Gamers line up for Nintendo Switch 2 launch with global shortfall expected

Gaming fans queued up for the launch of Nintendo's Switch 2 on May 5, which is widely expected to be in short supply globally amid pent-up demand for the more powerful next-generation gaming device.

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"The level of demand seems to be sky-high," said Serkan Toto, founder of the Kantan Games consultancy.

In the Ikebukuro shopping district of Tokyo, dozens of successful applicants to a sales lottery by electronics retailer Bic Camera lined up before the store opened to collect their devices.

"I feel like I'm going to cry," Yumi Ohi, a 30 year-old delivery contractor, told Reuters.

Ohi had missed out in other lotteries and had come from Saitama prefecture, adjacent to Tokyo, to receive her Switch 2.

Nintendo has sold 152 million Switch home-portable devices since launching in 2017. It became a games juggernaut with titles, including two The Legend of Zelda titles and COVID-19 pandemic breakout hit Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

The Switch 2 bears many similarities with its predecessor but offers a larger screen and improved graphics and debuts with titles including Mario Kart World.