For gaming fans, a console release can be a stressful time. There are the fights against bots and DDoS levels of internet traffic to secure a pre-order at random and ungodly times, and/or the need to mentally prepare to camp outside a retailer. The experience has become rotten in large part due to scalpers, who purchase items with the intent to resell at a huge markup.
While seasoned veterans are used to these dynamics, the experience doesn’t have to be like this. Case in point: Nintendo has developed an anti-scalping strategy for the Switch 2 that sounds highly effective. Except Nintendo is currently only rolling it out in Japan.
Nintendo announced the initiative on Tuesday on its website in a post breaking down the plan. The Japanese company will be teaming up with companies like Mercari to “prevent fraudulent listings” of the Switch 2. In fact, these websites will outright prevent Switch 2 listings even after the console officially launches. All of this is done in an effort to prevent “confusion” for consumers.
Meanwhile, if you load up eBay here in the states, you can easily find tons of listings for the Switch 2 for hundreds of dollars more than the retail price. Bummer.
While those of us outside of Japan are still at the mercy of greedy resellers, Nintendo didn’t completely leave us out in the cold. In addition to normal pre-orders, the company also launched a program where fans could reserve a console only if they met certain requirements. Users needed to have a Nintendo Online membership for at least year, have logged at least 50 hours of gameplay onto their console, and had to opt-in to share data gameplay data with Nintendo.
It was a nice idea that rewarded true blue fans, but the measure didn’t solve the problem in its entirety. To wit, Nintendo had to issue an apology due to the number of people who couldn’t secure a pre-order this way. At least those folks will be rolled into the next set of pre-orders, though.
It doesn’t have to be this way. In the music industry, for example, some artists can choose to release tickets that cannot be resold on Ticketmaster, or can choose measures that cap the price of a resold ticket. That’s basically what Nintendo is doing in Japan. Hopefully, it’s just a matter of time before Nintendo brings the approach to the rest of the world.
