My Switch Swan Song

The Nintendo Switch 2 launched last month, but I have never been a day-one-adopter, at least when it comes to new hardware generations. The Nintendo 3DS came close, but there I didn't even fall into the ambassadors and still regretted it... In any case, I usually wait until there is one game where I simply cannot wait any longer.

But this never has been so hard before. There may only be two interesting exclusives right now, with Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza (the latter to be released in five days), but it's quite tempting to upgrade to a Nintendo Switch 2 nevertheless, because all your Nintendo Switch games will run and look better on it. And this concerns most games, not just the ones with a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition or a free update, because they might already profit from faster loading times and more staple frame rates, right out of the box.

Past Nintendo systems with backward compatibility didn't really offer the same incentive. Well, maybe the Game Boy Color with its coloring for Game Boy games did, where I bought that one very early as well (but technically this doesn't even count as its own generation, as indicated by the shared library on Nintendo Switch Online). And the backwards compatibility usually didn't stem from a similar hardware architecture, but from integrating the old hardware somehow. So, the Nintendo DS had essentially a Game Boy Advance built-in and so on, where you didn't really get any major advantage. That's different for the Nintendo Switch 2.

And this makes still playing on a Nintendo Switch quite unattractive, because most of it is best saved for the new hardware. I have yet to play Super Mario Odyssey, for example, but that would be better now with its free 4K update on the Switch 2. Exact same thing with Bowser's Fury. Or, I want to replay Echoes of Wisdom in Hero Mode, but that would be so much better with staple 60FPS. And I eventually want to play through Breath of the Wild a fourth time with its Master Mode on the Switch, but that's best reserved for the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition...

This doesn't really leave much at the end, maybe only stuff like Tetris 99 or Nintendo World Championships, but I eventually found the game that will keep my current Nintendo Switch running until I finally upgrade: Hyrule Warriors - Definitive Edition. It already runs smoothly in 60FPS, at least in docked mode, and it has never been the prettiest game, where I don't expect it to get a meaningful visual update.

However, handheld mode is a completely different story... For some reason it also runs in 1080p there (downscaled to 720), which causes the frame rate to suffer significantly, but on Nintendo Switch 2 you can enjoy it in its full resolution with smooth 60FPS, without the need for any update. That's actually a big incentive for upgrading as well, but I don't play in handheld mode that often, so it's still okay for me. And if I were to buy a Nintendo Switch 2 now, I would probably play something else.

But it's a good attunement for the game that will likely get me to buy a Nintendo Switch 2 – Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. It's only fitting, since I had waited with the Nintendo Switch until Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity came out. But in doing so I completely skipped over the Definitive Edition of the first game. Well, it barely offered anything new, so it never felt like I will be missing out if I didn't immediately play it. After completing Hyrule Warriors Legends on the Nintendo 3DS, I was also burnt out on the game, understandably so, but enough time has passed by now for it to be fun again.

Though, I had started playing the Definitive Edition in early 2022, where I've already went through Legend Mode and most of the first Adventure Map. The plan was to play it regularly, maybe even a little bit every day, but that didn't work out... And I probably won't complete all of it in the next months, where I eventually will continue with it on Nintendo Switch 2. It's a long game.

PS: I will share some "Definitive Impressions" later on.

Super Smash Bros. on Nintendo Switch 2

Super Smash Bros. finds itself in a similar position to Animal Crossing on the Nintendo Switch 2. Both franchises usually only produce one game per system, if at all, and both have gotten their most extensive and ambitious entry in the series so far on the Nintendo Switch, with Super Smash Bros. Ultimate and Animal Crossing: New Horizons respectively. These games can still be played on the Nintendo Switch 2 and with Kirby Air Riders and Splatoon Raiders in the making, we shouldn't expect successors anytime soon, since these projects block their usual developers.

Of course, Masahiro Sakurai may retire after Air Riders and never make another Smash Bros. game again in his life, where someone else might take over, but we all know that this is not how famous producers roll. He will likely return to Smash Bros. after development of this side project has finished later this year, but this still means that we shouldn't expect a successor to Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in the next two or three years.

As for Ultimate, it's possible that they may update the game for Nintendo Switch 2 somehow, but we shouldn't expect any meaningful additions here, like new stages or fighters, though it would certainly be lovely. And it won't fix the game's biggest issue, which is the latency based netcode, where a change to rollback netcode wouldn't be possible due the required backwards compatibility, where you will still be playing against Nintendo Switch users. And even for a new Smash game on the Nintendo Switch 2 rollback might still be too tricky to implement, since the game isn't just about itemless 1v1s. We'll see.

The next game will have to face a number of challenges anyway, the biggest one being Super Smash Bros. Ultimate itself. With 89 fighters and 115 stages to offer, it creates a similar situation to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and its 96 courses, where it will be difficult to top this. Mario Kart World doesn't even try and instead went into a completely different direction, much to its success.

And this might also be an option for the next Super Smash Bros. title – don't just make it the next game in the series, make it a completely new game. So far every entry has always built upon its predecessors, step by step. Super Smash Bros. Ultimate even used most of Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS and Wii U as a foundation to make "Everyone is here!" possible, arguably the greatest moment in the franchise's history.

But it's easy to tell how historically grown the series is at this point and how much dead wood it's been carrying. By focusing on bringing back most of the classic stages in the series, there was ultimately little room for new ones. And a bunch of the characters only exist on the roster, because they used to be in one of the past titles, not because they have any real relevance today.

Just look at Sheik, who has been in every entry ever since his/her introduction in Melee, where Ocarina of Time was such a massive milestone that it led to four character additions at the time. But the character of Sheik is long in the past, never to be featured in any of the Zelda games again, where today the spotlight in Smash Bros. may feel a bit odd. And Ganondorf, even though his moveset has evolved a little bit, is still a heavyweight Captain Falcon clone at his core... Which probably won't ever change, unless Super Smash Bros. itself changes.

And that's the idea behind a reboot: ignore everything that came before. Treat it like a completely new thing, as if Super Smash Bros. was first made today. Mainly use the latest iterations of Nintendo's characters as an inspiration to make it a true product of its era. And don't limit yourself by any conventions of how Super Smash Bros. was played before.

Let's take Samus, for example. We're long past any range limitations with attacks, so there is no good reason why she has to fight with such a limited Power Beam. Firing long-range beams should be her normal attacks, where potentially she should even have access to the Wide and Wave Beam upgrades. She should also be able to crouch slide, like in Metroid Dread, and the Grapple Beam could be so much snappier.

Donkey Kong may come with his redesign from Donkey Kong Bananza, even when people haven't warmed up to it yet. And gameplay-wise he could become the Anti-Steve, a character who is able to completely demolish the stage (at least temporarily). Someone wants to recover? Just rip off the stage's corner and throw it at them!

They could also go crazy with Link and give him abilities from Tears of the Kingdom, like Fuse, Recall and Ascend. The latter could be his recovery move, where he could dive right through the stage from below. Recall could become a fancy reflector and Fuse could let him do all sorts of things with the game's items, like merging a baseball bat into the Master Sword.

If this all sounds ridiculously overpowered to you, then keep in mind that this article was written by a Min Min main, who obviously doesn't care for restraint. But the way of how they had translated ARMS into Super Smash Bros. Ultimate was truly something else – a character that feels like no other in the entire game. And maybe this shouldn't be an anomaly, maybe that's how every character should get treated going forward. Playing Samus in Super Smash Bros. should feel like playing a Metroid game, not like playing a completely crippled version of her, which conforms to certain basics. (If we ever see the Knight from Hollow Knight as a guest character, then I expect the same here.)

With every fighter redesigned completely from scratch, the roster will get much smaller, of course. But the roster will likely end up smaller in the next game in any case and the huge number of 3rd party deals won't be sustainable forever. However, if everyone is new, then it will be much easier to accept any cuts, because ultimately no one is truly returning in such a scenario. You will get a new Mario, a new Donkey Kong, a new Link, and a new Samus, instead of the same old characters from the past six titles.

This philosophy should also go into all the other aspects of the game, like stages and items. Don't take anything for granted. Don't even take for granted for how things are supposed to work. Items and stages could be completely connected in this game, where instead of having all these random drops, the items become an integral part of each stage.

Let's say that there is a "Great Sky Island" stage, based on Tears of the Kingdom, then it could feature Bomb Flowers, Puffshrooms and different Zonai Emitters as its items. They would work similar to your classic Bombs, Smoke Balls and so on, but they appear as a natural part of the stage. There could even be a Device Dispenser present in the background, which spits out different Zonai capsules.

Or, in a Super Mario stage you would find ?-blocks for your typical power-ups, like the Super Mushroom, Fire Flower, Super Leaf and alike. Pokéballs would only be present in Pokémon stages. Maybe some stages (and franchises) won't have items at all, which is also okay. There doesn't necessarily need to be a default set that always appears, but this is where Assist Trophies come in place, which could function similar to the Flying Man on Magicant. Instead of an actual item that you pick up, they should work like stage bosses, where you can get them on your side by attacking them. For example, there could be a Hyrule Castle stage from Breath of the Wild, which features a Guardian as the "main item".

By making items an integral part of the stages, it would already add a unique experience to every stage by default, making the stage selection a lot more interesting. But it would also limit things, where you won't be able to summon Metroids at Hyrule Castle any longer. This is just one possible idea for a different approach, however, and you would be able to turn off items in any case, together with stage hazards.

If the stages were to get more crazier by design, then having competitive variants of each stage would become even more important. We already had the Battlefield- and Omega-versions in the past, but maybe a new game could offer both a normal and a competitive variant for all its stages, where the latter features a simpler layout, no stage hazards and no items. If you play "For glory" online (which really should return), then it will choose those, where such an approach will offer much more variety than just playing Final Destination all day long.

Anyway, this article has turned from the question of Super Smash Bros. on the Nintendo Switch 2 into a discussion of how to reboot the series... But it's by far the most interesting approach, where after Super Smash Bros. Ultimate it's time for something fresh.

Animal Crossing on Nintendo Switch 2

Today Nintendo has announced that Splatoon 3 will be getting a major update with new weapons and a returning map (Urchin Underpass), as well as enhancements for the Nintendo Switch 2. On top of that, they are making a Switch 2-exclusive spin-off to the series, Splatoon Raiders.

That's exciting news for Splatoon fans, but for fans of Animal Crossing this means that it might take years for a new game to arrive, since both series are (sadly) developed by the same team, Nintendo EPD5. This has been an issue for a while, where Animal Crossing: New Horizons could have done well with regular updates, which simply wasn't in the cards due to the development setup.

Considering that it's actually the second-best selling Nintendo Switch title, with a gigantic margin even, it's a questionable decision not to have a dedicated team for the franchise. Other franchises, like The Legend of Zelda, even get multiple development teams working on different projects in parallel, like Tears of the Kingdom and Echoes of Wisdom. Of course, Animal Crossing is a franchise where one game per generation is more than enough, where it is reasonable to let its developers work on other projects in the meantime. But Splatoon has also become quite popular and both series profit tremendously from regular content updates...

Now, the best we can hope for in the near future is that they will also consider making a similar update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons. Well, they said that version 2.0.0 was going to be the last major update for the game, but this was many years ago and I don't think anyone would mind if they are going to change their minds on this. Similar to Splatoon 3, this game isn't really a candidate for a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, because you need it to stay compatible with the Nintendo Switch for the multiplayer stuff, so it would also have to be some free update, where all the new contents are accessible to everyone with the game.

As for what they could add to the game at this point, they could follow the example of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe and its Booster Course Pass. Here they took contents from the mobile game, Mario Kart Tour, brushed them up and brought them onto the Nintendo Switch. Why not do the same with Animal Crossing: Pocket Camp? They have stopped development on that title as well and it's filled neat things that people would certainly like to have in New Horizons. Whether that's furniture, clothing, or even new fruits, there is a lot they could re-use here to add more value.

And let's not forget about all the things that never made the cut from New Leaf, like the Splatoon and Legend of Zelda guest characters, or being able to create your own galleries in the museum. Sprinkle some of the most wanted quality of life improvements on top and you will make a lot of fans happy. Let players create a second island on Nintendo Switch 2 systems and you will find people upgrade to the new hardware for this alone... With that in mind, it doesn't necessarily need a new Animal Crossing game on Switch 2, at least not anytime soon. They could just iterate New Horizons and make it the best it can be.

As for the next game, they will have to come up with something innovative here to set it apart from New Horizons and to also create an experience that wouldn't have been possible on the Nintendo Switch already, like how they made Mario Kart World an open world driving game. People will still be able to play New Horizons on their Switch 2s, whether it will receive a shiny update or not, and there needs to be more than prettier graphics to warrant a new game.

One idea would be to offer much bigger towns than in any game before, and also being able to join online communities, so you can live together with friends all over the world, not just the people in your household who you share a Nintendo Switch with. Being able to interact with others online was a massive seller during the covid pandemic and such a game would deepen this aspect. This would also be a huge incentive to invest into Nintendo Switch Online, which is what Nintendo wants us to do in any case.

However, if you've been on a community Minecraft server or anything similar, you'll know that there is the risk of such servers dying down quickly. And once you're the only one taking care of the town, it's easy to give up entirely on the game, because being alone in a multiplayer environment feels much lonelier than just playing in singleplayer. So, Nintendo would have to come up with a more dynamic approach here, where people can move to other communities (with all their belongings). In the end, living together with other players online should enrich the experience, without taking away from the classic charm. But it's just one idea.

Whatever the next game will look like, the most important thing is that they bring back the Zelda crossover contents. I'll never forgive them for leaving them out in New Horizons!

The Future of Zelda on the Nintendo Switch 2

Earlier this month Nintendo has given us all the information about what to expect from the successor to the Nintendo Switch, when it launches on June 5th, from the games to the questionable pricing. Whether the upgrade to Nintendo's future is actually worth the investment will be decided by its offerings, where Zelda has been one of the biggest hits next to Mario Kart in the last generation, mainly thanks to Breath of the Wild. But where will the franchise go from here and what could its future look like on the Nintendo Switch 2?

This article is a refinement of a similar post from last year, The Future of Zelda after Tears of the Kingdom. But a lot has come to pass since then. We have already gotten a new top-down Zelda title in the meantime with Echoes of Wisdom, still on the Nintendo Switch. One of the ideas from the previous article is actually becoming a reality with Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. We've learned how they will treat both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom right out of the gate: by upgrading their Nintendo Switch versions. And we know what the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware actually brings on the table in terms of innovation... Which isn't that much.

All these insights reshape the image shown in the crystal balls of your nearest fortune-teller, and this primarily affects what's the most important topic:

 

The Next 3D Zelda

The Zelda series has been in constant change, always reinventing itself with each new console generation, both visually and in gameplay. We've had realistic styles, cartoon styles, and a mix of both. We've went from motion controls to a revolutionary open world concept. We have seen more than ten different iterations of the hero Link and the eponymous Princess Zelda over the decades, but we have yet to see a true trilogy of Zelda games. So, it's natural to expect a new face and a new style coming with a new system.

However, this time things might be different. Both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom have been a massive success, true system sellers, more than any Zelda game ever could hope to achieve before. They have been so successful that their open world formula will be the way forward. And they are so distinct from the rest of the series that they have become a brand of their own.

With the Nintendo Switch 2 we will get enhanced versions of both games right at launch, where Nintendo wants their customers to keep playing these titles on their newest system. Not only that, they plan on expanding the universe of this new Hyrule with the upcoming Age of Imprisonment spin-off. So, it seems like that Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are already laying the foundations for what's to come.

Adding to this sentiment is that the Nintendo Switch 2 itself is also just a continuation of the Nintendo Switch. This isn't meant to be Nintendo's next revolutionary innovation, this is simply the Nintendo Switch in bigger and better, with a few improvements, mainly to the Joy-Cons. And given how popular the Nintendo Switch was, it doesn't have to be.

If we apply the same principle on the next 3D Zelda game and also take into consideration that it's clearly very important for Nintendo to still highlight both Breath and Tears, then it's not far-fetched to assume that we might be getting another sequel to these two Zelda titles. For the first time ever we could be looking at a true trilogy in the series. This doesn't mean that this next Zelda game won't be innovative. Similar to how the Ultrahand had shaped Tears of the Kingdom in its entirety, the next game will have some gameplay idea that makes it stand out.

However, in an interview with GameInformer from late 2023, Aonuma has already stated that they are not going to do a sequel, similar to how they are not doing any DLC for Tears of the Kingdom, because they had exhausted their ideas. He called it "the final form of that version of The Legend of Zelda." But he was mainly talking about the world, where nobody wants them to use the same Hyrule for the third time anyway. And a lot of people don't necessarily want a third game where all their stuff keeps breaking. There is a lot of room for doing things differently, while staying with the same Link and Zelda.

There is also the chance that it makes a generational leap, similar to how Spirit Tracks unfolded its story, but that it still uses the same art style and also embraces the same open world formula. But let's discuss how such a sequel could look like in an upcoming post...

 

Shrine Maker

Something that has already gotten its own post many years ago is the idea for a Shrine Maker, Zelda's equivalent to the Super Mario Maker, based on the shrines from both Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom. And if Nintendo truly were to make a trilogy out these games, then this would make this concept on the Nintendo Switch 2 a lot more appealing. They could start with all the assets from the first two games and later expand this to shrines from the third game.

So, the creators would have the choice between the blue Sheikah Shrines, the green Shrines of Light from the Zonai era, and whatever may come next... maybe golden shrines of the Triforce. It's also a big topic of its own, where I've been meaning to explore this concept a little further for a while now.

 

The Next Top-Down Zeldas

While Echoes of Wisdom and the remake of Link's Awakening aren't such huge hits as their big brethren on the Nintendo Switch, GREZZO's contributions to the Zelda series were still received fairly well and they have also established a new art style that – similar to The Wind Waker – may have a lasting impact, at least for the future of top-down Zelda games. There is just something very charming about looking at these miniature toy worlds from above.

Despite their simple aesthetics, both games also didn't really run all too well on the Switch, where their upcoming updates for the Switch 2 may finally give us some stable 60FPS, which was one of the biggest points of criticism about GREZZO's titles. And with that out of the way, it seems even more straight-forward to simply continue what they have been doing on the Nintendo Switch.

They could still make that remake of Oracle of Ages & Seasons, with both the Game Boy Color classics combined into one experience. They could also follow up on Echoes of Wisdom with a new multiplayer title, where one plays as Link and the other as Zelda. This all feels like a natural evolution coming from Link's Awakening and Echoes of Wisdom, where there is no real need of inventing something completely new right now.

 

Past Zelda Titles

As already discussed in my recent article about the future Nintendo Switch Online, there is the possibility that the Nintendo Switch 2 will allow you to play the entire Zelda series in some form at some point. Additional libraries for the Nintendo DS, 3DS and Wii could make it happen.

That doesn't mean that we won't be seeing any more remakes or remasters, however. As already mentioned, the idea for remaking Oracle of Ages & Seasons in the style of Link's Awakening still stands. Yes, both games are already playable on the Switch via Nintendo Switch Online, but a remake would not only offer much prettier graphics, it would also allow you to experience them as one, without the need for a convoluted password system. There is even an argument to be made that waiting for the Nintendo Switch 2 was a good thing, because its power may let you quickly switch between the seasons and ages without any loading times.

Both Phantom Hourglass and Spirit Tracks would also gain a lot from remakes in the future. Even if Nintendo were to make them playable as part of a Nintendo DS service, they would still look horrible and they would still be dependent on gimmicky touchscreen controls. And they have many other aspects that are begging to be polished, like the atrocious treasure systems. Whether this will be happening on the Nintendo Switch 2 or a future Nintendo system is a different question. The Oracle games should have priority, because everything needed for a remake is already there.

It's similar with The Minish Cap, where out of all the handheld Zelda games it is the one that would need a remake the least. It's still something to consider, but maybe not for the Nintendo Switch 2.

Of course, what the media and most Zelda fans out there are begging for are neither of these games. They want Ocarina of Time. And maybe this will happen. We've been through remaking and remastering all the 3D Zelda games once already, where they eventually will start over. It's been 14 years since Ocarina of Time 3D!

The question is who should be doing it. GREZZO has done the remakes for the Nintendo 3DS, but they have proven themselves as the new studio behind the top-down Zelda installments, like Flagship in the past, which is equally important. But if Nintendo were to find the right team for the job of remaking the Nintendo 64 classics, then nothing would speak against it.

However, there is quite a commitment here, because Ocarina of Time has to be followed by Majora's Mask – both games were carved out of the same wood, so you shouldn't have one without the other. The same goes for the two Nintendo DS Zelda games and the Oracle games are overdue after Link's Awakening. But starting with the Nintendo 3DS, we've gotten exactly two remakes or remasters of Zelda games per platform, where there is no reason to suddenly expect many more on the Nintendo Switch 2. We can't have it all at once.

Another question that comes up every time is about the Wii U remasters, The Wind Waker HD and Twilight Princess HD. With the introduction of the GameCube service to Nintendo Switch Online, it doesn't feel likely that this will happen anytime soon, because Nintendo wants to pay for the service, but only having the option of playing the emulated ports won't be appealing in the long run, just like with Oracle of Ages & Seasons...

 

The ?

Except for the Shrine Maker, this article is running with lots of safe bets. Nintendo will just keep doing with Zelda on the Nintendo Switch 2 what they've been already doing on the Nintendo Switch, just with more horse power. And maybe this will be true, because the Zelda series doesn't necessarily need to completely innovate itself yet again. Each new game usually brings a set of fresh ideas anyways, even when they borrow the style of a predecessor, as proven by Tears of the Kingdom and Echoes of Wisdom.

However, Zelda games are usually shaped by their gameplay ideas and with that there is no certainty to anything. We could be looking at something completely different on the Nintendo Switch 2, it's just that it would feel natural to pick up from where we currently are.

And there is also the chance that they might surprise us with something that rarely anyone expects, like a new spin-off out of the left field, similar to Cadence of Hyrule. But that is part of the fun.

Nintendo Switch Online on Nintendo Switch 2: Potential Systems

With Nintendo Switch Online we got access to a number of classic game libraries, as the successor to the Virtual Console. The emulated systems are currently the NES, Super NES, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, Game Boy Advance, and also the SEGA Mega Drive. But the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 opens the door for more, because its hardware allows the emulation of consoles that previously weren't possible, one way or another, where the first new library is going to be the Nintendo GameCube. So, what else could be added down the line? And what Zelda games would make this playable?

Nintendo DS

Let's start with Nintendo's first dual screen handheld system (not counting the Game & Watch devices). It was already part of the Wii U Virtual Console, where the GamePad made it possible with its touchscreen and microphone. The Nintendo Switch 2 will have a built-in microphone, so that already covers that part, though ideally there will also be something like a "make noise" button. The noise cancellation in modern microphones made it quite difficult to properly play Spirit Tracks on later systems, including the Wii U, where there needs to be an alternative for blowing into the mic. And being able to play the Spirit Flute or shoot the Whirlwind with the press of a button would certainly be more comfortable for some.

The touchscreen isn't as trivial, however, even though the Nintendo Switch already has one. But you can only use it in handheld mode and it isn't very comfortable to hold the system with only one hand (especially now that the Switch 2 will be even larger). It may have worked for Brain Training on the Switch, but this isn't a general solution for all Nintendo DS games that utilize both button and touchscreen inputs.

This is where the new mouse functionality of the Joy-Cons comes in, because it could be used to control a cursor for a virtual touchscreen. As seen in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, it's also possible to seamlessly switch between the modes, which would perfectly emulate the behavior of taking your hand off the buttons to use the touchscreen. It would do absolute wonders on something like Metroid Prime Hunters.

However, some games have utilized the touchscreen to give you soft buttons for quick access to items or other features, where they would not be so easy to use anymore. In these cases you really might want to play in handheld mode and have the touchscreen contents displayed on the right half of the screen. Ultimately, there won't be an ideal solution that for works for all, where it's important to have options and to save these options on a per-game basis.

In any case, this should be part of the basic subscription, not the Expansion Pack. There needs to be something for the people who are not willing to spend double (or even more) for these online services. And the Nintendo DS is really the more basic version of what comes next...

 

Nintendo 3DS

If we can have GameCube and Nintendo DS games, then there won't be anything stopping Nintendo from adding the Nintendo 3DS as well... Except for maybe the eponymous 3D. Luckily, there are only very few games, like Super Mario 3D Land, that really required you to have the stereoscopic 3D activated in certain sections to make sense of things. Also, the Nintendo 2DS exists and has sold quite well without the 3D, where many of the later Nintendo 3DS titles didn't really put much emphasis on this gimmick. Some did not even support it at all. So, the lack of 3D shouldn't be much of a hindrance.

Another question is StreetPass, but this would be the perfect incentive to make even more out of the offline-to-online multiplayer environment. How many people had trouble actually finding others with a Nintendo 3DS in public outside of Japan and wished that this functionality would have been taken online? Quite a few, I would suspect... And that's now a selling point, because this could give you access to features that some people never got to experience.

If you add suspend points on top, then I will finally go for the true 100% in A Link Between Worlds and beat that dreaded Endless Cucco Rush. The Nintendo Switch 2 could make it possible to achieve, given that you're not one of the five people who have already beaten the challenge on original hardware.

 

 

Wii

Well, it was already possible to emulate both GameCube and Wii games on the old Tegra chip of the Nintendo Switch, where this was used for the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection. And with GameCube games ready for features like online play or restore points, the Wii will certainly follow at some point. You could use both the gyro or the mouse modes of your right Joy-Con to emulate the pointer. And Wii MotionPlus is already covered by the gyro. So, we're good to go for games like Super Mario Galaxy, Mario Kart Wii, Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Skyward Sword, and even Link's Crossbow Training.

In case of Metroid Prime 3 you had the bumper stickers for your space ship, where it would be awesome if this behaved in a similar way. If you have played the games in question on the service, then you will be granted the sticker. The necessary Friend Credits should also be possible to obtain via the online service.

It will generally be interesting to see how they will handle multiplayer with systems that had both local and online multiplayer, which already starts with the Nintendo DS. So far the Nintendo Switch Online services allowed to play local multiplayer modes online together with friends only. This should stay the same, of course... But could this also bring back actual online lobbies with random players, like you had them in Mario Kart Wii and Mario Kart 7? That would certainly be a worthwhile addition if it came to it.

Wii U

Emulating Wii U games would probably be out of scope for the Nintendo Switch 2. Well, I'm no expert on the matter of emulation, so maybe it's technically possible, but it wouldn't be necessary in any case. 90% of Nintendo's own Wii U library already got ported over to the Nintendo Switch, where having these games as part of the Nintendo Switch Online service would be heavily redundant and also a slap in the face of all the people who have invested lots of money in their Nintendo Switch counterparts. Well, many of these ports got enhanced in various ways, like additional contents, but this makes having the Wii U versions even less desirable. Who wants to play the original Mario Kart 8 or Hyrule Warriors at this point?

Instead, it's more likely that Nintendo will eventually port over some of remaining Wii U titles, like Kirby and the Rainbow Course, Yoshi's Woolly World or Star Fox Zero. And yes, even the Zelda HD remasters, so we'd have all three versions of Twilight Princess on the Nintendo Switch 2 eventually...

 

All the Legends

If Nintendo really were to add Nintendo DS, Nintendo 3DS and Wii, then this would be tremendous, because for the first time ever you would have access to (almost) all of Nintendo's history on a single system. It wouldn't cover curiosities like the BS-X, the Virtual Boy or the Game & Watch devices and it won't ever have all the games, but it would be quite the milestone nevertheless.

The Nintendo Switch 2 might even offer the entire Zelda series at some point (save for the BS-X games). So far this has only happened once and this was on the GameCube, thanks to the Game Boy Player peripheral. In detail, the following Zelda games and spin-offs could all make it onto the Nintendo Switch 2 via Nintendo Switch Online:

• Four Swords Adventures (GCN)
• Twilight Princess (GCN)
• Twilight Princess (Wii)
• Link's Crossbow Training (Wii)
• Tingle's Rosy Rupeeland (NDS)
  
• Phantom Hourglass (NDS)
• Spirit Tracks (NDS)
• Skyward Sword (Wii)
• Ocarina of Time 3D (3DS)
• Majora's Mask 3D (3DS)
  
• A Link Between Worlds (3DS)
• Tri Force Heroes (3DS)

Together with The Wind Waker, this would add the seven Zelda titles that you currently aren't able to play on a Nintendo Switch. And on top of that you would get some alternate variants of games (like how we currently have both versions of A Link to the Past), as well as some other spin-offs.

They could even give us access to some that were exclusive to Japan so far. Tingle's Balloon Fight, for example, doesn't really have much text, where you can understand it just fine without translations. And I'd love to finally give Navi Trackers a try.

 

3rd Parties

While it's the easiest and cheapest to go for their own gaming systems, Nintendo isn't limited to them. In fact, the SEGA Mega Drive is already part of the current offering. The Virtual Console in the past also featured the Neo Geo, Turbo Grafx or the SEGA Master System, but there is no reason not to have these on the Nintendo Switch already, should these ever return. The SEGA Dreamcast on the other hand is more on the line of something that could require the Nintendo Switch 2, though it's probably somewhere right in the middle. But even if it were possible to have it on the Switch, then Nintendo would probably make it exclusive to the successor nevertheless, since the Dreamcast is a bit of a fan favorite.

In other news, Phil Spencer has recently reassured that Microsoft will keep supporting Nintendo on their upcoming console with their games (see Variety). And while he probably means newer titles, like DOOM: The Dark Ages, there is a chance that they might extend their cooperation to the classic Xbox library, so that Nintendo can offer them as part of Nintendo Switch Online. This would be huge and I'd personally love to have this for one of my absolute favorite console shooters ever. No, not Halo...

I'm talking about Unreal Championship 2 - The Liandri Conflict. I'm still a big fan of the Unreal series and this mix of 3rd person melee combat with traditional Arena Shooter gunplay and unique characters was ahead of its time. This is the game I still keep my old Xbox around for, but it already has all started to deteriorate... Well, it's still in the list of backwards compatible games on Xbox Series X/S, so I could get that, but I'd love to have it on a Nintendo system instead. I doubt that this day will ever come, but it would make me very happy if it did.

Correction on the Nintendo Switch 2 Editions

Yesterday I've made some posts about the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games, claiming that the upgrade packs will only be included as download codes. This apparently came from the UK customer service and I instantly believed it, because this sounded like a Nintendo thing to do in the current economics. But there is actually some conflicting information about this (see NintendoLife), where we have yet to get some clarification.

The other answer, also coming from Nintendo Support, states that the upgrade pack contents are indeed included on the card, but you will still be able to play these Nintendo Switch 2 Editions on a Nintendo Switch, just without the enhancements.

If the upgrade packs were to be included on the cards and ideally also the latest version of the games, then owning the physical Nintendo Switch 2 Editions would be quite desirable in the long run. I prefer to have as much on cartridge as possible to not be dependent on the eShop and downloads.

I have updated the previous posts accordingly. Sorry for the misleading information!

Nintendo Switch 2 – General Thoughts

There are many posts in the pipeline and since I'm doing this blog only as a hobby, it will take a while to go through all the announcements from the Nintendo Direct on Wednesday, as well as any additional  information from the Treehouse Live streams. But to begin I wanted to through my general thoughts about the Nintendo Switch 2, where I continue to have the same feeling I had after the announcement in January.

It mainly feels like a boost in hardware, so that Nintendo can keep doing what they've been doing for the past eight years, without completely losing 3rd party support. It feels more like a "Nintendo Switch Pro" than truly the next console / handheld generation for Nintendo. It's probably closest to the Game Boy Advance in comparison, but also feels similar to the Nintendo 3DS and Wii U, just without the big innovative gimmick, like a 3D screen. Well, they brought back the microphone and there is the new mouse functionality for the Joy-Cons, but whether this this will be a game changer or not remains to be seen.

To use a mouse you want to be sitting at a desk. And of course I could just hook up the Switch to my PC screen and play there, but that's not what I have the Nintendo Switch for. That's what I have my PC for. Well, I also have a laptop table at my couch, which theoretically would allow me to use the Mouse-Cons, but it won't be as comfortable as playing normally. So, I don't think this will see much utility, but at least it's easy to ignore, unlike the Wii U GamePad.

Otherwise, the games clearly make use of the better hardware, where something like Mario Kart World or Donkey Kong Bananza probably wasn't possible on the old Nintendo Switch. At the same time the technological jump isn't as impressive, where it doesn't blow you away like Breath of the Wild did on the Wii U. Bananza looks even quite close to Super Mario Odyssey in its visual style, where it probably was made by the same team, and it also has a lot of dithering going on, which is a graphical optimization effect I absolutely hate.

Naturally, a handheld system won't be able to compete with a PlayStation 5 or a current PC. I also don't need it to, as long as the games are fun, I'm actually quite happy with the current Nintendo Switch. And the better hardware will without any doubt offer prettier and smoother experiences than before.

So, there wouldn't be anything fundamentally wrong here... if it weren't for the price point. I don't necessarily mean the console itself, where it's only a bit more than I expected here in Europe (470 vs. 450€), but the game prices are ridiculous: 80 or 90 for retail versions (EUR, but also USD). That's even pricier than the competition and that's dumb. That the Nintendo Switch games were relatively cheap was always an advantage and Nintendo is shooting themselves in the foot here.

Digital games have the price point that Switch 2 games should have, but I always prefer to have the games on cartridge. Which won't even be the case with all retail games, because titles like Street Fighter VI will utilize "game-key cards", where they only act as keys that allow you to download and play the games in question. Unlike mere download codes those have the advantage that they can be used with multiple systems, but you're still tied to the Nintendo eShop in the end.

It's understandable that they want to save production costs, because cartridges with larger storage are rather expensive, but if Nintendo goes bankrupt, then you will be out of luck. So, I personally prefer to have as much on cartridge as possible, but it doesn't look like that's what Nintendo prefers us to do. The new boxes also look atrocious, it's too much red. They should have gone with the dark grey of the Nintendo Switch 2 system...

Silver lining is that the retail games usually end up cheaper in stores, where it's often somewhere around 45€ for Switch games, instead of the 60 of the digital versions. If you've seen the chat during the Treehouse Live streams, you know that the people are not happy with the new prices ("DROP THE PRICE"). And if no one buys the new games for 80/90, then those prices will go down a bit. But at the same time the market is getting even more ridiculous with the current economical developments, so let's see where this is all going... Maybe they will charge 100 for Mario Kart World now.

Now, I'm not too worried that the Switch 2 will become a second Wii U, but I don't think it can regain the momentum of the Switch with these prices and offerings.

Nintendo Switch 2 Direct Roundup

That was quite the show. I'm not blown away, where I have to get this new console right away on June 5th, but it fell in line with what I was expecting yesterday. For the most part. In the topic of Zelda it even exceeded my expectations, but we'll get to that.

It opened with Mario Kart World, the big launch title. It looks like this is Nintendo's only new game at launch, the rest will be third party stuff or "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" games. And I was completely wrong about this game, because all these years I was convinced that they will go deeper into the crossover direction to make it more distinct from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Well, they will make it more distinct from that, but in an entirely different way – by going in the direction of open world driving games, like The Crew or Forza. They are also going all in when it comes to characters (and their customization), seemingly exceeding Mario Kart Tour here. Well, there will be a Nintendo Direct about the game on April 17th, explaining more.

Another "launch title" is the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, which lets you discover the system virtually. This would be neat if it were for free, but it isn't. Who is going to buy this? Not me, that's who. And I'm not sure what to think about the handicapped basketball game, but it doesn't look fun. It will probably flop like ARMS, but at least ARMS was fun to play and had awesome character designs.

The whole voice / video chat part was incredibly awkward, where I was wondering if the C on new button stands for "Cringe". Also, that's stuff that was already possible on the Wii U 10 years ago, at least to a degree. Microphone and camera support are not a novelty that will sell this system over the original Switch, but they are treating it like one. And the screen-sharing was already lacking badly during the presentation, this is just embarrassing.

Then we learned what the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games are all about, which are going to include Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, among others. These will offer HDR, better resolutions and frame rates, but to give this a nice twist, Nintendo will add new features to them that are only possible on the Nintendo Switch 2. Metroid Prime 4 will have an additional control scheme with mouse controls and the two Zelda titles will be accompanied with new smartphone apps, but also now have a second set of save files.

This wasn't part of the Nintendo Direct, but a number of games will also receive free updates to improve performance, which includes the Link's Awakening remake and Echoes of Wisdom (see here). And that will be lovely.

As expected, the Nintendo Switch Online offerings will now also include a Nintendo GameCube library, but only as part of the Expansion Pack. The Wind Waker is one of the first games in it, which in hindsight explains why they won't bother with porting over The Wind Waker HD at this point. But maybe we will get enhanced versions of the Wii U remasters in some years...

The slightly more interesting game here is probably SoulCalibur II starring Link. I always wanted this to come back, though I also would have preferred the remaster on Switch with Link in it.

Also as expect, there will be massive wave of 3rd party games, including Elden Ring and even an exclusive game by FromSoftware, Duskbloods. I honestly couldn't tell if this was a Bloodborne remaster/port or a new game, because it all looks the same to me, but it's impressive that Nintendo was able to land this deal, since FromSoftware has been very loyal to Sony.

And there will be a variety of 3rd party games coming to the Switch 2 at launch, like Cyberpunk 2077, making up for the lack of first party titles other than Mario Kart World. Not that it needs much else – a lot of people bought the Switch for Mario Kart only. No DOOM: The Dark Ages, though, that's a bit disappointing, especially since they made the first two games magically run on the Switch. But I wouldn't play that on Switch anyway...

Street Fighter VI, though, that's a game that appeals to me on console, but it doesn't look like the game will be available physically. Instead there will be the new "Game-Key Cards", which can be used like game cards, but will simply enable you to download and play the game in question. Not exactly what I'm looking for...

It's almost funny how one of the most anticipated titles for any Nintendo Direct was just mentioned very briefly with Hollow Knight: Silksong. And it's scheduled for 2025 according to Nintendo, but I believe it when I see a life sign from Team Cherry. Remember that two years ago Microsoft claimed that the game will release within a year...

Also, why is this a Nintendo Switch 2 game now? They had a demo of Silksong on the Switch at E3 2019, six years ago! And it ran perfectly fine. The original Hollow Knight had 60FPS and its sequel should use the same engine and everything. They also had announced it for Nintendo Switch as part of their Kickstarter program, back when this was still supposed to be DLC for Hollow Knight. So, why is this a Nintendo Switch 2 game all of sudden?

The same could be asked about Hades II. Why does this need to be a Switch 2 game when Hades runs fine on the Switch? Of course you will get even better frame rate and resolution on the new system, so there is nothing against a Switch 2 version, but you would think that this something that comes for both systems. Update: it is. I forgot that it was already announced for Switch as well. So, in the end this isn't a big deal and both titles will probably just released for both systems at the same time.

The big surprise and highlight for me in this Nintendo Direct was, of course, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. Well, this is a game that I had expected to be a thing eventually – I've mentioned the idea several times on my blog and it's really a no-brainer. I also wanted to explore this idea for a while now, but I thought there was more time to do so, since I didn't really expect this to be shown already. I always thought that after Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes in 2022 Koei Tecmo directly started working on the next Nintendo collaboration, but since Tears of the Kingdom wasn't released yet at the time, this couldn't be it. So, instead I kept expecting a "Xenoblade Warriors" first. But maybe they got early access to Tears of the Kingdom, since it technically was finished in 2022, just entering its polishing phase.

Anyway, they are really riding on the success of the open world Zeldas here. Not only is Breath of the Wild getting an upgraded version, but Tears of the Kingdom as well. There will be five new amiibo of the sages, also coming out June 5th. And they are doing this new Hyrule Warriors game already. Something tells me that the next 3D Zelda will probably turn this into a trilogy...

The big bouncer at the end was Donkey Kong Bananza. It's the open world'ish 3D Donkey Kong game where there had been rumors about this for ages. So, no new 3D Mario yet, but this looks a lot of fun as well. I love how they are mixing your typical Nintendo platformer magic with this sheer brute force, it's something special.

...

In  the next days I will talk about a variety of topics from today in more detail. This will include Mario Kart World, Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrades, and more. This blog will certainly get much livelier from now on.

Nintendo Switch 2 Direct Expectations

Tomorrow the big Nintendo Switch 2 Direct will happen and we will know more. A lot more, since the Nintendo Direct will be an entire hour long. Plus, the two following days, Nintendo of America will host Treehouse Live streams, featuring seven hours of gameplay. There were rumors that the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 is going to be packed and they might as well be true.

First, let's go through the things that we already know about. There will be a new Mario Kart. There are going to be "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition" games (see the Virtual Game Cards article). And they most likely will talk about the new Joy-Cons with their mouse-like feature.

 

New Mario Kart

As for the new Mario Kart, that's clearly going to be one of the big system sellers at launch. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the best-selling Nintendo Switch game, after all, and it will be tough to compete with the sheer amount of content that game has. But Mario Kart 8 is also getting 11 years old now and has been played to death, where any novelty will potentially sell a new Mario Kart game at this point. From the footage so far we can deduce that there is potentially a new nitro boost functionality, that the game will now support up to 24 players at once, and that the path-changing feature from the Booster Course Pass may become more prominent.

I'm personally hoping that they will go more crazy with the whole crossover aspect, so that we might get Zelda as a new driver, or Zonai vehicle parts, and so on (see here). I also don't think it will be called "Mario Kart 9", because technically Mario Kart Tour is already that, where I'm sticking with the "Mario Kart X" branding... until tomorrow.

There were also rumors about a Mario Kart-themed Nintendo Switch 2 at launch. In general, any Special Edition of the console could potentially lure me in, even though that I'm usually not an early adopter, given that the edition in question looks nice. I also wouldn't mind one for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.

 

Enhanced Nintendo Switch Games

Speaking of, this leads us to the topic of "Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games". It's no secret that a variety of Nintendo Switch games could profit heavily from a hardware boost. Pretty much everything from the Zelda franchise comes to mind, where with the exception of Skyward Sword HD there is always some trouble with the frame rates. And maybe some of these games will already run more smoothly on the better hardware by default.

But enhanced versions of the games will certainly offer more, like upscaling to 4k resolution. This could happen via free updates, but knowing Nintendo they will probably charge a small fee for such updates. On the Nintendo Switch they made a lot of profit with remasters and ports from the previous eras, where that's a business they will likely want to keep to a degree.

The interesting question is how they will handle remasters of Nintendo Switch games. Will this be a thing separate from the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games? We had convincing rumors about a new version of Breath of the Wild for the Nintendo Switch (see U-King-O). Will that be a new remaster? Or can the Nintendo Switch version be upgraded? I personally would prefer a remaster, because this opens the doors for all those quality of life improvements from Tears of the Kingdom and better DLC integration.

Or what about Metroid Prime 4? Will this get a separate version for the Nintendo Switch 2 that simply has much better graphics? Or will you be able to upgrade the Nintendo Switch version? Or will both be a thing and work in the same way? It's an interesting topic, which certainly will be clarified tomorrow.

 New Joy-Cons

I have to be honest here, I have no clue what the mouse-functionality could be used for, other than strategy games and a new Mario Paint. But I'm sure that Nintendo will have had some ideas and maybe even come up with some entirely new games that utilize these as a gimmick...

 

Nintendo Switch 2 Online

Another important topic will be the handling of the whole Nintendo Switch Online system. Ideally, everything will carry over to the Nintendo Switch 2, like all the existing game libraries for NES, SNES, Game Boy, Nintendo 64, and so on, or titles like F-Zero 99. But they will add upon that with new libraries and "free" online games that weren't possible on the current Nintendo Switch system. The first announcement will likely be a GameCube library, potentially also a Nintendo DS library. Thinking about it, emulating touch screen controls might be even be solved with the new Joy-Cons...

 

Other Game Announcements

This is going to be huge. The biggest launch of a system in gaming history. I'm certain that they will show us most, if not all of the following titles, in addition to the new Mario Kart X, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond - Prettier Edition, and Breath of the Wild 4K.

• New 3D Open World Mario
• New 3D Open World Donkey Kong
• New Fire Emblem (utilizing the mouse functionality)
• New Animal Crossing (in space)
• Splatoon 4
  
• ARMS 2
  
• Ocarina of Time Remake
  
• Super Metroid Remake
• Hollow Knight: Silksong - Nintendo Switch 2 Edition
• DOOM: The Dark Ages

I'm kidding, of course... A little April Fools' joke, if you so will. Though, some of the things in this list are quite possible, first and foremost a new 3D Mario game. And maybe it does go into the direction of Bowser's Fury, where it's one seamless, interconnected world.

DOOM: The Dark Ages is entirely possible as well, together with a variety of other 3rd party ports. They loved porting games over to the Switch, no matter what it took, which will be so much easier now with the increased hardware power and AI-driven rendering technologies like DLSS. So, we're going to get a lot more here and the new DOOM (which looks absolutely awesome) is just an example.

However, as much as I would love to see Silksong, that game was already shown on the Nintendo Switch and shouldn't have anything to do with the Switch 2 presentation.

Also, I doubt that we will already see a new Splatoon or Animal Crossing. Both are made by the same team, sadly, where I'm curious to see what they will prioritize. But maybe they will split the development up, so that these franchises can be developed simultaneously, as both are huge sellers. But as much as Animal Crossing: New Horizons has sold, it got boring eventually without any new updates, since the team was busy with Splatoon 3 in the past years...

And I haven't even mentioned Super Smash Bros. in the above list, because that felt too unrealistic. This might go like on the original Nintendo Switch, meaning that we will see titles like a new Smash Bros. or Animal Crossing in the second or third years, but not already in the first. But as usual, I'm happy to be proven wrong, I'm just not holding my breath here.

Zelda is in an interesting position, because we just got new titles in the past two years, so I don't expect to see a new Zelda game already. But they will most likely hold us over with something, like that Breath of the Wild remaster, or at some point a new Hyrule Warriors game. The franchise has been too successful on the Nintendo Switch to not offer anything as soon as possible. However, I doubt we will see a full-blown remake of another classic already, because I don't know who is supposed to work on it, other than GREZZO, who were busy with Echoes of Wisdom.

My personal "realistic" wish, if they are going with a remaster of Breath of the Wild, would be a Shrine Maker, which also includes stuff from Tears of the Kingdom. That's something that the main team could have been working on as a side project...

Anyway, I'm game. And I'm excited for tomorrow.

Nintendo Switch 2: Backwards Compatibility

The end of the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal trailer answers one bigger question right away: yes, it will support Nintendo Switch games, both physically and digitally. That's what you would expect from such a successor, since Nintendo has a long history of offering direct backwards compatibility in some form. The Wii U effectively came with a built-in Wii, for example. In fact, the Nintendo Switch was the first Nintendo console in 16 years and the first Nintendo handheld ever to not support games from the previous systems, which was mainly due to the different format. But after successfully building this new brand, another full reset of their customers' libraries would have been questionable at best. People have big Switch collections and want to carry them over, naturally.

However, Nintendo notes that some games may not be fully compatible or supported at all, which is curious. One reason might be the lack of certain hardware features, where the infrared depth sensor from the right Joy-Con comes to mind, which seemingly got cut. And you can't blame them for leaving this out, since only very few titles actually made use of it, like 1-2-Switch, Ring Fit Adventure, or the Nintendo LABO stuff.

But this also raises the question of hardware compatibility. That is arguably also quite important and should be easier than ever in times of Bluetooth. In the very least I still expect my Pro Controllers to work, as well as most of the Retro Controllers (SNES, N64, SEGA Mega Drive), where all of them can be connected via USB. You won't be able to connect the classic Joy-Cons any longer or the NES controllers, at least not physically, but maybe you can still connect them via Bluetooth. In which case you could technically still play the games in question, just not out of the box.

It's also safe to assume that Nintendo will carry over the Nintendo Switch Online gaming libraries with all games still present... You don't want that Virtual Console reset for a fourth time. And on stronger hardware they can expand them with GameCube and Wii titles in the future, potentially even Nintendo DS and 3DS, since they could use the Joy-Con mouse functionality for touch inputs. Wii U probably can't be emulated just yet, but that's not required anyway, since almost all Wii U games got ported over to the Nintendo Switch already. But there is the prospect that the Nintendo Switch 2 might offer all of Nintendo's history combined at some point... Which would be delightful.

Nintendo Switch 2 Announced

The Nintendo Switch 2 was just announced, finally showing the world what they already had expected. This blog didn't really follow any of the Nintendo Switch 2 leaks from the last weeks and months, but if you did, then there was no surprise for you here – from the console's name, its design, and even the exact date of this reveal... It's a bit sad how a company that used to be absolutely airtight has become an open book these days.

Anyway, you can watch the reveal trailer on Youtube. The Switch 2 looks sexy, but this is in many ways highly unconventional for Nintendo... Which might be a good thing, given their history of ups and downs with their consoles. It looks like they want to avoid the pitfall of another Wii U at any cost.

It already starts with the name. Never before has a Nintendo system had a "2" in its name. That's really Sony's thing, where the PlayStation got stringently numbered from 1 to 6. Microsoft on the other hand tries to confuse its customers as much as possible with its different Xbox brands, while Nintendo has been somewhat in the middle of this. We got the Nintendo Entertainment System and then the Super Nintendo Entertainment System. Then we got the Nintendo 64, the Nintendo GameCube, the Wii and finally the Wii U. And the handheld systems went from Game Boy to Game Boy Advance to Nintendo DS to Nintendo 3DS, with multiple iterations in-between.

And some of this was certainly a bit confusing for the customers, the Wii U being the prime example, where people thought of it as an accessory for the Wii a first. But a "Nintendo Switch 2" leaves no doubt. It's simple and clear that this is the successor to the Nintendo Switch. It's also really just that...

That's the next unconventional thing for Nintendo: they are being very conventional. We're looking at a bigger Nintendo Switch here with better performance. The only "gimmick", which they are using to make the Switch 2 stand out, is that the Joy-Cons are attached magnetically, instead of being slid into holsters. This makes the whole system look a lot cleaner and also should make it easier to detach them... in theory.

Leaks have indicated that you will also be able to use the Joy-Cons like a mouse, but the reveal trailer only hints at this. Hopefully this will see more depth than the HD Rumble or the infrared sensor of the previous Joy-Cons, where the latter seemingly got dropped. And hopefully the sticks will be improved, making them less prone to drift, but they look very similar to the old ones. They should be bigger, though, and overall the system should be much more comfortable for players with large hands (like myself).

But otherwise there doesn't seem to be something experimental, like the Wii U GamePad or a controller with three handles. Nintendo has always been innovating to some degree, but after the massive success of their last innovation – the Nintendo Switch – they certainly will want to hold onto it for as long as possible. And thus they give people exactly what they have been asking for, and not much else.

Despite the lack of innovation, the focus of this reveal was on the system itself, which is another unconventional move of Nintendo, who likes to put their games at the front. You don't buy a Nintendo system for its looks, you buy it for its games. They have given us some short footage of the next Mario Kart, which seemingly can be played with up to 24 players at one, twice as many as in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. But that's it. We will have wait until a Nintendo Direct on April 2nd to learn more and hopefully see other games.

I personally also didn't expect them to show this today, despite the fact that every leaker and industry-insider on the internet told us so. Why not? Well, today is the launch of Donkey Kong Country Returns HD for the Nintendo Switch, which will now be completely overshadowed. Nintendo usually waits until the week after their next release, before they make new announcements, just to have the focus on the new product and let people digest it over the weekend. But I was clearly wrong.

It's still saddening to see how many fans have treated Nintendo's marketing in the last days. This may be an overpriced port, where a lot of people don't care for it, but it was announced months ago and naturally Nintendo will give this their attention. But everyone was just like, "Nintendo Switch 2 where?" Well, here it is...