Nintendo introduced Friday it could elevate the worth of its Change 2 consoles to $500 beginning Sept. 1. The worth enhance of $50 is the primary time the Change 2 has gone up in price since its launch final June.
“That is in response to varied modifications in market circumstances, that are anticipated to increase over the medium to long run,” the corporate mentioned in a press launch. “We perceive that pricing modifications will be difficult for purchasers and deeply recognize the continued enthusiasm of our followers for Nintendo merchandise and experiences.”
When the Change 2 launched in June final 12 months, there was a priority that Nintendo could be compelled to boost its new console’s beforehand introduced value as a result of tariffs imposed by President Donald Trump in April 2025. Like many tech gadgets, Change 2 parts come from manufacturing vegetation in Vietnam and China, two international locations hit laborious by the tariffs, however Nintendo was capable of maintain the console’s value at $450 for the bottom unit.
Though the Change 2 did not bounce in value attributable to tariffs, the unique Change and equipment did see a value bump. The unique Change, Change OLED and Change Lite elevated by 15% whereas equipment noticed a bounce of $5 or $10.
Gaming is now a luxurious pastime
The core cause for the Change 2 value enhance is identical for nearly all of tech proper now: the worldwide reminiscence scarcity, aka “RAMageddon.” This drawback started on the finish of 2025, as a spike in demand for generative AI instruments drove a surge within the want for computer systems to energy AI information facilities. This drove up the price of RAM, and, in flip, the costs of gadgets that use it additionally needed to go as much as accommodate it.
Nintendo is not the one one feeling the ache from this reminiscence scarcity. Sony needed to enhance the price of the PS5 Professional, rising from $750 to $900. Microsoft made comparable changes to its Xbox Sequence X and S consoles. Valve needed to delay the discharge of its Steam Machine dwelling PC console as a result of scarcity, and it is nonetheless unclear how a lot it’ll price.
In late March and early April, RAM costs did lastly gradual, and it seems the market might be returning to regular pricing. Nonetheless, which will take a while. RAM sticks of 16GB, 32GB and 64GB of DDR5 are nonetheless a number of instances greater than they have been again in 2024.
RAM is not the one laptop part that noticed value spikes. Costs for solid-state drives have, in lots of circumstances, doubled, for a similar cause as RAM. The worth of gaming {hardware} might proceed to rise as demand for these parts grows.
