Right about now, we’re all due for a vacation. And the new Nintendo Switch Animal Crossing video game sweeps you away to a deserted island where anything is possible. Already, countless people are completely obsessed with Animal Crossing. And if you are going to build your new home on an island all to yourself (and your animal friends), you might as well do that with the Nintendo Switch made exclusively for the internet’s favorite new game.
Nintendo has created a limited-edition Animal Crossing Nintendo Switch that swaps out the blue and red controllers for Animal Crossing inspired pastel colors. The Animal Crossing: New Horizon edition has sea-green and sky-blue joy-cons, and the island color scheme suggests you slow down and relax as you build your new home on your new island. The dock also features the adorable Animal Crossing characters Tom Nook and Nooklings Timmy and Tommy.
But good luck finding a Nintendo Switch, let alone the limited-edition Animal Crossing Switch.
Thanks to all the gamers trapped inside, Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch Lite are sold out at most online retailers. As a result, Switch consoles are only available through third-party sellers on sites like Walmart, eBay and Amazon, and the limited supply is priced accordingly.
Before the limited-edition Switch sold out, Best Buy had this product priced at $299.99. Now, sellers on Amazon are charging $650 or more. And on eBay, prices go as high as $1,078 (although you can find items listed for $700).
What if you just want a regular Nintendo Switch? Unfortunately, both the regular Switch and the Switch Lite are increasingly hard to find right now. That’s right, price gougers have officially come for Nintendo Switch.
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On Amazon, prices for the Nintendo Switch start at $470, while some listings go as high as $530. Before the surge in demand, Best Buy had the Nintendo Switch listed at $300. On a third-party listing hosted by Walmart, one angry reviewer writes, “People should be ashamed to price gouge so much during this time, So glad I bought one around Christmas. Great product not worth the over inflation this seller is selling for. Be patient and wait for the stores to restock.”
Lucky are those that already have a Nintendo Switch. If you do, we have the perfect antidote to reality.
Take a Well Deserved Digital Vacation with Animal Crossing
Being dropped on your own island might seem lonely at first (we’ve had enough solitary confinement for a lifetime), but New Horizons has something for creators, builders, wanderers and adventurers alike. For the creative type, the island is your oyster. Terraforming lets you change the layout of the island in any way you see fit. Want a river that runs through your backyard or a sand walkway that leads from your front door to the beach? Yup, you can do that.
Ever hear of the sayingm, “never leave a stone unturned?” Well, in New Horizons, they mean it. You’ll collect money, food and other materials to help you along your journey by shaking (or hitting) trees, rocks and bushes. The more money you collect, the more materials, food, accessories, clothes and personal items you can purchase at various places on the island.
For people who like to explore the island, there are what feels like an endless amount of tasks that you can complete. And if you’re a collector, the variety of bugs and fish you can scavenge will keep you entertained for days on end. Animal Crossing: New Horizons is based on real-time, so seasonal bugs and fish can only be found during certain times of year. This adds more realism to the game but also extends the gameplay, especially if you want to collect everything your island has to offer.
When you’re ready to take your island adventures to the big screen, you can place the Nintendo Switch on the dock (only the Animal Crossing limited-edition dock is designed with characters from the game).
If you start to feel a little too socially distant in the game, you can visit others islands, as long as you know the resident. When social distancing finally ends, you can play in a local multiplayer mode where you and friends play together. You can run around together and gather insects and take group photos (what we would do for group photos with our friends right about now).
The Nintendo Switch is a great way to pass the time during this period of social distancing and isolation, if you can find one. But it can also be an escape from your busy day to day schedule, and there is really no greater way to unwind than with a Nintendo Switch designed specifically for your island getaway in Animal Crossing: New Horizons.
We just wish they weren’t so expensive.