Rakuten Books reopens Switch 2 bundle preorders before Japan price hike

Rakuten Books has turned Nintendo’s looming Japan price hike into a short, highly visible test of demand. The retailer reopened preorder sales for Switch 2 bundles that include Pokémon, Kirby and Pokémon Legends Z-A, with the standard Switch 2 listing still marked at 49,979 yen and a warning that orders placed by May 24 will ship at the old price.

That timing matters because Nintendo said on May 8 that the Japanese-language Switch 2 will rise from ¥49,980 to ¥59,980 on May 25, while the multi-language system sold through My Nintendo Store in Japan will stay unchanged. Nintendo also set higher Switch 2 prices for the United States, Canada and Europe later this year, and said its Japan revisions also cover the Nintendo Switch OLED Model, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite, with Nintendo Switch Online prices in Japan set to rise on July 1. For the teams handling pricing, channel inventory and regional planning, the reopened Rakuten window is a clean read on how much urgency the lower price still creates before the reset hits.

The bundle mix shows how Nintendo and its retail partners are trying to push interest through software, not just hardware. Rakuten Books listed a Pokémon LEGENDS Z-A bundle at 57,612 yen, combining the Japan-only Switch 2 system with the game. That is a different pitch from a bare console sale: it gives buyers a reason to commit now while also helping Nintendo and retailers surface a franchise-linked bundle that can move units without leaning entirely on standalone hardware demand.

Rakuten Books also capped purchases at one unit per item and two units total across eligible console and bundle products, a sign that inventory is still being treated carefully. That kind of restriction suggests the retailer is trying to spread stock across more buyers rather than let a few customers drain the queue, which is a familiar move in a launch cycle where supply has not caught up with interest.

That supply pressure has already been obvious. Shuntaro Furukawa said 2.2 million people applied for Nintendo Store pre-orders in Japan and apologized that Nintendo could not meet demand. Against that backdrop, the reopened pre-hike listings do more than sell a few more consoles: they let Nintendo and its channel partners measure how much price sensitivity remains, how much bundle content helps convert hesitation, and whether a tight deadline can pull demand forward without teaching customers to wait for the next adjustment.