In Tokyo on Thursday, enthusiastic shoppers formed lines outside electronic stores well ahead of time to pick up their pre-ordered Nintendo Switch 2 gaming consoles.

The eagerly awaited Switch2 offers an upgrade to the previous model, which is eight years old, featuring new social elements designed to enhance online gaming experiences. The consoles were distributed through a competitive lottery that saw around 2.2 million applications just in Japan, according to Nintendo.

Outside the official draw, some retailers offered their own lotteries to pre-order the devices.

Koji Takahashi was among those who did not win in the initial draw but managed to secure one of the consoles through a second lottery organized by a major Japanese electronics retailer.

He was first in line waiting outside the store, arriving four hours ahead of its opening. He hoped to secure a limited supply of Nintendo accessories to buy along with his pre-ordered Switch 2.

“I feel very sorry for those who weren’t successful in the lottery. But I also had tough time getting this far, so I hope they forgive me!” Takahashi said.

The new console comes with a larger and higher resolution screen than its predecessor, with improved processing power, offering smoother and more vivid graphics.

Some gamers camped out for hours at a Best Buy in Skokie. They said it’s all worth it despite the console’s $450 price tag.

“Eight years since they released a new console and now it’s time to get the new one,” said one gamer.

“I’ve been here for like 10 hours….It’s worth it,” one gamer said.

Dozens of people also lined up at a Best Buy location in Chicago’s Bucktown neighborhood.

Nintendo has said it expects to sell 15 million Switch 2 consoles for the fiscal year through March 2026.

The company has promised to roll out attractive software for the Switch 2 later this year, including “The Legend of Zelda” games, a Pokemon title and a Kirby game, as well as offerings from outside software companies.

Nintendo is capitalizing on the launch with the opening of a store in San Francisco and the Super Nintendo World amusement facility in Orlando, Florida, both set for this month.

WLS-TV contributed to this report