This is a copy/paste from my Nintendo AGENDA page (future speculation section):
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Most of the above in this speculation was written before the full unveiling during the April 2ND Switch 2 Direct. It's naive how everyone believed the prior March 27TH Direct was the last hurrah for Switch 1 (it's not) and that the following Direct would answer all our questions on Switch 2 (it didn't, and never does). There's still tons of questions due to the American reciprocal tariff situation which was also unveiled on the same day. Due to all that, a lot of the above speculation may be moot/outdated at the time of me writing this current speculation...on top of that, this current speculation may mean nothing in the near future depending on how the "trade wars" unfold.
Before I talk about my post-Switch 2 Direct speculation I have to say Nintendo is making mistakes. Not just the mistakes everyone is regurgitating about on pricing the hardware/software but also mistakes that may have led to arrogance on said pricing and other problems along the way. I have my own theory that speaks to a business problem that goes beyond Nintendo, video games or whatever else I've talked about on this page:
-you can't think endless growth-
Thinking endless growth in business is very dangerous and I've seen (and even been a part of) many companies who lived by the idea of endless growth. "We're doing great now, things will always be great, let's keep growing and expanding" sounds nice when things are going good, but what about when the rainy days come?...the rainy days will come! Instead of continuing cautiously, compact and nimble, you hire too many people, build too many stores, buy too much stuff and then you're too big to move when you have to weather a storm of change which usually means you drown in it.
Back to Nintendo, they can afford failures and taking risks 'cos they have tons of cash stockpiled and no debt. Even if Switch 2 ends up being another Wii U, they could handle it as a company, but they've made "endless growth" moves in hiring way too many people during the prosperous Switch era thinking they'll need them in the future when that actually is a liability if (and when) there's less money coming in. Growing staff in making bigger budget games and business plans is part of it, but what if they're just hiring more 'cos they think they need more people to handle the growth they've had during their most profitable generation...okay...but what are these people doing? What happens to those people if (and when) Switch 2 isn't as profitable? What if they're just DEI West-coast blue-hairs that are already plaguing so much of Western culture/business? They are liabilities that are the first to get laid off when times are tough which would make NOA just like the rest of the soulless games industwy when it happens. These are the same hard-left people who will blame reciprocal tariffs and if this mindset is the norm at NOA then they could use that as an excuse to raise prices and blame Trump! Trump isn't the underlying problem, it's an easy excuse ignoring the deeper problems in the company.
Bad news, doom'n'gloom all around if they have to lay people off (which they didn't even do in the abysmal Wii U generation) which sets Nintendo back in the "Nintendo is doomed" mindshare of a still young, fickle entertainment industry. This will give the industwy media an excuse to fall back on the idea that Nintendo should make games on competition platforms, PC's & phones (which is what these crybabies really want). If all of the above coupled with poor Switch 2 sales/profits then that can eat into their cash reserves which means unhappy investors will sell out and Saudi Arabia (or some other giant conglomerate) come in to take more of Nintendo, making them even more of a soulless company like the rest of the industwy.
The above is a worst case scenario that we wouldn't be talking about after watching the awesome Switch 2 Direct...except post-Switch 2 Direct showed us an old arrogant Nintendo making mistakes again. The Switch 2 is on the pulse of what gamers want, but the high price (which still may go up) shows Nintendo isn't reading the room on what consumers (in a questionable economy) want. Poor communication post-Switch 2 Direct made it worse, which led to bad press and even fake news about the new platform. They knew people wouldn't like the price situation which is why they didn't announce the prices in the Switch 2 Direct. They knew the tariffs were gonna be a factor, but even with all their hundreds of new hires; probably working in NOA retailing, marketing and PR, they still waited way too long to address it! They knew this, but didn't respond properly or timely which is still leading to misinformation with the common man about Switch 2. Why? The same reason for thinking endless growth and too big to fail, same reason they haven't lowered the price of Switch 1 hardware/software and pricing Switch 2 the way they did: Arrogance!
I love Nintendo and to be honest I don't think $449 for Switch 2 is too bad, but I think $79 for Mario Kart World rubs people the wrong way. I'm talking real people, not just people ready with pitchforks on YouTube (as they always are) quick to jump to conclusions that Nintendo is evil, greedy, killing physical media and murdering your parents. Real people see past the BS headlines and know things are just going up in price...but they also see that Nintendo arrogance with said pricing and dodgy communication post-Switch 2 Direct. A lot of these real people will be turned off by this and if Nintendo doesn't get their finger back on the pulse of these people to see they're not happy with it, their arrogance will continue at the detriment of Switch 2.
Best case scenario: Nintendo isn't affected much by tariffs as Japan, Vietnam and other countries where Switch 2 is made are quick to work with the USA. As the reciprocal tariffs were announced last week, Vietnam was the first to drop their tariffs on USA imports to 0% and come to the negotiation table for a better trade deal (which was the point of the reciprocal tariffs). As I write this (4.9.2025), President Trump announced a 90 day pause on implementing the full reciprocal tariffs on countries who are willing to work out a better deal. This gives Nintendo time to re-open USA pre-orders for Switch 2 and allow for a healthy Switch 2 launch. Along this way Nintendo should hopefully see that Switch 2 pricing (especially $79 for Mario Kart World) is seen as a negative and lose the arrogance when they do the April 17TH Mario Kart World Direct...although that's probably already pre-recorded.
Prices probably won't go down for anything, but if the arrogance continues at the company level they could announce a price increase due to tariffs, blame Trump (without saying so) then announce $20 paid DLC at the Mario Kart World Direct...learning nothing! If they "read the room" they would communicate plans better (use the Nintendo Today app), eat any tariff costs that could come (they can afford it), say the first 2yrs of Mario Kart World DLC is free in it's Direct and throw in the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour for free to NSO members/early adopters!
This section within future speculation is divided with dashes as I assess just the post-Switch 2 Direct/tariff/old arrogance situation separate from the rest of the Switch 2 speculation.
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Just putting it in a regular post here to back up how I was feeling at the time and to wipe it from my main Nintendo AGENDA page. It's been over a month since that all went down and while I still have valid concerns I think it's calmed down with the more reasonable people.
I've backed up a lot of commentary/opinions in blog posts when it's come to Switch 2 'cos I don't wanna clutter up my main Nintendo AGENDA page, yet I don't just want to erase all I wrote in those moments in time...maybe in part to have something to call back to after things play out more and also to see how off I may be when I have a knee-jerk reaction to things that matter less a month later.
While I (and many others) still have valid concerns on how Nintendo handled things Post-Switch 2 Direct, much of the dust has settled and most people fall into 2 categories:
<gonna buy it anyways> or <shit on Nintendo>
and while I'm a Nintendo fanboy and am still gonna buy it it anyways, I'd be a total shill if I didn't point out concerns I have for the company's future going into this next generation. Those concerns are:
-hiring too many people (and, for what?)-
-worry that many of these new hires are NOA DEI identity politics box-checking-
-NOA doubling-down on DEI, bunch of anti-American & anti-Trumpers-
-potentially blaming tariffs (Trump) for higher prices as an easy excuse-
-piss-poor communication, especially Post-Switch 2 Direct-
-NCL devs chasing the clout of the industwy-
-arrogantly over-valuing their output-
-pricing themselves out of the lower-end (budget) market-
-leaving themselves vulnerable to lower-end disruption-
All that said, besides those picking two extreme sides, things have calmed down for most reasonable people when it comes to Nintendo/Switch 2...I'm now leaving this discussion to talk about more constructive speculation to continue with less reactionary thoughts/speculation back on my main Nintendo AGENDA page...