It should tell you a lot that we’re still talking about Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders, especially since here in the US and other countries, the pre-orders are basically sold out. Fans rushed to stores and to online vendors to try and get their pre-orders in for the console, and it didn’t exactly go smoothly. Many had to constantly refresh online stores and hope that they could get through. Sadly, many gamers didn’t, and thus, they have to wait for either the Nintendo Store option to open up, which will happen on the 8th for some select gamers, or wait for restocks to officially occur.
The only caveat here is Japan. You might remember that the Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders there via the Nintendo Store were so massive that company President Shuntaro Furukawa had to step in and apologize for the overload of requests they got, noting that not everyone would be able to receive a system due to the high demand. 2.2 million requests were made via that single option, and that doesn’t count all the other stores that got consoles to give away via pre-orders!
That being said, we’re now getting a better glimpse of what customers at some of those other stores are having to do to get a chance at a Switch 2. You may have heard that Japan is doing a “lottery” system, which is how game developers like Masahiro Sakurai and Hideki Kamiya got their own personal Switch 2 pre-orders confirmed. In certain stores, the pre-order demands are so high that they have to restrict access to them to those who are in their various “customer programs.” You can check out what we mean below:
While that may seem a bit “much” at first, it is at least a reasonable way to explain why some people won’t get the pre-order in, as they “weren’t in the club.” One has to wonder if some people will try to game the system to get into those clubs, as only some have date restrictions.
Either way, it once again highlights how much the Japanese gaming audience wants the Switch 2. In multiple ways, this makes perfect sense, as the OG Switch is the best-selling console in Japan’s history and has some of the best-selling games in Japan’s history, console-wise. That audience has been very supportive of Nintendo, and they’re clearly eager to get their hands on their gaming future.
Japan might be a key reason why the Switch 2 becomes the biggest console launch in gaming history.
