Nintendo Revives $549.99 Switch 2 Mario Kart Bundle as Console Price Jumps $50

Q: Why could waiting until September to buy a Switch 2 cost you over a hundred dollars?

Waiting until September could cost more than $100 because two value changes hit at once: the base Switch 2 price rises by $50 on September 1, and the current game-included promotion ends on August 31. Right now, the standard Switch 2 is $449.99. From September 1, Nintendo says the suggested retail price becomes $499.99. That alone adds $50. But the bigger loss is that buyers also miss the current “Choose Your Game” bundle, which has effectively let shoppers get a first-party game at little or no extra cost before the price hike. If you wait until after that offer disappears, you may have to pay the new $499.99 console price and then buy a game separately, typically around $50 to $80 depending on title and format. That is why reports estimate the real penalty for waiting is roughly $110 to $130 in lost value, not just the $50 MSRP increase. For example, a shopper who could have bought a pre-September bundle at today’s pricing may instead end up paying $499.99 for the console alone, then another roughly $50 to $80 for a game. Nintendo’s new late-September and October bundles still offer savings, but they do not erase the timing issue. They arrive after the higher console price takes effect, and their discounts are smaller than the combined advantage of buying before September while the lower hardware price and older bundle deal are still available.

3 articles · Updated · Video Games Chronicle · Aug 25

$549.99 will be the new price of Nintendo’s revived Switch 2 Mario Kart World bundle from September 1, up $50 from its 2025 launch-era bundle price and now including a 90-day Nintendo Switch Online code.
Nintendo is also adding a $529.99 Switch 2 Sports Resort bundle with the same 90-day membership, while the standalone Switch 2 rises to $499.99 from $449.99.
The added online membership retails for $7.99, leaving the Mario Kart package effectively about $42 pricier than before even after accounting for the extra inclusion.
Nintendo had flagged RAM costs and tariff pressure earlier this year, and the increases follow recent console price rises by Sony and Microsoft as hardware makers face broader cost strain.