Sony’s Insane PS5 Pro Price Highlights The Delicate Balance Nintendo Must Strike With ‘Switch 2’
That’s not to say everyone would be happy to pay 700 notes for their next PlayStation, but it would be a different pitch. Indeed, if PS6 launches in a couple of years at $700 for the base model, it might even seem like decent value. Throw a disc drive, stand, and an extra DualSensePlus+ in your launch-day cart, and you won’t be getting much change out of a grand for your next-gen system.
Delivering even PS4 Pro-level performance in a Switch-sized tablet form for a reasonable price is going to be a mighty challenge.
And let’s take a moment to remember poor Japan, which was recently hit with a $90-ish price hike for the base PS5 model. The weak yen is a factor for Japanese companies, with players taking the brunt of currency fluctuations and some suggesting that they’re done with PS5. Nintendo has so far resisted price changes for Switch, and this latest episode from Sony highlights how surgical Nintendo must be with its pricing, at home and abroad.
As NL readers noted in our poll, if Switch 2 comes along with meaningful upgrades and really feels like a next-generation Switch, a higher price tag will be easier to stomach. The core issue with PS5 Pro is the huge disparity between the improvements the new hardware offers and the $250 premium Sony wants for it.
Geoff Keighley took to Twitter to highlight the adjusted-for-inflation costs of previous Sony hardware, which pegs PS5 Pro as the second most expensive system the company has ever put out (although one without a disc drive):
I get it, it’s never been more expensive to develop and manufacture these things, and gaming has, in fact, been incredibly inflation-resistant from a consumer standpoint. It still represents the best value form of entertainment in my book, but with Switch 2 in particular, Nintendo has to come out with guns blazing and make a really compelling case for what’s rumoured to be a Switch, but more powerful.
Certainly, nobody’s expecting PS5-level specs from Switch 2, but the small form factor of portable hardware increases component costs. Delivering even PS4 Pro-level performance in a Switch-sized tablet form for a reasonable price is going to be a mighty challenge. Bespoke new Nintendo games will certainly make for a better pitch than slightly better-looking versions of already-great-looking games you’ve been playing for a year or two or three. But whispers that the screen in the new console may be a standard LCD affair and not an OLED display will give some people (like me) pause. ‘So, the screen tech isn’t as good as the one I’ve been playing since 2021? Hmm.’
