People BUY gaming consoles every generation, it has nothing to do with getting free products.
Nintendo has been NOTORIOUS for the past several generations for using old tech and selling it at an extreme premium.
Wii was an over clocked GameCube which was selling for $49 EoL, and Wii launched at $249. (2005)
Wii U was a PS360 level GPU with more memory and a worse CPU 6/7 years later $299-$349. (2012)
Switch 1’s Tegra 1 is 2015 tech, that launched at $349 and still being sold now with an OLED for $349 (2025)
All prior Nintendo handhelds used tech much lower than what was available at the time.
Games for handhelds were $40 or less up until the 3DS, with Switch they jumped to $60 which….okay fine expected. The $40 / $60 game was the standard set since the PS2/GC/Xbox generation, into the PS360Wii generation, and into the PS4/XBO/Wiiu-Switch generation.
So their history with gimping and using less than ideal hardware to maximize funds has been well documented. But the reason it wasn’t as much of an issue is because the cost of the console/handhelds were still manageable by the masses and the games were good, nostalgic, and priced fairly.
None of that is the case with the Switch 2, and THAT’S the issue people have.
Personally, I would say the hardware itself isn’t the problem, outside of regions where it’s $550 / $600 that’s ridiculous. But $450 in the US isn’t bad, it’s just not great or mass consumer friendly price like the majority of their other platforms. It definitely could have been $399 and closer to that mass consumer pricing, especially with them having a $350 Japan exclusive version.
But games going from $60 to $80 and $90 is highway robbery and PURE GREED, and that’s the biggest issue.