Hardware Getting a Switch in Japan... Impossible!?

[Dionicio3]

Come to Hollister, I always see 1-3 Nintendo Switches at target

 

[MeAndHax]

In Germany its everywhere and nobody wants it lol

 

[Tomy Sakazaki]

There is no such thing, when you talk about the switch. The ONLY differences I know of is the power cable itself, and writing on the package. Got NTSC games and want to play on a 50hz PAL TV in your hotel room in Europe or Australia? No problem. Adjust your settings (if you even need to). You can simultaneously have accounts from ALL e-shops on your system at once. Every. Single. Switch. is. Identical. (internally, anyway. Not talking about different colored joycons.)

The point of the post you quoted was warranty, you can't fix an imported Switch on warranty on most countries.
Also in some countries even paid fixing services will be refused on imported consoles through official Nintendo reps, even if the actual console is actually 100% the same worldwide.

 

[H1B1Esquire]

https://tokyo.craigslist.jp/search/sss?query=switch

Too bad I couldn't help you sooner. Lesson learned for next time: check craigslist.

 

[urherenow]

The point of the post you quoted was warranty, you can't fix an imported Switch on warranty on most countries.
Also in some countries even paid fixing services will be refused on imported consoles through official Nintendo reps, even if the actual console is actually 100% the same worldwide.

How do you know this? How would the repair shop know you bought it somewhere else? You make no sense.

It is very much a thing. If you buy it in Japan and then take it back to your home country and something happens then you won't be able to get warranty service. Nintendo of <your country> is not going to service a Nintendo of Japan console. It is stupid, and I wish they would, but they won't.

Same as above.

I can't even find information about possible serial number differences. A Switch is truly universal.

 

[cearp]

But they are common to find in stores

I don't think I have ever seen one in a store.

 

[hobbledehoy899]

Come to my local Target store, last I saw they've consistently ave had eight in stock.

 

[sj33]

I live in Kyoto.

Basically, stores all sell the consoles through lottery. You come to the store early in the morning and enter the lottery. They will contact you later if you have won a console. There are usually more consoles than people entering the lottery so it's not as bad as it seems but you generally can't just walk into a store and buy one. You you may struggle if you don't speak Japanese.

If the above sounds overwhelming, the other advice to check GEO stores is also good. You'll have more luck avoiding the large retailers like Yodobashi, Softmap etc. and just trying the likes of Geo.