The Nintendo Switch 2 is everything people want it to be, and that’s why it’s boring.
It’s great, but it’s also…not exciting?
By now, it’s been two months since Nintendo released the Nintendo Switch 2, a console that has upgraded the bar and quality for Nintendo games, broken records within its first month and closed the huge chasm that was there between the original switch and PC based gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck. Simply put, the Switch 2 has been a hit, being a perfect console for gamers that finally lets them run games like Cyberpunk on a Switch, while making tons of money for Nintendo as well! The Switch 2 is borderline perfect, and well, that’s why it’s already boring.
Now before some of you misinterpret what I mean here, no, there is literally almost nothing about this console that one can call bad. Again, I just called it borderline perfect, which is more than the video above me calls it. The Switch 2 really is everything it needs to be. It’s got a bigger, better screen while still being overall as light as the first one. It’s got about 8x the computing power and storage.
It even has better ergonomic choices like an improved kickstand and the magnetic JoyCons, which make it much easier to use and live with. Add in the “mostly on paper” 4K support, HDR, and of course improved resolution and framerate across all Switch 1 games, and you get a console that pretty much does nothing but make sense. It’s $450 price is quite hefty, considering $50 more gets you a PS5 while $50 less gets you a Steam Deck, but this is still a great machine.
So why would we call it boring? Because, well, that’s almost every gaming console now. The Nintendo Switch 2 has somehow entered the weird predicament that the PS5 and Xbox Series X find themselves in, where the console is better in every way; more powerful, more capable than before, and yet its users also point out the lack of excitement, fun and “wow” to it. Think about it, how excited did people stay excited about the move from the PS4 to the PS5, versus the PS3 to the PS4 for example? The first days probably felt great, but after two months or so the new console probably felt a lot like the old one, and that’s probably because the PS5 runs most of the same PS4 games. The same is happening with the Switch 2.
While yes Donkey Kong Bonanza is the console exclusive that should have been pushed to the exact launch date and Mario Kart World is the perfect family party game for the new console, the rest of the Switch 2’s lineup is essentially propped up by games that it’s borrowing from other consoles like Cyberpunk, Street Fighter 6 and Hogwarts legacy. Those are great if you’re a Nintendo fan, but chances are, if you’ve even experienced another console, these may not excite you as much.
That’s the same sentiment shared by IGN’s review above, where the sheer fun of this console is acknowledged, but there’s also an odd lack of panache to its launch especially as compared to previous Nintendo console launches. Now to be fair this may be a bit unfair, but it’s also likely caused by the fact that Nintendo has always been known as the “fun and creativity” console maker compared to Microsoft and Sony. From the PS2 to the PS5 you can trace a pathway of power and performance for Sony while with Nintendo you had experiments like the Wii, Wii U ,3DS and yes, the original Switch. Because all those consoles were an experiment in some way and not the surefire hits at inception that some of them became as time went on. However, while even the Wii U has fans to this day, it was never a fun experience for Nintendo being an outright financial loss, and so the company is forgoing experimentation this time and relying on and refining what it knows works in the original Switch. This is why the only “experimental” feature here is the JoyCon mouse mode which actually solves a key criticism for the Switch as opposed to something as crazy as the 3DS’s 3D mode. It’s basically like the Switch 2 takes Nintendo from being the brilliant high school kid with a million hobbies and unlimited potential to their adult corporate self, where they have to wear a suit everyday and hone in on the one skill that gives them money while no longer exploring fun ideas. It’s something that makes the Switch 2 specifically odd for a Nintendo console. Because again, we’ll say this one more time: it’s freaking great! But it feels like in gaining specs it lost its soul a little.
Now, to be fair, that probably doesn’t matter. As the MKBHD interview above outright states, this won’t matter if you are a Nintendo Switch fan, because unless jailbreaking and piracy are your thing, this is pretty much the only way you can play Donkey Kong Bonanza, the best versions of Mario or Zelda, the inevitable Super Smash Brothers game, and upcoming Switch exclusives, too. So even if you criticize it, you’re definitely buying this console, and you’ll likely love it too. After all, chances are this criticism is just a sign of changing tastes and habits in gaming. As time goes on a lot of us care less about an exact singular console versus just what games we can play on it. This is why Xbox Gamepass is a hit, and console games are even moving to our smartphones now.
And a lot of people who want handhelds like the Steam Deck solely want to carry their PS or Xbox library with them on the go. The Switch still dominates at being the console where you don’t need two machines but one that does both. And that’s still enough of a win for it to be relevant and better yet, a hit (just look at those sales numbers again), so even if it’s boring, boring is enough for now.
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