Nintendo presented the Switch 2
Nintendo just unveiled the Switch 2, launching June 5, boasting impressive specs like 1080p@120fps handheld and 4k docked. Also, a hefty price tag
All Together, Anytime, Anywhere. With new ways to play and new ways to connect players, the Nintendo Switch 2 system arrives June 5
Nintendo yesterday hold a one hour presentation of the successor of the Nintendo Switch, the Nintendo Switch 2. It looks like great hardware capable of a lot of fun.
Specs are impressive: It can run 1080p@120fps handheld and 4k docked, with a new dock with active cooling. I’m not into 4k but this is a big deal, 1080 and 60fps is a must nowadasy and with the original switch, you quickly miss it when you don’t have it.
Most importantly, Nintendo also promise faster transmission speed which is very welcome. Load times are spoiled since they’re almost non-existent on PS5, which spoils you for any other system.
Games
You can play Switch 2 games, upgraded Switch games with compatibility patches or most Switch 1 games which could benefit of the faster load times but maintain the original experience.
Nintendo presented some of the origial Switch games which will receive upgrades to play in the Switch 2. This are paid upgrades, but I don’t recall having seen any fixed number, which is worrying.
Nintendo showed some trailers and the first one and most impressive is the one of Mario Kart World, the new title of the series which transform the game in some open wordly, Need for Speed like roaming kart game. Pretty cool.
It also looks like a powerful machine with new, current gen games coming to the system: Borderlands 4, Elden Ring, and the most impressive for me, Final Fantasy VII. If this games run properly – which is also a problem with the current switch, games are there but the experience is way worse – the system is going to be a serious contender to current gen consoles.
Other tech
Nintendo is showcasing many new accessories and tech in the system itself, with focus on playing online with all sorts of camera equipment and screen sharing support. I think this won’t be used much specially because this think usually go in detriment of the game experience. But I’m not a bit online gamer anyway.
The console will bring 256GB of storage which makes sense because games are bigger today and if they are going to bring bigger resolution it just makes sense.
Pricing
What everyone is talking about though is the prices of the machine and specially, the games
This is an expensive piece of tech at 450$ (470€) or 500$ (470€) bundled with Mario Kart. Which is a great deal by the way, as the game itself would be 90€, something where everybody – me included – is losing they’re mind.
Putting 90€ in the first game you pack with the console is not only a price tag, is a statement. You’re telling the world “You’d better get used to this”. This kind of price tag is only reserved to very premium packages for hardcore fans. I get that the new Mario Kart is big, but will it be that big? We’ll see I guess.
Where does this put this console against its competition?
While the Switch was seen by many as a side console apart from your main one, or for more casual gamers, the Switch 2 looks like wants to be back competing with Sony and Microsoft again. 1080p in handheld with a nice, colorful screen and 60fps on the move? Sound amazing.
Many games which are available for both Switch and PS5 usually get decided by two factors: Is the experience in the Switch significantly worse? Is the availability of having it on the go better? For me that’s mostly it.
For example, Hogwarts Legacy is a significantly worse experience on the switch. It not only has worse graphics. The framerate is worse, the load times are unbearable, and there are lots of it! You have load screens between Hogsmeade and the shops in there! And the village itself is separated from the open world.
Not only is it worse, it kills the experience totally.
In the stream, this game was presented to receive an upgrade for switch 2 –which should be free, because the base game really is lacking– which will put it on par with the PS5 experience: Seamless transitions between sections as any other open world, better graphics, and better framerate. If the game really move as good or almost as good as the PS5 version, it would be only a matter of price.