A New Era of Nintendo Begins: My Reactions to the Switch 2 Direct

We now know the secrets of the Nintendo Switch 2! Recently, Nintendo delivered the highly anticipated Nintendo Direct all about the Switch 2 and I have thoughts. Overall, I'm very hyped. There was a lot of great stuff in that Direct.

There are a few things that I'm not feeling super positive about. The goal of this article is not to talk about everything in the Direct, but I will include the video in case you missed it. Also, in case you missed it, the Switch 2 will launch on June 5 for $449 or bundled with Mario Kart World for $499.

I want to start with discussing the hardware. Honestly, on this front there aren't many negatives. Yes, I would've liked an OLED screen, but I imagine that would've been cost prohibitive and I am glad the screen does have HDR and 120Hz. There wasn't mention of the screen having a variable refresh rate (VRR) as was rumored which is a bit of a shame. There was also no mention of the rumored Hall-effect joysticks for the Joy-Con 2. Another bummer. However, I'm happy the SR and SL are bigger. Plus, the kickstand looks good and the top USB-C pretty is very welcome. Overall, I'm very happy with the design.

I'm not sure what I think about the mouse functionality of the Joy-Con 2. On the one hand, I could see it working well for select games like Civilization VII as a strategy game and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond as an FPS. However, when I pay the Switch I'm typically on my couch or out and about without any good way of using a mouse anyways. I worry it's an idea that sounds cool but isn't practical. I guess we'll just have to wait and see though.

I do wish Nintendo gave us a bit more of the nitty gritty with the specs. They said the internal storage would be 256GB (8x that of Switch 1) and kept hyping how fast the storage would be, but no numbers were given on the front. Even a simple line about “Switch 2 is 5x faster than Switch 1 when loading games” would have been nice. Speaking of storage. It is a bit of a bummer that we'll have to use microSD Express cards although that info does tell us Switch 2 read and write speeds could be roughly 8-9x faster than Switch 1.

I'm glad that my Switch 1 accessories will work with the Switch 2. I am glad that you don't need the Nintendo Switch 2 Camera, just a “compatible USB-C camera” so hopefully those details are made a little clearer. While I don't really plan on using a camera, I do hope those who do wish to use one don't have to buy a brand new webcam just for the Switch 2. Also, I feel like the new GameCube controller is a little late since the only new thing is the C-button and I don't know how much people will care about that.

Finally, while I'm glad voice chat is being integrated into the console via what appears to be very similar to Discord, I'm skeptical of the built-in microphone. They claim that it will work well even from a distance and with background noise. I'm not saying that's impossible, but I do wonder what the actual limits are.

Now let's talk about software. The announcement of GameCube titles being added to Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass was very exciting, especially with the reveal of Super Mario Strikers, Pokémon XD, and more coming eventually. I'm honestly a little underwhelmed by the fact there are only three launch titles, but hyped one of them is F-Zero GX and another is SoulCalibur II (the GameCube version was the best!). A while ago I even made a wishlist of GameCube games I'd like to see when Nintendo implements this and I called about six of them!

Also, I was excited for the tech demo “game” Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, but immediately lost interest when it was announced it would cost money. Granted, we don’t know how much it will cost, but it really sounded like something that would be a pack-in to highlight the new console. In my opinion, this is a misstep from Nintendo.

Possibly my biggest pain point for Switch 2 software is the Switch 2 Versions. I think many were hoping that performance boosts would come inherently or with a simple update for games. Having specific versions for Switch 2 causes two main problems.

First, I can see many parents and grandparents getting confused at the store as to which to get their loved one or they accidentally buy the wrong version for their loved one. Second, many of us who already have the games on Switch have to double dip.

Thankfully for that second problem there will be upgrade packs instead of the full game, but pricing for those hasn't been revealed and I think it's going to be more than we would like (I think I could swallow $10-15 per game but expect closer to $30).

That said, if you have a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pass membership, you will get access to some of these upgrade packs such as Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. It’s also worth noting that some games are getting free performance updates including Super Mario Odyssey, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet, Arms, and more. I really hope Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity also gets one of these.

I want to be clear on one thing. While it sucks as a consumer that we have to double dip, I also understand that these upgrades take work and those people deserve to be paid for that work. I just hope that the price finds that happy middle ground.

Speaking of money, let’s talk about some pricing. Possibly the biggest controversies surrounding the Switch 2 at this time is the cost of games. Mario Kart World is being listed for $80 on Nintendo’s own website with some stores showing approximately $90 for a physical copy.

Meanwhile, Donkey Kong Bananza is at the new typical pricing of $70. There’s a lot of discussion regarding these prices (and others) and a lot of speculation as to reasoning. I’m not going to pretend that I know why Nintendo is doing things. Yes, I agree that these price increases are not what I want to see as a consumer, but I also know that this is a very nuanced and complex area where we have little to no actual information.

Now it's time for the hype train! There are so many phenomenal games that were announced today or shown off for the Switch 2. I love Yakuza 0 and Cyberpunk 2077 so hearing they were coming was absolutely amazing.

Also, while I'm not the biggest fan of the game, Elden Ring is a huge win for the console as well as the upcoming FromSoftware exclusive title The Duskbloods. Although I'm hyped for Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, I am scared of performance problems after Age of Calamity. I want to believe that it won’t happen again, but I guess we’ll just have to see.

I'm stoked for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and hearing that it will have 4K at 60fps or 1080p at 120fps sounds insane since we can't do that on the more powerful Xbox and PlayStation consoles. This illuminates that the Switch 2 is a huge step up from its predecessor but there are things it is sacrificing compared to competing consoles. Sadly, we don’t actually know what the trade-offs will be, but I’m guessing that the simple answers are less detailed textures and weaker raytracing.

In addition, Mario Kart World looked really cool. It almost felt as if they took a lot of inspiration from the Forza Horizon series of games on Xbox with this new approach and I'm excited for that. Meanwhile, the announcement of Kirby Air Riders from Masahiro Sakurai was unexpected but welcome. I loved the original GameCube game and this is sure to be even better. Although, it does feel like a small slap in the face to F-Zero which has more history but also hasn't had a proper entry since the GameCube.

I almost forgot to talk about GameShare! I believe Nintendo had a similar feature in the DS days, but essentially it lets you and your friends play the same game together on different Switches even if only one of you had the game. The host does need a Switch 2, but the other players can use Switch 1 systems. This feature only works via local wireless, but it's still really cool.

I am extremely hyped for the Switch 2! I am hoping to be able to pre-order one and trade my V1 Switch to help soften the blow to my wallet. All of this, alongside the digital game card announcement a week ago has me very excited for the coming years with Nintendo. What are your big takeaways from the Switch 2 Direct?