Nintendo is Great is devoted to exploring the world of Nintendo - their games, their consoles, their merchandise - in mostly chronological order, from the NES to the Switch 2.
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Earlier this month, I wrote this Note.
Then someone in the comments wrote this response.
And what do ya know, they were right! Kudos to your prophetic abilities, Xlvntr!
I caved. I caved hard. That said, I didn’t buy a Switch 2 because I had to have one this very second. I didn’t have to play Mario Kart World right away and I wasn’t mad jelly that others were enjoying a crisp new Switch 2, while I was stuck playing the original Switch like a sad sucker.
After the initial Switch 2 Direct ended on April 2nd, 2025 (a lifetime ago it seems), I headed right over to the Nintendo website and said I was “interested” in purchasing a system from Nintendo themselves. Not the $500 Mario Kart World bundle, but the $449.99 one. In typical strict Nintendo fashion, you could only choose one SKU, and once you selected it, you couldn’t change your mind.1
The June 6th launch date came and went with me receiving exactly one email from Nintendo, telling me that they still had every intention of letting me buy a Switch 2 from them if I wanted, but it might be awhile due to “higher than expected” interest. I shrugged it off and carried on with life, thinking that I might receive an email from them in the late summer or even fall. And even if they did send one out, I had no intention of buying it.
But then, on June 17th, I received an email from Nintendo telling me it was time for me to buy a Switch 2. I had three days to decide, and once those days were up, their offer would expire, and they’d be on to the next person.
Whoever thought of giving someone three days to decide to buy the console is a marketing genius. It’s just enough time to ponder whether you should purchase or not. One day is too little, you might make a decision you regret. Even two days feels abrupt. Three is just right. Anymore than that is overkill.
So ponder I did, despite my thinking I didn’t want the Switch 2 a mere two weeks prior. The pros and cons flooded my mind…
PRO: I’d purchase the console before any potential tariff nonsense might make Nintendo raise their prices. Yes, Nintendo already raised their prices on controllers and other non-essential peripherals after the tariffs were announced. As of this writing, however, they have yet to raise the console price. Still, what if Nintendo decided sooner than later that they just weren’t making enough money and the base console needed to be $499 or something? Sure, it’s only another fifty dollars, but in these inflationary times, I don’t want to spend more than I have to.
CON: I’m perfectly content with the original Switch. Not so much a con, but the main reason why I didn’t want Switch 2 in the first place. In case you aren’t aware, the Switch has an insane amount of games. I have played my fair share, but even with my decently sized library, I feel like I’ve only scratched the surface of what Nintendo’s comeback kid has to offer.
PRO: I could talk about Switch 2 on the Substack. Hey! Kinda like I’m doing right now! Discussing the Switch 2 intermittently on “Nintendo is Great” would provide some much-needed variety, both for you lovely readers and for me as a writer. I love the NES, but I can only play and talk about 8-bit games so much before I need to dig into something a little more substantial.
CON: I really don’t need any more distractions. My life is busy. I have a wife, I own a house, my family is in town, I’m trying to finish a book and get it published so I can move on to the next creative project, etc, etc. Throwing a brand-new console into my life, while tempting, might distract me from more important endeavors.
CON: Switch 2 (and the attachments I want for it) is costly. I have the money. I don’t necessarily want to spend the money. For a Switch 2 console by itself, Mario Kart World cartridge, Pro Controller, and GameCube controller, you’re looking at around $700-ish. Just to play Nintendo!2. My favorite gaming company used to be affordable. Now we gotta be rollin’ like Wario to play their new stuff.
In the end, though, one point stood out.
I’m about to turn 40 in a couple weeks. Perhaps for some “40” is just another age, but as a fan of numbers and symbolism, this specific moment in time means a lot to me. It’s proper middle age, for one thing. A time to reassess your life and see if there are any changes you want to make before you start getting too old and tired to do so.
In a perfect world, I’d love to throw a 40th birthday party and get together with friends I’ve known across the decades, blast loud music, have amazing food, talk a lot, laugh a lot, and just have a great time, perhaps over a weekend or something.
Unfortunately, most of my longtime friends are spread out across the country. Seeing them all individually would be fun, but not feasible due to work obligations and finances. Getting them all together where I live so close to my actual birthday is also just not going to happen.
So the question to myself was: what should I do for my 40th birthday, to make it feel more special and significant than the others? I’m unable to see my friends, I can’t go out of town, and I have no idea what would elevate this birthday above just any other day.
And my ultimate answer was, hey, why not buy a Switch 2.
Even this was not an easy conclusion to come to. For months now, I’ve been wrestling with gaming in general. Despite being a fairly responsible adult, a part of me feels shame and guilt for continuing to not only play games, but also spend hours writing about gaming. Like I’m this perpetual man-child who refuses to grow up and beyond my childhood interests. Like I should be further along in life, and maybe gaming is holding me back.
I’m not saying these conclusions are true, mind you, but they are thoughts I ponder in my darker hours.
But eh, screw it. I bought the Switch 2. I never buy myself gifts for my birthday. I knew I would like it. I know it will provide hours and hours of entertainment for many years to come. And if the day ever comes where I say, I’m too old, I can’t possibly game anymore, well, I can always sell the bugger and hopefully make some money off of it.
In the coming weeks, I’ll be playing the Switch 2 and writing about it, hopefully for your good pleasure and entertainment.
Thanks as always for reading. I’ll see you next time.
DC
*image courtesy of NPR
I sorta regret that decision, but I’ll get into that in another post.
Yes I know the controllers are absolutely optional - to some. Not to me. The Joycons are fine, but I prefer a standard controller. Also, the GameCube is one of my favorite Nintendo consoles of all time, so there’s no way I’m playing those games with anything other than the OG controller.
Thanks for your honesty and I am also not far from 40 and it puts things into perspective. I think it is a brand and company you love and now you get to play its newest offering in your own time 💚🎉 enjoy and look forward to what you think about it and what you will play. 🎉
Hey, I'm over 40 and my birthday gift was the Steam Deck. I guess the difference is that I try to talk myself out of purchases like this, and my wife tries to talk me into them. She requires me to ask for fun things, or else she knows I would just ask for clothes or a new set of spatulas or something.