And there it is, folks. We now have a launch date and price for the hotly anticipated follow-up to Nintendo’s smash-hit Switch. Reportedly still the world’s third-biggest console (behind the Sony PlayStation 2 and Nintendo DS) in terms of all-time sales, the hybrid console has been in need of a refresh for at least a year-and-a-half now. A combination of factors including the relative underpowered nature of the console (fine with first-party titles but largely struggling with third-party ones), an output of 1080p in a world of 4K and so on. But more than anything, it’s the trend that game console generations last five to seven years on average that appears to be driving this thought.
In fact, it was my assumption that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom would be the console’s swansong. But it was not to be. In the nearly two years since the game’s launch, a bunch of top-notch games (at least five involving Mario and several third-party gems) have graced the system. But, the system is now well and truly on its way out. The Nintendo Switch 2 had already been revealed back in January, and it was last Wednesday that we got a closer look at the console courtesy the three dapper gents above who have all been closely involved in the development of the Switch 2 — Kouichi Kawamoto (producer), Tetsuya Sasaki (hardware design lead) and Takuhiro Dohta (director). The entire hour-and-two-minute-long Nintendo Direct is linked at the bottom of this piece for your viewing pleasure. But let’s get right down to it: What’s new information did we glean this time around?
The Joy-Con 2 had been shown off in the original reveal, but this time we got a few more details. It was known that these controllers attach magnetically to the console, but on Wednesday, we learnt that the shoulder buttons are now larger (the controller itself is larger), there’s a new button, and you can use it as a mouse. On the latter, while we knew that already, this time we saw it in action. I wasn’t overly enthused by the application of the mouse demonstrated in the video, but it’s a quirky addition and might be used in exciting ways in the future. Also, this is the first time a Nintendo device has ever had a mouse (something that was invented in 1960s), and not for the first time, I was reminded of Apple. You remember how long it took Apple to introduce 120 fps displays on its iPhones? How about when they actually went ahead and did it, it was “the best iPhone [they] ever created“?
Mild digression aside, the Nintendo Switch 2 outputs games in 4K at 120 fps. But I’m getting ahead of myself, so let’s go back to the Joy-Cons. They now sport a new C button. Considering Nintendo’s responsible for some pretty damn cool controller related innovations (there were the Wiimote, the N64 trident controller and the original Joy-Cons, for instance), surely C does something innovative, one would imagine. Alas, not only does it not do that in the way you’d imagine, but the C stands for GameChat — a feature that can best be described as being ‘Discord-like‘. The real ‘innovation’ here is that GameChat is a paid subscription service, so in essence, what you have on your Joy-Con is the world’s first-ever button you need to pay to press. Take a moment with that. Also, the Joy-Cons 2, it was recently confirmed, will not utilise anti-drift Hall effect sensors. Drift, it may be recalled, remains one of the biggest banes of the average Switch-owner’s existence.
While we’re on the topic of old stuff that Nintendo’s bringing back in a cool, hip way, how about that Switch 2 Camera, huh? It’s almost like the PlayStation Eye (from back in 2007) never existed. In all fairness, however, with streaming being a much bigger deal these days, I can see the attraction in launching a camera for a console. I can’t relate to the attraction personally, but such is life. Then there’s the fact that the console itself boasts a larger screen with a 1080p resolution. If it feels I’m scraping the barrel for cool, new stuff to discuss, it’s probably because I am. But then, hardware improvements never impress me as much as the sort of games the system is going to offer. And we got an answer to that: Well, sort of. You see, alongside Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza (tried-and-tested Ninty franchises going the open-world way), there were the announcements of Hyrule Warriors, Kirby Air Raiders and a bunch of remasters, ports and a game that’s so Bloodborne 2 that it’s not Bloodborne 2 and is actually called The Duskbloods. There’s also an Astro’s Playroom-esque tech demo that you actually have to pay for. This is turning into quite the microtransaction-heavy device.
Then there’s the fact that Mario Kart World is going to cost $79.99 and Donkey King Bananza $69.99, and what you’ve got is a case of adding insult to injury. And this is on top of the fact that the launch price for the Switch 2 is a 50% increase when compared to that of the original Switch (and a lot more, if you factor in inflation). What made the Switch so accessible was that aside from its approach to gaming that made newbies and experts alike feel at home, it came with an equally comfortable price tag. This distinguished it from the Sony PlayStations and Microsoft Xboxes at the time. But now, they’re in the same ballpark price tag-wise. Additionally, with the slick video, the elaborate presentation, celebration of quite average incremental technological improvements and of course, the inflated price, Nintendo seems distinctly reminiscent of Apple these days.
And I’m not sure if this is a wise strategy for the former manufacturer of playing cards and owner of love hotels. And so with apologies to Messrs Kawamoto, Sasaki and Dohta, I’m going to give this one a wide berth and enjoy my 720p Switch with no magnets, mouse features, GameChat or camera attachments for a while longer.
