Happy to see that Nintendo is treating the switch more like how they traditionally handled their mobile platforms instead of their consoles.
Iterating instead of throwing out everything with each new version. There is a part of me that is going to miss the, do weird shit and see what works, Nintendo that brought us some really fun ideas. But a stable Nintendo just being able to continue putting out great games has its advantages.
I am curious about the specs, but honestly don't care much. The only real issue the Switch had was being able to keep up with some of the games put on it with FPS but it still had beautiful games (like Tears of the Kingdom). So as long as it is actually a decent spec bump I am happy and have zero care to compare it to the other consoles (but I am sure people are going too and scream that it is "underpowered").
The biggest thing I am curious about, will it be OLED since that will be disappointing to go back to non OLED from the OLED Switch. And Price.
They’ve got the weird shit covered still, apparently the joy cons in this gen can be used as mice.
Was heavily rumoured/leaked and this teaser video literally shows them gliding along a surface.
How Nintendo will leverage that functionality, who could honestly say, but that’s the genius of keeping a toy company mindset in an industry full of sports car company mindsets.
That last sentence is worth an essay of its own. Everyone else keeps pumping resources into being photo-realistic blah-blah-blah without nearly enough attention to "is this fun"?
the teaser also has a clear shot of the side and there's a sensor that looks identical to an optical mouse sensor. It seems really rough from an ergonomics perspective but maybe there are accessories for that. It could also go the way of the IR camera where it sees niche uses in a couple of random games but isn't really a staple of the console.
Ha. Since when does Nintendo care about ensuring functionality they add to their devices are leveraged? Other than first party games, and even that can be limited, almost no one ever implements the weird little functionality they add to their devices.
As a mice or a air mouse. The smart tv stuff is limited by a remote control from 1980 (more or less, what changed?). I'd make lifestyle apps for the switch if they enable it.
Nintendo has tended to maintain at most 1 generation of backwards compatibility, though you can get some fuzzy ideas of "generations" in a few cases.
Game Boy Color: plays original Game Boy games
Game Boy Advance: plays Game Boy and Game Boy Color games
Nintendo DS: plays Game Boy Advance games
Nintendo DSi: plays Nintendo DS games
Nintendo 3DS: plays Nintendo DS and DSi games
Nintendo New 3DS: plays Nintendo DS, DSi, and (old) 3DS games
Nintendo Wii: plays GameCube games
Nintendo Wii U: plays Wii games
The Switch is a notable break in both of these lines, playing neither 3DS nor Wii U games.
Based on that list, they have tended really only to do that on mobile platforms. It was one of my favorite things about the platform, but it always felt like this was partially thanks to the older hardware still getting games well into the new hardware's life in many cases. Major games, I believe Pokemon has done this a few times?
Most of their home consoles were complete departures from previous hardware.
NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube all did not work with prior games were fairly different (ok admittedly the outward difference between the NES and the SNES were minimal but still no compatability).
So honestly I think it was more notable that the Wii could play Gamecube games than the other way around as far as Nintendo's track record goes.
>Nintendo New 3DS: plays Nintendo DS, DSi, and (old) 3DS games
I know HN doesn't have any room for sarcasm but I couldn't not laugh trying to remember what were the NEW 3ds games. Sure the second pad made the 3DS way more comfortable to play, and 3D was a bit better, but we all got scammed here regarding games supporting this new hardware.
The Switch is interesting, because while you can't play the old games you already own, the Switch can play those games with an emulator, if you're willing to pay them more money to get a digital copy.
You probably know this but most of those aren’t really generations. Game boy color, DSi, new 3ds are just upgrades of the same generation kinda like PS5 vs PS5 Pro.
> The only real issue the Switch had was being able to keep up with some of the games put on it with FPS but it still had beautiful games (like Tears of the Kingdom)
A bit of an aside, but... Tears of the Kingdom looks just awful to me. My kids played Breath of the Wild and when they got Tears of the Kingdom I walked in and was astonished at the graphic quality. I think I had just finished Doom 2016 at the time and I felt like I was rewinding the clock 15 years in graphical quality. I've heard literally zero other people have this complaint, so I suspect it's just my take on the aesthetics of the game.
I think the state-of-the-art on Switch is really Panic Button's work on the Doom and Doom Eternal ports, but those are frame locked at 30 FPS, so I think getting a spec bump in Switch 2 would certainly help the demographic that plays games like that. My family has left the Switch ecosystem for Steam Deck, and that does a lot better. Would be interesting to compare with the Switch 2 in terms of specs.
I can see the lower quality of the rendering, but the graphical content is stunning in my opinion. The art in the game inspires me a lot more than more photorealistic games tend to. I think they did a stellar job given the resource constraints and the scale of the game.
The Switch 2 is supposed to be a bit faster than a PS4. It has more RAM and a much more modern GPU. It is using a LCD screen to reduce cost. I bet they will release a more expensive OLED version later.
> I bet they will release a more expensive OLED version later.
I would imagine the only reason they didn't launch with the OLED is to drive sales in the second half of the product lifecycle. If the PS4 equivalent claim is true that will be great, the Switch 1 was anemic at launch and borderline painful graphics in 2025.
I just hope its powerful enough that Indies can target it along with the Steam Deck, rather than just hope an pray like they did for Switch 1's late lifecycle. The amount of <30fps indie titles on there was sad.
Hopefully the Switch as a platform represents the end of the line. SD cards can be up to 2Tb, and that should be enough for anybody ;) So I don’t see why they would need to change up formats again.
They're optimizing for cost so I'd expect LCD. Then they can release an OLED model later down the line and the extra $50 won't seem as big of a deal on top of what we can probably already expect in the price bump from Switch 1.
> Iterating instead of throwing out everything with each new version. There is a part of me that is going to miss the, do weird shit and see what works, Nintendo that brought us some really fun ideas. But a stable Nintendo just being able to continue putting out great games has its advantages.
Yeah, I've always felt that Nintendo being willing to try out cool stuff is something that will be very sad to lose. The Wii, DS, and the Switch have all been very cool consoles. I personally only buy Nintendo consoles, as I feel like everything else eventually gets ported to PC anyways.
The games are crippled by how archaic and underpowered the hardware is. TOTK is beautiful _despite_ the hardware limiting its true potential, robbing world class studios, and forcing them to cut corners.
It’s indefensible considering how much legendary IP that potato is holding hostage.
The good news is that the best Nintendo platform is also the best mobile platform: The Steam Deck. It plays Nintendo games better than Nintendo consoles do, and as a bonus, it plays everything else.
> Iterating instead of throwing out everything with each new version.
I sort of feel like they were trying to fight emulation with a lot of their moves, doing things that were challenging to emulate, like the 3D stuff, or unusual hardware, etc.
This is the comment I was looking for. Entirely because the trailer makes it super unclear to me if they fixed the "port on the bottom" issue. There's definitely one on the bottom. It looked to me like there might be 2. But that the other way they fixed this issue was by changing the stand so it could lie better in a way that one could charge while playing.
NVM, just saw it in one of the flips around. There's definitely a port on the top. Glad they fixed this.
Some new games will work on S2, but not S1, most S1 games will work on S2. Glad they didn't go MS route of forcing compatibility for games releasing the higher powered platform to run on the lower powered platform.
MS didn't force compatibility between generations either.
The series X and series S are the same generation.
Wherever it was smart to start into this generation with a 3+ yrs old underperforming el-cheapo chipset is another question...
But for what it's worth, Nintendo has done the same decision according to the hardware leaks, they're just missing the equivalent to the Series X. (Which makes sense as it's a mobile device, so they don't want to gobble up electricity)
I personally agree that it was/is a terrible idea to start into a new generation with differently performing systems though. You can definitely release a "pro" version later for extra performance - but with the baseline being so underperforming as the series S... It never really had a chance, and most reviewers even said as much when they were initially announced.
I assume when they said that only most games are compatible, the exceptions would be the ones that require the OG Switch's physical hardware. From what I heard Ringfit and Labo were only compatible with the OG Switch (not even the existing Switch OLED) because they're designed to fit specifically with its design.
I've had a lot of frustration with Switch joy-cons. Not only drift, which has claimed a number of them, but also issues with the console not recognizing when they are attached, and one pair that for some reason the switch won't recognize when trying to use in the horizontal orientation. No doubt my kids have subjected it to hard use and probably a drop or two, but still frustrating.
It looks like they've added some reinforcement to the joysticks, and changed the connection with the main body to be magnetic instead of sliding in and out (which causes wear and tear on the connectors over time). I hope the Switch 2 is more robust than the original Switch.
Some extra horsepower would also be appreciated. Recently we were trying to play Switch Sports with 4 players, and even my kids who are generally oblivious to graphical fidelity and framerate were complaining that it was basically unplayable in 4-player split screen.
RE horizontal - there is a ribbon cable that can literally fracture which causes the Zr and Zl buttons to quit working which only really manifests when trying to use 1 joycon horizontally (personally when Mario party happens).
The repair takes about 20 minutes the first time you do it and the ribbon cable is on amazon for about $7.
> Not only drift, which has claimed a number of them, but also issues with the console not recognizing when they are attached, and one pair that for some reason the switch won't recognize when trying to use in the horizontal orientation.
Yeah... I've repaired our joycons so many times (they all ended up getting the hall sensor joysticks from gulikit, some got new batteries), and despite this and actually not even heavy play time on them, the pairing is absolutely brutal. Definitely my most disliked aspect of the Switch.
We use gulikit controllers with the console pretty much exclusively. The price/performance ratio seemed right, I liked the first one we tried, and so I've just stuck with them.
Can wholeheartedly recommend swapping the sticks on the joycons with hall-effect ones from Gulikit. Made an immense difference for mine who were suffering from drift.
I don't like the aesthetic as much as the Switch 1. Looks a little too sleek, too monochrome, not Nintendo-y enough. Other than the splash of color around the thumbsticks it looks like any number of those handheld Steam Deck-alikes that have been coming out.
That said I always wait for the special Zelda editions of Nintendo's consoles, so I don't know that I have standing to complain.
The current Switch had an alternative monochrome (grey) version from the start, so I guess there's a chance the alternative version of the new one would be colorful.
It's been a while, but from my recollection that was the main version at launch. It's what I got, anyways. I don't remember the red and blue joycons showing up until later.
I personally like the new color scheme. It says "I'm mature now, but still playful". Also, all black is less distracting when you're trying to concentrate on a bigger screen which needs you to move your eyeballs.
Also, the new controllers look more "freedom friendly", if you pardon the pun. IOW, they iterated them so that they're more useful when they are detached.
I prefer just "playful" to "mature but still playful". Something about the straightforwardness of "this is a toy for people of all ages, but it is still a toy" speaks to me.
> Also, the new controllers look more "freedom friendly", if you pardon the pun. IOW, they iterated them so that they're more useful when they are detached.
I am a little concerned about that connector for the controls. I hope they have designed it to be sturdy. After working on broken Switch 1s a lot of USB C ports were abused by users.
It's so odd to see Nintendo who hasn't competed on hardware specs for decades to release new console without atleast some gimmick(s) to sell their severely underpowered hardware.
Absolute zero gimmicks and zero excitement.
I personally dont care for gimmicks, but I expect them from Nintendo.
Yeah, I am not a big fan of the Switch UI. They really took out the "surprise and delight" compared to the Wii U and 3DS. Very bland and straightforward, and yet somehow awfully slow and laggy.
What do you mean HUUUGE upgrade? The only difference between the 3DS and the 3DS XL is the battery. Same with the New 3DS XL and New 3Ds.
You might be getting confused because the New 3DS (which was a hardware upgrade) mostly sold in XL version in the US. The non-XL model was sold mostly as limited special editions.
The Switch was the first device where i saw how well the mobile + docked system worked and it was my favorite device until I got a Steam Deck. The Deck is killer IMO because it takes the same form factor of the Switch, gives you more power and no restrictions on games.
From a usability perspective, the Steam Deck is pretty good but the Switch blows it out of the water. Fast boot times, you don't need to restart it all the time, games don't crash frequently, controllers just work, it just slots into its dock, a much simpler UI, and no need to futz around with Proton.
The Steam Deck is cool but I waste infinitely more time dicking around with it than the Switch, where it just works. The Switch is the best console I've ever owned.
Isn't the Steam Deck too bulky to be used comfortably on your sofa for more than a few minutes? I already think that switch 2 seems too big. I'd wish the regular switch was the size of the lite already.
It's fascinating how the Switch can be such a different device for different people. I bought my Switch in 2022 and it has remained exclusively docked under my TV since then. I have yet to even conceive of a scenario in which I would want to play it on the go. Perhaps if I went on long flights more than a couple of times a year? But who am I kidding, I would still read or listen to podcasts on the plane.
The initial reason for me was to play it while others wanted to watch TV. And then once I got used to that, I found myself preferring to play it in other places in the house even when the TV was free - on the porch when the weather is nice, on my comfy reading chair, playing rhythm games on the exercise bike, next to the computer to have quick access to strategy guides, etc.
cloud gaming has given me this same revelation. It's as portable as a Switch but the gaming experience isn't limited by the hardware in hand. Connectivity is important for the experience, though.
Streaming videos, leasing cars, cloud gaming, spotify, are all great until the distributor takes it away.
I prefer to own my things. The sense that something is mine increases the pleasure of using something for me.
It probably stems from my acquired lack of trust in people. The idea that there's a suit in a high-rise building that spends their days thinking about how to exploit my continued enjoyment of a title by raising the fee, or not addressing congestion hours, or retracting the title when the contract is up and renewing would cost too much, or putting a clause in the service agreement that strips me of my right to sue them if I lose an arm in their amusement park, simply by blurring the lines of ownership.. it bothers me.
cloud gaming is good if you live close to the servers and don't care about graphics, but playing with +60-100ms for every action feels very bad. It almost feels like playing on 15-20 fps PC and quality of streaming video is always a problem compared to native quality maybe AV1 will fix it.
I would say that after being a happy Switch owner for 6 years I still think the portability aspect is useless. It's too big to take with me when I leave the house, and if I'm at home I get a way better experience while docked. I thought it was a stupid gimmick on launch and I still think that. I recognize I'm apparently in the minority, though.
The Switch is genuinely one of the last pieces of hardware I was really excited about, and I can't say that about much anymore. It's extremely well put together, I've repaired mine a number of times with no issues (honestly opening anything made in Japan is a joy, the engineering is so good) and the specs leave a lot to be desired, which is unfortunate, but at the same time, you wouldn't know it while using it. The XBox is such a curmudgeonly slow experience to use, everything in the menus takes forever to load, the dash jerks and lags, and it's just like... this machine can run Halo Infinite, why does it struggle so damn hard with just... boxes and jpegs?
The Switch has a similar issue occasionally in the store application, but outside of that, settings are snappy, updates are practically instant, it turns on and off so quickly. It's what consoles are supposed to be.
And honestly in this same vein, the PS5 is also bloody impressive, but that impressiveness came with an impressive price too. The Switch costing as little as it did and still holding it's own is so cool.
We have a switch and an XBox and after liking the 360 back in the day the newer XBoxes just make me want to tear my hair out. They sold us all on bigger and bigger hardware to get rid of load times and they ended up with the system with the worst load times going all the way back to the 70s. Sometimes it seems like it takes 10 minutes to start up and actually play a game, and then there the updates.
My son got a Forza Horizon game for Xmas and it immediately said it needed to download 128GB from the internet before he could play it. With the way it worked out he didn't get to play it on Christmas day as it never finished downloading before we had to go leave to visit relatives.
At this point I'd be hard pressed to consider this over my Steam Deck. We will see the specs later but I doubt it will really compete processing-wise or screen-wise.
The openness (full arch desktop) of the Steam Deck is also awesome while having a great UI that you never have to leave if you don't want to.
EDIT: I mistakenly called it "fedora desktop", my bad
For the last few generations (since the Wii), you don't buy a Nintendo for the processing power. They haven't competed on processing power since the Gamecube. After the Gamecube generation, you bought a Nintendo for the exclusive games and that was it. Mario, Pokemon, Zelda, and others. Nintendo knows that their draw is just the games, and uses a lot of lawyers to make sure that normal gamers can't play those games on the Steam Deck. If you want to play what Nintendo has to offer on the Steam Deck you have to install an emulator and Nintendo has made sure that normal people would rather drop $300 on a Switch instead of risk legal issues.
Edit: I suppose that some people would also say the intuitive controls (motion control introduced on the Wii, dual screens (and touchscreen) on DS and WiiU, and detachable controllers on the Switch) have some draw, but those features have often been under-utilized except on a few titles.
I agree with you, for most people the Switch is the better/easier option if they are just looking to play a Nintendo-exclusive. Emulators aren't that difficult to set up on Steam Deck and you can easily launch the games from the Steam UI but nothing beats the plug and play of the Switch and double-y so if you are playing networked games.
This take is correct as the primary measure.
Its certainly why I bought one!
However computing juices really started to matter to me since that first buy …8 years ago? Ive been told this by other switch owners too. Some xplatform games get ported to switch and do end up being worse. Witcher 3, which ive beaten on switch, was repurchased on PC to play over steamlink because the switch was slow/choppy/lossy. Switch1 was precovid. Id imagine that many of us now want BOTH. Great content and great specs
The Steam Deck (which I have and love) is also far from a great experience docked, though I'm hopeful that a lot of those edges get ironed out over time.
I also wouldn't give my young kids a Steam Deck, but they will definitely be getting the Switch 2.
Nintendo does not compete on specs. They rely on the fact that fun is pretty much orthogonal to bleeding edge graphics.
They use that awareness and take advantage of simpler graphics to trade off processing power for features (portability, novelty) and profit (60>=usd games).
From time to time they also remind us that little hardware can do a lot if it's not running Chrome on a trench coat, and instead care is put in optimising things.
This is a pretty important point, and one that I'm mystified that a lot of people seem not to agree with. It doesn't matter if you're playing on a glorified smartphone with thumbsticks if the game is good enough. Moreover, having a selling point of state-of-the-art graphics today will turn into a _disadvantage_ in 5-10 years when newer games look even better; something designed to look good today with "lower quality" graphics is going to hold up better because it already is being compared to stuff taking advantage of every ounce of the latest save greatest hardware.
For a while Nintendo didn't have a competition in handheld market. If you wanted a handheld gaming device you only had Switch.
Now Steam deck easily competes on fun with Nintendo, because a lot of people have massive decades old steam libraries and constant supply of newest and greatest indie games, and quite a lot of power to play fairly modern titles.
This is hard to compete with because Nintendo likes you to pay for games you've already bought on their platform in past, including old NES and SNES roms (which are super embarassing to ask money for imo).
The only drawback of Steam Deck is that it's a fairly big and bulky.
Buying Switch 2 just for a odd once in every 5 years exclusive Zelda game is a pretty hard sell.
SteamOS is Arch, Bazzite is Fedora if you want a more Fedora experience.
I agree mostly because I find myself playing a lot of smaller games these days, and it's much easier for devs to release and patch their games on Steam than it is a Nintendo platform. They also have a much friendlier refund policy.
For the masses though, a Nintendo system just works. I can hand a Switch to my daughter and know she can play Nintendo games with little bullshit, it's easy to play couch co-op, the parental controls are very solid, etc.
In terms of hardware it's ARM and Nvidia, which is a solid foundation, and Nintendo titles look great without being technically demanding. I fully expect to see a 60 FPS Zelda game that uses DLSS upscaling to look great on my 4K TV. The Steam Deck is somewhat limited by FSR2.
> SteamOS is Arch, Bazzite is Fedora if you want a more Fedora experience.
Oops, edited, thank you!
> I agree mostly because I find myself playing a lot of smaller games these days
Same here, I play mostly indie <$20 games and have a blast doing it. These games would (almost) never launch on the Switch (or any console). Either that or I'm playing games that would never work well on the Switch (like Factorio, yes I know there is a port and I've also tried on my steam deck and it sucks, you need a mouse/keyboard IMHO).
> For the masses though, a Nintendo system just works. I can hand a Switch to my daughter and know she can play Nintendo games with little bullshit, it's easy to play couch co-op, the parental controls are very solid, etc.
Agreed, this is huge, I wouldn't recommend a steam deck to the average person, just tech people mostly.
One could in theory switch from Steam to Switch platform, rebuying everything. Doesn't make a ton of sense from PC gamer standpoint but that's PC gamer standpoint.
I have both and they certainly each have their place. The Steam Deck has a much wider variety of games and can handle heavier graphics loads, but it is too heavy to be all that comfortable for handheld use, and the Switch is in my mind the undisputed champion of local multiplayer (more portable controllers, controller connections Just Work, good variety of local multiplayer games, etc).
One might imagine, the design of the games are an intricate part of the companies core competencies. The impressive part is a next generation carrying through with the art.
The only reason I have a Switch is to play Nintendo games. They are only available there, and will continue to be only available on Switch 2. Steam deck offers nothing, by comparison.
I think that while this sentiment is very real for a lot of folks who are into the Steam Deck, that doesn't mean the Switch doesn't have its own unique advantages.
- The Nintendo software catalog. Sure, you can emulate on the Steam Deck, but it's a chore and far from perfect, and for most people who do it that is piracy.
- The Switch is far less bulky, and has better battery life, less noise. ARM architecture is very well-suited to mobile gaming.
- The docking mechanism is seamless and the dock is included with the device. Games are designed around that functionality specifically, e.g., you won't have controller or display configuration issues on a Switch because it's all pre-configured.
- The price is almost certainly lower.
- You can buy physical game cartridges and resell them, which is a big advantage for fans of physical media.
- The Steam Deck does rely on a lot on its compatibility software with PC games, and while it's mostly a non-issue there it's not by any means a perfect catalog. If you get a Switch, all Switch software is going to work and was made for and tested on a Switch.
I think there's also a certain amount of "jank" to the Steam Deck.
Don't get me wrong it is a super cool console and pushes a lot of boundaries, but you don't really 100% know whether a title is going to run the way you want it to on the steam deck.
The switch is a more curated experience, you can pretty much expect every game to run properly, going to put caveat for very heavy graphic cross platform title like the new Harry Potter game, etc.
Looks like joy-cons will have 'mouse-like' functionality and there's a 'C' on right joy-con but its functionality is not reveled. New Mario Kart showcased would probably be one of the first exclusives.
A few details are quite different from 8, notably the boost and character animations, it's definitely a new game.
Marketing will be difficult, MK8 already peaked graphically and has 96 tracks, and will still work on Switch 2. I hope they'll find real selling points for MK9.
That's so cliche and cringe nowadays, but the reason they didn't wait to do that is probably because of all the leaks. The specs, the name, photos of the console and internal components all leaked. Even the fan renders people were making turned out to be pretty damn accurate (https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/comments/1i008os/nin...)
I’m glad to see Nintendo found a form factor that’s kind of gimmicky that actually worked. The Wii and Wii U were too gimmicky, but portability was a great choice. I’m also glad to see backwards compatibility.
I’m excited to see what kind of hardware improvements have been made. The switch came out in March 2017, just about 8 years ago. Just due to the way Nintendo games have their animated charm, they’re able to make their games look excellent on that hardware still. That said, I’d love to see how good a Zelda game looks on some new hardware.
"Gimmicky" in the sense that they used movement controls and that's non-standard in the industry and went away mostly afterwards. I'm considering anything that isn't a traditional stationary control (keyboard + mouse or controller) as "gimmicky" or out of the ordinary.
In terms of sales, you're absolutely right - the Wii crushed it. I'd be curious to know about usage and software sales though. Maybe I'm wrong (very possible), but almost everyone I knew had a Wii at some point, but they didn't use it outside of a family toy with a few games when they first got it. I'd still consider that a win for Nintendo compared to less sales, but I'd imagine the average Xbox 360 or PS3 had a lot more software sales per console.
> That said, I’d love to see how good a Zelda game looks on some new hardware.
Hopefully they'll go back and update their major Switch titles to leverage the new hardware. BOTW and TOTK look fantastic in an emulator with the resolution and framerate cranked much higher than the original Switch hardware could handle, even without updating any of the assets.
I personally don't have much faith that Nintendo will do that, _but_ I hope I'm wrong. That would be wonderful. Also just removing some of the lag from those games (and the Link's Awakening remake was pretty bad) would be a big win.
> which combines the best of both of those consoles.
Minus the dual screen of the Wii U, which was awesome. It'd be cool if the Switch 2's dock could work independently of the console, so that you could have a reverse Wii U- experience with it. The dual screen setup can be a neat gimmick for gameplay, but it's biggest strength is the convenience that comes from having a second screen closer to your face. You can have less visual clutter on the main screen, and reduce the amount of menus players need to click through.
> I’m glad to see Nintendo found a form factor that’s kind of gimmicky that actually worked.
I don't quite understand this comment. Parents will be unable to tell the difference (like parents buying their kids Xbox One S when Xbox Series S came out, really bad naming increment with form factor so similar), and other comments here note this Switch 2 is a regression to less quirk.
What's the gimmicky part of this that caught your eye you feel like they found in Switch 2?
My words definitely could've been better. I was referring to "portability" as the gimmick here since it's not the norm in the industry for primary console. Nintendo did handhelds for years, but that was also a secondary thing to their primary consoles. Having their only console also be handheld was what I was referring to as the gimmick here, but I understand the argument that that's not a gimmick.
As for naming, I think it'll be fine since they're using numbers. I'm not in the position of a middle aged parent who's getting a gift for a child, but the fact that Sony has successfully done it for this long makes me feel that it'll work.
Add a letter to the end is awful though. It took me a bit to nail down the Series X vs Series S Xboxs (granted, I haven't owned an Xbox in over a decade). The Wii U definitely confused people as well.
I think parents will have no problem with the concept of a Thingie N+1 and most of those stories came from either XBOX's insane naming or from Wii->Wii U.
The gaming industry is much more mature and settled than the past when Nintendo could mess around with a crazy new gimmick every new console release.
People expect backwards compatibility now, and the Switch has such a mature software library, it would be a waste to throw it out. And it'll be harder than ever to re-sell people a port of a game from a few years ago that looks basically identical to how it did before (though Sony's been trying)
I'm looking forward to this, and I hope Nintendo patches OG Switch games to take advantage of the new hardware. It's a shame the only (official) method of playing the new Zeldas gets you frequently chugging along at like 15fps.
> The switch came out in March 2017, just about 8 years ago. Just due to the way Nintendo games have their animated charm, they’re able to make their games look excellent on that hardware still.
Even more impressive, the SoC in the Switch is from about 2013 I believe.
Arg, they make the screen look absolutely huge with that large front glass panel during most of the video and I was thinking to myself, nice! But then at the end they actually show how large the bezels are underneath the glass and it is quite disappointing. Someday we'll have modern smartphone like mini-bezels (a few mm at most) in our handheld gaming consoles, but I guess not yet.
I’ll never understand why people hate bezels so much. They have no bearing on the screen size, but merely offer a basis for comparison when you’re looking at the screen.
Personal opinion, but I didn't really have that reaction. That screen is still significantly bigger than the Switch 1.
Honestly it looks like a great size and if the bezels were smaller, it might be a problem to grip the device (with joycons detached) without hitting the touch screen.
The switch isn't a handheld though. It's way too big to be a viable replacement for a 3DS in that regard, Nintendo just gave up on that market segment for whatever reason.
Do we know if the aspect ratio is the same? Maybe they're demonstrating Switch 1 games that have a slightly different aspect ratio, but can be updated to fit the new screen in the future?
Microbezels are aesthetically great but practically horrible.
Having some practical space to grab onto wins at the end of the day, we presumably use these things instead of having one sit looking happy on a bookshelf.
Relieved that they are just iterating instead of trying to go for something radically different like they did. Everybody is pretty happy with the current feature set, just add some stuff and get a nice power upgrade in there and you're all set for another 6 years.
It's possibly the most normal successor name they've ever chosen. I like it. I'm picturing someone suggesting "Switch U" and getting thrown out the window like in that meme comic, even though he's often used as the voice of reason...
I still like Famicom > Super Famicom as the best successor name, but having to go back that far to find some competition for naming probably says something.
The problem with Xbox naming is that names are both inconsistent and too similar to each other. Aside from the Wii/Wii U debacle, Nintendo console names haven't been consistent, but they have been distinct. It's easy to remember that the GameCube and the Wii aren't the same thing.
Xbox, though, it's just the word Xbox followed by arbitrary numbers, maybe with the letter S or X thrown in for fun. I have no idea why they thought Xbox Series X wouldn't confuse people right after the Xbox One X.
I was also expecting they would fumble marketing again and call the new console something like 'Switch U', but it seems they really learned their lesson there.
I'm glad they finally learned to use sensible names. I guess it took the failure of the Wii U for them to realize they should just keep it simple if they want to be sure it's easy for consumers to understand what the product is.
They tried something similar with the New Nintendo 3DS but a lot of people got confused.
Sure, "new" is probably one the worst words you could use. But I don't think "super" would be better. And even if they did use "super" how do you name the next console ?
A little sad about the lack of a rail compatible with charging existing controllers. Hopefully it's compatible with current gen controllers anyway given how expensive they are.
One of my favorite parts about the Xbox Series generation of consoles is that it's fully compatible with the previous Xbox One controllers.
It would be amazing if they could get their multi-gen multi-console save-sync to work nearly as well as Microsoft's so I could switch back and forth between my existing Switch and Switch 2 seamlessly but I doubt that's in the cards, this is Nintendo were talking about.
I might throw a party to smash my joy cons. Some of the worst quality control in my long history of owning hardware, and from a company previously famous for that trait. Good riddance.
It always shocked me that for how bad the joycons were, the "Pro Controller" was one of the best controllers I've ever used. I don't know how they managed to nail one and get the other so wrong.
This would be extremely welcome news. Local multiplayer has always been Nintendo's bread and butter, so being able to keep using controllers from the previous system is a huge boon. Also means not having to invest in a new 'Pro' controller hopefully.
I wonder if they have a new control technique up their sleeve. Innovative gameplay and pushing new control ideas is one of Nintendo’s signatures. That said, being the switch 2, not a new console, maybe they kept it the same and just upgraded the processing and graphics hardware.
Both controllers have optical sensors (visible in the trailer), confirming the rumors that they'll have mouse like functionality. Remains to be seen if games will actually bother to implement it or if it'll remain a curiosity that only a handful of titles support.
For action games doesn't look like a good option. But i think it will be used if it works well on any surface.
Probably there will be a resurgence of point and click adventure games pushed by the new mouse functionality (or even republish some old sierra/lucas arts stuff with mouse support).
Also may be useful for pc ports like simcity clones and strategy games (i could use that in civ).
Some propietary nintendo stuff will use it like mario maker or wario ware, some zelda dungeon probably will have a gimmick around it. And also some small indy third party stuff, like i don't know, mini motorways, things like that, will be built arround it.
All it does it confirm that they have something there. The Wii used a sensor to detect where it was pointing, the Switch had an IR camera for a variety of weird gimmicks, the NES and SNES had light-detecting "guns". Hell, it could even be an IR blaster like the Wii U Gamepad had, and not a sensor at all. We just don't know yet.
Innovation is their way, but they're still burned a LOT by the Wii U. Now they've managed to find something that works, I think they'll stick with it for at least the Switch 2, maybe the 3 as well.
The Switch wouldn't exist if they hadn't first experimented with that form factor with the Wii U. The innovation and risk of the Wii U paid off for them in the long run.
I hope I'll be able to pre-order one. I don't even care if they ship it right away. Promise me one within the first 2 or 3 years and I would be happy.
I know I'm going to want one and I know they are going to be snapped up by scalpers and be hard to buy at first. Fine. I just don't want to go through the stupid check Amazon, then GameStop, then BestBuy, then Walmart dance. Just let me order one and then not worry about it.
It seems like the days of revolutionary consumer electronics are over.
This looks nice, for sure. But it’s really more of the same. Not surprising. It does surprise me that there’s such emphasis on it, though. There’s the name, of course, and then the entire video is based around “it’s the same thing but a little better.”
Game console updates used to be big deals. The SNES was a revolution. PS2 was huge. Now… PS5? What’s different from PS4, again? Is there a 6? What’s different about that?
I don’t blame Nintendo or the others. I have no idea what they could do here they would be revolutionary. I think the design space has just been thoroughly explored by now and that’s where we are.
This pattern repeats all over the place. TVs are maxed out, with better visual quality than people care about, and size limited by wall space. Computers get a little faster every year. This year’s phones are last year’s phones with a minor performance bump and slightly better cameras. And again, I don’t see what they can do better, and that’s probably how it has to be at this point.
But it’s still a little shocking to see a company lean so far into the theme of “we made incremental improvements to this thing we released 8 years ago.”
> Game console updates used to be big deals. The SNES was a revolution. PS2 was huge.
There are two categories of "big deal". The SNES and PS2 were big deals simply because game graphics had so much headroom for improvement. Now that the low-hanging fruits of color palette, resolution, frame rate, texture quality, animation quality, and geometric complexity have all been squeezed, the improvements are more asymptotic.
The other "big deal" category is gimmicks. I would argue that while it is a hallmark of Nintendo, the gimmicks have flopped as often as not. Most of Nintendo's big sellers were fairly conventional. (The most glaring exceptions being the original Game Boy, the Wii, and the Switch.) I'm glad they do the gimmicks, but I'm also glad they don't only do the gimmicks.
But those are three hells of exceptions (can you actually do that in English? I was trying to pluralize "a hell of an exception").
They are the 3rd, 4th and 7th best selling consoles of all time. And you forgot the dual screen in the DS (2nd best selling of all time).
Maybe many of the gimmicks flopped, but others wildly succeeded and Nintendo wouldn't be what it is without them. In fact, it probably wouldn't even make consoles by now, following the fate of Sega.
Exactly. For a while you could have huge improvements from better hardware. Then there were some cool new gimmicks. Now both of those seem to be played out.
And that’s happening across the board. All the stuff I’d go ogle in Best Buy as a teenager is now basically maxed out both in terms of hardware and gimmicks.
Nintendo has actually stated they view the SNES as a evolution of the NES. They have directly stated their hardware development cycle goes Revolution>Evolution>Revolution. Considering that the Switch was considered one of their revolutionary leap (their first hybrid console) it is no surprise the Switch 2 is a simple evolution of that concept. If their next console is another iteration of the Switch THEN it is safe to say they are no longer aiming to revolutionize their hardware.
Edit: After tons of searching I am starting to think that I am misremembering thing. I think this idea came about from the Wii's 'Revolution' code name and I Mandela Effected myself into think there was a interview we're either Miyamoto or Iwata talked about this being there philosophy when designing system.
That really sounds like something someone made up in marketing.
The Wii came about because an independent company pitched motion control technology to Nintendo and they liked it and licensed it. Not because of the 3d chess game of going from "evolutions" to "revolutions".
The Switch came about because it's less expensive to make software for a single hardware unit than a separate handheld and console and this became an issue as games got more expensive to make.
I apologize, I tried to find the interview were this was stated but unfortunately search engines are terrible now and no matter how hard I try I only get news about the Switch 2 or old stories about when the Wii has code named Revolution. Feel free to not take my word that this was actually stated.
PS1 launched without analog controls. This was later available as a newer controller for PS1, but if we count that as a PS2 base feature it's a nice innovation on PS1 at launch.
This all comes down to what the hardware improvements can mean in practice. It's not as if hardware isn't moving up, but that the new kinds of things double the hardware unlocks are much smaller than they used to be.
This is best seen on the PC market. What a gaming desktop today has running on it is, compute wise, unimaginably stronger than the best available 10-20 years ago. The increases in hardware just keep coming. But there's limits on how much more you can get out of being able to push more polygons, or to put more pixels on screen. We can do all kinds of extra photorealistic things in real time that before would have to be done only in movies, and rendered in server farms for weeks at a time. But the increased difficulty doesn't quite match how impressive the extra effects are.
You can also notice this by just playing old games, and seeing how they hold up. We can make 2d pixel art games that are much better than what a SNES could do, but many of those games still hold up just fine. Meanwhile most 3d games of the Playstation and even the PS2 era are downright painful, because the increases in power between generations back then lead to big practical differences in capability. A ps5 is much stronger than a ps4, hardware wise, but it didn't unlock much at all. All the extra power can get you cooler reflections on cyberpunk, and you can go even further with a PC that has over $1000 in video cards in it. But those reflections and atmospheric effects are eating up as much hardware as the rest of the game.
It’s some of each. Hardware is improving substantially slower than it used to. And at the same time, what you get out of better hardware has hit steeply diminishing returns.
> But it’s still a little shocking to see a company lean so far into the theme of “we made incremental improvements to this thing we released 8 years ago.”
It's certainly more 'shocking' to see Nintendo do it than, say, Microsoft or Sony. But Nintendo hasn't always introduced huge new changes with a console bump — NES->SNES wasn't particularly revolutionary, and there were certainly no gimmicks there. I think it's a very understandable reaction to a) the Wii U b) the enormous success of the Switch
NES->SNES didn’t do much with the form factor or the controls, but technologically it was an enormous leap. That’s the sort of thing that just can’t happen anymore, since video game technology is pretty much maxed out. You can always make things a little bit prettier, or have a little better framerate, but nothing too interesting.
I suppose VR/AR is the one area where something big could still happen. The current state of the art there is far from the “mostly limited by the size of your wall” stage.
Hold up, what's the "revolution" between the PS1 and PS2? More processing power?
You could argue that no consoles in the Xbox or Playstation line are revolutionary, as they're the same format as the original SNES just with more buttons and processing power.
I would say the major shifts in controller type is simply a much rarer change than simple spec upgrades.
I've found more incredible improvements in AI than in consumer electronics these days. I'm still daily surprised at just how good ChatGPT is at understanding my pretty complex queries.
Maybe that will be the next big thing in games. Finally deliver on the promise of living, breathing worlds, instead of breaking the illusion when the character scripts start to repeat and you realize “your choices matter” means you can pick from one of three different endings.
Kinda tells us nothing, but I guess they got fed up with their supply chain leaking absolutely everything about the physical device before they could announce stuff.
I guess the direct will be interesting when they show some actually software and we can get a bit of a handle on what the device can actually do (although the MORE POWER type people are going to be disappointed, probably).
I know it's perhaps a silly thing to nitpick on, but the general look of Switch 2 with its darker, Steam Deck-ish joycons don't look as fun as the first one to me.
Current Switch with the neon blue/red joycons had its own character, and IIRC that color combination was what Nintendo often marketed. This change makes it look like a MSI or ASUS product than a continuation of Nintendo's own line.
interesting you said that, because I was totally unimpressed and bored with it and thought, "Ok, so this it? So it's just the Switch, scaled up by 10%?"
It's not that I expected something groundbreaking, but if I had been the creative director I would have said that they need to focus on whatever was updated, e.g., graphics or performance since effectively nothing major has changed.
At the end of the video they announced a direct for the start of April. This video is just a teaser. I’m sure they will cover everything you mention in the direct.
Huh. I guess updated ergonomics / QoL stuff and confirmation of backwards compatibility counts as enough of an update over the last hardware refresh. But zero info on anything that could actually make this worth a buy. Granted, this feels like Nintendo who will do anything to not get dragged into PS/XBOX flops discussions. But without any real upgrade or even games announcements, I suppose most people will keep holding off their purchase decisions for now.
> But zero info on anything that could actually make this worth a buy.
Obvious answer: no more game released on Switch 1 so you want a Switch 2 if you want to play new games.
That's work well enough for Playstation/Xbox.
The difference with the other consoles mentioned is that it's portable, and the time already made clear (with Switch 1 and Steam Deck) there is a massive need.
Practically, yes, this is the main differentiator. But still it would be interesting to see some specs. Is the GPU 15% better, 50%, what? The switch came out 7 years ago... there is opportunity for some fairly serious performance improvements even in the mobile form factor.
Clearly it's the same basic platform. And I think that's fine - they've really cornered a pretty big niche of mobile (ish), motion controls, family.
I suspect the larger screen size is because more people are using the mobile aspect in their home, not out on the subway or something.
The original Switch was released 7 years ago. I don't think Nintendo needs to justify the upgraded model. It simply is the Nintendo Switch, and we now know they can make it last for a VERY long time. I think that's enough.
This is a just first look trailer so yes I think most people have no choice but to hold off on a purchase decision
I saw a larger screen and exclusive titles for the switch 2. As with everything else in gaming I am expecting modest bumps in performance and since this is Nintendo it will sell very well and have Mario and Zelda releases that get 9/10 reviews on all the usual sites.
The gaming industry has been going through these cycles for decades. If you had a previous Nintendo system and still like to play video games, odds are good you’ll end up with one of these sooner or later too.
> most people have no choice but to hold off on a purchase decision
Probably all people, right? Who decides to buy the thing based on this sneak peek and then when it comes out and has some deal-breaking flaw says “oh no siree, I already made my decision when I saw the trailer months ago and I’m sticking to it no matter what”?
Great in theory, but only really works for first party games and does mean you occasionally end up with unfortunate situations like Tears of the Kingdom where it runs better on an emulator than the actual hardware.
I'll geek out on the specs once they're leaked or announced or reverse engineered, but also I sorta don't care. It's going to be a solid upgrade over the Switch 1, which is already a lot of fun as long as you're not looking to play contemporary AAA titles from other systems.
But then I thought...
Hmmm. If it's powerful enough to essentially be "portable PS4 era level hardware" then that really increases the number of quality third-party titles we'll see ported over. Sure, they won't be latest and greatest PS5 era level AAA stuff. But they might be last generation's AAA stuff and that could be a very very very solid addition to this thing.
We know the first party Nintendo games will be good, so, the ability (or not) to actually get good ports from other systems (even if not the latest) is pretty compelling.
They supposedly had this console ready to ship a year or even two ago. Rumor is the reason they are releasing it this year is to have a decent catalogue of games lined up for launch and launch window.
That makes it even weirder why they would only show a few short hints of one possible new Mario Kart game. The original switch reveal had glimpses of new Zelda, Mario and even the first portable version of Skyrim.
I'm no Nintendo fan but I still find this criticism unfair as it's simply the design reveal and a date of when more information will be provided (April 2, 2025).
Interesting, as an American, I read the date in the video (02.04.2025) as February 4th, 2025 (I agree that the DD/MM/YYYY format makes more sense, but dates are commonly listed MM/DD/YYYY everywhere here). It makes me realize when doing a worldwide release, it's important to be as explicit on the date as possible.
I really wonder how big that market can be. I mean, for people who still haven't gotten a switch or steam deck or anything similar until now, how likely is this going to change their mind?
I mean, it's almost certainly got updated hardware too right? The Tegra in the OG switch is getting pretty long in the tooth. This isn't just a hardware refresh, it's a whole new console
I'm so glad that they named this the "Switch 2" instead of going with something really stupid like "Switch U". It's simple and it immediately explains to the consumer what the product is.
I'll be really curious to see what the gpu specs are like since it'll likely be nvidia again. The original Switch was 720p but lets you bump up to 1080p when in docked mode, so developers had to restrict design to accommodate both modes, but nvidia could possibly do a dlss trick when plugged in so devs just need to worry about 1 render target that will get upscaled automagically.
DLSS is disappointing compared to actual resolution increases. It adds plenty of artifacts like shimmer, ghosting, occlusion issues. I’m expecting Nintendo to use it unfortunately.
Have you watched any of the recent videos about dlss 4?
It's using a different neural network for upscaling, and these issues seem to be massively reduced. It should be compatible back to at least the 20xx GPUs as well, not just the new 50xx GPUs. Maybe it'll be on the switch 2 as well.
I've only seen a few clips of Cyberpunk but they surprised me a lot. If that level of quality can work on other games too then it'll be a huge upgrade.
They have to be using upscaling. No matter your feelings on it, it is the way everything is moving and will become a requirement to run any "AAA" game going forward soon enough.
The last time I tried to use my Switch, I realized that the joy cons are no longer usable separately. Seems the connection to the internal shoulder buttons is broken, and you can't reorient the controllers unless you can hold them both down.
I dropped my Switch from knee height, and now the left hand joycon is slightly loose and disconnects from too much upward pressure. Maybe the damage is on the joycon, but it seems more likely the mechanism (don't have a spare to test).
A lot of people here are criticising Nintendo not showing specific details here, seemingly forgetting a few key points:
A. The announcement is nothing more than a hype video, it obviously isn't intended to be the only marketing tool.
B. On the specifications front, Nintendo never focus on performance, and it's unlikely that will change now; their focus tends to be on games and features.
There was a rumor about an optical sensor on the side of a joycon that would turn it into a mouse. Is this out of the equation? This would have been awesome!
It would be awesome to have new Labo sets that make use of that sensor. But I suspect that Labo will not get a second chance, given that the first sets were seen as a failure (despite being really cool).
> There was a rumor about an optical sensor on the side of a joycon that would turn it into a mouse. Is this out of the equation? This would have been awesome!
They literally depict them as mice at 1:12. Like the animal, or at least that's how I interpreted it before I even knew about this rumor from your comment.
Im not sure what the point is. Sure you can point and click but no keyboard? That's way lower input than simply using the joycon and all the buttons. Seems like a gimmick.
My concern with this is that the joycob being larger won't fit the hands of younger kids anymore. The switch 1 joycon was the only one that allowed reaching the controller buttons and the stick (while held horizontally) for my 3 years old. All other controllers that exist are too big, clearly nobody tested with young children.
And I wish they had names for their arrow buttons, because when held horizontally it makes things very confusing: "press b" what is b?
Fair concern, but on the other hand joycons are seriously uncomfortable for people older than that because of how small they are. It seems reasonable for Nintendo to optimize for the common users, not the extreme minority of small children.
Of course, however adults can buy the Pro controller, but kids have no other option.
Just voicing my frustration with the gaming industry as a whole: there isn't a controller for kids, even the ones that claims to be are for 8+ I suspect.
It's a toy like any other, my son is great at playing Kirby, the game delivers some great family time (Kirby star allies is a 4-players game).
Most of first-party nintendo games are also display a rating of "3+"
We have gotten so much use out of our original switch I can't really imagine not picking it up, even if only to keep playing the games we already have.
I am sucker for Nintendo stuff. I can't imagine not getting it, but this trailer did not necessarily make me look forward to it more: It got a bit more generic in design, and I don't trust that controller attachment system.
There are many reasons why the portable factor is good, not least you can enjoy it riding the bus or laying in bed Saturday morning; you can play big games in spare minutes side by side with the rest of your life.
Sony's Vita was quite successful with titles like Killzone Mercenary which was as fun a shooter as you'll find on any platform, but Sony gave up on the form factor because of the phone fever sweeping the world. Fortunately the culturally Japanese games like Akiba's Trip, Persona, Fate/Extella, Hyperdimension Neptunia and such have jumped to Steam.
There's the Steam Deck and countless off-brand competitors, Microsoft is talking about a portable XBOX, Sony is planning a PS5P which sounds overly ambitious -- TV-attached consoles are becoming irrelevant when you can connect an XBOX controller to your PC and have a console experience, but much better, with Steam, GOG, Origin and other PC app stores.
> Sony's Vita was quite successful with titles like Killzone Mercenary which was as fun a shooter as you'll find on any platform, but Sony gave up on the form factor because of the phone fever sweeping the world.
I think they gave up on it when they realized they didn't have the resources to support both a console and a handheld with the rising costs of game development. Nintendo faced the same issue but they got rid of their console instead and designed their handheld to be able to be docked in order to get similar functionality.
This is a hardware reveal trailer. Nintendo likely released this because of all of the recent leaks, which have put their 3rd party accessory vendors in a weird position. More details will be revealed at the Nintendo Direct on the 2nd.
I'm not a gamer, but the original Switch joycons always struck me as overly complicated and expensive. It should be cheaper to manufacture and sell Switches with the controllers attached. Indeed, this is what they did with the Switch Lite. For games that take advantage of joycon functionality, Nintendo could have sold something like an updated Switch version of the Wiimote as an optional accessory.
Do users who are happy with their Nintendo Switch have a favorable opinion of the joycons, or would you be happy without them?
The joy cons are fine, but I think them always being attached also removes the key benefit of the Switch. That was something that a lot of people talked about when the Switch Lite came out.
They could be better and given the limitations, I think they do the job. If you don't like them they offer the pro controller. But there have been times (especially when flying) that I have used them detached when not docked.
I honestly don't think the Switch would have succeeded the way it did if the controllers were always attached, forcing you to buy another controller for when you wanted to dock.
They are fine but they break very easily; after a while they start to "drift" and the games become unplayable.
I needed to repair one pair last year because the drift was unbearable; the repair costs almost as much as a new one. (And one started drifting again.)
I am not a heavy player at all and I got the drift.
They have quality issues with stick drift, and the "single joycon as controller" setup is clearly designed for child-sized hands, but it's definitely an advantage to be able to play the system handheld but also have minimal extra to pack (just the rails widget) if I want to put it on a train table on the kickstand and the use the controllers more ergonomically.
And I mean, if you have kids, being able to double your controllers when they have friends around is also helpful to avoid arguments.
I love that the controls are split between two hands. It makes certain types of lounging gameplay (e.g. one hand behind head) possible that aren't with single controllers.
I'm generally in favour of the joycons as a concept. They make multiplayer party games a breeze.
But the execution in the Switch 1 is flawed. They're on the small side, and generally fiddly. If the joycons for the Switch 2 are larger and just more ergonomic then I think it'll be a win.
EDIT: the joycons also being little motion wands was also quite good. You don't need a separate accessory like on the other consoles. Overall the joycon is a neat little package of functionality, if imperfect.
I think they're fine when mounted, but I use a the pro controller. Using them individually when you have people over sucks, but it's a neat way to turn one controller into two, so I can't throw too much hate.
That's if we're ignoring the absurd drift their sticks have that Nintendo has seemingly never fixed. I hope to god they fixed them in this next gen console.
They're nicer for a quick game of Mario Party or other casual game because you can just tear them off the system and have two players, but I wouldn't want to play anything serious with them.
Everyone I know with a Switch uses it primarily attached to their TV in the dock and only secondarily as a portable. A separate controller seems necessary for that.
I agree that they are/were far too expensive, especially given the drift problems. Other than that, they're a neat bit of tech and, with the included 'grip' controller, I found them totally suitable for the first 6 months or so. After that, I got the Pro controller and never looked back. Last year, I picked up a CRKD Nitro and that is a massive upgrade on the Joy-Con.
I don't like them. They're too small to be comfortable for use on their own, and all they really enable is motion controls (meh). The pro controller is far superior and is 90% of my switch controller usage.
There are plenty of alternative controller options for the Switch, it's not that much of an issue.
For portable play, yes, the stick drift issues suck, but Nintendo will fix it for you. And yeah, most portable systems today overall just have better analog sticks.
But if I'm at home I'm going to be using a Pro controller or an 8bitdo or something like that.
A mouse with an analog controller will make for a very powerful 3D manipulator, like a 3DConnexion SpaceMouse. Combine with the improved kickstand, it will be interesting to see what devs come up with.
Everyone is going to buy one of these as soon as they can ship them to them, so if the thumb sticks could not be intentionally engineered to fail this time, that would be great, thanks.
Switch 2 in comparison with the original Nintendo Switch:
Category Nintendo Switch 2 Nintendo Switch
CUDA Cores 1536 256
Bus Width 128-bit 64-bit
Memory Size 12 GB 4 GB
Memory Type LPDDR5X LPDDR4
SM Count 12 2
Bandwidth 120 GB/s 25.6GB/s
Dimensions 206 x 115 x 14 173 x 102 x 13.9
(LWD mm)
I’ve heard different leaks to the tune that it is actually significantly more powerful. Rationale being because Nintendo presumably finally needs to take 4k and higher frame rates seriously, and the hardware situation has improved enough for that to be possible under Nintendo’s philosophy (shit hardware with innovative and engaging gameplay). I mean their beloved launch title for the Switch had performance problems maintaining even 20fps at 720p. Pretty embarrassing.
Have they mentioned anything? All they have done so far is show the hardware off and one new game, which for the record does look more detailed than its predecessor.
Looks like a new controller attachment system, maybe magnetic, except that doesn't seem robust enough for excited play.
I wonder what that means for spare controllers. It's a waste to make people go buy new extra controllers for multiplayer games. Maybe you can use your old Switch as a charger and pair via BT? Not nearly as nice as just sliding it on to pair, but hopefully reduces e-waste.
> except that doesn't seem robust enough for excited play.
Yeah. First thing I thought when they showed the controllers snapping in place was "I would definitely yank one of those out on accident while playing."
Arguably the "gimmick" for the N64 -> GameCube was 3D games and "stock" analog stick, with the c-buttons on the N64 turning into the C-Stick on the GameCube. At launch both the PS1 and Saturn controllers were d-pad only.
Hopefully game saves will sync between Switch 1 and 2. It would not be great to have to restart games with 80+ hours or drag 2 consoles around with you to access your full Switch 1 library. I'm mildly optimistic given Switch 1 has online save backup capability for a lot of its games.
As much as I would love this (not interested in a portable game console, but definitely interested in a new top-of-line set-top-box) I can't imagine this is what's been holding nVidia back on a Shield refresh.
If anything, the Switch was a way to sell a boatload of existing chips. They've had plenty of opportunity to put out a Shield 2 in the meantime, but instead have backed off their focus on game streaming and other main features of a set-top-box.
I'd love to see it happen, but I feel like the Shield is just not a big enough seller for them to put many resources behind an update. Prove me wrong, nVidia! TVs have only gotten worse in terms of embedded systems and software, and I don't have (or plan on) buying into the Apple ecosystem enough to make AppleTV compelling.
IIRC the whole reason Nvidia was not able to make a new Shield or Shield tablet was because all their chips were being used in the Switch, and the basically all used the same chip
We got a switch a few years ago and it collected dust. The shop is overpriced (and slow) and I guess we aren't really into their first-party titles. I don't see what it offers against a steam deck except the aforementioned first-party titles.
edit: except the aforementioned first-party titles
It offers the first-party titles, basically. If you don't want those then there's no reason to get one.
For me, Nintendo is the most reliable game developer these days. Every main Mario and Zelda game offers something new and executes it well on the first try. I'll buy Switch 2 for Mario and Zelda alone.
I tried BotW and it didn't really click. The food mechanics felt bolted on, just like the weapon durability stuff, and everything felt too easy/within reach. I guess I'm not the target, it's okay.
The entire reason to buy the switch is the first party titles. If you don't like those/Nintendo games, the switch and all switch derivatives aren't going to be for you.
The design changes showcased in the video are definitely a welcome improvement. As someone who owns both a Steam Deck and an OLED Switch, I find the Switch to be a bit too small for my hands, while the Steam Deck feels slightly large and bulky. Could the Switch 2 strike the perfect balance between the two?
I wish we could return to a Wii U like functionality where the switch could be used as a second screen when undocked. That was a really nice feature in games like Zelda where the controller in your hands displayed the inventory or a map.
Much like with the failed Macbook Touch Bar, I don't think it works having to look away and focus on another screen while playing a game.
Also like the Macbook Touch Bar, now you have a whole other thing developers have to target and test for an end result that should just be possible yet more efficient in the main app.
Take inventory for example. Instead you could just make it frictionless to open inventory in the main game and create quick-swap slots. Tears of the Kingdom is a good example. Swapping out arrows mid combat by looking at your controller would not be an improvement.
Yeah I played BOTW on the Wii U and remember at some point I just stopped bothering with the handheld screen.
I can't remember what game it was but I do remember having one game where the handheld add-on provided some functionality that seemed useful/fun. So it is possible, but much like the original wii's motion sensors - it is much more likely that developers will stumble across a bad application of the tech than a good one
Might be possible if the Switch 2 contains a "cast" feature, but the cast landscape may be too incomplete and fractured (AirPlay, Chromecast, Miracast, etc.) for Nintendo to bother with that.
Has anyone played any games besides Zelda / Mario Kart that actually felt complete and worth the money. I love love love the switch but getting really demoralized by the lack of titles I can play with friends; especially online.
Xenoblade is excellent, Metroid is excellent, Kirby is excellent. There are others but those are the primary ones which come to mind for me. Obviously they're all Nintendo games but that's what you get a Nintendo system for. You don't get it because it's the best option for playing third party games.
Maybe that is the case. But when the switch came out the marketing was heavily skewed towards "party" games to play with your friends in the same room.
The joycons seem to attach as easily as a MagSafe connector… but I hope they don't detach as easily! I wonder if the handheld ergonomics were battle-tested to prevent accidental joycon detachment while gaming.
Yeah, I was concerned about that too. It looks like it has a small thin edge connector on the body of the Switch 2, sort of like a USB-C port but without the protective shield around it. If it's not designed well, we could see it snapping off in kid's hands and requiring expensive repairs.
I doubt they attach like that I think it’s just for the video… looking again there are holes at the top and bottom of the joycons presumably for some kind of locking mechanism to fit into.
They probably are magnetically attached but also feature a latch somewhere to make sure they don't accidentally pop out.
Alternatively they could just be using really strong magnets and tight tolerances for the fit inside the Switch 2. That's a tough thing to get right though because if they make it too tight it'll be annoying to get them lined up juuuuust straight enough to snap in but if they make it too loose they can pop out too easily.
I think people are sleeping on Meta's compounding advantage in VR/AR. The Quest 3 is 15 months old, and it's wild how much it has improved over that time purely due to software and interaction model improvements. Aside from the recent bricking issue, I think the Meta Quest is accelerating at the OS level. I'm looking forward to Mario on Quest 4 or 5, but it will be a bit sad.
You can't see the shortcomings until you have the hardware, and once you solve those there is a next set of shortcomings. I think that road is longer and deeper than I had appreciated, Meta is the only company iterating fast enough to be serious about serving "normies".
The name of the game is the game. Meaning that hardware is popular insofar as the games that are on it. And Nintendo, with its massive war chest and toymaker history, will never turn into a third-party developper. They'll keep making their underpowered Nintendo machines, and good for them.
Ooh that would be nice. Although I wonder if they'll simply stop producing as many (IDK what even goes into that though... I imagine its pretty cheap to produce). Sadly I feel like the opposite happens with many things, not sure about video games though.
and incorporates cutting-edge "security" controls to keep the system secured (against the user of course, because the owners of the device nowadays are the primary security threat, regardless how technical they are). Otherwise, what if grandma gets tricked into installing a Steam game or *gasp* an open source operating system onto her switch?
I really hope my old switch controllers are compatible, at least via wireless. It would be a monetary and environmental shame if my six controllers became useless.
For those of us with zero interest in playing a console on the go I wish they would release a non-mobile version and put the money saved into beefier specs.
It’s more for playing in your room where you don’t have a TV, than necessarily on-the-go. Just how smartphones are nowadays used for gaming at home by the younger generation. You still don’t want to be tethered to a power outlet.
The beefier specs would be wasted though since game developers would still be primarily targeting the handheld (since that is still their main offering, so that's what most people have).
Honestly, they did exactly what they should have done here. Made a more powerful Switch with better hardware and backwards compatibility, with a clear and easily understandable name.
Regardless, the things they need to update/fix are all really just technical and UI design problems; Joy-Cons drifting and rails failing to work, Switch Online being a laggy mess for many games, the eShop being near impossible to filter or find things in, etc. If they can get those things fixed, and get some popular Nintendo franchises out within the first year or so, then this could be a huge success.
Instead of commenting on the switch 2 characteristics, i just want to take some time to celebrate Nintendo, and to say how happy i am this company still exists although it went through difficult times.
As some comments point out, Nintendo is the only console/video games company that's been trying to do fun things instead of trying to come up with the most powerful console in the universe.
This is the gaming i like, i don't care for 3000 fps and 1000Ghz consoles, i just want to have fun :-)
So, yeah, thanks Nintendo, i'll be buying this Switch 2.
I get this is Nintendo, so it'll never be fixed, but I honestly hate having to buy Nintendo hardware just to play the three or four big-name platform exclusives per generation. It would be so much better for consumers if they would just abandon the hardware and be a regular games company
To Nintendo's credit, their big exclusive titles tend to take advantage of the special hardware.
Zelda was weird and impractical outside of the standard controls, but still somewhat benefited from NFC.
Splatoon plays a lot better with the motion controls, NFC is actually a nice QOL improvement. A game like Arms is also nicer in split mode, even if core players tend to get back to the standard controller mode.
I see it along the lines of the Allan Kay "People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware" quote. Nintendo should stay serious IMHO.
In early footage of BoTW when it was a Wii U exclusive there was more usage of the Tablet for things like maps and inventory management, which was later cut for presumably parity with the Switch version.
I think the same thing. Metroid is good, but is it $250+ good? Meh.
Microsoft more-or-less does the same thing with Windows in the personal consumer market. With Office being online these days, the primary motivation for a lot of people to buy a Windows license for a computer instead of using Linux or buying a Mac is gaming, along with pure inertia.
This will be a problem with everything until games are FLOSS.
> This will be a problem with everything until games are FLOSS.
I mean there is nothing stopping that right now. You can give up your time and learn game programming and asset design and make a game and give it away for free.
Sad they’re keeping at the same thing, I was personally hoping for a NEW thing like innovation but it seems like theyre just keeping steady at the same pace.
Of course looking back at the past this shouldn’t have been a huge surprise with their ds to 3ds to new3ds shenanigans
> Sad they’re keeping at the same thing, I was personally hoping for a NEW thing like innovation but it seems like theyre just keeping steady at the same pace.
Why risk it though? The original Switch is a money printer but it became obvious that it's ... lacking brawns and brains after eight years of service. Fix that by upgrading the SoC to something with more power and remove a few other annoyances (the flimsy stand, primarily), and that will be enough to make it sell like lemonade on a hot summer day.
Honestly i was expecting a little more info. I get this is on purpose, to create hype, but not having a graphical demo, a release date... anything really more than the design, input ports, and joycons, seems too little.
And the direct in april seems too far away honestly.
All they showed is the things that leaked, i mean, to me (besides the confirmation of something that was obvious) is like nothing happened really. I know the same as yesterday + the plastic texture maybe and i have to wait almost 3 months for the next official info.
That was a pretty boring annoucement. Yeah its cool how the elements on the device appear, but it gets boring when this is shown for both sides of the attachebles controllers. They have the opportunity to show e.g. exclusive games which would now look and perform super duper on the new hardware, because of a better resolution opr maybe HDR, but nothing like that? Or a comparison of the old one with the new? I think its a bit thin...
I think that's the point. You'll probably get it. I probably will too. I would imagine this device will improve unit sales and also has improved margins on a per unit basis. Easy win without trying all that much. Take the W.
I understand the financial part of it. I'm not sure it's a W for gamers like us. Obviously, I don't know the spec and detail so I'm happy to be corrected. From the video, they could've released this 4 years ago and I would've still gotten it back then. Since I view switch as a console system rather mobile system, the gain we are getting just seem a bit disappointing after 8 years.
I don't care too much about the hardware spec. That's not why you buy a Nintendo. I hope Nintendo modernizes its software. I am talking about the UI and its multiplayer user experience.
Preventing any modern chat/voice feature under the excuse of wanting to protect children from online danger is a laughable as it is solvable by expanding the parental control features.
I am optimistic regarding this as Nintendo seem have turned its vision to taking a bit more risks as hinted in games like Super Mario Wonder that try to innovate in the multiplayer space. You'd say that that is not much but very few would have foreseen such a move from Nintendo.
I like the image halfway down the announcement page that shows not only will your Switch 2 have larger controllers, but your hands will also be larger. Cool benefit, at the right price.
Disappointed that it doesn't look to fix the biggest issue I have with the Switch, which is that docking it feels awkward and clumsy. You have to blindly line up a USB-C port/connector, and that seems to be the same approach they're going with here. At least the Joycons look like they'll be a little smoother to attach/remove.
Indeed. Unfortunately, even if all of HN boycotts the Switch 2 it won't have an effect on Nintendo, but their behavior is entirely unacceptable and is boycott-worthy.
Please tell me the joycons are built with a more robust analog stick… it was hard to tell if they changed at all in this video. That’s about my only gripe with the switch, those sticks drift so badly if you so much as look at them.
The giant 2 is a bit obnoxious. Other than that everything looks good.
And for the love of God Nintendo you better be using hall effect joysticks for this one. Can't imagine the amount of e-waste they generated with the Switch joycons.
I've skipped a few Nintendo console generations, but may grab this one. Right off the hop I can catch up with a decent library. The draw is it would be nice for the kids.
Part of me was hoping it would be something more visionary, but maybe it's just not the right time. I noticed that competition is similarly betting on handheld devices.
This thing is gonna get swallowed in an ocean of steam decks and other similar clones. Unless you want to play the third installment of Mario Kart 8, I guess.
That is precisely the only reason people choose Nintendo over more powerful and capable devices. The Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Zeldas, Marios etc.
They got a robust ecosystem going on and with them shooting down pirating left, right and center they keep a tight ship going.
Nintendo has set themselves up so they don't need 3rd party titles to survive. Carved out a good niche for themselves. They don't even see themselves as direct competitors with Sony. They used to but that was a long time ago.
I understand, after all, they are the Disney of gaming in terms of IP.
It’s just strange, this is the first time I’ve seen them so…lazy. The Wii U was a flop, but it was a bigger leap than this. SNES at least had more buttons and significantly better graphics.
I think they’re just gonna milk this till streaming takes over.
This doesn't seem to stem out of an innovation cycle, so the biggest advantage for consumers is (IMHO) that prices of the current generation will drop.
I don't think I can see myself ever buying a Nintendo console again. My switch collects dust. They are always substantially under powered and likewise their games are simple - aka quite easy to emulate. I would much prefer a mobile device that can "do it all" like a steamdeck which is able to run native games, run emulators, and also remote to a beefy desktop gaming rig for games with higher demands.
That being said I realize I am not the target market. Nintendo has always been a pretty safe bet for the "just works" department. They are great for kids or casual gamers.
Bright-colored controllers were so much better. Also the way they were attached before is much better.
Switch 1 was the work of art. This one looks like the work of A/B testing and “we are losing customers as they choose Steam Deck over us, so let’s make it look like Steam Deck”
Nintendo sold an all-gray Switch 1, that’s the one I got.
Yes this console does feel like a more “grown up” Switch but I don’t think it’s a sign of chasing after Steam Deck; switch has sold 2 orders of magnitude more copies than Valve ever will.
If anything it’s following the same pattern as Wii (white) WiiU (dark) for the successor to be a bit more serious and grown up looking.
Kids who got their Switch 1 when they were 10 are now 17, ready for a more grown up console.
> switch has sold 2 orders of magnitude more copies than Valve ever will.
In the first year Nintendo sold 13.2 million Switches. In the ~2 years since the introduction of the Steam Deck Valve has sold somewhere between 5 and 6 million units.
Nintendo had a enormous, loyal, and obsessive user base and decades of history selling portable consoles. The Steam Deck is Valve's first portable console and it's running a new OS that no one is used to. It also cost $100 more than the Switch.
Furthermore--now that the platform itself has proven itself--Valve is going to allow 3rd parties to use SteamOS on their own portable consoles. If those 3rd parties have similar successes I think Nintendo will become a minor player in the portable console market in comparison.
The old mechanism had one serious usability flaw. This is a common sequence:
1) Put console into dock when you get home. 2) Some time later, remove controllers to use them
To remove them you need to pull them up, while the console is in the dock. That's a bit fiddly. Just being able to pop them off sideways sounds much better.
I really don’t like the old attachment mechanism. It was robust when connected, but it’s annoying to connect and especially disconnect, and it’s especially awkward that are two different retention mechanisms that need to be released depending on what’s connected.
I imagine the new connection will have a mechanical match of some sort and generally work better.
I know you're joking but technically it does have AI, the SOC is built on Nvidia's Ampere architecture with tensor cores. If nothing else they'll probably be used for DLSS upscaling.
1. Looks boring. I want my washing machine to look boring, not my fun entertainment device.
2. It's literally the same thing they released 8 years ago, except the electronics are new. In 8 years they did zero creative progress. "People don't want cars, they want faster horses".
3. Switch was already huge, this thing will be giant, so it will be portable as in "portable fridge".
This will probably sell well because Switch sold well and the brand is strong, but honestly, I don't see any reason to buy this thing. They're basically reinventing a gaming laptop, except with Nintendo first-party games.
I guess you never got a PS2/PS3/PS4/PS5? Sometimes, the internals are the right thing to upgrade. And there definitely is some hardware innovations. I look forward to learning more!
I got an Xbox 360 strictly because I wanted to play Guitar Hero. To me, home consoles are like PC, but worse, but more convenient for a non-technical user.
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Happy to see that Nintendo is treating the switch more like how they traditionally handled their mobile platforms instead of their consoles.
Iterating instead of throwing out everything with each new version. There is a part of me that is going to miss the, do weird shit and see what works, Nintendo that brought us some really fun ideas. But a stable Nintendo just being able to continue putting out great games has its advantages.
I am curious about the specs, but honestly don't care much. The only real issue the Switch had was being able to keep up with some of the games put on it with FPS but it still had beautiful games (like Tears of the Kingdom). So as long as it is actually a decent spec bump I am happy and have zero care to compare it to the other consoles (but I am sure people are going too and scream that it is "underpowered").
The biggest thing I am curious about, will it be OLED since that will be disappointing to go back to non OLED from the OLED Switch. And Price.
They’ve got the weird shit covered still, apparently the joy cons in this gen can be used as mice.
Was heavily rumoured/leaked and this teaser video literally shows them gliding along a surface.
How Nintendo will leverage that functionality, who could honestly say, but that’s the genius of keeping a toy company mindset in an industry full of sports car company mindsets.
That last sentence is worth an essay of its own. Everyone else keeps pumping resources into being photo-realistic blah-blah-blah without nearly enough attention to "is this fun"?
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the teaser also has a clear shot of the side and there's a sensor that looks identical to an optical mouse sensor. It seems really rough from an ergonomics perspective but maybe there are accessories for that. It could also go the way of the IR camera where it sees niche uses in a couple of random games but isn't really a staple of the console.
https://www.polygon.com/nintendo-switch-2/509821/nintendo-sw...
Never forget, they had Rob the robot. And to my recollection, he only worked with Gyromite.
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Ha. Since when does Nintendo care about ensuring functionality they add to their devices are leveraged? Other than first party games, and even that can be limited, almost no one ever implements the weird little functionality they add to their devices.
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As a mice or a air mouse. The smart tv stuff is limited by a remote control from 1980 (more or less, what changed?). I'd make lifestyle apps for the switch if they enable it.
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A mouse wood be very nice for Super Mario Maker!
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Nintendo has tended to maintain at most 1 generation of backwards compatibility, though you can get some fuzzy ideas of "generations" in a few cases.
The Switch is a notable break in both of these lines, playing neither 3DS nor Wii U games.
Based on that list, they have tended really only to do that on mobile platforms. It was one of my favorite things about the platform, but it always felt like this was partially thanks to the older hardware still getting games well into the new hardware's life in many cases. Major games, I believe Pokemon has done this a few times?
Most of their home consoles were complete departures from previous hardware.
NES, SNES, N64, Gamecube all did not work with prior games were fairly different (ok admittedly the outward difference between the NES and the SNES were minimal but still no compatability).
So honestly I think it was more notable that the Wii could play Gamecube games than the other way around as far as Nintendo's track record goes.
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3DS has hardware support for GBA games too, actually, though these only got distributed via the Ambassador program.
Also had VC for most of Nintendo's platform.
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>Nintendo New 3DS: plays Nintendo DS, DSi, and (old) 3DS games
I know HN doesn't have any room for sarcasm but I couldn't not laugh trying to remember what were the NEW 3ds games. Sure the second pad made the 3DS way more comfortable to play, and 3D was a bit better, but we all got scammed here regarding games supporting this new hardware.
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The Switch is interesting, because while you can't play the old games you already own, the Switch can play those games with an emulator, if you're willing to pay them more money to get a digital copy.
You probably know this but most of those aren’t really generations. Game boy color, DSi, new 3ds are just upgrades of the same generation kinda like PS5 vs PS5 Pro.
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I almost forgot the switch doesn't play Wii U games, given that almost all Wii U games worth playing were also released for the Switch.
> playing neither 3DS nor Wii U games.
Except the ones they remaster for us for $70.
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im pretty sure all the later versions of gameboys could play the old games, so long as the cartridges have the same package and connector.
the GBC games just didnt fit well in the DS
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> The only real issue the Switch had was being able to keep up with some of the games put on it with FPS but it still had beautiful games (like Tears of the Kingdom)
A bit of an aside, but... Tears of the Kingdom looks just awful to me. My kids played Breath of the Wild and when they got Tears of the Kingdom I walked in and was astonished at the graphic quality. I think I had just finished Doom 2016 at the time and I felt like I was rewinding the clock 15 years in graphical quality. I've heard literally zero other people have this complaint, so I suspect it's just my take on the aesthetics of the game.
I think the state-of-the-art on Switch is really Panic Button's work on the Doom and Doom Eternal ports, but those are frame locked at 30 FPS, so I think getting a spec bump in Switch 2 would certainly help the demographic that plays games like that. My family has left the Switch ecosystem for Steam Deck, and that does a lot better. Would be interesting to compare with the Switch 2 in terms of specs.
Tears of the Kingdom's only graphical issue is framerate and resolution. Maybe some ground textures.
If you have issues with it it's entirely with the style, the graphics are fine.
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To me, Nintendo is more about gameplay then graphics and i hope it stays that way.
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> My kids played Breath of the Wild and when they got Tears of the Kingdom I walked in and was astonished at the graphic quality.
You must have good eyes! I've played through both and would be hard-pressed to tell a scene from BotW from TotK at a glance.
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I can see the lower quality of the rendering, but the graphical content is stunning in my opinion. The art in the game inspires me a lot more than more photorealistic games tend to. I think they did a stellar job given the resource constraints and the scale of the game.
State of the art imo is Metroid Prime
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The Switch 2 is supposed to be a bit faster than a PS4. It has more RAM and a much more modern GPU. It is using a LCD screen to reduce cost. I bet they will release a more expensive OLED version later.
> I bet they will release a more expensive OLED version later.
I would imagine the only reason they didn't launch with the OLED is to drive sales in the second half of the product lifecycle. If the PS4 equivalent claim is true that will be great, the Switch 1 was anemic at launch and borderline painful graphics in 2025.
I just hope its powerful enough that Indies can target it along with the Steam Deck, rather than just hope an pray like they did for Switch 1's late lifecycle. The amount of <30fps indie titles on there was sad.
Unity's fault?
Unity also kinda killed playing indie games on a laptop (at least on battery) on x86...
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Man that's 100% on the indie dev. Most people don't buy indie games for cutting-edge graphics. You start pushing the envelope, you get what you get.
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https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_DS#DS_family_Comparis...
* Nintendo DS, 2004
* Nintendo DS Lite, 2006
* Nintendo DSi, 2008
* Nintendo DSi XL, 2009
* Nintendo 3DS, 2011
* Nintendo 3DS XL, 2012
* New Nintendo 3DS, 2017
* New Nintendo 3DS XL, 2020
Hopefully the Switch as a platform represents the end of the line. SD cards can be up to 2Tb, and that should be enough for anybody ;) So I don’t see why they would need to change up formats again.
Early leaks said screen was LCD, hoping for them to be wrong
They're optimizing for cost so I'd expect LCD. Then they can release an OLED model later down the line and the extra $50 won't seem as big of a deal on top of what we can probably already expect in the price bump from Switch 1.
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I would pay extra 100$ for an LCD. OLED screens' PWM give me headaches. I'm using an iPhone SE because of that.
> Iterating instead of throwing out everything with each new version. There is a part of me that is going to miss the, do weird shit and see what works, Nintendo that brought us some really fun ideas. But a stable Nintendo just being able to continue putting out great games has its advantages.
Yeah, I've always felt that Nintendo being willing to try out cool stuff is something that will be very sad to lose. The Wii, DS, and the Switch have all been very cool consoles. I personally only buy Nintendo consoles, as I feel like everything else eventually gets ported to PC anyways.
The games are crippled by how archaic and underpowered the hardware is. TOTK is beautiful _despite_ the hardware limiting its true potential, robbing world class studios, and forcing them to cut corners.
It’s indefensible considering how much legendary IP that potato is holding hostage.
The good news is that the best Nintendo platform is also the best mobile platform: The Steam Deck. It plays Nintendo games better than Nintendo consoles do, and as a bonus, it plays everything else.
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I hope it has at LEAST 12 GB of RAM. Hopefully 16 or 24 GB.
Most brand new laptops are not even there.
> I am curious about the specs, but honestly don't care much.
The specs seems to be leaked here <https://thegamepost.com/nintendo-switch-2-full-specs-appears...>
TL;DR
- CPU: Arm Cortex-A78C 8 cores Unknown L1/L2/L3 cache sizes
- GPU: Nvidia T239 Ampere 1 Graphics Processing Cluster (GPC) 12 Streaming Multiprocessors (SM) 1534 CUDA cores 6 Texture Processing Clusters (TPC) 48 Gen 3 Tensor cores 2 RTX ray-tracing cores
- RAM: 12 GB LPDDR5
Only 2 ray-tracing cores makes you wonder why they’d even bother.
Any actual game devs wanna chime in on whether that’s enough to actually do any ray tracing?
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> Iterating instead of throwing out everything with each new version.
I sort of feel like they were trying to fight emulation with a lot of their moves, doing things that were challenging to emulate, like the 3D stuff, or unusual hardware, etc.
Unfortunately for them, they are subject to the most interest from emulation devs by far.
Let me just say what I'm seeing here... Folks can correct me, or add their own observations
* Screen is bigger
* Seems like it has a new texture
* USB-C port (on the bottom?)
* Another USB-C port (on the top?)
* Headphone jack
* Pull-out stand, supports multiple positions
* Bigger controllers
* New coloring on the controllers
* The built-in top buttons on the hold-it-sideways configuration appear to be nicer
* The controllers have a custom port to connect, and a little magnet-looking thing next to it
* The controllers seem like they can slide on tables like a mouse
* The controllers snap into the screen, rather than sliding down to lock
* Dock looks similar to the old one
* Controllers can slide into a pro grip, like before
* Physical Switch games slide in like they used to
Anything else?
This is the comment I was looking for. Entirely because the trailer makes it super unclear to me if they fixed the "port on the bottom" issue. There's definitely one on the bottom. It looked to me like there might be 2. But that the other way they fixed this issue was by changing the stand so it could lie better in a way that one could charge while playing.
NVM, just saw it in one of the flips around. There's definitely a port on the top. Glad they fixed this.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MBqcgbf8Iag&t=162s
Some new games will work on S2, but not S1, most S1 games will work on S2. Glad they didn't go MS route of forcing compatibility for games releasing the higher powered platform to run on the lower powered platform.
MS didn't force compatibility between generations either.
The series X and series S are the same generation. Wherever it was smart to start into this generation with a 3+ yrs old underperforming el-cheapo chipset is another question...
But for what it's worth, Nintendo has done the same decision according to the hardware leaks, they're just missing the equivalent to the Series X. (Which makes sense as it's a mobile device, so they don't want to gobble up electricity)
I personally agree that it was/is a terrible idea to start into a new generation with differently performing systems though. You can definitely release a "pro" version later for extra performance - but with the baseline being so underperforming as the series S... It never really had a chance, and most reviewers even said as much when they were initially announced.
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I assume when they said that only most games are compatible, the exceptions would be the ones that require the OG Switch's physical hardware. From what I heard Ringfit and Labo were only compatible with the OG Switch (not even the existing Switch OLED) because they're designed to fit specifically with its design.
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>most S1 games will work on S2
Most? Why not all?
> * The controllers have a custom port to connect, and a little magnet-looking thing next to it
the thing next to the port looks like an optical sensor to me.
You're probably right.
https://imgur.com/9OBN31C
At first I thought it was a dimpled magnet. Now it looks more like a lens covering a projector and another covering the receiver.
I think that's for the mouse feature.
I've had a lot of frustration with Switch joy-cons. Not only drift, which has claimed a number of them, but also issues with the console not recognizing when they are attached, and one pair that for some reason the switch won't recognize when trying to use in the horizontal orientation. No doubt my kids have subjected it to hard use and probably a drop or two, but still frustrating.
It looks like they've added some reinforcement to the joysticks, and changed the connection with the main body to be magnetic instead of sliding in and out (which causes wear and tear on the connectors over time). I hope the Switch 2 is more robust than the original Switch.
Some extra horsepower would also be appreciated. Recently we were trying to play Switch Sports with 4 players, and even my kids who are generally oblivious to graphical fidelity and framerate were complaining that it was basically unplayable in 4-player split screen.
RE horizontal - there is a ribbon cable that can literally fracture which causes the Zr and Zl buttons to quit working which only really manifests when trying to use 1 joycon horizontally (personally when Mario party happens).
The repair takes about 20 minutes the first time you do it and the ribbon cable is on amazon for about $7.
> Not only drift, which has claimed a number of them, but also issues with the console not recognizing when they are attached, and one pair that for some reason the switch won't recognize when trying to use in the horizontal orientation.
Yeah... I've repaired our joycons so many times (they all ended up getting the hall sensor joysticks from gulikit, some got new batteries), and despite this and actually not even heavy play time on them, the pairing is absolutely brutal. Definitely my most disliked aspect of the Switch.
We use gulikit controllers with the console pretty much exclusively. The price/performance ratio seemed right, I liked the first one we tried, and so I've just stuck with them.
Can wholeheartedly recommend swapping the sticks on the joycons with hall-effect ones from Gulikit. Made an immense difference for mine who were suffering from drift.
I have four controllers and basically none of them worked after a few years. I don't know how I feel about the quality of their stuff these days.
My original GameCube controller has zero issues after 20 years.
I've owned a switch for 5 years and never had any problems with joycons
I don't like the aesthetic as much as the Switch 1. Looks a little too sleek, too monochrome, not Nintendo-y enough. Other than the splash of color around the thumbsticks it looks like any number of those handheld Steam Deck-alikes that have been coming out.
That said I always wait for the special Zelda editions of Nintendo's consoles, so I don't know that I have standing to complain.
The current Switch had an alternative monochrome (grey) version from the start, so I guess there's a chance the alternative version of the new one would be colorful.
It's been a while, but from my recollection that was the main version at launch. It's what I got, anyways. I don't remember the red and blue joycons showing up until later.
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I personally like the new color scheme. It says "I'm mature now, but still playful". Also, all black is less distracting when you're trying to concentrate on a bigger screen which needs you to move your eyeballs.
Also, the new controllers look more "freedom friendly", if you pardon the pun. IOW, they iterated them so that they're more useful when they are detached.
I prefer just "playful" to "mature but still playful". Something about the straightforwardness of "this is a toy for people of all ages, but it is still a toy" speaks to me.
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Definitely marketed towards middle age “gamers” with their mario toys on their shelves.
Do young people even play on switch any more? Pretty sure it is xbox, mobile and pc.
> Also, the new controllers look more "freedom friendly", if you pardon the pun. IOW, they iterated them so that they're more useful when they are detached.
I am a little concerned about that connector for the controls. I hope they have designed it to be sturdy. After working on broken Switch 1s a lot of USB C ports were abused by users.
Nintendo is not Nintendo-y enough for a while now. The switch system UI is bland and on launch the gray switch was the one being presented.
Speaking of - does anyone know of an HTPC frontend which duplicates the look and feel of the Wii menu?
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It's so odd to see Nintendo who hasn't competed on hardware specs for decades to release new console without atleast some gimmick(s) to sell their severely underpowered hardware.
Absolute zero gimmicks and zero excitement.
I personally dont care for gimmicks, but I expect them from Nintendo.
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Yeah, I am not a big fan of the Switch UI. They really took out the "surprise and delight" compared to the Wii U and 3DS. Very bland and straightforward, and yet somehow awfully slow and laggy.
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I only know a few users but they all (three, one being my kid) have covered their console in stickers, so that monochrome is completely hidden.
I think this is aimed at a slightly older audience than the "regular" switch.
This is more like a switch "pro", and I assume a switch 2 lite and such will follow.
This is like the 3ds XL, which in terms of hardware was a HUUUUGGE upgrade to the 3ds, but they didn't really mention it anywhere.
What do you mean HUUUGE upgrade? The only difference between the 3DS and the 3DS XL is the battery. Same with the New 3DS XL and New 3Ds.
You might be getting confused because the New 3DS (which was a hardware upgrade) mostly sold in XL version in the US. The non-XL model was sold mostly as limited special editions.
Were the Wii and Wii U not sleek and monochrome?
This has more color than either of those.
> That said I always wait for the special Zelda editions of Nintendo's consoles, so I don't know that I have standing to complain.
Yeah, I am sure there will be plenty of playful and colourful joycons for the Switch 2 as well.
** N64 has entered the chat
I was pretty skeptical about the original Switch but bought it on a whim after being laid off.
It quickly became one of my favorite gaming consoles. The ability to play anywhere didn’t seem like a big deal until I could do it.
I have zero interest in being tied to a single spot like the traditional console experience now.
The Switch was the first device where i saw how well the mobile + docked system worked and it was my favorite device until I got a Steam Deck. The Deck is killer IMO because it takes the same form factor of the Switch, gives you more power and no restrictions on games.
From a usability perspective, the Steam Deck is pretty good but the Switch blows it out of the water. Fast boot times, you don't need to restart it all the time, games don't crash frequently, controllers just work, it just slots into its dock, a much simpler UI, and no need to futz around with Proton.
The Steam Deck is cool but I waste infinitely more time dicking around with it than the Switch, where it just works. The Switch is the best console I've ever owned.
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No restrictions, except you can't play the Zelda, Mario, etc. games.
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Isn't the Steam Deck too bulky to be used comfortably on your sofa for more than a few minutes? I already think that switch 2 seems too big. I'd wish the regular switch was the size of the lite already.
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It's fascinating how the Switch can be such a different device for different people. I bought my Switch in 2022 and it has remained exclusively docked under my TV since then. I have yet to even conceive of a scenario in which I would want to play it on the go. Perhaps if I went on long flights more than a couple of times a year? But who am I kidding, I would still read or listen to podcasts on the plane.
The initial reason for me was to play it while others wanted to watch TV. And then once I got used to that, I found myself preferring to play it in other places in the house even when the TV was free - on the porch when the weather is nice, on my comfy reading chair, playing rhythm games on the exercise bike, next to the computer to have quick access to strategy guides, etc.
Airplane is the only time ours comes undocked from the TV.
Play it in bed.
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cloud gaming has given me this same revelation. It's as portable as a Switch but the gaming experience isn't limited by the hardware in hand. Connectivity is important for the experience, though.
Streaming videos, leasing cars, cloud gaming, spotify, are all great until the distributor takes it away.
I prefer to own my things. The sense that something is mine increases the pleasure of using something for me.
It probably stems from my acquired lack of trust in people. The idea that there's a suit in a high-rise building that spends their days thinking about how to exploit my continued enjoyment of a title by raising the fee, or not addressing congestion hours, or retracting the title when the contract is up and renewing would cost too much, or putting a clause in the service agreement that strips me of my right to sue them if I lose an arm in their amusement park, simply by blurring the lines of ownership.. it bothers me.
cloud gaming is good if you live close to the servers and don't care about graphics, but playing with +60-100ms for every action feels very bad. It almost feels like playing on 15-20 fps PC and quality of streaming video is always a problem compared to native quality maybe AV1 will fix it.
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Yeah I gave GeForceNow a run and I really liked it. There are limits but I like just firing up a game regardless of platform.
I would say that after being a happy Switch owner for 6 years I still think the portability aspect is useless. It's too big to take with me when I leave the house, and if I'm at home I get a way better experience while docked. I thought it was a stupid gimmick on launch and I still think that. I recognize I'm apparently in the minority, though.
The Switch is genuinely one of the last pieces of hardware I was really excited about, and I can't say that about much anymore. It's extremely well put together, I've repaired mine a number of times with no issues (honestly opening anything made in Japan is a joy, the engineering is so good) and the specs leave a lot to be desired, which is unfortunate, but at the same time, you wouldn't know it while using it. The XBox is such a curmudgeonly slow experience to use, everything in the menus takes forever to load, the dash jerks and lags, and it's just like... this machine can run Halo Infinite, why does it struggle so damn hard with just... boxes and jpegs?
The Switch has a similar issue occasionally in the store application, but outside of that, settings are snappy, updates are practically instant, it turns on and off so quickly. It's what consoles are supposed to be.
And honestly in this same vein, the PS5 is also bloody impressive, but that impressiveness came with an impressive price too. The Switch costing as little as it did and still holding it's own is so cool.
We have a switch and an XBox and after liking the 360 back in the day the newer XBoxes just make me want to tear my hair out. They sold us all on bigger and bigger hardware to get rid of load times and they ended up with the system with the worst load times going all the way back to the 70s. Sometimes it seems like it takes 10 minutes to start up and actually play a game, and then there the updates.
My son got a Forza Horizon game for Xmas and it immediately said it needed to download 128GB from the internet before he could play it. With the way it worked out he didn't get to play it on Christmas day as it never finished downloading before we had to go leave to visit relatives.
Just a horrific experience compared to Switch.
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Except for the drifting joycons problems. We had to replace many. Hope Switch2 fixes that drift.
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At this point I'd be hard pressed to consider this over my Steam Deck. We will see the specs later but I doubt it will really compete processing-wise or screen-wise.
The openness (full arch desktop) of the Steam Deck is also awesome while having a great UI that you never have to leave if you don't want to.
EDIT: I mistakenly called it "fedora desktop", my bad
For the last few generations (since the Wii), you don't buy a Nintendo for the processing power. They haven't competed on processing power since the Gamecube. After the Gamecube generation, you bought a Nintendo for the exclusive games and that was it. Mario, Pokemon, Zelda, and others. Nintendo knows that their draw is just the games, and uses a lot of lawyers to make sure that normal gamers can't play those games on the Steam Deck. If you want to play what Nintendo has to offer on the Steam Deck you have to install an emulator and Nintendo has made sure that normal people would rather drop $300 on a Switch instead of risk legal issues.
Edit: I suppose that some people would also say the intuitive controls (motion control introduced on the Wii, dual screens (and touchscreen) on DS and WiiU, and detachable controllers on the Switch) have some draw, but those features have often been under-utilized except on a few titles.
I agree with you, for most people the Switch is the better/easier option if they are just looking to play a Nintendo-exclusive. Emulators aren't that difficult to set up on Steam Deck and you can easily launch the games from the Steam UI but nothing beats the plug and play of the Switch and double-y so if you are playing networked games.
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I am willing to pay $300 for the privilege of paying $60 each for their games. No joke.
This take is correct as the primary measure. Its certainly why I bought one!
However computing juices really started to matter to me since that first buy …8 years ago? Ive been told this by other switch owners too. Some xplatform games get ported to switch and do end up being worse. Witcher 3, which ive beaten on switch, was repurchased on PC to play over steamlink because the switch was slow/choppy/lossy. Switch1 was precovid. Id imagine that many of us now want BOTH. Great content and great specs
The Steam Deck (which I have and love) is also far from a great experience docked, though I'm hopeful that a lot of those edges get ironed out over time.
I also wouldn't give my young kids a Steam Deck, but they will definitely be getting the Switch 2.
Nintendo does not compete on specs. They rely on the fact that fun is pretty much orthogonal to bleeding edge graphics.
They use that awareness and take advantage of simpler graphics to trade off processing power for features (portability, novelty) and profit (60>=usd games).
From time to time they also remind us that little hardware can do a lot if it's not running Chrome on a trench coat, and instead care is put in optimising things.
This is a pretty important point, and one that I'm mystified that a lot of people seem not to agree with. It doesn't matter if you're playing on a glorified smartphone with thumbsticks if the game is good enough. Moreover, having a selling point of state-of-the-art graphics today will turn into a _disadvantage_ in 5-10 years when newer games look even better; something designed to look good today with "lower quality" graphics is going to hold up better because it already is being compared to stuff taking advantage of every ounce of the latest save greatest hardware.
This is true. But high specs are a big win anyway if it opens up access to a bigger library of 3rd party games.
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For a while Nintendo didn't have a competition in handheld market. If you wanted a handheld gaming device you only had Switch.
Now Steam deck easily competes on fun with Nintendo, because a lot of people have massive decades old steam libraries and constant supply of newest and greatest indie games, and quite a lot of power to play fairly modern titles.
This is hard to compete with because Nintendo likes you to pay for games you've already bought on their platform in past, including old NES and SNES roms (which are super embarassing to ask money for imo).
The only drawback of Steam Deck is that it's a fairly big and bulky.
Buying Switch 2 just for a odd once in every 5 years exclusive Zelda game is a pretty hard sell.
I just don’t hear the word orthogonal used in this context enough. Refreshing
SteamOS is Arch, Bazzite is Fedora if you want a more Fedora experience.
I agree mostly because I find myself playing a lot of smaller games these days, and it's much easier for devs to release and patch their games on Steam than it is a Nintendo platform. They also have a much friendlier refund policy.
For the masses though, a Nintendo system just works. I can hand a Switch to my daughter and know she can play Nintendo games with little bullshit, it's easy to play couch co-op, the parental controls are very solid, etc.
In terms of hardware it's ARM and Nvidia, which is a solid foundation, and Nintendo titles look great without being technically demanding. I fully expect to see a 60 FPS Zelda game that uses DLSS upscaling to look great on my 4K TV. The Steam Deck is somewhat limited by FSR2.
> SteamOS is Arch, Bazzite is Fedora if you want a more Fedora experience.
Oops, edited, thank you!
> I agree mostly because I find myself playing a lot of smaller games these days
Same here, I play mostly indie <$20 games and have a blast doing it. These games would (almost) never launch on the Switch (or any console). Either that or I'm playing games that would never work well on the Switch (like Factorio, yes I know there is a port and I've also tried on my steam deck and it sucks, you need a mouse/keyboard IMHO).
> For the masses though, a Nintendo system just works. I can hand a Switch to my daughter and know she can play Nintendo games with little bullshit, it's easy to play couch co-op, the parental controls are very solid, etc.
Agreed, this is huge, I wouldn't recommend a steam deck to the average person, just tech people mostly.
> They also have a much friendlier refund policy.
I can see why steam has an easier refund policy. It’s easy to buy a game that doesn’t work well (or at all) on your hardware.
But the switch shouldn’t have this issue, and that’s basically only reason I would ever return a game.
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Isn't the point of owning a switch to play games that aren't on the Steam Deck? Zelda, Mario, etc.?
With emulators those games can also be played on the Steam Deck.
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One could in theory switch from Steam to Switch platform, rebuying everything. Doesn't make a ton of sense from PC gamer standpoint but that's PC gamer standpoint.
I have both and they certainly each have their place. The Steam Deck has a much wider variety of games and can handle heavier graphics loads, but it is too heavy to be all that comfortable for handheld use, and the Switch is in my mind the undisputed champion of local multiplayer (more portable controllers, controller connections Just Work, good variety of local multiplayer games, etc).
The point of a Nintendo system will always be Nintendo games.
If that is not enough then by all means press on with Steam Deck.
One might imagine, the design of the games are an intricate part of the companies core competencies. The impressive part is a next generation carrying through with the art.
The only reason I have a Switch is to play Nintendo games. They are only available there, and will continue to be only available on Switch 2. Steam deck offers nothing, by comparison.
I have a Steam Deck and agree, but I think this is more for kids and younger people.
It’s for people who play Nintendo games first of all.
I think that while this sentiment is very real for a lot of folks who are into the Steam Deck, that doesn't mean the Switch doesn't have its own unique advantages.
- The Nintendo software catalog. Sure, you can emulate on the Steam Deck, but it's a chore and far from perfect, and for most people who do it that is piracy.
- The Switch is far less bulky, and has better battery life, less noise. ARM architecture is very well-suited to mobile gaming.
- The docking mechanism is seamless and the dock is included with the device. Games are designed around that functionality specifically, e.g., you won't have controller or display configuration issues on a Switch because it's all pre-configured.
- The price is almost certainly lower.
- You can buy physical game cartridges and resell them, which is a big advantage for fans of physical media.
- The Steam Deck does rely on a lot on its compatibility software with PC games, and while it's mostly a non-issue there it's not by any means a perfect catalog. If you get a Switch, all Switch software is going to work and was made for and tested on a Switch.
I think there's also a certain amount of "jank" to the Steam Deck.
Don't get me wrong it is a super cool console and pushes a lot of boundaries, but you don't really 100% know whether a title is going to run the way you want it to on the steam deck.
The switch is a more curated experience, you can pretty much expect every game to run properly, going to put caveat for very heavy graphic cross platform title like the new Harry Potter game, etc.
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> You can buy physical game cartridges and resell them, which is a big advantage for fans of physical media.
This isn't much of an advantage anymore since they used NAND memory and you get like 10 years of shelf life before bit rot starts to set in.
https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-switch/switch_a...
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Maybe somebody wants to play assassins creed without uplay bullshit.
I hate to be the “um.. actually” guy, but isn’t steamdeck running on read only Arch system rather than Fedora? I have one but I only game on it.
Oops, edited, thank you!
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Relevant: https://www.nintendo.com/successor/en-us/index.html
Nintendo Direct focused on Switch 2: Apr 2nd.
Looks like joy-cons will have 'mouse-like' functionality and there's a 'C' on right joy-con but its functionality is not reveled. New Mario Kart showcased would probably be one of the first exclusives.
That was a new mario kart? it looked like mario kart 8 to me.
A few details are quite different from 8, notably the boost and character animations, it's definitely a new game.
Marketing will be difficult, MK8 already peaked graphically and has 96 tracks, and will still work on Switch 2. I hope they'll find real selling points for MK9.
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There are 24 starting positions visible while MK8 only supported 12-player races.
Donkey Kong has a new design, it’s definitely the new game.
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Karts look different from 8
That's not one of the gazillion Mario Kart 8 tracks.
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Leaks say C is Campus, equal to the PS share button.
I was honestly a bit disappointed this wasn't revealed in a Nintendo Direct.
"Nintendo Direct: New games in 2025" would have been the perfect setup for a "and one more thing"-moment.
> "and one more thing"-moment
That's so cliche and cringe nowadays, but the reason they didn't wait to do that is probably because of all the leaks. The specs, the name, photos of the console and internal components all leaked. Even the fan renders people were making turned out to be pretty damn accurate (https://www.reddit.com/r/NintendoSwitch/comments/1i008os/nin...)
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I’m glad to see Nintendo found a form factor that’s kind of gimmicky that actually worked. The Wii and Wii U were too gimmicky, but portability was a great choice. I’m also glad to see backwards compatibility.
I’m excited to see what kind of hardware improvements have been made. The switch came out in March 2017, just about 8 years ago. Just due to the way Nintendo games have their animated charm, they’re able to make their games look excellent on that hardware still. That said, I’d love to see how good a Zelda game looks on some new hardware.
The Wii was on the of the best selling consoles of all time? I believe only surpassed by the PS2.
Is the gimmicky a personal opinion or something you believe didn’t resonate with customers?
"Gimmicky" in the sense that they used movement controls and that's non-standard in the industry and went away mostly afterwards. I'm considering anything that isn't a traditional stationary control (keyboard + mouse or controller) as "gimmicky" or out of the ordinary.
In terms of sales, you're absolutely right - the Wii crushed it. I'd be curious to know about usage and software sales though. Maybe I'm wrong (very possible), but almost everyone I knew had a Wii at some point, but they didn't use it outside of a family toy with a few games when they first got it. I'd still consider that a win for Nintendo compared to less sales, but I'd imagine the average Xbox 360 or PS3 had a lot more software sales per console.
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Looks like the DS and switch both sold about 50m more units.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_best-selling_game_co...
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Fifth best selling of all time and most successful of its generation, per Wikipedia.
> That said, I’d love to see how good a Zelda game looks on some new hardware.
Hopefully they'll go back and update their major Switch titles to leverage the new hardware. BOTW and TOTK look fantastic in an emulator with the resolution and framerate cranked much higher than the original Switch hardware could handle, even without updating any of the assets.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ex2iIvuc78k
I personally don't have much faith that Nintendo will do that, _but_ I hope I'm wrong. That would be wonderful. Also just removing some of the lag from those games (and the Link's Awakening remake was pretty bad) would be a big win.
The Wii was a huge success and the Wii U was a step toward the Switch, which combines the best of both of those consoles.
> which combines the best of both of those consoles.
Minus the dual screen of the Wii U, which was awesome. It'd be cool if the Switch 2's dock could work independently of the console, so that you could have a reverse Wii U- experience with it. The dual screen setup can be a neat gimmick for gameplay, but it's biggest strength is the convenience that comes from having a second screen closer to your face. You can have less visual clutter on the main screen, and reduce the amount of menus players need to click through.
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> I’m glad to see Nintendo found a form factor that’s kind of gimmicky that actually worked.
I don't quite understand this comment. Parents will be unable to tell the difference (like parents buying their kids Xbox One S when Xbox Series S came out, really bad naming increment with form factor so similar), and other comments here note this Switch 2 is a regression to less quirk.
What's the gimmicky part of this that caught your eye you feel like they found in Switch 2?
My words definitely could've been better. I was referring to "portability" as the gimmick here since it's not the norm in the industry for primary console. Nintendo did handhelds for years, but that was also a secondary thing to their primary consoles. Having their only console also be handheld was what I was referring to as the gimmick here, but I understand the argument that that's not a gimmick.
As for naming, I think it'll be fine since they're using numbers. I'm not in the position of a middle aged parent who's getting a gift for a child, but the fact that Sony has successfully done it for this long makes me feel that it'll work.
Add a letter to the end is awful though. It took me a bit to nail down the Series X vs Series S Xboxs (granted, I haven't owned an Xbox in over a decade). The Wii U definitely confused people as well.
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I think parents will have no problem with the concept of a Thingie N+1 and most of those stories came from either XBOX's insane naming or from Wii->Wii U.
The gaming industry is much more mature and settled than the past when Nintendo could mess around with a crazy new gimmick every new console release.
People expect backwards compatibility now, and the Switch has such a mature software library, it would be a waste to throw it out. And it'll be harder than ever to re-sell people a port of a game from a few years ago that looks basically identical to how it did before (though Sony's been trying)
I'm looking forward to this, and I hope Nintendo patches OG Switch games to take advantage of the new hardware. It's a shame the only (official) method of playing the new Zeldas gets you frequently chugging along at like 15fps.
> The switch came out in March 2017, just about 8 years ago. Just due to the way Nintendo games have their animated charm, they’re able to make their games look excellent on that hardware still.
Even more impressive, the SoC in the Switch is from about 2013 I believe.
Arg, they make the screen look absolutely huge with that large front glass panel during most of the video and I was thinking to myself, nice! But then at the end they actually show how large the bezels are underneath the glass and it is quite disappointing. Someday we'll have modern smartphone like mini-bezels (a few mm at most) in our handheld gaming consoles, but I guess not yet.
Screen estate all to the edge of the device can be annoying too, just a wrinkle on your clothes will then cover a bit of the screen.
Play with no clothes on, problem solved.
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It's not a tablet. It has physical controllers. You don't use a switch by grabbing the screen.
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Gotta leave something for the Nintendo Switch 2 OLED
And upsell a magnifying lens to make the screen bigger.
/s
(1) https://www.thevintagegamers.com/2013/11/game-boy-screen-mag...
I’ll never understand why people hate bezels so much. They have no bearing on the screen size, but merely offer a basis for comparison when you’re looking at the screen.
What's not to understand? If the bezels were smaller, either the screen would be larger or the system would be smaller. Both are desirable.
Personal opinion, but I didn't really have that reaction. That screen is still significantly bigger than the Switch 1.
Honestly it looks like a great size and if the bezels were smaller, it might be a problem to grip the device (with joycons detached) without hitting the touch screen.
The switch isn't a handheld though. It's way too big to be a viable replacement for a 3DS in that regard, Nintendo just gave up on that market segment for whatever reason.
Phones have a lot of that market covered, and the Switch Lite gets close enough for a lot of people who want something other than a phone.
I guess Nintendo don't see enough left over space to bother trying.
Oh, sneaky! I fell into the trap without even realizing. Thanks for pointing it out!
Maybe they wanted more battery life without making it thicker? I want to see what the teardown looks like.
Do we know if the aspect ratio is the same? Maybe they're demonstrating Switch 1 games that have a slightly different aspect ratio, but can be updated to fit the new screen in the future?
That's a new Mario Kart game they're showing on the screen, not the Switch 1 version.
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Microbezels are aesthetically great but practically horrible.
Having some practical space to grab onto wins at the end of the day, we presumably use these things instead of having one sit looking happy on a bookshelf.
> Having some practical space to grab onto wins at the end of the day,
I guess I hold onto the controller parts on the sides, not the center component. It isn't a tablet.
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At the same time, a larger handheld to fit those big bezels is unfortunate because we don't have a proper replacement for the gameboy/ds line.
Relieved that they are just iterating instead of trying to go for something radically different like they did. Everybody is pretty happy with the current feature set, just add some stuff and get a nice power upgrade in there and you're all set for another 6 years.
I'm a bit sad. They could at least make the controls a bit funny.
Wasn't expecting it to actually be called "Switch 2", but I'm glad they stuck to a name that makes sense.
It's possibly the most normal successor name they've ever chosen. I like it. I'm picturing someone suggesting "Switch U" and getting thrown out the window like in that meme comic, even though he's often used as the voice of reason...
I still like Famicom > Super Famicom as the best successor name, but having to go back that far to find some competition for naming probably says something.
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Agree. PlayStation 1...5 has worked well for Sony. XBOX is a mess (I am an XBOX guy myself).
The problem with Xbox naming is that names are both inconsistent and too similar to each other. Aside from the Wii/Wii U debacle, Nintendo console names haven't been consistent, but they have been distinct. It's easy to remember that the GameCube and the Wii aren't the same thing.
Xbox, though, it's just the word Xbox followed by arbitrary numbers, maybe with the letter S or X thrown in for fun. I have no idea why they thought Xbox Series X wouldn't confuse people right after the Xbox One X.
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They could have gone by release year (Xbox 01, Xbox 05, Xbox 10, etc.)
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I was also expecting they would fumble marketing again and call the new console something like 'Switch U', but it seems they really learned their lesson there.
Or worse, "New Switch".
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Swiitch 2 U
I'm glad they finally learned to use sensible names. I guess it took the failure of the Wii U for them to realize they should just keep it simple if they want to be sure it's easy for consumers to understand what the product is.
I think this is because it is kinda an iteration instead of a totally new wild gimmick.
They could have at least gone with "Super Switch" or something like that.
They tried something similar with the New Nintendo 3DS but a lot of people got confused.
Sure, "new" is probably one the worst words you could use. But I don't think "super" would be better. And even if they did use "super" how do you name the next console ?
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I wanted Super Nintendo Switch :) but Switch 2 is fine.
"Switcheroo"
A little sad about the lack of a rail compatible with charging existing controllers. Hopefully it's compatible with current gen controllers anyway given how expensive they are.
One of my favorite parts about the Xbox Series generation of consoles is that it's fully compatible with the previous Xbox One controllers.
It would be amazing if they could get their multi-gen multi-console save-sync to work nearly as well as Microsoft's so I could switch back and forth between my existing Switch and Switch 2 seamlessly but I doubt that's in the cards, this is Nintendo were talking about.
I might throw a party to smash my joy cons. Some of the worst quality control in my long history of owning hardware, and from a company previously famous for that trait. Good riddance.
It always shocked me that for how bad the joycons were, the "Pro Controller" was one of the best controllers I've ever used. I don't know how they managed to nail one and get the other so wrong.
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The rumour has it the older joycons can still be used wirelessly, just not physically connected.
This would be extremely welcome news. Local multiplayer has always been Nintendo's bread and butter, so being able to keep using controllers from the previous system is a huge boon. Also means not having to invest in a new 'Pro' controller hopefully.
So how are you going to charge them then? Have the old Switch 1 lying around as a charging station?
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I wonder if they have a new control technique up their sleeve. Innovative gameplay and pushing new control ideas is one of Nintendo’s signatures. That said, being the switch 2, not a new console, maybe they kept it the same and just upgraded the processing and graphics hardware.
Looking forward to more!
Both controllers have optical sensors (visible in the trailer), confirming the rumors that they'll have mouse like functionality. Remains to be seen if games will actually bother to implement it or if it'll remain a curiosity that only a handful of titles support.
For action games doesn't look like a good option. But i think it will be used if it works well on any surface.
Probably there will be a resurgence of point and click adventure games pushed by the new mouse functionality (or even republish some old sierra/lucas arts stuff with mouse support).
Also may be useful for pc ports like simcity clones and strategy games (i could use that in civ).
Some propietary nintendo stuff will use it like mario maker or wario ware, some zelda dungeon probably will have a gimmick around it. And also some small indy third party stuff, like i don't know, mini motorways, things like that, will be built arround it.
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All it does it confirm that they have something there. The Wii used a sensor to detect where it was pointing, the Switch had an IR camera for a variety of weird gimmicks, the NES and SNES had light-detecting "guns". Hell, it could even be an IR blaster like the Wii U Gamepad had, and not a sensor at all. We just don't know yet.
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> confirming the rumors that they'll have mouse like functionality.
The idea of controlling a game with two mice is suddenly interesting to me.
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I remember how fun it was to use that in Wii based Metroid Prime games. Hoping they return this feature in creative ways!
RTS and 4x could be way better with the use of a mouse.
Innovation is their way, but they're still burned a LOT by the Wii U. Now they've managed to find something that works, I think they'll stick with it for at least the Switch 2, maybe the 3 as well.
The Switch wouldn't exist if they hadn't first experimented with that form factor with the Wii U. The innovation and risk of the Wii U paid off for them in the long run.
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Wii U seems like it was a useful stepping stone to the Switch.
Looks like the sliding controllers bit means that they will work like a computer mouse.
It's probably too much to hope for to get more Labo sets, but a guy can dream, can't he?
Forgot all about Labo. The amount of wild experiments Nintendo has shipped is admirable.
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I hope I'll be able to pre-order one. I don't even care if they ship it right away. Promise me one within the first 2 or 3 years and I would be happy.
I know I'm going to want one and I know they are going to be snapped up by scalpers and be hard to buy at first. Fine. I just don't want to go through the stupid check Amazon, then GameStop, then BestBuy, then Walmart dance. Just let me order one and then not worry about it.
I read recently their plan is to produce enough so they are always in stock.
Bravo on them making the video 2:22 for Switch 2.
Edit: the mobile web version of the same video shows as 2:21. Interesting YouTube bug!
3 2's? Are you saying Half-Life 3 will be a launch title?
Switch 2
Switch is 6 characters long, 6 divided by 2 is 3
Half Life 3 confirmed.
It had quite a bit of dead space in the video, especially at the start. Recall the first switch trailer which was completely different stylistically.
It seems like the days of revolutionary consumer electronics are over.
This looks nice, for sure. But it’s really more of the same. Not surprising. It does surprise me that there’s such emphasis on it, though. There’s the name, of course, and then the entire video is based around “it’s the same thing but a little better.”
Game console updates used to be big deals. The SNES was a revolution. PS2 was huge. Now… PS5? What’s different from PS4, again? Is there a 6? What’s different about that?
I don’t blame Nintendo or the others. I have no idea what they could do here they would be revolutionary. I think the design space has just been thoroughly explored by now and that’s where we are.
This pattern repeats all over the place. TVs are maxed out, with better visual quality than people care about, and size limited by wall space. Computers get a little faster every year. This year’s phones are last year’s phones with a minor performance bump and slightly better cameras. And again, I don’t see what they can do better, and that’s probably how it has to be at this point.
But it’s still a little shocking to see a company lean so far into the theme of “we made incremental improvements to this thing we released 8 years ago.”
> Game console updates used to be big deals. The SNES was a revolution. PS2 was huge.
There are two categories of "big deal". The SNES and PS2 were big deals simply because game graphics had so much headroom for improvement. Now that the low-hanging fruits of color palette, resolution, frame rate, texture quality, animation quality, and geometric complexity have all been squeezed, the improvements are more asymptotic.
The other "big deal" category is gimmicks. I would argue that while it is a hallmark of Nintendo, the gimmicks have flopped as often as not. Most of Nintendo's big sellers were fairly conventional. (The most glaring exceptions being the original Game Boy, the Wii, and the Switch.) I'm glad they do the gimmicks, but I'm also glad they don't only do the gimmicks.
But those are three hells of exceptions (can you actually do that in English? I was trying to pluralize "a hell of an exception").
They are the 3rd, 4th and 7th best selling consoles of all time. And you forgot the dual screen in the DS (2nd best selling of all time).
Maybe many of the gimmicks flopped, but others wildly succeeded and Nintendo wouldn't be what it is without them. In fact, it probably wouldn't even make consoles by now, following the fate of Sega.
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Exactly. For a while you could have huge improvements from better hardware. Then there were some cool new gimmicks. Now both of those seem to be played out.
And that’s happening across the board. All the stuff I’d go ogle in Best Buy as a teenager is now basically maxed out both in terms of hardware and gimmicks.
>The SNES was a revolution
Nintendo has actually stated they view the SNES as a evolution of the NES. They have directly stated their hardware development cycle goes Revolution>Evolution>Revolution. Considering that the Switch was considered one of their revolutionary leap (their first hybrid console) it is no surprise the Switch 2 is a simple evolution of that concept. If their next console is another iteration of the Switch THEN it is safe to say they are no longer aiming to revolutionize their hardware.
Edit: After tons of searching I am starting to think that I am misremembering thing. I think this idea came about from the Wii's 'Revolution' code name and I Mandela Effected myself into think there was a interview we're either Miyamoto or Iwata talked about this being there philosophy when designing system.
That really sounds like something someone made up in marketing.
The Wii came about because an independent company pitched motion control technology to Nintendo and they liked it and licensed it. Not because of the 3d chess game of going from "evolutions" to "revolutions".
The Switch came about because it's less expensive to make software for a single hardware unit than a separate handheld and console and this became an issue as games got more expensive to make.
I’d be curious to know when they said that. It sounds like revisionist history to me.
Based on the switch launch video, the delta between the NES and SNES was much higher than Switch -> Switch 2.
Here’s an analogous snes ad, which spends most of its time showing off 3d and increased sprite counts:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=eSBFw93V3Rg
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I apologize, I tried to find the interview were this was stated but unfortunately search engines are terrible now and no matter how hard I try I only get news about the Switch 2 or old stories about when the Wii has code named Revolution. Feel free to not take my word that this was actually stated.
> PS2 was huge
PS2 was literally just an iteration on the PS1. More powerful console, DVD instead of CD, and that was it. Nothing really new there.
Hell, the Switch 2 is more innovative than the PS2 was in terms of iteration on a previous console.
“More powerful” was enough to be a step change at the time. You’d get huge improvements in image quality, realism, and immersion.
Now, compare a new game with one from ten years ago. The new one looks a little better. Not much.
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PS1 launched without analog controls. This was later available as a newer controller for PS1, but if we count that as a PS2 base feature it's a nice innovation on PS1 at launch.
> More powerful console, DVD instead of CD, and that was it
Wrong. PS2 had pressure sensitive buttons, hard drives/linux, network multiplayer, camera, etc..
This all comes down to what the hardware improvements can mean in practice. It's not as if hardware isn't moving up, but that the new kinds of things double the hardware unlocks are much smaller than they used to be.
This is best seen on the PC market. What a gaming desktop today has running on it is, compute wise, unimaginably stronger than the best available 10-20 years ago. The increases in hardware just keep coming. But there's limits on how much more you can get out of being able to push more polygons, or to put more pixels on screen. We can do all kinds of extra photorealistic things in real time that before would have to be done only in movies, and rendered in server farms for weeks at a time. But the increased difficulty doesn't quite match how impressive the extra effects are.
You can also notice this by just playing old games, and seeing how they hold up. We can make 2d pixel art games that are much better than what a SNES could do, but many of those games still hold up just fine. Meanwhile most 3d games of the Playstation and even the PS2 era are downright painful, because the increases in power between generations back then lead to big practical differences in capability. A ps5 is much stronger than a ps4, hardware wise, but it didn't unlock much at all. All the extra power can get you cooler reflections on cyberpunk, and you can go even further with a PC that has over $1000 in video cards in it. But those reflections and atmospheric effects are eating up as much hardware as the rest of the game.
It’s some of each. Hardware is improving substantially slower than it used to. And at the same time, what you get out of better hardware has hit steeply diminishing returns.
> But it’s still a little shocking to see a company lean so far into the theme of “we made incremental improvements to this thing we released 8 years ago.”
It's certainly more 'shocking' to see Nintendo do it than, say, Microsoft or Sony. But Nintendo hasn't always introduced huge new changes with a console bump — NES->SNES wasn't particularly revolutionary, and there were certainly no gimmicks there. I think it's a very understandable reaction to a) the Wii U b) the enormous success of the Switch
NES->SNES didn’t do much with the form factor or the controls, but technologically it was an enormous leap. That’s the sort of thing that just can’t happen anymore, since video game technology is pretty much maxed out. You can always make things a little bit prettier, or have a little better framerate, but nothing too interesting.
I suppose VR/AR is the one area where something big could still happen. The current state of the art there is far from the “mostly limited by the size of your wall” stage.
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The Super Nintendo had totally new controllers and was top-loading. The UX was substantially different than the original Nintendo's VCR-style design.
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Hold up, what's the "revolution" between the PS1 and PS2? More processing power?
You could argue that no consoles in the Xbox or Playstation line are revolutionary, as they're the same format as the original SNES just with more buttons and processing power.
I would say the major shifts in controller type is simply a much rarer change than simple spec upgrades.
A lot more processing power, at a time where that made a huge difference in the graphics.
I've found more incredible improvements in AI than in consumer electronics these days. I'm still daily surprised at just how good ChatGPT is at understanding my pretty complex queries.
Maybe that will be the next big thing in games. Finally deliver on the promise of living, breathing worlds, instead of breaking the illusion when the character scripts start to repeat and you realize “your choices matter” means you can pick from one of three different endings.
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Kinda tells us nothing, but I guess they got fed up with their supply chain leaking absolutely everything about the physical device before they could announce stuff.
I guess the direct will be interesting when they show some actually software and we can get a bit of a handle on what the device can actually do (although the MORE POWER type people are going to be disappointed, probably).
At least we know for sure that it's backwards compatible with the old Switch.
This has been announced back in November: https://x.com/NintendoCoLtd/status/1853972163033968794; though if you're not extremely plugged in, it has been rather easy to miss.
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That was a very enjoyable trailer - visuals and sound both. That being said, the new Switch looks less ... "fun" than the existing Switch.
I know it's perhaps a silly thing to nitpick on, but the general look of Switch 2 with its darker, Steam Deck-ish joycons don't look as fun as the first one to me.
Current Switch with the neon blue/red joycons had its own character, and IIRC that color combination was what Nintendo often marketed. This change makes it look like a MSI or ASUS product than a continuation of Nintendo's own line.
interesting you said that, because I was totally unimpressed and bored with it and thought, "Ok, so this it? So it's just the Switch, scaled up by 10%?"
It's not that I expected something groundbreaking, but if I had been the creative director I would have said that they need to focus on whatever was updated, e.g., graphics or performance since effectively nothing major has changed.
At the end of the video they announced a direct for the start of April. This video is just a teaser. I’m sure they will cover everything you mention in the direct.
Huh. I guess updated ergonomics / QoL stuff and confirmation of backwards compatibility counts as enough of an update over the last hardware refresh. But zero info on anything that could actually make this worth a buy. Granted, this feels like Nintendo who will do anything to not get dragged into PS/XBOX flops discussions. But without any real upgrade or even games announcements, I suppose most people will keep holding off their purchase decisions for now.
> But zero info on anything that could actually make this worth a buy.
Obvious answer: no more game released on Switch 1 so you want a Switch 2 if you want to play new games.
That's work well enough for Playstation/Xbox.
The difference with the other consoles mentioned is that it's portable, and the time already made clear (with Switch 1 and Steam Deck) there is a massive need.
Practically, yes, this is the main differentiator. But still it would be interesting to see some specs. Is the GPU 15% better, 50%, what? The switch came out 7 years ago... there is opportunity for some fairly serious performance improvements even in the mobile form factor.
Clearly it's the same basic platform. And I think that's fine - they've really cornered a pretty big niche of mobile (ish), motion controls, family.
I suspect the larger screen size is because more people are using the mobile aspect in their home, not out on the subway or something.
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wrt portability - this console will be competing with a healthy market of PC handhelds, which Xbox is preparing to enter soon.
In a couple years we'll have a new console war between Switch 2, Steamdeck 2, and Xbox portable.
This is where your first point is critical. People who want to play Mario/Zelda/Pokemon etc will buy the console, regardless of form factor.
Obviously, new games are still being regularly released for PS4 4+ years after PS5's release. For this reason, I haven't bought a PS5.
The original Switch was released 7 years ago. I don't think Nintendo needs to justify the upgraded model. It simply is the Nintendo Switch, and we now know they can make it last for a VERY long time. I think that's enough.
This is a just first look trailer so yes I think most people have no choice but to hold off on a purchase decision
I saw a larger screen and exclusive titles for the switch 2. As with everything else in gaming I am expecting modest bumps in performance and since this is Nintendo it will sell very well and have Mario and Zelda releases that get 9/10 reviews on all the usual sites.
The gaming industry has been going through these cycles for decades. If you had a previous Nintendo system and still like to play video games, odds are good you’ll end up with one of these sooner or later too.
> most people have no choice but to hold off on a purchase decision
Probably all people, right? Who decides to buy the thing based on this sneak peek and then when it comes out and has some deal-breaking flaw says “oh no siree, I already made my decision when I saw the trailer months ago and I’m sticking to it no matter what”?
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The great thing about how Nintendo approaches games is that it is about game design, not triangles per second.
Great in theory, but only really works for first party games and does mean you occasionally end up with unfortunate situations like Tears of the Kingdom where it runs better on an emulator than the actual hardware.
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Coming from a modern console, the first hour of Tears of the Kingdom felt painfully sluggish.
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I was about to say...
I'll geek out on the specs once they're leaked or announced or reverse engineered, but also I sorta don't care. It's going to be a solid upgrade over the Switch 1, which is already a lot of fun as long as you're not looking to play contemporary AAA titles from other systems.
But then I thought...
Hmmm. If it's powerful enough to essentially be "portable PS4 era level hardware" then that really increases the number of quality third-party titles we'll see ported over. Sure, they won't be latest and greatest PS5 era level AAA stuff. But they might be last generation's AAA stuff and that could be a very very very solid addition to this thing.
We know the first party Nintendo games will be good, so, the ability (or not) to actually get good ports from other systems (even if not the latest) is pretty compelling.
They supposedly had this console ready to ship a year or even two ago. Rumor is the reason they are releasing it this year is to have a decent catalogue of games lined up for launch and launch window.
That makes it even weirder why they would only show a few short hints of one possible new Mario Kart game. The original switch reveal had glimpses of new Zelda, Mario and even the first portable version of Skyrim.
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which makes complete sense, no?
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I'm no Nintendo fan but I still find this criticism unfair as it's simply the design reveal and a date of when more information will be provided (April 2, 2025).
Interesting, as an American, I read the date in the video (02.04.2025) as February 4th, 2025 (I agree that the DD/MM/YYYY format makes more sense, but dates are commonly listed MM/DD/YYYY everywhere here). It makes me realize when doing a worldwide release, it's important to be as explicit on the date as possible.
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on the other side, it could be a big plus for new comers into the Nintendo Switch platform
I really wonder how big that market can be. I mean, for people who still haven't gotten a switch or steam deck or anything similar until now, how likely is this going to change their mind?
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I mean, it's almost certainly got updated hardware too right? The Tegra in the OG switch is getting pretty long in the tooth. This isn't just a hardware refresh, it's a whole new console
New Mario Kart
> But without any real upgrade or even games announcements, I suppose most people will keep holding off their purchase decisions for now.
It's not for sale yet—they haven't even announced when it will be for sale. So what purchasing decision are you talking about?
"This year we put a 12 on the box"
I'm so glad that they named this the "Switch 2" instead of going with something really stupid like "Switch U". It's simple and it immediately explains to the consumer what the product is.
I know. My mind is blown. I was convinced they wouldn't be able to resist the temptation to name it something stupid.
Switch 2? Switch to what?
To the Switch 2, obviously.
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2 switch 2 switch 2
Will Switch 2 games still use NAND memory that means your games will start failing after as little as 10-20 years of sitting on a shelf? https://www.nintendolife.com/forums/nintendo-switch/switch_a...
I'm guessing not. I don't there there any many or any manufacturers that make ROM chips with the size required for the games
I'll be really curious to see what the gpu specs are like since it'll likely be nvidia again. The original Switch was 720p but lets you bump up to 1080p when in docked mode, so developers had to restrict design to accommodate both modes, but nvidia could possibly do a dlss trick when plugged in so devs just need to worry about 1 render target that will get upscaled automagically.
DLSS is disappointing compared to actual resolution increases. It adds plenty of artifacts like shimmer, ghosting, occlusion issues. I’m expecting Nintendo to use it unfortunately.
Have you watched any of the recent videos about dlss 4?
It's using a different neural network for upscaling, and these issues seem to be massively reduced. It should be compatible back to at least the 20xx GPUs as well, not just the new 50xx GPUs. Maybe it'll be on the switch 2 as well.
I've only seen a few clips of Cyberpunk but they surprised me a lot. If that level of quality can work on other games too then it'll be a huge upgrade.
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They have to be using upscaling. No matter your feelings on it, it is the way everything is moving and will become a requirement to run any "AAA" game going forward soon enough.
They will likely leave it up to the developer and not us it too much in their own games.
Did they finally fix the early dying joysticks? Because that's the main issue of the switch.
The last time I tried to use my Switch, I realized that the joy cons are no longer usable separately. Seems the connection to the internal shoulder buttons is broken, and you can't reorient the controllers unless you can hold them both down.
I dropped my Switch from knee height, and now the left hand joycon is slightly loose and disconnects from too much upward pressure. Maybe the damage is on the joycon, but it seems more likely the mechanism (don't have a spare to test).
The new joycon connector looks more robust.
Rumor has it the Switch 2 has Hall-effect sticks. Here's hoping.
Shame the link isn't to https://www.nintendo.com/successor/ so it would attempt to pick a video with the most appropriate date format.
Definitely, I watched the UK version shared somewhere else and thought the direct was 2 months earlier than it was!
or just use month names like normal people
A lot of people here are criticising Nintendo not showing specific details here, seemingly forgetting a few key points:
That's what I wanted. An improved Switch. Waiting for the specs
Same here. Really hope it is more than what was rumoured, which was using some 6 years old tech.
Nintendo never really uses brand new tech. It's their design philosophy. https://medium.com/@adamagb/nintendo-s-little-known-product-...
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What was missing from games 6 years ago that current tech has made possible?
Besides more leaves on trees, of course.
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My number one wish for this iteration is more reliability out of the joycons.
There was a rumor about an optical sensor on the side of a joycon that would turn it into a mouse. Is this out of the equation? This would have been awesome!
Didn't you see the section where joycons appear to slide over a table? If anything, the video confirms the rumor
At 1:02 it shows the optical mouse sensor pretty clearly.
It would be awesome to have new Labo sets that make use of that sensor. But I suspect that Labo will not get a second chance, given that the first sets were seen as a failure (despite being really cool).
Yeah the sensors are there, you can see them if you look closely
> There was a rumor about an optical sensor on the side of a joycon that would turn it into a mouse. Is this out of the equation? This would have been awesome!
They literally depict them as mice at 1:12. Like the animal, or at least that's how I interpreted it before I even knew about this rumor from your comment.
Im not sure what the point is. Sure you can point and click but no keyboard? That's way lower input than simply using the joycon and all the buttons. Seems like a gimmick.
I love the Switch and will love the Switch 2. But this video feels so cheap. Didn’t enjoy the launch video at all.
My concern with this is that the joycob being larger won't fit the hands of younger kids anymore. The switch 1 joycon was the only one that allowed reaching the controller buttons and the stick (while held horizontally) for my 3 years old. All other controllers that exist are too big, clearly nobody tested with young children.
And I wish they had names for their arrow buttons, because when held horizontally it makes things very confusing: "press b" what is b?
Fair concern, but on the other hand joycons are seriously uncomfortable for people older than that because of how small they are. It seems reasonable for Nintendo to optimize for the common users, not the extreme minority of small children.
Of course, however adults can buy the Pro controller, but kids have no other option.
Just voicing my frustration with the gaming industry as a whole: there isn't a controller for kids, even the ones that claims to be are for 8+ I suspect.
I mean, maybe 3 year olds are simply too young to be playing video games?
It's a toy like any other, my son is great at playing Kirby, the game delivers some great family time (Kirby star allies is a 4-players game). Most of first-party nintendo games are also display a rating of "3+"
Have there been any leaks of the price yet?
We have gotten so much use out of our original switch I can't really imagine not picking it up, even if only to keep playing the games we already have.
I am sucker for Nintendo stuff. I can't imagine not getting it, but this trailer did not necessarily make me look forward to it more: It got a bit more generic in design, and I don't trust that controller attachment system.
I'll probably wait for the OLED version, which they will obviously release maybe 2-3 years down the line.
I have a steam deck right now which has more than enough games to keep me busy for a few more years.
On the other hand, I haven't finished Zelda BOTW yet nor even started TOTK.
A bigger one seems too bulky to me, I was thinking I'd rather have a tiny progress on performance and a smaller footprint.
The game is afoot.
There are many reasons why the portable factor is good, not least you can enjoy it riding the bus or laying in bed Saturday morning; you can play big games in spare minutes side by side with the rest of your life.
Sony's Vita was quite successful with titles like Killzone Mercenary which was as fun a shooter as you'll find on any platform, but Sony gave up on the form factor because of the phone fever sweeping the world. Fortunately the culturally Japanese games like Akiba's Trip, Persona, Fate/Extella, Hyperdimension Neptunia and such have jumped to Steam.
There's the Steam Deck and countless off-brand competitors, Microsoft is talking about a portable XBOX, Sony is planning a PS5P which sounds overly ambitious -- TV-attached consoles are becoming irrelevant when you can connect an XBOX controller to your PC and have a console experience, but much better, with Steam, GOG, Origin and other PC app stores.
> Sony's Vita was quite successful with titles like Killzone Mercenary which was as fun a shooter as you'll find on any platform, but Sony gave up on the form factor because of the phone fever sweeping the world.
I think they gave up on it when they realized they didn't have the resources to support both a console and a handheld with the rising costs of game development. Nintendo faced the same issue but they got rid of their console instead and designed their handheld to be able to be docked in order to get similar functionality.
I was so worried that Nintendo was going to make Switch backwards compatibility digital-only. I am very relieved.
This is a hardware reveal trailer. Nintendo likely released this because of all of the recent leaks, which have put their 3rd party accessory vendors in a weird position. More details will be revealed at the Nintendo Direct on the 2nd.
I can't wait to play all the new Switch 2 games on my Steam Deck
The single player games maybe
How do Switch users feel about the joycons?
I'm not a gamer, but the original Switch joycons always struck me as overly complicated and expensive. It should be cheaper to manufacture and sell Switches with the controllers attached. Indeed, this is what they did with the Switch Lite. For games that take advantage of joycon functionality, Nintendo could have sold something like an updated Switch version of the Wiimote as an optional accessory.
Do users who are happy with their Nintendo Switch have a favorable opinion of the joycons, or would you be happy without them?
The joy cons are fine, but I think them always being attached also removes the key benefit of the Switch. That was something that a lot of people talked about when the Switch Lite came out.
They could be better and given the limitations, I think they do the job. If you don't like them they offer the pro controller. But there have been times (especially when flying) that I have used them detached when not docked.
I honestly don't think the Switch would have succeeded the way it did if the controllers were always attached, forcing you to buy another controller for when you wanted to dock.
They are fine but they break very easily; after a while they start to "drift" and the games become unplayable.
I needed to repair one pair last year because the drift was unbearable; the repair costs almost as much as a new one. (And one started drifting again.)
I am not a heavy player at all and I got the drift.
I wish you could just turn off the sticks in the system software — it's a trivial fix that would make the problem a whole lot more bearable.
They have quality issues with stick drift, and the "single joycon as controller" setup is clearly designed for child-sized hands, but it's definitely an advantage to be able to play the system handheld but also have minimal extra to pack (just the rails widget) if I want to put it on a train table on the kickstand and the use the controllers more ergonomically.
And I mean, if you have kids, being able to double your controllers when they have friends around is also helpful to avoid arguments.
I was traveling through Asia with the original Switch and got a cute girl who didn't speak English to play Mario Kart with me on the ferry.
The detachable controllers were pretty magical, modulo the reliability problems.
I love that the controls are split between two hands. It makes certain types of lounging gameplay (e.g. one hand behind head) possible that aren't with single controllers.
I'm generally in favour of the joycons as a concept. They make multiplayer party games a breeze.
But the execution in the Switch 1 is flawed. They're on the small side, and generally fiddly. If the joycons for the Switch 2 are larger and just more ergonomic then I think it'll be a win.
EDIT: the joycons also being little motion wands was also quite good. You don't need a separate accessory like on the other consoles. Overall the joycon is a neat little package of functionality, if imperfect.
I think they're fine when mounted, but I use a the pro controller. Using them individually when you have people over sucks, but it's a neat way to turn one controller into two, so I can't throw too much hate.
That's if we're ignoring the absurd drift their sticks have that Nintendo has seemingly never fixed. I hope to god they fixed them in this next gen console.
They're nicer for a quick game of Mario Party or other casual game because you can just tear them off the system and have two players, but I wouldn't want to play anything serious with them.
I barely use the joycons.
I mostly play with either a Switch Pro Controller or an 8BitDo (that is actually my favorite).
I have large hands and the joycons are a little uncomfortable for me. But it makes sense, they should feel great in the hands of a child.
Everyone I know with a Switch uses it primarily attached to their TV in the dock and only secondarily as a portable. A separate controller seems necessary for that.
I agree that they are/were far too expensive, especially given the drift problems. Other than that, they're a neat bit of tech and, with the included 'grip' controller, I found them totally suitable for the first 6 months or so. After that, I got the Pro controller and never looked back. Last year, I picked up a CRKD Nitro and that is a massive upgrade on the Joy-Con.
They’re my favorite controller out of the ones in the market right now. I really enjoy being able to have one controller in each hand.
As others have said, their primary issue is with quality control around stick drift.
I love the Lite but it was kneecapped by not having video output.
I don't like them. They're too small to be comfortable for use on their own, and all they really enable is motion controls (meh). The pro controller is far superior and is 90% of my switch controller usage.
There are plenty of alternative controller options for the Switch, it's not that much of an issue.
For portable play, yes, the stick drift issues suck, but Nintendo will fix it for you. And yeah, most portable systems today overall just have better analog sticks.
But if I'm at home I'm going to be using a Pro controller or an 8bitdo or something like that.
A mouse with an analog controller will make for a very powerful 3D manipulator, like a 3DConnexion SpaceMouse. Combine with the improved kickstand, it will be interesting to see what devs come up with.
Everyone is going to buy one of these as soon as they can ship them to them, so if the thumb sticks could not be intentionally engineered to fail this time, that would be great, thanks.
So I can only guess the reason why they didn't mention how much more powerful NS2 is compared to NS1, is because it is not that much more powerful?
I would guess only 30 to 50% more powerful
If you believe the leakers [1]:
Switch 2 in comparison with the original Nintendo Switch:
[1] https://thegamepost.com/nintendo-switch-2-full-specs-appears...
How would that compare to other consoles, like the PS4/PS4 Pro?
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The leaks specs are [1]:
- ARM 8 Arm Cortex-A78C
- GPU: Nvidia T239 Ampere, 12 SM/1534 Cores
- 12 GB of ram.
Compared to Switch 1 [2]:
- ARM 4 Cortex-A57 cores @ 1.02 GHz
- GPU: NVIDIA Maxwell 256 cores
- 4 GB of ram.
It should like it should be a major boost in performance from those specs, like maybe 4x improvement overall?
Of course there are more pixels on this screen, so the amount of GPU per pixel may stay roughly the same.
[1] https://thegamepost.com/nintendo-switch-2-full-specs-appears... [2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nintendo_Switch
I’ve heard different leaks to the tune that it is actually significantly more powerful. Rationale being because Nintendo presumably finally needs to take 4k and higher frame rates seriously, and the hardware situation has improved enough for that to be possible under Nintendo’s philosophy (shit hardware with innovative and engaging gameplay). I mean their beloved launch title for the Switch had performance problems maintaining even 20fps at 720p. Pretty embarrassing.
No, it's because Nintendo prides itself to be about games, not about performance.
I think they've done something smart here by partnering with NVIDIA and given the success of the switch 1 they've probably built a good relationship.
So, although you're right, NVIDIA might be giving them a good performance/efficiency bespoke chip.
This was just a hype video, they didn’t mention anything other than “2025” and the date of the Nintendo Direct with more information.
That said, I’m not expecting it to be a giant step up in performance.
Have they mentioned anything? All they have done so far is show the hardware off and one new game, which for the record does look more detailed than its predecessor.
Missing 4K is notable in the current Switch.
Surprisingly big day for launches: New Glenn, Switch 2, Starship.
It's not a launch, just a (official) reveal.
Is the date April 2 or February 4?
2 April. This is the American trailer so the date is dumb
I hope they fix the issues with the controllers dying.
Looks like a new controller attachment system, maybe magnetic, except that doesn't seem robust enough for excited play.
I wonder what that means for spare controllers. It's a waste to make people go buy new extra controllers for multiplayer games. Maybe you can use your old Switch as a charger and pair via BT? Not nearly as nice as just sliding it on to pair, but hopefully reduces e-waste.
I would be surprised if older joycons can't be paired via BT.
There are already alternative ways to charge them, either charging stations or charging grip.
There seem to be a latch mechanism to keep it attatched. I would be surprised if it was designed to rely solely on magnets.
> except that doesn't seem robust enough for excited play.
Yeah. First thing I thought when they showed the controllers snapping in place was "I would definitely yank one of those out on accident while playing."
Pretty much all the rumours confirmed, and a Direct on 2nd April for more. It was nice to see the Joy-Con being all mouse-like, though.
Top comment says "There is a part of me that is going to miss the, do weird shit and see what works, Nintendo that brought us some really fun ideas."
I bet you that Nintendo will never release a Nintendo Switch 3. They do sequels in consoles (like they did the SNES), but after that they innovate.
Game Boy -> Game Boy Color -> Game Boy Advance
DS -> 3DS
NES -> Super Nintendo -> N64 -> GameCube
Wii -> Wii U
Definitely a pattern
Arguably the "gimmick" for the N64 -> GameCube was 3D games and "stock" analog stick, with the c-buttons on the N64 turning into the C-Stick on the GameCube. At launch both the PS1 and Saturn controllers were d-pad only.
Hopefully game saves will sync between Switch 1 and 2. It would not be great to have to restart games with 80+ hours or drag 2 consoles around with you to access your full Switch 1 library. I'm mildly optimistic given Switch 1 has online save backup capability for a lot of its games.
Nice, will we also get soon a Nvidia Shield 2 with Auto AI HDR etc. now that we have a new Nintendo Switch Nvidia CPU ?
As much as I would love this (not interested in a portable game console, but definitely interested in a new top-of-line set-top-box) I can't imagine this is what's been holding nVidia back on a Shield refresh.
If anything, the Switch was a way to sell a boatload of existing chips. They've had plenty of opportunity to put out a Shield 2 in the meantime, but instead have backed off their focus on game streaming and other main features of a set-top-box.
I'd love to see it happen, but I feel like the Shield is just not a big enough seller for them to put many resources behind an update. Prove me wrong, nVidia! TVs have only gotten worse in terms of embedded systems and software, and I don't have (or plan on) buying into the Apple ecosystem enough to make AppleTV compelling.
IIRC the whole reason Nvidia was not able to make a new Shield or Shield tablet was because all their chips were being used in the Switch, and the basically all used the same chip
We got a switch a few years ago and it collected dust. The shop is overpriced (and slow) and I guess we aren't really into their first-party titles. I don't see what it offers against a steam deck except the aforementioned first-party titles.
edit: except the aforementioned first-party titles
It offers the first-party titles, basically. If you don't want those then there's no reason to get one.
For me, Nintendo is the most reliable game developer these days. Every main Mario and Zelda game offers something new and executes it well on the first try. I'll buy Switch 2 for Mario and Zelda alone.
I tried BotW and it didn't really click. The food mechanics felt bolted on, just like the weapon durability stuff, and everything felt too easy/within reach. I guess I'm not the target, it's okay.
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The entire reason to buy the switch is the first party titles. If you don't like those/Nintendo games, the switch and all switch derivatives aren't going to be for you.
It offers first party titles, you said it yourself
The design changes showcased in the video are definitely a welcome improvement. As someone who owns both a Steam Deck and an OLED Switch, I find the Switch to be a bit too small for my hands, while the Steam Deck feels slightly large and bulky. Could the Switch 2 strike the perfect balance between the two?
I wish we could return to a Wii U like functionality where the switch could be used as a second screen when undocked. That was a really nice feature in games like Zelda where the controller in your hands displayed the inventory or a map.
Much like with the failed Macbook Touch Bar, I don't think it works having to look away and focus on another screen while playing a game.
Also like the Macbook Touch Bar, now you have a whole other thing developers have to target and test for an end result that should just be possible yet more efficient in the main app.
Take inventory for example. Instead you could just make it frictionless to open inventory in the main game and create quick-swap slots. Tears of the Kingdom is a good example. Swapping out arrows mid combat by looking at your controller would not be an improvement.
Yeah I played BOTW on the Wii U and remember at some point I just stopped bothering with the handheld screen.
I can't remember what game it was but I do remember having one game where the handheld add-on provided some functionality that seemed useful/fun. So it is possible, but much like the original wii's motion sensors - it is much more likely that developers will stumble across a bad application of the tech than a good one
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Might be possible if the Switch 2 contains a "cast" feature, but the cast landscape may be too incomplete and fractured (AirPlay, Chromecast, Miracast, etc.) for Nintendo to bother with that.
Couldn't the handheld pair with the dock with whatever protocol they want, and the dock is wired into the TV?
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Has anyone played any games besides Zelda / Mario Kart that actually felt complete and worth the money. I love love love the switch but getting really demoralized by the lack of titles I can play with friends; especially online.
Xenoblade is excellent, Metroid is excellent, Kirby is excellent. There are others but those are the primary ones which come to mind for me. Obviously they're all Nintendo games but that's what you get a Nintendo system for. You don't get it because it's the best option for playing third party games.
I've played Smash Ultimate probably more than any other game in my life.
Yes
Baba is You is great if you want additional demoralization
Bought it for 70% cheaper on my phone
Most Japanese video games are designed for solo play.
Maybe that is the case. But when the switch came out the marketing was heavily skewed towards "party" games to play with your friends in the same room.
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The joycons seem to attach as easily as a MagSafe connector… but I hope they don't detach as easily! I wonder if the handheld ergonomics were battle-tested to prevent accidental joycon detachment while gaming.
There is a button you must press to detach it. You can see it here: https://www.nintendo.com/successor/assets/img/bg-movie.mp4 at 0:23
If this hotlink doesn't work, it's visible on this page: https://www.nintendo.com/successor/en-ca/index.html
The connector on the main body is just exceptionally questionable, I see it being a big issue of getting broken or worn and then non trivial repairs.
Yeah, I was concerned about that too. It looks like it has a small thin edge connector on the body of the Switch 2, sort of like a USB-C port but without the protective shield around it. If it's not designed well, we could see it snapping off in kid's hands and requiring expensive repairs.
I doubt they attach like that I think it’s just for the video… looking again there are holes at the top and bottom of the joycons presumably for some kind of locking mechanism to fit into.
They probably are magnetically attached but also feature a latch somewhere to make sure they don't accidentally pop out.
Alternatively they could just be using really strong magnets and tight tolerances for the fit inside the Switch 2. That's a tough thing to get right though because if they make it too tight it'll be annoying to get them lined up juuuuust straight enough to snap in but if they make it too loose they can pop out too easily.
Came here to say exactly this. It looks like with a small push they could pop out. Or snap the connector.
Nintendo has a clear focus on a younger audience so I have to assume they’ve got this figured out.
Man, this video is giving me some serious Neverhood vibes.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Neverhood
Why?
I think people are sleeping on Meta's compounding advantage in VR/AR. The Quest 3 is 15 months old, and it's wild how much it has improved over that time purely due to software and interaction model improvements. Aside from the recent bricking issue, I think the Meta Quest is accelerating at the OS level. I'm looking forward to Mario on Quest 4 or 5, but it will be a bit sad.
You can't see the shortcomings until you have the hardware, and once you solve those there is a next set of shortcomings. I think that road is longer and deeper than I had appreciated, Meta is the only company iterating fast enough to be serious about serving "normies".
The name of the game is the game. Meaning that hardware is popular insofar as the games that are on it. And Nintendo, with its massive war chest and toymaker history, will never turn into a third-party developper. They'll keep making their underpowered Nintendo machines, and good for them.
So can we finally expect to see first-party Switch 1 games get discounts?
Ooh that would be nice. Although I wonder if they'll simply stop producing as many (IDK what even goes into that though... I imagine its pretty cheap to produce). Sadly I feel like the opposite happens with many things, not sure about video games though.
Cool, a new steam deck, but it can only run some games at a lower FPS.
and incorporates cutting-edge "security" controls to keep the system secured (against the user of course, because the owners of the device nowadays are the primary security threat, regardless how technical they are). Otherwise, what if grandma gets tricked into installing a Steam game or *gasp* an open source operating system onto her switch?
I really hope my old switch controllers are compatible, at least via wireless. It would be a monetary and environmental shame if my six controllers became useless.
I'm surprised they don't already drift to the point where you can't use them on your old switch either.
Well I own more than six, only six still work. :) The rest have drifted.
I hope they fixed the joystick drift issues. It’s why I stopped playing my switch. I don’t want to be buying controllers as a maintenance item
Just wait for "Switch 2 lite" which will be the same size as the original Switch and compatible with the original switch joycons.
For those of us with zero interest in playing a console on the go I wish they would release a non-mobile version and put the money saved into beefier specs.
It’s more for playing in your room where you don’t have a TV, than necessarily on-the-go. Just how smartphones are nowadays used for gaming at home by the younger generation. You still don’t want to be tethered to a power outlet.
The beefier specs would be wasted though since game developers would still be primarily targeting the handheld (since that is still their main offering, so that's what most people have).
Not necessarily, there are pro versions of both PlayStation and Xbox
Same. They already made the Lite, I wish they’d make the opposite.
That's my case as well, especially now that Switch has established itself and you can get Switch Mini for $200 if interested in on-the-go experience.
Nintendo's best selling consoles are all handhelds, its not surprising for them to stick with the hybrid form factor.
Switch 1 was released on March 3, 2017 - what a great run!
NES - 1983; SNES - 1991
Seems about right.
No sepcs. No games. We need it, Nintendo, WE NEED IT.
Well, MK9 was in there.
It was mario kart 9? it looks way too similar to 8 then.
Yeah, all zeldas, marios and pokemons will be there by default. Still no new info ;)
can't help but smile watching the video
i expected a radical redesign, but this switch 2 is great too
can't wait to play old switch games on it, as well as new ones!
Apple should just buy Nintendo at this point. They don’t seem to have anything else going on.
> They don’t seem to have anything else going on.
Apple? Are you certain about that?
Somewhat larger screen (and presumably faster hardware) is enough for me to buy in. Don't mess with what works.
The larger, higher resolution screen will make me happy too.
Been playing a lot of Factorio on my OG switch… it works. Barely.
What a well produced video. I don't think I've ever watched a 2 minute advertisement all the way through before.
It's a nice video but even if it was extremely bad I would have still watched the whole thing lol.
Why don't they just make 2 controllers that you can snap to the sides of an iPhone?
Edit: like this: https://www.apple.com/uk/shop/product/HRDG2ZM/A/backbone-one...
Save the planet, reuse hardware.
Honestly, they did exactly what they should have done here. Made a more powerful Switch with better hardware and backwards compatibility, with a clear and easily understandable name.
Regardless, the things they need to update/fix are all really just technical and UI design problems; Joy-Cons drifting and rails failing to work, Switch Online being a laggy mess for many games, the eShop being near impossible to filter or find things in, etc. If they can get those things fixed, and get some popular Nintendo franchises out within the first year or so, then this could be a huge success.
Damn, can't wait to pay 500+ USD to play mobile games! :)
Instead of commenting on the switch 2 characteristics, i just want to take some time to celebrate Nintendo, and to say how happy i am this company still exists although it went through difficult times.
As some comments point out, Nintendo is the only console/video games company that's been trying to do fun things instead of trying to come up with the most powerful console in the universe.
This is the gaming i like, i don't care for 3000 fps and 1000Ghz consoles, i just want to have fun :-)
So, yeah, thanks Nintendo, i'll be buying this Switch 2.
Give me 4K, joycons that never disconnect or drift, and up to 16 players locally, and I’m in!
I’m in regardless.
So not radically different, but hey, why risk ruining a good thing? I'm sure my kid will die if he doesn't get one.
Im buying one and not connecting it to the internet so I can root it later.
I get this is Nintendo, so it'll never be fixed, but I honestly hate having to buy Nintendo hardware just to play the three or four big-name platform exclusives per generation. It would be so much better for consumers if they would just abandon the hardware and be a regular games company
To Nintendo's credit, their big exclusive titles tend to take advantage of the special hardware.
Zelda was weird and impractical outside of the standard controls, but still somewhat benefited from NFC.
Splatoon plays a lot better with the motion controls, NFC is actually a nice QOL improvement. A game like Arms is also nicer in split mode, even if core players tend to get back to the standard controller mode.
I see it along the lines of the Allan Kay "People who are really serious about software should make their own hardware" quote. Nintendo should stay serious IMHO.
In early footage of BoTW when it was a Wii U exclusive there was more usage of the Tablet for things like maps and inventory management, which was later cut for presumably parity with the Switch version.
By NFC, you mean amiibo? I think "in game perks for buying collectible junk" is not actually a good feature.
Motion controls, eh, they're supported on ps5. They could just sell the switch pro controller.
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I think the same thing. Metroid is good, but is it $250+ good? Meh.
Microsoft more-or-less does the same thing with Windows in the personal consumer market. With Office being online these days, the primary motivation for a lot of people to buy a Windows license for a computer instead of using Linux or buying a Mac is gaming, along with pure inertia.
This will be a problem with everything until games are FLOSS.
Sadly, I don't think games will ever be FLOSS until we figure out how to get people to pay for FLOSS software.
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> This will be a problem with everything until games are FLOSS.
I mean there is nothing stopping that right now. You can give up your time and learn game programming and asset design and make a game and give it away for free.
Any speculation on the hardware that might be in it?
Sad they’re keeping at the same thing, I was personally hoping for a NEW thing like innovation but it seems like theyre just keeping steady at the same pace.
Of course looking back at the past this shouldn’t have been a huge surprise with their ds to 3ds to new3ds shenanigans
> Sad they’re keeping at the same thing, I was personally hoping for a NEW thing like innovation but it seems like theyre just keeping steady at the same pace.
Why risk it though? The original Switch is a money printer but it became obvious that it's ... lacking brawns and brains after eight years of service. Fix that by upgrading the SoC to something with more power and remove a few other annoyances (the flimsy stand, primarily), and that will be enough to make it sell like lemonade on a hot summer day.
Though the OLED Switch had a much better stand than the launch switch and the stand on this one actually kind of looks like a regression.
Yeah, it feels like a very iterative update compared to previous Nintendo consoles.
Honestly i was expecting a little more info. I get this is on purpose, to create hype, but not having a graphical demo, a release date... anything really more than the design, input ports, and joycons, seems too little.
And the direct in april seems too far away honestly.
All they showed is the things that leaked, i mean, to me (besides the confirmation of something that was obvious) is like nothing happened really. I know the same as yesterday + the plastic texture maybe and i have to wait almost 3 months for the next official info.
I think it comes out in June.
[dead]
It looks very pretty but the display bezels look kinda thick.
That was a pretty boring annoucement. Yeah its cool how the elements on the device appear, but it gets boring when this is shown for both sides of the attachebles controllers. They have the opportunity to show e.g. exclusive games which would now look and perform super duper on the new hardware, because of a better resolution opr maybe HDR, but nothing like that? Or a comparison of the old one with the new? I think its a bit thin...
After 8 year, all we get an improved version? Do they not have anything else in the pipeline?
I'll probably get it, lol! Honestly, I'm a little disappointed. I was hoping for some wacky stuff!
Edit: Seems odd to get down voted.
I think that's the point. You'll probably get it. I probably will too. I would imagine this device will improve unit sales and also has improved margins on a per unit basis. Easy win without trying all that much. Take the W.
I understand the financial part of it. I'm not sure it's a W for gamers like us. Obviously, I don't know the spec and detail so I'm happy to be corrected. From the video, they could've released this 4 years ago and I would've still gotten it back then. Since I view switch as a console system rather mobile system, the gain we are getting just seem a bit disappointing after 8 years.
I don't care too much about the hardware spec. That's not why you buy a Nintendo. I hope Nintendo modernizes its software. I am talking about the UI and its multiplayer user experience.
Preventing any modern chat/voice feature under the excuse of wanting to protect children from online danger is a laughable as it is solvable by expanding the parental control features.
I am optimistic regarding this as Nintendo seem have turned its vision to taking a bit more risks as hinted in games like Super Mario Wonder that try to innovate in the multiplayer space. You'd say that that is not much but very few would have foreseen such a move from Nintendo.
But did they fix the dreaded Joy-Con drift?
It looks so much like the Retroid Pocket 5 and other chinese android consoles that are all over the emulator space.
At least they've finally moved on.
Unsure about the magnets, it kind of looks like it will have trouble with the joycons falling off while you're playing.
Looking at the rest of the page, it seems like there's a button to press to start removing the joycons. I wonder if it latches at the final bit.
I like the image halfway down the announcement page that shows not only will your Switch 2 have larger controllers, but your hands will also be larger. Cool benefit, at the right price.
I think that’s an optical illusion, the hands are just higher up.
Can I get 10 inches taller too?
If you're 12 years old, probably yes.
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Disappointed that it doesn't look to fix the biggest issue I have with the Switch, which is that docking it feels awkward and clumsy. You have to blindly line up a USB-C port/connector, and that seems to be the same approach they're going with here. At least the Joycons look like they'll be a little smoother to attach/remove.
should we expect re-release of all the usual games?
Absolute friendly reminder: this is a device from the company which they do C&D and abuse DMCA to community devs
Indeed. Unfortunately, even if all of HN boycotts the Switch 2 it won't have an effect on Nintendo, but their behavior is entirely unacceptable and is boycott-worthy.
Please tell me the joycons are built with a more robust analog stick… it was hard to tell if they changed at all in this video. That’s about my only gripe with the switch, those sticks drift so badly if you so much as look at them.
The giant 2 is a bit obnoxious. Other than that everything looks good.
And for the love of God Nintendo you better be using hall effect joysticks for this one. Can't imagine the amount of e-waste they generated with the Switch joycons.
I've skipped a few Nintendo console generations, but may grab this one. Right off the hop I can catch up with a decent library. The draw is it would be nice for the kids.
Part of me was hoping it would be something more visionary, but maybe it's just not the right time. I noticed that competition is similarly betting on handheld devices.
Huge bezels!
Unimpressive. But that isnt what sells Nintendo platforms.
20+ years of relentless marketing to children is what sells.
This thing is gonna get swallowed in an ocean of steam decks and other similar clones. Unless you want to play the third installment of Mario Kart 8, I guess.
That is precisely the only reason people choose Nintendo over more powerful and capable devices. The Mario Kart, Smash Bros, Zeldas, Marios etc.
They got a robust ecosystem going on and with them shooting down pirating left, right and center they keep a tight ship going.
Nintendo has set themselves up so they don't need 3rd party titles to survive. Carved out a good niche for themselves. They don't even see themselves as direct competitors with Sony. They used to but that was a long time ago.
I understand, after all, they are the Disney of gaming in terms of IP.
It’s just strange, this is the first time I’ve seen them so…lazy. The Wii U was a flop, but it was a bigger leap than this. SNES at least had more buttons and significantly better graphics.
I think they’re just gonna milk this till streaming takes over.
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This doesn't seem to stem out of an innovation cycle, so the biggest advantage for consumers is (IMHO) that prices of the current generation will drop.
I don't think I can see myself ever buying a Nintendo console again. My switch collects dust. They are always substantially under powered and likewise their games are simple - aka quite easy to emulate. I would much prefer a mobile device that can "do it all" like a steamdeck which is able to run native games, run emulators, and also remote to a beefy desktop gaming rig for games with higher demands.
That being said I realize I am not the target market. Nintendo has always been a pretty safe bet for the "just works" department. They are great for kids or casual gamers.
Bright-colored controllers were so much better. Also the way they were attached before is much better.
Switch 1 was the work of art. This one looks like the work of A/B testing and “we are losing customers as they choose Steam Deck over us, so let’s make it look like Steam Deck”
Nintendo sold an all-gray Switch 1, that’s the one I got.
Yes this console does feel like a more “grown up” Switch but I don’t think it’s a sign of chasing after Steam Deck; switch has sold 2 orders of magnitude more copies than Valve ever will.
If anything it’s following the same pattern as Wii (white) WiiU (dark) for the successor to be a bit more serious and grown up looking.
Kids who got their Switch 1 when they were 10 are now 17, ready for a more grown up console.
> switch has sold 2 orders of magnitude more copies than Valve ever will.
In the first year Nintendo sold 13.2 million Switches. In the ~2 years since the introduction of the Steam Deck Valve has sold somewhere between 5 and 6 million units.
Nintendo had a enormous, loyal, and obsessive user base and decades of history selling portable consoles. The Steam Deck is Valve's first portable console and it's running a new OS that no one is used to. It also cost $100 more than the Switch.
Furthermore--now that the platform itself has proven itself--Valve is going to allow 3rd parties to use SteamOS on their own portable consoles. If those 3rd parties have similar successes I think Nintendo will become a minor player in the portable console market in comparison.
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> If anything it’s following the same pattern as Wii (white) WiiU (dark) for the successor to be a bit more serious and grown up looking.
The Wii U also comes in white. My grandparents own one.
Likewise, I wouldn't be surprised if the Switch 2 came in more colors than what's shown, just like the Switch did.
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The old mechanism had one serious usability flaw. This is a common sequence:
1) Put console into dock when you get home. 2) Some time later, remove controllers to use them
To remove them you need to pull them up, while the console is in the dock. That's a bit fiddly. Just being able to pop them off sideways sounds much better.
I really don’t like the old attachment mechanism. It was robust when connected, but it’s annoying to connect and especially disconnect, and it’s especially awkward that are two different retention mechanisms that need to be released depending on what’s connected.
I imagine the new connection will have a mechanical match of some sort and generally work better.
it definitely does look a bit like a steam deck
From the trailer the way the new controller attach to the console seems fragile, but they might have done some apple-like magnet magic..
I think the updated "click" sound present in the trailer indicates that yes they will snap on pretty forcefully with magnets.
Nice, it comes with BC
The hand placement when using the controllers attached to the screen somehow looks even more uncomfortable than on the original.
HOMINA HOMINA HOMINA....
That was fun!
I'm a little disappointed they didn't fix the terribly unergonomic joy cons though.
The console appears to be a little bit bigger, which would help the ergonomics of the joy-cons if they’re bigger.
It’s bigger; that might be the fix in and of itself
A big problem is not length but width. I've 3d printed a _pad_ for solo joycon and the difference is day and night
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I got some 3rd party ergonomic handles and it was so worth it. Strongly recommended.
No support for AI? The Switch 2 is DOA /s
I know you're joking but technically it does have AI, the SOC is built on Nvidia's Ampere architecture with tensor cores. If nothing else they'll probably be used for DLSS upscaling.
It's an NVIDIA chip. They're 100% gonna use DLSS for literally every game in the library (ok, maybe not 2D games)
I've heard rumors about MarioGPT.
I actually don't mind modern version of Nintendo Tip Line
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1. Looks boring. I want my washing machine to look boring, not my fun entertainment device.
2. It's literally the same thing they released 8 years ago, except the electronics are new. In 8 years they did zero creative progress. "People don't want cars, they want faster horses".
3. Switch was already huge, this thing will be giant, so it will be portable as in "portable fridge".
This will probably sell well because Switch sold well and the brand is strong, but honestly, I don't see any reason to buy this thing. They're basically reinventing a gaming laptop, except with Nintendo first-party games.
I guess you never got a PS2/PS3/PS4/PS5? Sometimes, the internals are the right thing to upgrade. And there definitely is some hardware innovations. I look forward to learning more!
I got an Xbox 360 strictly because I wanted to play Guitar Hero. To me, home consoles are like PC, but worse, but more convenient for a non-technical user.
Am I getting this right? Nintendo pushed the announcement forward because of the massive “Nate the great” leak?
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Email : aquakwo112@gmail.com
I am a generalist who loves building digital products Hello, I'm Kenny. I think a lot of the posts here are bots and I am not one of them.
I'm a software engineer with recent experience working in the mobile gaming industry as a UX engineer. I'm open to any junior or mid-level opportunities where I can grow as a software developer. I have a large range of interests, but especially enjoy projects that focus on entertainment and media! Send me an email, I'm happy to discuss more about my background.