$500 for a Switch 2 and a Game, or $500 for Just a Switch 2

Four million copies in five weeks. That's what Pokémon Pokopia pulled off, a spinoff game that apparently caught even Nintendo off guard. Now it's sitting alongside Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza as one of three choices in a new Switch 2 bundle that, once you do the math, makes waiting until autumn look foolish.

Nintendo announced the "Choose Your Game Bundle" today, a $499.99 package arriving in early June that includes a Switch 2 console and a download code redeemable for one of three first-party titles: Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, or Pokémon Pokopia. The bundle mirrors the price of the Mario Kart World launch bundle from last year, effectively reviving that offer with more flexibility.

Here's where the arithmetic gets absurd. The Switch 2 currently retails for $449.99. Mario Kart World costs $79.99. Buying them separately right now runs you roughly $530. This bundle knocks that down to $500, saving you $30. A nice deal, sure. But the real kicker lands on September 1, when Nintendo's confirmed price hike pushes the base console to $499.99 with no game included. After that date, buying a Switch 2 and Mario Kart World separately will cost you around $580. The bundle, if you grab it before it disappears, saves you $80 against that future price.

I cannot remember the last time a console manufacturer created a situation where the same dollar amount gets you a console plus a game one month and just the console the next. It's an unintentional advertisement for buying now.

Why the price is going up

Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa addressed the increase during the company's recent financial results presentation, and his language was unusually blunt for Nintendo. "While we wanted to prioritize a wide adoption, it was challenging to bear the rising costs over a long period," Furukawa said, per a Nintendo Patents Watch translation. He added that the new $500 price "does not fully account for all cost increases." Component shortages, a weakened yen, and rising oil prices are all squeezing margins. Nintendo has reportedly been selling the Switch 2 at a loss, a departure from the original Switch era, and shareholders had been pressuring the company to correct course.

In Europe, the hardware price will climb by €30 to €499.99. In Canada, it jumps $50 to $679.99. In the UK, the console is currently listed at £395.99. Nintendo also acknowledged in its latest financials that it expects to sell fewer Switch 2 units in year two, partly because of the price hike and partly because launch demand was so front-loaded.

The Japanese market is already reacting. Reports indicate consumers are rushing to buy consoles before Japan's earlier price increase takes effect on May 25.

Pokopia as the dark horse pick

The game selection here is interesting. Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza were the Switch 2's flagship launch titles, so their inclusion is expected. Pokémon Pokopia is the surprise. It's a spinoff, not a mainline entry, and in Japan it's technically published by The Pokémon Company rather than Nintendo itself. But those sales numbers changed the conversation. Four million copies in roughly a month, with physical stock selling out at launch, turned Pokopia from a curiosity into a system-seller. Nintendo choosing it over Pokémon Legends: Z-A for this bundle tells you everything about how the company's internal perception of the game has shifted.

I suspect Pokopia will be the most popular pick among bundle buyers, even though it's the cheapest of the three at $70, meaning you're technically saving less. Pokémon's brand gravity is just that strong, and Pokopia's blend of creature collecting with Minecraft and Animal Crossing-style gameplay has clearly hit a nerve that a traditional Pokémon sequel hasn't.

Nintendo hasn't given an exact end date for the bundle, only saying it will be available "while supplies last." Given that the September 1 price hike eliminates the value proposition entirely, expect these to move fast. The company also used its financial results to tease multiple unannounced Switch 2 games for later this year, on top of a confirmed lineup that includes Star Fox on June 25, Rhythm Heaven Groove on July 2, and Splatoon Raiders on July 23.

If you've been on the fence about a Switch 2, the calculus just became very simple: buy the bundle in June for $500 and get a game, or wait until September and pay $500 for the console alone. Nintendo didn't design this as a limited-time promotion so much as a three-month window where the price hike hasn't landed yet and they're willing to throw in a game to keep momentum going. In Canada, where the post-hike console price hits $679.99, the gap between acting now and waiting is even more painful.