Direct(or) Response
Information and thoughts on the Switch 2 Direct
I don’t usually do reaction posts to things; however, Nintendo just announced a new console today. I saw the presentation live and we got a lot of good information and some things were not or as of this writing, not been revealed yet. I won’t have all the information, and a lot of the opinions I lay out may become dated very quickly. But that is the way of things lately. So, let’s get into this…
What we got (official info):
We did get some information about the system itself and the price
-The machine will run 4k res on the dock and 1080p on the portable mode. The hard drive size is set to 256 GB and will use Micro SD Express, not standard Micro SD.
-Games, physical and digital, will be backward compatible and in some cases upgraded depending on the game.
-The mysterious C Button has finally been revealed as a chat button; pressing this brings up their new Gamechat thing. It allows you to voice chat in-game as well as Discord-like video calling and streaming of your game on your screen to others. Also, with a camera, you can be seen in certain games as well as in a twitch-like view in front of the game itself.
-Several new games announced. Among the first-party offerings is Mario Kart World, a new Hyrule Warriors, Donkey Kong, and Drag & Drive. That one was a thing, wasn’t it?
-Enhanced editions have been announced for the two Switch Zelda games, Mario Party Jamobree and Kirby. Along with upcoming games Metroid Prime 4 Beyond and Pokémon Z/A, with other games coming down the pipe.
-Several third-party publishers are releasing games: Capcom will unleash SF 6 (with Amiibo of the three most annoying characters), CD Project Red is dropping Cyberpunk, and Final Fantasy 7 crosses over with an intergrade Remake (think the PS5 one). Elden Ring is also getting a new version on the Switch, From Software is also releasing a seeming exclusive to Nintendo in the from of the not Bloodborne 2 Duskblood, so you know fanboys are getting pissed off.
-We also got some pricing on other things, but I’ll get to that at the bottom of the post, as it’s gonna be more opinion-based.
-NSO Expansion Pack will get Gamecube games on Switch 2; also, in 2026, you will need an NSO account to use the GameChat feature, so there is a bit of a grace period at launch. An expansion pass will also get you free upgrades to the Zelda game if you don’t want to pay for them. Though I would suggest you should.
So, that is a fair bit of stuff, and I feel like I am still missing things, but the question is now that we know some things. What are my thoughts on this?
PSA: FROM HERE ON, IT WILL BE JUST OPNION BASED!
Metroid Prime Beyond should just be on Switch 2
I’ll be honest, I’m probably gonna buy it if I don’t have a Switch 2, but I still hate cross generation shit like this. You know we’re gonna buy the damn thing, and you know were gonna fear we’re missing out and the other version will not sell near as much as the Switch 2 one. So, just make it a damn exclusive? I get the enhanced versions of earlier games, but future games should just work on the new console. You see a need to make the new Mario Kart an exclusive, and other games will be on the Switch 2.
I hated this during the Wii U to Switch transition (fun fact: Breath of the Wild is now old enough to span 3 different consoles). Let’s hope this list remains small, and it should, given how many new games are coming out that never even touched the Switch in the first place. Honestly, I’d much rather just left the upgrade options to the older games on the system to sort of help that transition to the new console. A small fee to upgrade your games to get some extra features is not insane, and also, if you just dropped almost 500 hundred on a system, you are more likely to pay for the upgrades as you save money for the big games. Nevertheless, here we are with what is out.
Watch that mouse feature
One of the more interesting aspects of the Switch 2 seems to be the mouse feature. The updated Metroid Prime 4 will allow you to use the feature for controls, allowing for perhaps more precise aiming in the game. Civilization will also benefit from this feature, as will other games with strategy options. I also am curious if we will get new entries in Advanced Wars, but games like Fire Emblem will probably be more intuitive with this controller. While watching Ili, when seeing this said, “please don’t announce Mario Paint.” And that is another option for a franchise that could come back, as well as maybe Mario Maker or the Maker series, as it may be more natural to use a mouse.
I could also see this being used for some older games if they got the Saturn on the Virtual Console, for example. We could make these as use for twin sticks and get a Virtual On game, or even an arcade remaster/remake. I mean, we’re getting Daemon X Machina, so why not throw some VT’s into the mix here?
Gamechat: Discord and Twitch of the future
Voice chat in gaming is nothing new and has been integrated into consoles for years. Nintendo, however, does its own thing, and if this pans out, I expect the other two to copy the feature. During the event they showed off their GameChat feature which lets you interact with friends as you play the same game with voice chat and if you have a camera can do video chat for good measure, while the direct we watched was a bit laggy, I expect the screens we saw to be a laggy experience given the amount of power needed to multi-task.
Still, that, along with the ability to place yourself on the screen for perhaps live streaming out of the box, is interesting. When we saw that feature, Ili and I turned to one another and said, “Well, there is Twitch.” Along with comments online about Discord being real quiet post Direct. Having just seen it, I find it hard to see where they are going with this. But, if it works out and Nintendo is usually the one pushing limits on games and concepts of hardware. We may have just seen Discord-like features on a Nintendo device, which, again, if it works, you know the others are gonna pounce on.
It’s doing a lot of things the Switch did before it and keeping that momentum.
A lot of the things we have come to expect on the first-generation Switch seem to still be there; if anything, Nintendo just beefed up the specs. The as of right now NSO Expansion Pack in my mind still is one of the best deals in gaming as you get online, access to older games and free content for about 50 a year (80 for a family of 6). Which comes way under the basic PS Plus membership package. Adding GameCube is the next logical step and may also allow for other older consoles to get their due. We may even get Sega CD games or more niche things down the road (why not Wonderswan?)
It’s also trying some new things, even with your phone.
Nintendo recently launched their app, which is part calendar and part marketing machine. Nintendo Music being included in the NSO subscription is also a nice way of interacting with you outside of your console. These two may be the Trojan horses and incentives to keep your NSO account active, respectively. Have to hand it to them; they thought outside of the box and what usually works others follow.
Okay, so let’s talk about the pricing
So, now the...fun part...the price…
This one is a bit hard to swallow: yes, $450 for a base unit, and now confirming games are gonna be above 70 dollars. In some cases, a lot of people are already screaming, “No, I am not doing this.” But that is the thing, no matter what you say and no matter how much you scream. People are gonna buy this, I remember people complaining that TOTK was 70. The lines at the stores seem to say you will be doing otherwise with the Switch 2.
With all that said, we have to stop and consider some factors such as economic (the orange morons tariffs). The items included and featured with the console are honestly powerful and not cheap and also being mass produced and perhaps selling at a loss. This company often uses parts that are highly common and thus not as subject to high-priced items as a lot of modern consoles often use. The fact that we are using a micro SD that sounds like a solid state style card would tell me the price was gonna be high.
Even as we were watching and they were explaining those tech specs of the unit, I was watching and thinking there was no way this was not gonna be less than 499. Is this going to be an expensive console? Yeah, clearly so. It’s also not a 700-dollar waste of time that the PS5 Pro looks to be. Inflation and other factors are also something to consider, We got accustomed to the big N being the third wheel; with this, they are slowly starting to stake a claim in modern gaming, something a lot of people have been asking them to do for a while. This is not gonna come without a price increase, sadly, so what we are left with is, I admit, pricey but still rather reasonable console.
This is about as far as I am going to wade into politics on this one, but I feel the price is also a prep for the tariffs. Sometimes, some factors outside our control of us and even a company come into play on these items. It sucks, but well if you were in their shoes would you give out something for free? If so, please let me know.
Final Thoughts:
Having sat through the presentation, we watched it and walked away impressed with the new features. Mario Kart is going to sell systems, like it or not. Metroid Prime 4 SHOULD be just a Switch 2 exclusive, also, I have to admit looking forward to Zelda in 4k, and I would pay the upgrade for it as well if it was reasonable. We also are getting other new games I did not mention and will probably learn more about what is coming in due time. The price is a bit high, but looking at what is added and featured I find myself not angry or even pissed at the price, but I surprisingly find it reasonable. Everyone is going to make their own choice with this one, as we all do with systems. I don’t know if I’ll get it at launch, but there is a good case for getting one within the year. I see a lot of potential with this system, and Nintendo is innovating in ways we expect it to.
-The Chaos Director
