Posted on 04/24/2025 6:42:40 AM PDT by SunkenCiv
Nintendo Switch 2 pre-orders are now live in the U.S. After an unexpected delay from the initially announced date in early April, Nintendo's hotly anticipated new console is now available to pre-order at select retailers.
Major retailers Walmart, Target and Best Buy opened the pre-order floodgates at midnight ET, and the demand was significant, with website crashes and "sold out" notifications quickly appearing at all three.
If you're just joining the pre-order hunt now, you haven't missed out yet. GameStop has opted for an 11 a.m. ET drop. As Nintendo warned, demand is already exceeding the supply...
(Excerpt) Read more at tomsguide.com ...
Out here in The Boonies we’ve got, hmm, really just one new car dealership, but it carries multiple brands, plus a certified pre-owned lot.
The whole thing is huge, probably visible from orbit. At one time it seemed like they’d eventually be next door to me.
Right now and for some time they’ve had a big inventory of unsold trucks.
OTOH, when real estate and construction is off nationally, it’s generally picking up around here, and that’s what’s been going on lately. And everyone seems to be working or at least going through gasoline, always lines, but no gas shortages.
We’ll survive, but we’ll never be able to thriiiiiiive! :^)
https://www.123rf.com/stock-audio/nintendo.html
We shall see. Yes its $449, but if it sells it sells.
My experience is gamers always complain about price, but, as much as they complain, when push comes to shove, they pay it more often than not.
Especially when games specific to the new model come out that don’t play on their older system.
Time will tell.
Truck sales are down nationally.
Part of it has been the general economy and jobs have been crap.
And part of it is, new trucks are ungodly overpriced. Nearly every manufacturer jacked their prices to the moon during covid when supplies were limited, and thought that it would run forever.
Base Models of just a basic work truck MSRP’s are 37kish for Ford and Chevy.. get into the more commonly bough models you are looking mid to upper 40s to 50s an least and pushing close to 100k for some models... with Dodge/Ram the most ridiculous, with their BASE model starting with an MSRP of over 40k. Even the Toyota Tacoma has a lower MSRP than Dodge for their base full size truck.
For trucks most people want, you are looking at 50’s to 60s at least at MSRP, and that’s just grossly overpriced. Companies are starting to give incentives, and realize the heady days of the pandemic are over, but they are still just grossly overpriced.
Stallantis just drover Chrysler/Dodge/Jeep into the ground, thinking they could just put some spit polish on their mediocre Products and suddenly they were a Premium brand and charge premium prices.
During the COVID they couldn’t put brakes on a new gasoline powered truck because of the chip shortage, of all things. Didn’t stop Tesla from expanding production and completing their vehicles though, ironically.
They also make better markup on trucks, making sedans a tough sell. I’ve got a sedan that gets decent fuel economy now, but once it is paid off (probably early next year) I plan to get a small SUV or crossover, I can clamber in and out of those much more easily.
Sedans are next to impossible with the CAFE standards. Which is why SUV/CUV’s have become the dominant.. their CAFE standards are allow lower MPG for “light trucks” than passenger vehicles.
There aren’t that many sedans made any longer.
The 2025 CAFE Standards requirements WERE before Trump tossed them were as follows:
A full size sedan must get 52.8 MPGs to meet CAFE standards.
A Mid Size sedan must get 60.2 MPG to meet CAFE standards
A compact care must get 67 MPG to meet CAFE standards
For Light Trucks
Small SUV 50.7
Midsize Crossover: 46.3
Minivan: 41.9
Full Size Pickup 35.3
This is the “FOOTPRINT” used for cars and trucks
Compact car footprint 40 Square feet.
midsize footprint 46 square feet
full size footprint 53 square feet.
Light Truck:
small suv footprint 43 square feet.
Midsize Crossover footprint: 49 square feet
Minivan 55 Square Feet
large pickup 57 Square feet.
So as you can see a small SUV can have up to 3 more square feet of footprint, but had a cafe standard of 16MPG less.
A similar delta exist across all the the sizes. This, this is the single biggest reasons SUV’s came to dominate. Every car that doesn’t meet its CAFE standards includes a FINE to the government sold.
Now, the NISSA VERSA and the Mitsubishi Mirage are among the smallest cars sold in America today. The Versa has a combined MPG rating of 30 to 35 combined depending on model, and the Mirage 39.
Neither of these comes close to the 67 MPG the Biden CAFE would have required.
MPG/CAFE rules have actually forced the market into larger vehicles, because you can’t sell a small car, because when you sell one you have a fine to the government that comes with each one and gets added to its cost to the consumer.
So yes, some of the move to SUV’s has been consumer preferences, but the sedan is being killed by regulation
Way over priced, I will pass...
One of the two who complained just had a new baby. Baby #1. I’m guessing they might not be getting it. The second complainer has a job and classes. No time for games and little money. I’m grateful they didn’t both run out to buy it, or reserve it.
Well like I said, we shall see.
As I said, my personal experience with folks who’s major hobby is gaming/gamers is they always complain about the price of things, but when push comes to shove, they wind up buying it.
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