Nintendo wants to avoid scalping with its next console

Nintendo wants to be able to produce enough of its next console to make sure scalping isn’t a major issue, its president has said.

In recent years all three major console platforms have suffered significant shortages globally. This was mostly caused by the pandemic and low parts supplies, but scalpers are acknowledged to have exacerbated the problem by reselling large quantities of consoles at significant mark-ups.

During the Q&A session at Nintendo’s most recent General Meeting of Shareholders, one person asked if Nintendo would be taking measures to prevent people from reselling its next console, to make sure it ends up in the hands of those who actually want to play it.

“With regard to resale measures when launching new hardware, we recognise that the most important thing is to first produce and ship in numbers that can meet customer demand,” Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said. “We will then consider whether there are any other possible measures that can be taken.”

Scalping has been an issue in the games industry for some time, especially in recent years when the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X were in short supply.

Although Nintendo hasn’t had to deal with it on a hardware level for a while, it does occasionally happen with some of its special edition games.

Last year, the special edition of Xenoblade Chronicles 3 sold out instantly in the US, resulting in the $89.99 set being scalped on eBay for up to $350.

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The issue with PS5 scalping got so bad in Japan that some retailers came up with their own methods to battle the scalpers.

Japanese retail chain Nojima Denki, for example, implemented a new policy designed to combat resellers, which saw it writing the buyer’s name on the side of PlayStation 5 boxes, as well as destroying the packaging for the controller