Nintendo Switch 2 Thread.

[The Grimace]

The Switch 2's power isn't wowing me at a glance. Digital Foundry is comparing its statistics to the PlayStation 4, and while they have good things to say about the comparison, that's still a console generation back. The NS2 is going to be subject to the same tech creep the Nintendo Switch suffers. That's a big concern when the Steam Deck is right over there, cheaper and more accessible in every way.

Nintendo has so much contempt for its players that it repels me from wanting to be a fan. We've had a Switch since Mario Odyssey was released, but the last time I played it was for Super Mario RPG Remake. Before that, I couldn't even tell you. Their games never go on sale, and there have been very few "must own" titles. We also own two sets of joycons, and one of them has analog drift. It's just so much easier to not be a Nintendo fan, with their pricing.

Now I'm just ranting. It's frustrating. I WANT to like your stuff, Nintendo. You were my childhood! You were the chosen one! I don't want to put Sony or Microsoft that much higher. Both of those companies also have myriad issues, but Nintendo is the company that actively angers me on a regular basis.

[Sarah Valentine]

I have to agree with you there. Switch 2 not stacking up to other current platforms wouldn't be a problem if it lived in a sea of first party blockbusters and third-party exclusives. Instead, people want to be able to play games from other consoles on their Switch, and the lack of power means Switch ports are inferior to their counterparts on other platforms. I've seen people making that complaint throughout the Switch's lifetime, yet Nintendo is set to make the same mistake all over again. They're really not going to get with the program until it hurts their profit margin significantly enough.

[Selbaek]

The Switch 2's power isn't wowing me at a glance.

I think expecting Nintendo to keep up and even potentially surpass its competition in graphical prowess is like someone getting angry at their spouse for having cheated on them in a dream they had. Digital Foundry is amazing with their tech comparisons and understanding of the chips at hand, but at the end of the day it comes down to how much fun the software is, and how well the devs have optimized for the platform. Granted, that second thing has been... fewer and farer between the older the Switch 1 gets, but it's more reason for the upgraded hardware. And I think this new hardware is worth our time.

In example, it was confirmed by a CyberPunk rep at the public showcasing of Nintendo Switch 2 over the weekend that it will run at 30fps in 4K, and 40fps in 1080p on Switch 2. That meets the Steam Deck's 1080p performance, though you seemingly need tweaks to get it there. You obviously won't get to tweak anything further than a "Performance" and "Quality" mode on Switch 2... but I don't think CD Project Red made a brand new exclusive version of Cyberpunk for Switch 2 like they did with Witcher 3 for the Switch (oh god). More likely, they worked with Nintendo to get Cyberpunk well optimized to run as smoothly as possible on the Switch 2, and it meets and potentially surpasses the competition. We'll see how that turns out.

Granted, the fact that they have been very anti-community with their constant takedowns of fan games and court cases - especially in the emulation space - really doesn't shed any good light on them. And the pricing models for the first party software here feels predatory as well. I'm not trying to defend them as if they deserve our good graces, but I honestly feel like the hardware itself is fairly priced. $450 for the system, with a 120Hz screen (something no version of Steam Deck has), dock (an extra $80 sold separately for Steam Deck), and Nintendo-centric gimmicks with graphical capabilities that pretty much match the going competition in the handheld PC market space (according to some analysis videos from people who watched the Treehouse livestream in addition to who showed up at the live events over the weekend) really shows that this next generation from Nintendo is actually as caught up to the competition as they're probably ever going to get. They haven't been this close since the GameCube, when it outperformed the other systems of the generation in some cases.

EDIT: That's not true. The Wii U was on-par with the PS3 and XB360 for a year before the PS4 and XB1 released. Haha.

You are right about fact that Switch 2 is going to be left in the dust, though. It's a new Nintendo generation cropping up in the middle of all these other generations. Valve will likely have a Steam Deck 2 with miles-better capabilities in the next few years. We'll see Xbox and Playstation's new consoles in a few years for sure. Depending on what those graphical leaps mean for the next generation of cutting edge gaming, Switch 2 may very well wind up as washed-up in graphical performance as the Switch 1 feels today. But the main reason people get a Nintendo console is for its exclusives, and Nintendo usually delivers on those experiences. I am not advocating for their ridiculous $80 price point (which seems to be a first-party standard, not an exception), but I will stand on the hill that the Nintendo experience is usually pretty satisfactory and fun.

Anyway, I didn't mean for this to be a middle school essay. I just wanted to be sure we gave credit where credit was due lest we circle jerk these complaints and concerns to death.

I'm currently watching cautiously at where Nintendo feels they are going to be with all this tariff talk. If they somehow are able to keep the price at the current marketed price point and not raise it because of the percentage spikes, it will be a day 1 for me. Otherwise... maybe when a new Zelda releases. I am a sucker for Zelda.

[Selbaek]

Updated the main post about achievements, as there was a report that someone at the Switch 2 event got confirmation that the Welcome Tour game would have medals similarly to BotW/TotK. Also, I'm not sure if I just missed it the first time, but the FAQ on the My Nintendo Store page for Switch 2 has a May 8 date confirmed for when they start sending out invitations to pre-order the MKW bundle.

[Selbaek]

Apparently Switch 2 is stated to cost Nintendo $400 per unit to create. This is a belief from Hideki Yasuda of Toyo Securities, as Bloomberg reports. That is kind of incredible, because that apparently means that even at the 10% tariff, Nintendo of America would be selling at a loss at $450.

They aren't known for selling much of anything at a loss.

Toyo Securities Co., Ltd. provides financial products brokerage services in Japan, the United States, China, Hong Kong, and internationally. The company provides asset management and investment advisory services.

[The Grimace]

Yeah, Nintendo is notorious for not selling at a loss. They need to take the hit and not raise the price to counter the tariffs. Everywhere I'm looking is still reeling from the current $449.99 price announcement. If they decide to increase it now, even more people will be upset.

Sony's increasing the price of the PlayStation 5 in other territories right now in response to the wavering economic climate. This sucks too, but the PS5 has been out for several years around the world, so this news isn't gaining as much traction. With the very start of a console's release, a company wants to have as much positive vibes as it can.

I saw that Reggie's throwing shade at Nintendo for not including the Welcome Tour with the console for free, like he always advocated. I'm sure he's feeling extremely validated since he's the reason Wii Sports released with the Wii for free. It really was the right decision.

[Selbaek]

Finally, some actual official news!

https://www.nintendo.com/us/whatsnew/nintendo-maintains-nintendo-switch-2-pricing-retail-pre-orders-to-begin-april-24-in-u-s/

Pre-Orders start in the US on April 24.

Console and games will not see a price increase, and the prices for physical and digital games will be consistent.

All accessories will see a $5 price hike, with the exception of the Joy-Con 2 straps ($1 increase) and the Dock ($10 increase).

[Selbaek]

https://marvelousgames.com/news/rune-factory-guardians-of-azuma-nintendo-switch-2-faq

As I previously had stated in the "Ongoing Unknowns" section of the main post, we finally have my thoughts brought to a reality, thanks in no part to Nintendo themselves. Rune Factory is describing their physical Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of Guardians of Azuma exactly as I thought it would work. It remains to be seen if this actually extends to the other announced Switch 2 Edition physical cartridges, but I feel like this will be the case for all S2E cartridges. While it's not confirmed, I believe it to be the case in all respects of Switch 2 Edition versions of games, so I am omitting it from the main post.



There are a few factors to my thinking. Nintendo's marketing and wording on their main website states things like we are getting the Switch 2 exclusive upgrades and content in addition to the Switch 1 game. Never has a Switch 2 Edition game been labelled as a Switch 2 game directly. From the wording, I have always felt like we are going to be able to play the Switch 1 version of Switch 2 Edition games natively on a Switch 1.

The shape of the cartridge is another big one for me. In the Direct, they only notated that the two cartridge colors are different. An off-screen picture of Welcome Tour during a Nintendo Switch 2 event shows that there is actually a little indentation/notch on the bottom right side of the backside. Given my belief that these are compatible in Switch 1 cartridge slots, I think this is for a physical indicator in the Switch 2 cartridge slot. When a Switch 1 game is inserted into Switch 2, I think it triggers something that tells the game to consider the software bootable in that Switch 1 translation layer that's "not emulation" on Switch 2, as opposed to a Switch 2 cartridge that has a notch that renders that trigger untouched and therefor launches software in native Switch 2 mode.

The last interesting thing about this is that Rune Factory is coming on a 64GB cartridge despite its lower size. We don't have an official size for the Nintendo Switch version at the time of this post, but the Steam version is listed at 20GB. This leans into two things, really. For one, it leans into a rumor that's been going around that there are only two sizes of cartridges that is being made available to third parties. One, this massive 64GB cartridge (which, if Rune Factory is the only Switch 2 Edition behaving in a Switch 1 like this, will be the only 64GB Switch cartridge!) - and the other, something super low like 128MB for the Game-Key Card keys. For another, the fact that Rune Factory is on this massive cartridge instead of a Game-Key Card tells me that perhaps Nintendo is enforcing mandatory cartridges with the data on them for the sake of Switch 1 compatibility. Game-Key Cards is a Switch 2 feature and at the moment are only applied to third party games that are native to Switch 2. No Switch 2 Edition games are on Game-Key Cards currently.

It is really stupid that I have to go around and see a report here and a report there and piece them together for an educated assumption. Nintendo has really dropped all the balls on communication about all these new features.