We learned more about the Nintendo Switch 2 today, in an hour-long Direct that featured a lot of hardware specs, a lot of games, and notably no information about the console's price. That information came later, in the form of a press release that has a lot of folks wondering if this whole thing is worth it. Chris and Riley also wonder that, so we're here to talk about it.
Riley: Hello, Chris! What did you think of the Switch 2 Direct?
Chris: $450.
Sorry, but that's all I'm thinking. On some level I understand the price, like Trump is throwing a wrench in the basic functioning of global commerce...today. But that isn't what this feels like; it feels calculated to inflict the most amount of pain they can get away with. They didn't even announce it on the stream!
Riley: Yeah, not mentioning it on the stream felt very weird to me. I've seen folks speculate that, given everything, maybe the price was up in the air when they were filming the Direct, and I'm sure it will... continue to be up in the air as the value of the US dollar fluctuates, a statement that makes me feel like a total nerd to say.
You said as we were watching that this feels like Steam Deck money, and I wondered what you meant by that?
Chris: I know it's an apples to oranges comparison--the Steam Deck has a tiny market share next to the Switch and they're just radically different when it comes to ease of use. You're not giving a Steam Deck to a child unless they're strange. But $450 does feels like the upper limit cost of something you give a child, and if you're charging me Real Console money for this then I kinda expect to be treated like an adult.
Riley: The Switch has always felt like a thing for kids to me, but I have to admit that's because I am not a Nintendo guy, so stuff like Zelda's big serious story being delivered to me by a cartoon bird has always been a hurdle I struggle to jump. Do you think the Switch itself struggles with that, like the Direct itself is obviously geared toward adults, because they're the ones ultimately buying the console, but that's not the hands it's ultimately going to end up in? Hitman being a launch day game is, like, very much not aimed toward kids, haha. And an $80 Mario Kart is... well, I don't even know!
Chris: 80 DOLLARS! FOR MARIO KART.
I think it's worse in the EU, like the same but in euros for digital and an additional 10 for physical. It definitely feels like they're doing it to upsell the Mario Kart bundle.
It feels like Nintendo has a captured audience here and they know it. Mario Kart is the system seller. They're hedging against the very strange economic circumstances, but this entire thing feels like a test to see how much people will tolerate, and I think that sticker shock is real on this. This will do well regardless, but I'm skeptical that this will have the same momentum as the Switch, maybe nothing could.
Riley: Yeah, I mean I get that there are certainly factors here outside of Nintendo's control. But like... the "Welcome Tour" being a paid game definitely feels a little like a squeeze compared to, say, how Astro's Playroom was free.
Chris: Right, that should just be something they give you. That's charging you for a tutorial for a system you've paid for.
Also I have seen some people say that games have been "underpriced" for a while and point to SNES prices being basically the same for some games, but those were also real cartridges and costs were different. I'm sure Nintendo would love every game being 80 bucks again, though.
Riley: It seems notable to me that we're having a whole chat about the costs, when I feel like we--or at least I--am generally of the mind that my job as a games journalist isn't to tell people what their money is worth, a stance our past boss Stephen drilled into me. Do you think that speaks to, like, something unique about this situation, or more to just the general financial anxiety I think everyone is feeling these days given everything? Maybe part of that is because the price wasn't in the Direct, which feels notable: You have a whole presser trying to sell me a thing, but don't tell me how much you intend to sell me the thing for.
Chris: Sorry to go on price alone for so long, we live in weird times. I hate talking in those terms!
Nice things: Mario Kart as an open world game feels neat, and getting FromSoft to make Legally Distinct Bloodborne is one of the funniest moves I've seen in a very long time. That goes in the hater hall of fame.
Riley: Yeah, that is fun! Beyond Mario Kart there didn't feel like any standout launch day games to me, which felt like part of the selling point of the first Switch.
Chris: I think they think Mario Kart is enough, and given how it sells that's not unfounded. I think everyone was assuming that something else was going to drop, but it doesn't feel like it's anything particularly urgent aside from "Your games now don't run like garbage."
I do wanna talk about some of the hardware. The camera and mic features are funny, but historically Nintendo has been very cautious about anything that could be seen as a potential risk to children. They seem to be handling parental controls well on that too.
Riley: Yeah, I thought that was interesting! I'm intrigued by how they showed, like, feed from your camera can end up as sort of your avatar in some games; that seems sort of fun. That said, I cannot imagine personally buying a whole camera just to do that, but I bet lots of people will have lots of fun with it.
Chris: At least they're having fun with accessories.
Riley: And I guess now we know what the "C" button is for!
Chris: The mouse stuff is also fun. Drag X Drive feels like a cool showcase for it in the style of ARMS. And Being able to use Civ on the go like that is a system seller for a specific kind of person.
Riley: Haha, indeed. I mean overall, hardware-wise, I like what we saw? Despite there being no mention of Joy-Con drift, which continues to plague me on my admittedly under-used but much-abused Switch.
Chris: I mean, I guess? I don't know what's in there. I sorta do. But not really! Are they using hall effect or TMS sticks in there yet or am I going to have to open up my controllers again down the line?
Riley: I guess I can understand not wanting to highlight one of your first console's flaws in your new console showcase.
To me, then, maybe this all sort of goes back to, how necessary is this? But then of course that makes me think, well how necessary was the PS5 and Xbox Series X? What is technological progress anyway? What is it we expect from something like this?
Chris: I think a bunch of people are going to wait, everyone is broke right now and the economy might implode soon. Knowing the future is impossible. It'll sell well enough and some people will day one this, maybe I will as a writeoff, but I worry about where this is going, where everything is going.
Riley: The pre-order situation is also sort of bonkers, which will surely make day one buying it harder, though also feels designed to maybe prevent scalpers and bots from buying them all up?
Chris: That part feels like some cult leader stuff. "You must be this much of a real gamer to preorder a Switch 2."
Honestly, for something that has been in the works for so long, it all felt kind of rushed. Halfway through the stream it started breaking down, a big hiccough, and it felt like an on-the-nose metaphor. The wheels are falling off a little everywhere, even at Nintendo.
Riley: Yeah, it really... doesn't feel like the time to be excited about a new console, though that was also true of the Xbox and PlayStation. If I had a dollar for every time I had to write "it feels weird to be excited about this right now," I'd have a lot of dollars with which to fund this website.
Because I'm a bit busted inside, I do have some compassion for how the heck do you announce this thing today, the same day Trump is due to announce more about whatever he thinks tariffs are.
Chris: For what seems like the 50th time.
That's kinda the thing. I have probably the most amount of sympathy for Nintendo I will ever have when it comes to pricing and still left the Direct feeling confused and mildly annoyed.
Riley: If I had to make far more meaning out of this than it deserves, maybe what this whole weird thing highlights is the... lie of consumerism, and how interconnected everything really is? There's a vision of Nintendo that is, like, this brightly-colored world divorced from reality, but what we're getting instead is, like, look how this is a multinational corporation hugely affected by global politics and hardware tariffs. Reality sort of crashing through the wall like the Kool-Aid Man.
Chris: Like I said, this just makes me want to buy a Steam Deck.
