment. Yet is the Switch 2 really the most expensive of Nintendo's consoles? Seeing some of its other consoles might not make buying the Switch 2 any easier, but at least you'll get to see some other hilariously expensive consoles.
The Price Of Every Nintendo Console At Launch
CloseStarting with international console shipping back with the NES, Nintendo sought to take advantage of the video game crash in the US with their own consoles. The company had little by way of competition, and so could charge whatever they wanted.
The console wasn't cheap then, though it sure does look comparatively affordable now. Let's take a look at them all now.
For consoles prior to the introduction of Euro, Pounds are used instead.
Console
Release Date
Launch Price (¥, $, €)
NES
1983, 1985, 1986
¥14,800, $179, £179.99
SNES
1990, 1991, 1992
¥25,000, $199, £150
Game Boy
1989, 1990
¥12,500, $89.99, £69.99
Nintendo 64
1996, 1997
¥25,000, $199.99, £250
GameCube
2001, 2002
¥25,000, $199, €199
Game Boy Advance
2001
¥9,800, $99.99, €120
Nintendo DS
2004, 2005
¥15,000, $149.99, €149.99
Wii
2006
¥25,000, $249.99, €249.99
3DS
2011
¥25,000, $249.99, €249.99
Wii U
2012
¥26,250, $299, €349
Switch
2017
¥29,980, $299.99, €329.99
Switch 2
2025
¥49,980, $449.99, €469.99
This only includes consoles which launched internationally, and so the Color TV series and others have been excluded.
At first glance, it would seem as though Nintendo kept the prices of their consoles quite low for a considerable length of time, with more intense price increases only appearing around the Wii. For the international launches anyway, as the Japanese consoles took an immediate price hike with the launch of the SNES, being almost double the price of its predecessor.
Nintendo Consoles Adjusted For Inflation
CloseOf course, money does not remain the same over time. It ebbs and flows, and is subject to a great many economic conditions, with inflation key among them. It's when looking at these adjusted prices that we start to see the discrepancies between what seems affordable and expensive. Let's take a closer look below.
Console
Adjusted Price
NES
¥20,489, $536, £515
SNES
¥31,031, $469, £329
Game Boy
¥15,991, $225, £172
Nintendo 64
¥28,955, $398, £468
GameCube
¥28,783, $357, €299
Game Boy Advance
¥11,283, $181, €187
Nintendo DS
¥17,473, $249, €207
Wii
¥29,132, $401, €331
3DS
¥29,409, $360, €313
Wii U
¥30,893, $420, €431
Switch
¥33,831, $392, €403
What becomes apparent here immediately is that the international prices for the time were actually quite obscene. For certain consoles, such as the N64, they were followed by quick price cuts across Europe due to its inflated price compared to other regions. In retrospect, though still expensive, the Wii doesn't seem so dramatic a price jump.
Interestingly, Japan is almost the opposite. In general, prices stayed stagnant or at times even went lower, with none of them reaching the adjusted price of the SNES until the original Switch.
Which Nintendo Console Is The Most Expensive?
CloseObviously, there are many circumstances that go into defining purchasing power beyond just inflation, though for the raw numerical values, it is a decent indicator. So let's check out what the most expensive console is in the three major regions we're focusing on.
- Japan - With the value of the Yen continually declining in Japan, there's not a dramatic price difference with many consoles from launch to now, even as far back as the NES. As such, the non-region-locked version of the Switch 2 is easily the most expensive console in the region to date, followed by the adjusted values for the original Switch and SNES.
- North America and Europe - For these regions, the original NES is far-and-away the most expensive console to date, when adjusted. There are many circumstances that make current prices seem much more extortionate, but based on raw numbers, the NES is unmatched. That said, the Switch 2 at its retail price comes in second place.
So without a doubt, the Switch 2 is quite an expensive console, though not the most extortionate when taking inflation into account. The same cannot be said for the console in Japan, which is likely by a region-locked version is available for sale to cut down on the otherwise quite high price.
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