Nintendo launches $499.99 Switch 2 bundle

Nintendo said on May 12 that it will launch a new Nintendo Switch 2 “Choose Your Game Bundle” in the United States in early June at a suggested retail price of $499.99. The package includes a Switch 2 system and a download code for one of three games: Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza or Pokémon Pokopia, according to a post on Nintendo’s official news site. The price matches the bundle amount that surfaced in press coverage on May 13 and expands Nintendo’s launch lineup beyond the standalone Switch 2 and the separate Mario Kart World package. ### What exactly is in the new $499.99 package? Nintendo’s May 12 announcement says the bundle includes one Nintendo Switch 2 console and a digital download code redeemable for a single game. The three choices are Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza and Pokémon Pokopia, all described by Nintendo as Nintendo Switch 2 titles. (nintendo.com) The $499.99 suggested retail price puts the package $50 above Nintendo’s announced U.S. price for the base Switch 2 hardware. Nintendo said when it unveiled the console that the standalone Switch 2 would launch on June 5 in the United States for $449.99. ### Why does the price stand out? (nintendo.com) The $499.99 figure means Nintendo is effectively keeping the bundle at a round-number price while adding one game. Nintendo’s retail offers page says buyers can “save up to $29.99,” depending on which title they choose. Nintendo has already marketed a separate Mario Kart World hardware package. The new “Choose Your Game Bundle” broadens that approach by letting buyers pick among three first-party releases instead of taking a fixed-in game. (nintendo.com) ### Which games can buyers choose from? Mario Kart World is one of the three options named by Nintendo in the bundle announcement. (nintendo.com) Donkey Kong Bananza and Pokémon Pokopia are the other two listed on Nintendo’s news post and retail offers page. Nintendo’s savings language suggests the value depends on the selected title’s normal selling price. (nintendo.com) Third-party coverage on May 14 also described the offer as a discount versus buying the console and one of those games separately, though Nintendo’s own materials frame it as “save up to $29.99.” ### When and where will the bundle be sold? (nintendo.com) Nintendo said “participating retailers” will begin offering the bundle in early June. The company did not name every seller in the announcement, but its U.S. retail offers page lists the promotion and says it is “coming soon.” Best Buy has already posted a product page for the “Switch 2: Choose Your Game Bundle,” showing the item as “coming soon.” That listing indicates major U.S. electronics chains are preparing to carry the package once Nintendo opens sales. (nintendo.com) ### How does this fit into the Switch 2 launch? (nintendo.com) Nintendo said in its earlier launch announcement that the Switch 2 will arrive on June 5 in the United States. That makes the new bundle part of the console’s opening retail push rather than a later holiday promotion. (bestbuy.com) The company’s current U.S. marketing pages now show a base Switch 2 system, a Mario Kart World bundle and the new “Choose Your Game Bundle” as part of the early sales lineup. Nintendo’s “how to buy” page says the hardware will be available through the My Nintendo Store, select retailers and Nintendo store locations. (nintendo.com) Nintendo said the next step is an early-June retail rollout through participating sellers ahead of the Switch 2’s June 5 launch window in the United States. (nintendo.com 1) (nintendo.com 2)