After going hands-on with the hardware, we can confirm that Switch 2 is exciting. It not only promises fresh Nintendo goodness but also to reinvigorate the OG Switch libraries many of us have been building up over the past eight years. The future is looking bright for Nintendo lifers, though a few too many unclear details and small disappointments are taking the shine off what should be a celebratory occasion.
Some of these factors are out of Nintendo’s control, to be fair. The biggest controversy revolves around the price — particularly $80 games — and the announcement that US pre-orders were being postponed has only poured petrol on the flames.
The US release date is still 5th June at the time of writing, but the furore around the potential for further price increases in that region as Nintendo assesses “the impact of tariffs and evolving marketing conditions” has me wondering if, incredible as it may sound, it could be outraged Nintendo fans that somehow shift the US administration’s approach to exceptions and exemptions for the gaming industry. There are so many wider factors at play here, but in a climate this unpredictable? You can’t count it out entirely.
In some areas, it feels like Nintendo is stretching goodwill as far as possible with pricing and, ironically, the tariff fiasco helps shift some of the ‘blame’ elsewhere. Pointing out nebulous economic factors and the weak yen won’t make customers feel good about high RRPs, but highlighting avoidable tariffs with a carefully timed Friday statement that boils down to, ‘Hmm, we’re considering our options…’ diverts attention and applies pressure by insinuating action without really taking any.
The announced hardware price of $450 was in the ballpark of most onlookers’ expectations, but it’s the little pecks at your wallet elsewhere which start to put a cloud over the console and its lineup reveal.
I’ve written before about the difficulty Nintendo faces with its pricing strategy in light of PS5 Pro’s $700 price tag. Given the context of the weak yen, ‘region-locking’ a cheaper Switch 2 for the Japanese market is understandable. I don’t like the idea of going backwards and arbitrarily stopping people from playing imported games, but I can understand why the company would do that; Japanese families being able to afford the new Nintendo system is something no reasonable person should begrudge, despite the frustrating impact on expats living in the country. And from a business perspective, of course it makes sense to dissuade people from importing the hardware from the cheapest market.
$80 games is harder to take, but also unsurprising. Mario Kart World looks fantastic. It feels fantastic. I have zero doubt that the vast majority who pay $80 (or the regional equivalent) will get $80’s worth of enjoyment from it. But it’s another significant wallet hit, and one that sets a precedent not only for Nintendo games but across the industry. You can be sure that publishers the world over are breathing a sigh of relief that Nintendo, of all companies, has gone out and taken this one on the chin.
It’s in this context of general discontent that smaller, confounding decisions become straws to break the camel’s back — the camel in this case being either your budget or, probably worse, your enthusiasm for the console.
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour costing, say, $10 rather than being a pack-in isn’t a huge deal on its own (or even very surprising given 1-2-Switch‘s incredible sales success eight years ago), but it’s one of those little disappointments that cumulatively pile up to make you start questioning if the good outweighs the bad.
There’s so much about Nintendo’s new wares, hard- and soft-, that’s positive. It’s just frustrating to keep stepping on these rakes strewn behind the Direct.
One thing that’s concerned me in the last few days is system memory. First-party file sizes aren’t looking too bad, with Donkey Kong Bananza weighing in at 10GB. Mario Kart World is 23.4GB, though, and given that firmware and game saves will take up a chunk of the 256GB of internal storage, you’ll be lucky to squeeze 10 MKW-sized games onto Switch 2.
As the platform holder, Nintendo is pretty good when it comes to optimising file sizes for its first-party output. Third-party games are typically much larger, though, so it’s looking like Switch 2 will be in the same position as PS5 and Xbox Series X|S: download a couple of big third-party games like a COD and an NBA 2K and that’s your internal storage pretty much gone.
And then you hear that those Switch 2 Editions may in fact be original Switch carts with a download code, although there’s still uncertainty around that with different support people saying different things. If that is the case (and we’ve reached out for clarification), it’s not the end of the world — I don’t imagine the file sizes for these upgrades will be enormous — but that needs to be crystal clear with ‘DOWNLOAD REQUIRED’ printed prominently on the box. Given the current wording, you’d forgive a memory-conscious or physically-focused TOTK fan who already owns the OG version for buying the NS2 Edition box expecting the entire thing to be on the cart and not expecting to get the exact same game they already own, plus an upgrade code that will take up system memory anyway.
As I say, hopefully this is all a mix-up and the upgrade is on the cart, whichever type it is. The point is that there shouldn’t be this confusion in the first place.
Game-key cards — which essentially unlock access to the digital download and must be inserted if you want to play the game — are another point of hmm. They seem to be designed for publishers unwilling to fork out for costly, high-capacity S2 carts (which, naturally, would necessitate higher RRPs), shifting the gigabyte cost to the user. The ability to resell the cart notwithstanding, games like Elden Ring are going to take up a massive chunk of your internal storage, and with the rush on the pricier microSD Express Cards, it’s another consumer-unfriendly move that leaves us scratching our wallets.
All these moves are understandable if you know anything about the realities and restrictions of game development and the wider industry right now. But that doesn’t make it any more pleasant or easier to swallow. And for more casual Nintendo fans, the caveats and Nintendo-like solutions are really piling up.
There’s so much about Nintendo’s new wares, hard- and soft-, that’s positive. It’s just frustrating to keep stepping on these rakes strewn behind the Direct. More than ever, the company’s messaging and management of details like price and memory (things it absolutely knows go on the negative side of the pros/cons whiteboard) feels, if not outright sneaky, then deliberately less upfront and clear than it could be on important topics.
I’m still excited for Switch 2, and from what I’ve played, we’ve all got plenty to look forward to in the coming months. It just feels like the company is shooting itself in the foot with unclear messaging and little revelations that put a dampener on things when we have to consult some buried website FAQ for answers. We’ve got enough to be worrying about right now – just keep things simple and give it to us straight, Nintendo.
After going hands-on with the hardware, we can confirm that Switch 2 is exciting. It not only promises fresh Nintendo goodness but also to reinvigorate the OG Switch libraries many of us have been building up over the past eight years. The future is looking bright for Nintendo lifers, though a few too many unclear details and small disappointments are taking the shine off what should be a celebratory occasion.
Some of these factors are out of Nintendo's control, to be fair. The biggest controversy revolves around the price — particularly $80 games — and the announcement that US pre-orders were being postponed has only poured petrol on the flames.
The US release date is still 5th June at the time of writing, but the furore around the potential for further price increases in that region as Nintendo assesses "the impact of tariffs and evolving marketing conditions" has me wondering if, incredible as it may sound, it could be outraged Nintendo fans that somehow shift the US administration's approach to exceptions and exemptions for the gaming industry. There are so many wider factors at play here, but in a climate this unpredictable? You can't count it out entirely.
In some areas, it feels like Nintendo is stretching goodwill as far as possible with pricing and, ironically, the tariff fiasco helps shift some of the 'blame' elsewhere. Pointing out nebulous economic factors and the weak yen won't make customers feel good about high RRPs, but highlighting avoidable tariffs with a carefully timed Friday statement that boils down to, 'Hmm, we're considering our options...' diverts attention and applies pressure by insinuating action without really taking any.
The announced hardware price of $450 was in the ballpark of most onlookers' expectations, but it's the little pecks at your wallet elsewhere which start to put a cloud over the console and its lineup reveal.
I've written before about the difficulty Nintendo faces with its pricing strategy in light of PS5 Pro's $700 price tag. Given the context of the weak yen, 'region-locking' a cheaper Switch 2 for the Japanese market is understandable. I don't like the idea of going backwards and arbitrarily stopping people from playing imported games, but I can understand why the company would do that; Japanese families being able to afford the new Nintendo system is something no reasonable person should begrudge, despite the frustrating impact on expats living in the country. And from a business perspective, of course it makes sense to dissuade people from importing the hardware from the cheapest market.
$80 games is harder to take, but also unsurprising. Mario Kart World looks fantastic. It feels fantastic. I have zero doubt that the vast majority who pay $80 (or the regional equivalent) will get $80's worth of enjoyment from it. But it's another significant wallet hit, and one that sets a precedent not only for Nintendo games but across the industry. You can be sure that publishers the world over are breathing a sigh of relief that Nintendo, of all companies, has gone out and taken this one on the chin.
It's in this context of general discontent that smaller, confounding decisions become straws to break the camel's back — the camel in this case being either your budget or, probably worse, your enthusiasm for the console.
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour costing, say, $10 rather than being a pack-in isn't a huge deal on its own (or even very surprising given 1-2-Switch's incredible sales success eight years ago), but it's one of those little disappointments that cumulatively pile up to make you start questioning if the good outweighs the bad.
There's so much about Nintendo's new wares, hard- and soft-, that's positive. It's just frustrating to keep stepping on these rakes strewn behind the Direct.
One thing that's concerned me in the last few days is system memory. First-party file sizes aren't looking too bad, with Donkey Kong Bananza weighing in at 10GB. Mario Kart World is 23.4GB, though, and given that firmware and game saves will take up a chunk of the 256GB of internal storage, you'll be lucky to squeeze 10 MKW-sized games onto Switch 2.
As the platform holder, Nintendo is pretty good when it comes to optimising file sizes for its first-party output. Third-party games are typically much larger, though, so it's looking like Switch 2 will be in the same position as PS5 and Xbox Series X|S: download a couple of big third-party games like a COD and an NBA 2K and that's your internal storage pretty much gone.
And then you hear that those Switch 2 Editions may in fact be original Switch carts with a download code, although there's still uncertainty around that with different support people saying different things. If that is the case (and we've reached out for clarification), it's not the end of the world — I don't imagine the file sizes for these upgrades will be enormous — but that needs to be crystal clear with 'DOWNLOAD REQUIRED' printed prominently on the box. Given the current wording, you'd forgive a memory-conscious or physically-focused TOTK fan who already owns the OG version for buying the NS2 Edition box expecting the entire thing to be on the cart and not expecting to get the exact same game they already own, plus an upgrade code that will take up system memory anyway.
As I say, hopefully this is all a mix-up and the upgrade is on the cart, whichever type it is. The point is that there shouldn't be this confusion in the first place.
Game-key cards — which essentially unlock access to the digital download and must be inserted if you want to play the game — are another point of hmm. They seem to be designed for publishers unwilling to fork out for costly, high-capacity S2 carts (which, naturally, would necessitate higher RRPs), shifting the gigabyte cost to the user. The ability to resell the cart notwithstanding, games like Elden Ring are going to take up a massive chunk of your internal storage, and with the rush on the pricier microSD Express Cards, it's another consumer-unfriendly move that leaves us scratching our wallets.
All these moves are understandable if you know anything about the realities and restrictions of game development and the wider industry right now. But that doesn't make it any more pleasant or easier to swallow. And for more casual Nintendo fans, the caveats and Nintendo-like solutions are really piling up.
There's so much about Nintendo's new wares, hard- and soft-, that's positive. It's just frustrating to keep stepping on these rakes strewn behind the Direct. More than ever, the company's messaging and management of details like price and memory (things it absolutely knows go on the negative side of the pros/cons whiteboard) feels, if not outright sneaky, then deliberately less upfront and clear than it could be on important topics.
I'm still excited for Switch 2, and from what I've played, we've all got plenty to look forward to in the coming months. It just feels like the company is shooting itself in the foot with unclear messaging and little revelations that put a dampener on things when we have to consult some buried website FAQ for answers. We've got enough to be worrying about right now - just keep things simple and give it to us straight, Nintendo.
