Comment by sigmoid10
2 days ago
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.
> But still it would be interesting to see some specs. Is the GPU 15% better, 50%, what?
This is obviously more of a teaser than an actual full trailer.
They announced a Nintendo Direct on Feb 2, so I’m sure full/most details will be covered then.
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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”?
I'm quite certain that lot of people have already decided to buy it!
Nintendo's stuff isn't for everybody, but if you do like it... they truly do have a strong 40 year history of doing their thing and getting it mostly right nearly all of the time.
So for many people their default action is "buy the next Nintendo console every 5-10 years, because I would like the play the next 5-10 years of Mario/Zelda/etc games."
It's not unconditional love (Nintendo was in a tough place after the Wii U flop) but realistically, I think a lot of people have decided they're going to get one of these unless there's some big fiasco.
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.
I've been playing TOTK over the last month and have had zero issues running it on my switch (OLED edition).
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Ooh, thank you for the reminder to see where the state of emulation is. I played Breath of the Wild on both Switch and on PC under emulation, and the difference was night and day. The stuttering on the Switch distracted quite a bit. My PC played in beautiful 4k.
It works for everyone, provided they have the skills.
I have stop buying most AAA games, because they are GB of useless gameplay, or remakes from remakes of remasters, that is better invested into sponsoring indies.
But Mr. Anderson, how can Tears of the Kingdom run better on an emulator... if no emulators for the system can legally exist?
Coming from a modern console, the first hour of Tears of the Kingdom felt painfully sluggish.
One complaint from a catalog of how many games?
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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.
I think they revealed the current Switch this way. 1st a small tease then a Direct with plenty of details.
That is happening on April.
It says in the trailer that they're going to be having a direct for it... on April 2nd.
It's only the first reveal. I'm sure they'll be raising the hype with game trailers until the release date.
which makes complete sense, no?
Aside from missing out on the last software dev cycle's worth of hardware updates, unless they've continued to bump the specs to match what's become available in the meantime. (I know the line does need to be drawn somewhere.)
of course
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.
ISO 8601 is the only correct date format.
I don't care if people laugh at me when I sign documents and date them with "2025-01-16"
Same here until I saw the date below that spelled out April 2nd :)
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?
People who started to look when the Switch was already 3-4 years old, and passed because it's underpowered.
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There’s always someone turning 12.
I don't care what hardware is inside the new Switch 2. It cannot compete with the Steam Deck because the Switch 2 is still made by Nintendo.
Made by Nintendo means that it'll be a super locked down device that only plays games made by Nintendo or a rather small list of 3rd party game makers. Developing for the platform is expensive and requires an extremely lengthy certification process. This means that all the games are reasonably high quality, sure but it also means that small developers or games with some adult content will never make it.
The Steam Deck, on the other hand runs an enormous library of Steam games and new games crop up every day. It also runs Switch 1 games! The barrier to entry is tiny and it's actually possible to mod games which is probably the single most important feature in modern gaming if you want your game to last and be popular for a very long time.
The Steam Deck also runs Linux which means hackers all over the world can make it better. Even simple shell scripts that automate common tasks provide an enormous benefit! You can automate synchronizing your save games between your PC and your Steam Deck wirelessly, for example without much effort because it's just (mostly) normal Linux.
The Steam Deck is general purpose hardware in a portable form factor running a general purpose operating system that's been optimized for (portable) gaming. If you want a feature you can make it happen yourself or ask the monstrously huge (and obsessed) Linux community for assistance.
The Switch is locked-down, application-specific hardware in a portable form factor running an application-specific operating system that's severely locked down and can't be modified or improved in any way by end users. If you want a feature you have to ask Nintendo and pray.
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My kids are just getting to the age where they can use a gaming device like this. Obviously I'll get the Switch 2 rather than the Switch.
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"