Just two small points since you asked for people to chime in: I don't think anybody asked for it but the larger SL and SR are a feature I'm happy to see; I've spent many an evening playing Donkey Kong Country and NSMBU Deluxe in CO-OP and that weird bracket with the hollow feeling SL and SR just feels awful after a while. The buttons are very mushy.
The SL and SR ARE the magnets and seem to create extra points of connection so the new side ports don't get worn out or bent.
With that out of the way I was glad to read your post! I enjoyed your small tangent about your TV and I sometimes feel I'm the only other Switch owner who plays primarily docked so that was gratifying. As I mentioned in my write up I think the pricing and lack of 1st party exclusives for the first 6 months will be talking points for years to come but to some extent, I feel it was inevitable given the manufacturing cost of Switch game cards, the fact they are only produced in Japan and of course the current 'situation' with world trade.
This is a good call out. I've hardly played at all in single Joy-Con mode, but those buttons are definitely a problem.
As for lack of 1st party exclusives -- not really arguing against, but I'm curious what your basis of comparison is. It looks like there is 1 AAA exclusive at launch and another a month and a half later. The Switch 1 launched with BOTW (which wasn't technically an exclusive but is mostly remembered as one) and 1-2 Switch (which is barely a game). Mario Kart 8 came about 2 months later (and also isn't technically an exclusive).
I picked up my Switch in early 2019, so I wasn't there at launch. But I remember it being a hit from the start, though people were complaining about lack of games; from my memory it was mostly seen as a BOTW machine for the better part of a year. It has so many games now, and its launch was so long ago, that this seems to be hardly remembered.
I actually picked up my first Switch around the same time as you: Christmas 2018.
I'm not necessarily comparing it to anything and I'm not advocating for the shotgun, cram all you can get approach of some older console launches like the Gamecube, all I really mean is that it doesn't feel like a lot.
I think the historical similarities are just a bit unsettling to me; the Nintendo 64, Wii-U and as you mention: the early Switch are all notorious for software droughts.
Got it. Well I have to think that it will have the third-party support. With even modest success, it will pick up more ports than the Switch because its hardware means it will be easier to port to and will be able to handle a lot more modern games.
And when we think about software droughts in the past, that was mostly what it was about: third-party support. At least that was the story with the N64: the drought looked like Nintendo releasing games at a pretty good clip, but no one else was: at times every 3rd or 4th game was Nintendo-published. And they were still releasing good games for it up to the bitter end, e.g. Paper Mario.
I wasn't there for the Wii U. Maybe there Nintendo gave up on first party support relatively early to focus on the Switch? But if the Switch 2 were to sell as poorly as the Wii U (which I doubt), I think that would be the end of Nintendo dedicated hardware, so Nintendo has to invest in this thing.
I agree with every word you've said but I'm still uneasy XD just call it paranoia.
I was there for the Xbox One's launch and I remember 1st party games coming once a year at best and all the third party games being MTX riddled disappointments; the Wii-U sold less and is more infamous but the Xbox One made me give up console gaming for a number of years before returning to the plumber.
The Switch 2 would have to do reeeeally poorly for third party support to dry up quickly. Like Wii U or worse poorly. And I don’t see that happening. I do hope third-parties are smarter with pricing their games than Nintendo is, though…
Hey, good to know about the SL and SR! I've never used the Joycons to play games, so I had no idea they were so mushy.
And thanks for reading! I love my TV. I love playing docked.
Seems to me like Nintendo's keeping to their "one-first-party-game-a-month" strategy that they had on the Switch for most of its life? MK World in May, DK Bananza in June. Although they are cheating a bit with Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition in July, but... I dunno. I don't tear through games like I used to, so I'm fine with it. I can see why many wouldn't be, though.
I do still undock my Switch every now and then; I have a tailbone injury at the moment so it's nice to just lounge with my Switch in handheld sometimes when it's playing up but TV will always be best; I can't imagine playing something like Tears of the Kingdom on the Switch Lite.
It seems that way but I hope we get some games between July and November too, perhaps Prime 4 in September? Give us the date!
Great overview. Pretty much summed up my thoughts. Especially on the pricing strategy, which I won't repeat here..
But I will say that it certainly looks like they've taken precautions to ensure there's no game drought anytime soon. But they'll need to keep the tap running on first party titles however to keep the launch hype momentum running. The last thing they'll want is for the conversation to move off new games and focus more on price.
They'll have a few bangers penciled in over the next two years to keep the conversation buzzing and favourable. A new Zelda of course, Mario Odyssey 2 for sure, most likely a Mario Wonder 2 will appear sooner rather than later, and you know a mainline Pokemon game will be coming down the pipeline.
So they have the goods. But they'll also have sales targets and shareholders expectations to meet. Are those goods gonna be good enough to sell enough numbers at their higher prices? They're trying to fill the Switch's humongous shoes.
It's gonna be interesting to see how this all plays out.
I wonder how well they're going to keep new games coming, given that they can't rely on Wii U ports anymore. Well... I suppose they could make them "Switch 2 Editions" but I don't think they're gonna be able to get away with that for most games. Even some of the games they've already announced like Kirby and the Forgotten Land. It's a great game, but I don't care about extra content and a slightly shinier Kirby butt for $80.
What Nintendo showed is fine and I'm excited for it, but the Switch 2 just feels like a premium product catered to a select few, not a product for the masses.
Also, Mario Kart World will be fun, but I almost guarantee it's not the must-play reinvention that Breath of the Wild was.
Great article!! Thankyou - as a family I don't the social aspect will have any impact on us to be honest. The bump in specs for me make the console future proof for approx 5 years maybe. I do wonder what valve think of the switch 2 and whether they are thinking about the next steam deck. Especially with xbox and sony cooking their own handheld consoles..
Dylan, thanks for your thorough overview. I decided to write too much also here, but I have no one else in my life to talk to this about! My wife suffered through some of it last night, ha.
Top 3 most exciting announcements for me:
1. DK Bananza - This game looks like it could be amazing. I noticed that it seemed to have 2D and 3D sections that transition into each other, like Sonic Generations. If this game lives up to its potential, I'd rather have it than Mario Odyssey 2 (and I loved Mario Odyssey). This just seems to be opening up a new idea space for Nintendo 3D platformers that could lead to something really amazing, if the same magic that went into Mario's best 3D outings is applied here.
2. GameCube - I'm with you, this is great. I've struggled with GC emulation on my Steam Deck, especially when it comes to getting multiple controllers working consistently. Would especially love if we got Mario sports games working here, or Double Dash -- games that would be great for family local multiplayer. This potentially softens the blow of Nintendo's pricing. Let's just hope it ends up being a strong list of games that are released at a steady clip.
3. Gameshare - THIS could be compelling for our family and our local multiplayer, for example on car trips. I have a ban on the kids solo gaming: we game together. I was pleased when they revealed that this will work across the Switch 1 and Switch 2.
Biggest disappointments:
1. Pricing, obviously. Both the $80 games and charging for better improved graphics on Switch 1 games. Charging money for the tech demo is just icing on the cake. I really feel the high game prices because I have a Steam Deck and that spoils you for low prices, especially if you leverage bundles through Fanatical and Humble Bundle, on top of the free giveaways every week from Epic and Amazon. And the Steam Deck tech demo is awesome, voiced by Nate Bargatze and really funny, and also it's FREE!
Though for one positive on the Switch 2, at least BOTW and TOTK upgrades seem to be included with NSO, which I suppose are the ones I would value the most.
2. Quick Resume - I was really hoping for a feature like the Xbox Series. I had heard rumors of this at one point. This feature is my favorite part about the Xbox Series, as someone who likes to bounce around between a few primary games that I'm playing at any one time. I was hoping to be able to do this with certain Switch 1 games I own that I never completed, but alas.
Everything else:
Pretty blah, for me. Some interesting third-party games (Silksong!), but I suspect the ones I play I'll mostly play on the Steam Deck.
Regarding Mario Kart World:
I'm curious what do people here find compelling, not compelling? I own Mario Kart for Switch but have mainly played with my wife, and I haven't exactly played it to death, maybe 10 hours over the course of 5+ years. And it IS the 8th game in the series, to me it feels pretty refined and feature-complete for what Mario Kart is, except that I miss the unique features of Double Dash. But I just haven't played it enough or thought about it enough to have an opinion on what would make Mario Kart better.
Hey Thomas, thanks for sharing your thoughts! I love to see folks excited about DK Bananza and Gamecube, specifically.
Sounds like your kids could make some great use of the GameShare feature as well.
But yeah, the game prices hurt. I can't help but wonder if sales of flagship titles aren't what Nintendo (or Nintendo shareholders) desire, if they won't get at least a $10 price cut. I was really expecting $70 to be the maximum for games on Switch 2. $80 is just... diarrhea.
As for Mario Kart World, I love the idea of the open world layout, the potential for finding/exploiting unique routes, the insane amount of characters in every race. It feels like this is the natural progression for the series.
The whole presentation was just weird. I watched it live and there were audio sync issues and at one point around when they announced Final Fantasy VII the entire stream froze. I know this wasn't just me because a friend was also watching it and had the same issues. Then the decision to not announce the price or pre-order information. I had to use a combination of Substack buddies along with navigating to Nintendos website to figure it out. Maybe this is their approach to combating bot sales but it was odd. Also no Mario game on the 40th anniversary? Surely this will be fixed by holiday 2025. But at the end of the day, I'll be getting one and I'm excited.
Definitely agree. Nintendo of America didn't seem fully prepared, but to be fair to them, I can't imagine how much stuff was happening behind the scenes that they had little to no control over. Price reveal being one of them.
Didn't even think about no Mario game for 40th anniversary, good point there.
Just two small points since you asked for people to chime in: I don't think anybody asked for it but the larger SL and SR are a feature I'm happy to see; I've spent many an evening playing Donkey Kong Country and NSMBU Deluxe in CO-OP and that weird bracket with the hollow feeling SL and SR just feels awful after a while. The buttons are very mushy.
The SL and SR ARE the magnets and seem to create extra points of connection so the new side ports don't get worn out or bent.
With that out of the way I was glad to read your post! I enjoyed your small tangent about your TV and I sometimes feel I'm the only other Switch owner who plays primarily docked so that was gratifying. As I mentioned in my write up I think the pricing and lack of 1st party exclusives for the first 6 months will be talking points for years to come but to some extent, I feel it was inevitable given the manufacturing cost of Switch game cards, the fact they are only produced in Japan and of course the current 'situation' with world trade.
This is a good call out. I've hardly played at all in single Joy-Con mode, but those buttons are definitely a problem.
As for lack of 1st party exclusives -- not really arguing against, but I'm curious what your basis of comparison is. It looks like there is 1 AAA exclusive at launch and another a month and a half later. The Switch 1 launched with BOTW (which wasn't technically an exclusive but is mostly remembered as one) and 1-2 Switch (which is barely a game). Mario Kart 8 came about 2 months later (and also isn't technically an exclusive).
I picked up my Switch in early 2019, so I wasn't there at launch. But I remember it being a hit from the start, though people were complaining about lack of games; from my memory it was mostly seen as a BOTW machine for the better part of a year. It has so many games now, and its launch was so long ago, that this seems to be hardly remembered.
I actually picked up my first Switch around the same time as you: Christmas 2018.
I'm not necessarily comparing it to anything and I'm not advocating for the shotgun, cram all you can get approach of some older console launches like the Gamecube, all I really mean is that it doesn't feel like a lot.
I think the historical similarities are just a bit unsettling to me; the Nintendo 64, Wii-U and as you mention: the early Switch are all notorious for software droughts.
Got it. Well I have to think that it will have the third-party support. With even modest success, it will pick up more ports than the Switch because its hardware means it will be easier to port to and will be able to handle a lot more modern games.
And when we think about software droughts in the past, that was mostly what it was about: third-party support. At least that was the story with the N64: the drought looked like Nintendo releasing games at a pretty good clip, but no one else was: at times every 3rd or 4th game was Nintendo-published. And they were still releasing good games for it up to the bitter end, e.g. Paper Mario.
I wasn't there for the Wii U. Maybe there Nintendo gave up on first party support relatively early to focus on the Switch? But if the Switch 2 were to sell as poorly as the Wii U (which I doubt), I think that would be the end of Nintendo dedicated hardware, so Nintendo has to invest in this thing.
I agree with every word you've said but I'm still uneasy XD just call it paranoia.
I was there for the Xbox One's launch and I remember 1st party games coming once a year at best and all the third party games being MTX riddled disappointments; the Wii-U sold less and is more infamous but the Xbox One made me give up console gaming for a number of years before returning to the plumber.
The Switch 2 would have to do reeeeally poorly for third party support to dry up quickly. Like Wii U or worse poorly. And I don’t see that happening. I do hope third-parties are smarter with pricing their games than Nintendo is, though…
Hey, good to know about the SL and SR! I've never used the Joycons to play games, so I had no idea they were so mushy.
And thanks for reading! I love my TV. I love playing docked.
Seems to me like Nintendo's keeping to their "one-first-party-game-a-month" strategy that they had on the Switch for most of its life? MK World in May, DK Bananza in June. Although they are cheating a bit with Super Mario Party Jamboree Switch 2 Edition in July, but... I dunno. I don't tear through games like I used to, so I'm fine with it. I can see why many wouldn't be, though.
I do still undock my Switch every now and then; I have a tailbone injury at the moment so it's nice to just lounge with my Switch in handheld sometimes when it's playing up but TV will always be best; I can't imagine playing something like Tears of the Kingdom on the Switch Lite.
It seems that way but I hope we get some games between July and November too, perhaps Prime 4 in September? Give us the date!
Great overview. Pretty much summed up my thoughts. Especially on the pricing strategy, which I won't repeat here..
But I will say that it certainly looks like they've taken precautions to ensure there's no game drought anytime soon. But they'll need to keep the tap running on first party titles however to keep the launch hype momentum running. The last thing they'll want is for the conversation to move off new games and focus more on price.
They'll have a few bangers penciled in over the next two years to keep the conversation buzzing and favourable. A new Zelda of course, Mario Odyssey 2 for sure, most likely a Mario Wonder 2 will appear sooner rather than later, and you know a mainline Pokemon game will be coming down the pipeline.
So they have the goods. But they'll also have sales targets and shareholders expectations to meet. Are those goods gonna be good enough to sell enough numbers at their higher prices? They're trying to fill the Switch's humongous shoes.
It's gonna be interesting to see how this all plays out.
Thanks!
I wonder how well they're going to keep new games coming, given that they can't rely on Wii U ports anymore. Well... I suppose they could make them "Switch 2 Editions" but I don't think they're gonna be able to get away with that for most games. Even some of the games they've already announced like Kirby and the Forgotten Land. It's a great game, but I don't care about extra content and a slightly shinier Kirby butt for $80.
What Nintendo showed is fine and I'm excited for it, but the Switch 2 just feels like a premium product catered to a select few, not a product for the masses.
Also, Mario Kart World will be fun, but I almost guarantee it's not the must-play reinvention that Breath of the Wild was.
Great article!! Thankyou - as a family I don't the social aspect will have any impact on us to be honest. The bump in specs for me make the console future proof for approx 5 years maybe. I do wonder what valve think of the switch 2 and whether they are thinking about the next steam deck. Especially with xbox and sony cooking their own handheld consoles..
Thanks for the kind words, Stephen!
I'm sure Valve will continue to iterate on the Steam Deck. As for the Sony and Microsoft handhelds, we'll just have to wait and see.
Dylan, thanks for your thorough overview. I decided to write too much also here, but I have no one else in my life to talk to this about! My wife suffered through some of it last night, ha.
Top 3 most exciting announcements for me:
1. DK Bananza - This game looks like it could be amazing. I noticed that it seemed to have 2D and 3D sections that transition into each other, like Sonic Generations. If this game lives up to its potential, I'd rather have it than Mario Odyssey 2 (and I loved Mario Odyssey). This just seems to be opening up a new idea space for Nintendo 3D platformers that could lead to something really amazing, if the same magic that went into Mario's best 3D outings is applied here.
2. GameCube - I'm with you, this is great. I've struggled with GC emulation on my Steam Deck, especially when it comes to getting multiple controllers working consistently. Would especially love if we got Mario sports games working here, or Double Dash -- games that would be great for family local multiplayer. This potentially softens the blow of Nintendo's pricing. Let's just hope it ends up being a strong list of games that are released at a steady clip.
3. Gameshare - THIS could be compelling for our family and our local multiplayer, for example on car trips. I have a ban on the kids solo gaming: we game together. I was pleased when they revealed that this will work across the Switch 1 and Switch 2.
Biggest disappointments:
1. Pricing, obviously. Both the $80 games and charging for better improved graphics on Switch 1 games. Charging money for the tech demo is just icing on the cake. I really feel the high game prices because I have a Steam Deck and that spoils you for low prices, especially if you leverage bundles through Fanatical and Humble Bundle, on top of the free giveaways every week from Epic and Amazon. And the Steam Deck tech demo is awesome, voiced by Nate Bargatze and really funny, and also it's FREE!
Though for one positive on the Switch 2, at least BOTW and TOTK upgrades seem to be included with NSO, which I suppose are the ones I would value the most.
2. Quick Resume - I was really hoping for a feature like the Xbox Series. I had heard rumors of this at one point. This feature is my favorite part about the Xbox Series, as someone who likes to bounce around between a few primary games that I'm playing at any one time. I was hoping to be able to do this with certain Switch 1 games I own that I never completed, but alas.
Everything else:
Pretty blah, for me. Some interesting third-party games (Silksong!), but I suspect the ones I play I'll mostly play on the Steam Deck.
Regarding Mario Kart World:
I'm curious what do people here find compelling, not compelling? I own Mario Kart for Switch but have mainly played with my wife, and I haven't exactly played it to death, maybe 10 hours over the course of 5+ years. And it IS the 8th game in the series, to me it feels pretty refined and feature-complete for what Mario Kart is, except that I miss the unique features of Double Dash. But I just haven't played it enough or thought about it enough to have an opinion on what would make Mario Kart better.
Hey Thomas, thanks for sharing your thoughts! I love to see folks excited about DK Bananza and Gamecube, specifically.
Sounds like your kids could make some great use of the GameShare feature as well.
But yeah, the game prices hurt. I can't help but wonder if sales of flagship titles aren't what Nintendo (or Nintendo shareholders) desire, if they won't get at least a $10 price cut. I was really expecting $70 to be the maximum for games on Switch 2. $80 is just... diarrhea.
As for Mario Kart World, I love the idea of the open world layout, the potential for finding/exploiting unique routes, the insane amount of characters in every race. It feels like this is the natural progression for the series.
I hope other folks chime in here, though.
DK, mario kart world and all the switch 2 offers. How am I supposed to plan an active summer haha
Haha, sounds like your summer just got booked
The whole presentation was just weird. I watched it live and there were audio sync issues and at one point around when they announced Final Fantasy VII the entire stream froze. I know this wasn't just me because a friend was also watching it and had the same issues. Then the decision to not announce the price or pre-order information. I had to use a combination of Substack buddies along with navigating to Nintendos website to figure it out. Maybe this is their approach to combating bot sales but it was odd. Also no Mario game on the 40th anniversary? Surely this will be fixed by holiday 2025. But at the end of the day, I'll be getting one and I'm excited.
Definitely agree. Nintendo of America didn't seem fully prepared, but to be fair to them, I can't imagine how much stuff was happening behind the scenes that they had little to no control over. Price reveal being one of them.
Didn't even think about no Mario game for 40th anniversary, good point there.
I too am excited and will try to get one.