While Nintendo’s reveal of its coming Switch 2 console was overshadowed in the US by the carnage of President Trump’s tariff talk, the subject of price has dominated the discussion around the world as well. In Australia it’s $700 for the system and $120 for major launch game Mario Kart World, or about a 50 per cent increase on the original Switch pricing set in 2017.

But while it’s difficult to determine if that increase is warranted per se, it certainly hasn’t come out of nowhere.

The Switch 2 is Nintendo’s first 4K-capable console, and it is planned to launch on June 5 for $700.Credit:

Looking at the history of console costs in Australia, the dollar price has trended up while the price adjusted for inflation has trended down, but alternating low and high as it goes. The original Nintendo system launched in 1987 for $300, but that’s the equivalent of almost $900 in today’s money. The adjusted prices dipped to $695 for the Super Nintendo in 1992, rose to $830 for the Nintendo 64 in 1997, and kept on in that fashion through the Wii at $645 and the original Switch at $586.

Now we’re back on an upswing, with what appears to be the largest increase in price over a decade that the industry has seen. But we’re currently not as high as Nintendo’s most expensive systems historically, and certainly not as high as some of Sony’s systems; the PlayStation 2 launched in Australia in 2000 for a stunning $750, close to $1500 in today’s money.

As for individual games, prices have followed largely the same trajectory of trending up in dollar amounts and down when adjusted, with the caveat that prices dropped radically........

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