Charlie Hall at Polygon presents the bigger picture of the impact of the Trump Tariffs on tabletop gaming. It goes well beyond the one (comparatively large) company I noted in my aforelinked piece:

Nearly 20 organizations that Polygon spoke with said that profits will be severely impacted. Many said jobs will be lost, companies shuttered, and games that have been in development for years may simply never come to market.

Tabletop gaming, which includes board games, card games, and role-playing games, has enjoyed a roughly two-decade renaissance brought on in part by crowdfunding. Nevertheless, much of the industry consists of individual creators, sole proprietors, small family businesses, and remote teams of creatives. The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) said Thursday that the impact of these tariffs will be nothing short of a disaster.

People’s livelihoods are at stake.

Nintendo, in a statement to Polygon (and others):

Pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 in the U.S. will not start April 9, 2025 in order to assess the potential impact of tariffs and evolving market conditions. Nintendo will update timing at a later date. The launch date of June 5, 2025 is unchanged.

By which I presume they mean “We’re probably gonna have to raise the $450 price tag in the U.S.”

Fucking Donald Trump.

On Wednesday, which already seems like a lifetime ago, Nintendo announced its long-anticipated Switch 2. You can read all the details in The Verge, but in short:

• A large, 7.9", 1080p, 120Hz screen
• 4K (upscaled) dock for TV playing
• 256GB internal storage (up from 32GB in the original Switch)
• “Mouse mode” with the (larger) JoyCon 2 controllers
• Custom Nvidia processor

it looks great, and I’d buy it in a heartbeat, even though we hardly use our original Switch, if it was less expensive. And the market didn’t just crash.

Again: Fucking. Donald. Trump.