Nintendo Switch 2 Pre-Orders Feel Like The PS5 Debacle All Over Again

As expected, pre-ordering the Nintendo Switch 2 has been an absolute debacle. One of our editors, Sam Hallahan, has already written about the fears he has surrounding scalpers when it comes to picking up the new console, and those are already starting to come true.

US pre-orders opened earlier this week, and judging by a single glance at my social media, it has been an unmitigated bloodbath. Target is already canceling orders, scalpers are listing a number of bundles for inflated prices, and people who genuinely wanted to buy the Switch 2 have had their baskets emptied, or web pages time out before their very eyes. Chances are, if you want a Nintendo Switch 2 and don’t already have a pre-order secured, you’re going to have a bad time.

Getting Your Hands On A New Console Shouldn’t Be This Difficult

I was still a teenager without an expendable income when the PS4 was first released, so one of the few points of reference I can point towards when pre-ordering consoles in the past was the original Nintendo Switch and PS5. The latter I received for work ahead of launch, though I pre-ordered, but that was for my brother, so obviously, I wasn’t that invested. The Switch is a different story, however, and I was on the ground floor ordering not only the console, but a limited-edition version of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, several other titles and a laundry list of accessories. I went overboard, but back then, it felt like I could without a real worry of being screwed over.

Everything was in reasonable supply, and so long as you showed up when pre-orders had opened or around the same time window, you were guaranteed a console. There was just enough freedom to shop around and feel like you could secure a unit without selling your soul.

In the months following launch, the supply began to regulate, and the majority of big retailers had stock to spare in time for big releases later in the year. The PS5, on the other hand, was not easy, and pre-ordering a console and actually having it arrive on launch day felt impossible except for a select few. So many friends and family of mine couldn’t get one, and even weeks and months after launch, stocks were few and far between. If you wanted a small chance of obtaining one, you needed to stay up to date with websites and accounts built for this specific purpose. Too slow to draw? Better luck next time.

Obviously, there were a number of factors at play with the PS5. The components used to make it were more expensive than ever before, while supply issues compounded by the pandemic at the time meant manufacturing was hard enough, let alone shipping and selling them to folks around the world. It wasn’t until a year or two after launch that things began to return to normal, but by that point, it felt like half of the console generation had passed us by with nothing to show for it. And if things don’t improve, the Nintendo Switch 2 will be even worse.

There Aren’t Enough Switch 2 Consoles To Meet Demand Right Now

Nintendo confirmed that it received 2.2 million applications to pre-order the Switch 2 through its official Japanese storefront, leading it to release a statement that, as of now, demand for the Switch far outweighs what the company can deliver ahead of the June 5 release date. Some people are going to lose out, and stock is going to be spread sporadically across retailers. Its unexpectedly high price and inflated accessories only add insult to injury, and right now we have no choice but to swallow our pride and do what we can to secure pre-orders.

I will admit there is something hilarious about weeks of viral complaints about the Switch 2’s price ending with people still chomping at the bit to buy one.

Japan isn’t alone, and with worries around its price and increased cost in other aspects, thanks to punishing tariffs implemented by Donald Trump, the Nintendo Switch 2 is fighting what feels like a losing battle before it even lands on the shelf. My biggest fear is that it will follow in the footsteps of the PS5 and launch with a fragmented stock, trickling out a couple of units every few weeks before normalizing long after it should have made its impact. We will be stuck, unable to get immersed in the next generation through no fault of our own and, unlike PS5, there will actually be launch games worth playing on the Switch 2.

Time will tell whether I’m worrying too much, but we’ve moved beyond the idea of traditional console generations where picking up a new piece of hardware was something you could go out and do without issue. Now it’s a task within itself, and something the Switch 2 requires if you want to be playing one when it drops in a couple of months. Please don’t be the PS5 all over again.