Switch 2 has been revealed on 2 April through a Direct, the Japanese channel had a peak of more than 2 million people watching the event so it is clear there are high expectation when the console will be finally available on 5 June.
But seems like that it will not be so easy to purchase Switch 2 in Japan and it’s not clear if the reason is to prevent scalping or due to supply constraints (or maybe just for both reasons).
Pre-orders in Japan start from today and seems like Switch 2 will be available nationwide only through lotteries, something that already happened in 2017 after Switch launch.
But after almost 10 years times are changed and so lotteries changed: in 2017 (but also in 2020 due to covid restrictions and worldwide chip supply constraint) to join a lottery it was only necessary to go to a shop and enrol for the lottery or visit the online store.
In 2025 seems like conditions will be more strict by forcing customers to follow different rules: Bic Camera for example not only ask for a membership card but payments are only accepted by using their credit card, so if you have a normal Visa/Mastercard or you want to pay cash or you want to use some digital money like the popular PayPay or Rakuten Pay you can’t buy Switch 2 even if your name have been drawn in the lottery.
Here is a list of other shop requirements for joining the lotteries:
AEON – registration through mobile app and history of purchase at lest one product through the app before March 2025
ITO YOKADO – membership required and 2 factor authentication on mobile phone
EDION – registration through mobile app and payments only by Edion cards
GEO – registration through mobile app and payments only by Ponta cards
SOFMAP – premium membership required (a certain amount of money spent in purchases in one year) and registration to their newsletter
TSUTAYA – registration through mobile app and payments only by mobile V-cards
MR. MAX – registration through mobile app and history of purchase at lest one product through the app before 13 April 2025
It’s very unclear how long lotteries will be the only way to purchase Switch 2 in Japan but at the moment it is not difficult to think that they will last at least until the end of the summer, and considering that only a couple of months ago Nintendo stated on Famitsu (issue #1885, 20/2/2025) that “We will continue to prepare for sales so that we can deliver as many units as possible to gamers who are enjoying the current Nintendo Switch console“, now these words, in light of what is happening, seem rather contradictory…