Nintendo

The Switch 2, the OLED and the Switch Lite:

all three play Switch games, so the real choice is how you play. The Switch 2 and the OLED drop into a dock for the TV and split into two Joy-Con for a second player. The Switch Lite is handheld only, with the controls built into the body, which makes it the cheaper, sturdier pick for a child and no use at all on the living-room screen. Between an original Switch and an OLED, you are paying for the brighter screen and double the storage. If the household cares more about big multiplatform releases than Mario and Zelda, look at PlayStation and Xbox before deciding.

Cartridges, game-key cards and the missing eShop:

anyone in Costa Rica buying Nintendo games digitally does it through an account registered to another country, topped up with that country’s gift cards. Those downloads stay on the account and cannot be resold. A cartridge can, which is why a well-kept shelf of first-party games adds real value to a used console here. On the Switch 2, check what is actually in the case: many games ship as a game-key card, which unlocks a download rather than holding the game. It can still be resold, but it needs internet and free space the first time. The Switch 2 also takes only microSD Express cards for games, so the memory card from an old Switch will not carry a library across.

Switch 2 prices and the Japanese edition:

a new Switch 2 sits around ₡300,000 on its own and closer to ₡360,000 with a game in the box, and a new first-party cartridge runs from about ₡30,000 to ₡45,000. Because the Switch 2 is the current machine and still on the shelf, a used one comes in only modestly under new. The original Switch and the OLED fall much further, since the Switch 2 plays their games. A US-boxed console is the standard Americas model and plays cartridges from any region. The exception is the Japan-only Switch 2, cheaper abroad and sometimes brought in: it is locked to the Japanese language and to Japanese Nintendo Accounts, so read the box before you pay.

Stick drift, modded consoles and copied cartridges:

drift is the fault that matters most on any used Switch. In System Settings, under Controllers and Sensors, run the stick calibration test; a cursor that moves while nobody touches the stick means worn Joy-Con. Joy-Con can be replaced, but the Switch Lite’s sticks sit inside the console, so test those hardest. Dock the console to a TV to prove the video output. On an original Switch, the later red-box revision, model HAC-001(-01), lasts far longer on a charge than the first version. Ask outright whether a console is “flasheada”. Some early original units can be modified with software alone, and a modified console risks a ban from online play. Copies circulate as well: unbranded Joy-Con passed off as genuine, fake amiibo, and reproduction Pokémon cartridges for Game Boy Advance and DS with blurry labels.

Listing a Switch, its games or a 3DS from the drawer:

photograph the console switched on, both Joy-Con, the dock and cables, and the sticker on the back, because buyers use the model number to tell an OLED from an original and to spot a Japanese Switch 2. Say which games are cartridges and which are game-key cards, mention any drift, and state plainly whether the console has ever been modified. Before handing it over, remove your Nintendo Account and initialise the console. Buyers will want it on a TV with the Joy-Con tested before agreeing, so meet somewhere with a screen, in Alajuela or San Pedro, rather than a car park. A 3DS earns a line about its battery, and one more if it still holds downloaded games, since its eShop has closed and those titles can no longer be bought.