Nintendo has officially announced and confirmed that the dockless Nintendo Switch that we recently covered will not be, in fact, coming here to North America as of right now. This is disappointing news for anyone who saw our post about the portable- centric edition of the hybrid console last week and became interested in purchasing it. As we mentioned in that original news article, this dockless version was originally announced for Japan only anyway.
However, we (as well as many other gamers) thought that it would be extremely likely for the dockless Nintendo Switch to come here and in Europe. This is unfortunate news that is sure to disappoint those who appreciated a cheaper version of the console that is focused on using for mainly handheld purposes. This news comes via way of USGamer who reported that after reaching out to a Nintendo of America representative directly, it received the statement that Nintendo has “no plans to release this configuration in the Americas.”
This is extremely disappointing for those who became excited after seeing the original announcement for the dockless Nintendo Switch in Japan. For those of you here who don’t know what that version is, it’s essentially a cheaper set that is focused on the portable aspects of the Switch. That means that it doesn’t include the dock that connects to your TV, an HDMI cable, the Joy-Con grip, and accessories like that.
In Japan, this cheaper dockless Nintendo Switch costs around $50 USD less than it normally does. That, of course, led us to speculate that a similar edition would be released here for those wanting a second Switch for their home or only for playing on the go. We suspected that this version would cost around $250 USD as opposed to around $300 for the normal Nintendo Switch console with dock and all included.
Don’t lose all hope, though, as we could see this be a bait-and-switch method of tricking us before E3 where Nintendo would announce a similar offering for us. In addition, this confirmation is only for the Americas so Europe could still get this dockless version. If you really want it, make sure to tweet at Nintendo and let it know!