Nintendo has finally aired its big Switch 2 Direct, and now we know a whole lot about its next console. The Verge staff has a lot of feelings about the device, which will launch on June 5th, and we’ve collected our first impressions below.
A soulless design
Look, I love black. My entire wardrobe is almost exclusively black. But the Switch 2’s mostly-black design looks off to me. The original Switch may have launched with a gray Joy-Con option, but the neon red and blue controllers that also launched on day one became iconic. Now, the Switch 2 has just splashes of colors, and they’re mostly hidden.
I imagine Nintendo will inevitably release full-color Joy-Con 2 controllers in the future, but I think the Switch 2 out of the gate could have looked much more fun.
-Antonio Di Benedetto, laptop reviewer
A meaningful screen upgrade
No, it’s not an OLED. And yes, Nintendo will almost certainly repeat its strategy of launching a Switch 2 with that display technology down the line. But even right now, there’s a lot to like about the Switch 2’s new 1080p screen.
Its much larger 7.9-inch size is a blessing for the eyesight of a generation that grew up with Nintendo consoles — myself included. And I was pleasantly surprised that the company went with a 120Hz panel that supports variable refresh rate (VRR) and wider HDR color.
It won’t deliver the inky blacks of OLED, but as long as Nintendo’s quality assurance is up to snuff, the LCD won’t dissuade me from buying a Switch 2 on day one.
-Chris Welch, senior reviewer
The Joy-Con seem like a big improvement
The new Joy-Con are bigger, look more comfortable, do indeed attach via magnets, and can even be used like a mouse. Now, the real question is: will the sticks drift?
-Jay Peters, news editor
Social features? No thanks
Just imagine: the joy of Zoom meetings, now integrated into your gameplay. Voice chat and video streaming are the worst parts about gaming to me. I will not be using these features to scare my friends away by yelling at them.
–Marina Galperina, senior tech editor
The new GameCube controller is one flaw from perfection
I play a lot of my Switch games with a licensed PowerA replica GameCube controller. While it unfortunately uses AA batteries, it includes an additional ZL button that lets me play most of my Switch games. While Nintendo’s official wireless GameCube controller for the Switch 2 brings rechargeable batteries, Nintendo opted to give it a little nub of a ZL button instead of a full button. Hardly the Pro Controller replacement or WaveBird successor I was hoping for.
-Umar Shakir, news writer
A higher-than-expected price
$449.99 is higher than I was expecting for the Switch 2. I was hoping for $399. But still I’ll be doing everything I can to snag the $499.99 bundle with Mario Kart World, a game that costs an eye-watering $79.99 on its own.
Let’s just hope pre-orders, which start on April 9th, go ok. (I’m expecting disaster.)
-Jay Peters
Donkey Kong Bananza looks great
I’m sure I’ll play plenty of Mario Kart World, but I’m an antisocial sort at heart, so I spent most of this Direct waiting for Nintendo’s first-party, single-player killer app. I never would have bet on Donkey Kong Bananza leading the charge.
He may be as old as Mario, but this is only Donkey Kong’s second-ever 3D platformer, his first since 1999’s Donkey Kong 64, and his first solo game since Tropical Freeze in 2014. He’s an unlikely candidate for a system seller. Then again, that’s probably what Mario Kart is for.
-Dominic Preston, news editor
Charging for a tutorial?
The age of new consoles being bundled with a free game is behind us, but it’s confusing why Nintendo is charging for the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour app. Although it does appear to include a small selection of mini-games, the app seems to be more of a highly-polished interactive tutorial than a game.
Wii Sports not only helped make that console a huge hit for Nintendo, it also cleverly introduced gamers to the Wiimote and Nunchuck’s unique capabilities and motion-controlled gaming. The Welcome Tour app feels like a similar idea, but with much less replay value.
-Andrew Liszewski, senior reporter
No Super Smash Bros.
Throughout the Switch 2 Direct, I was waiting for the iconic Super Smash Bros. logo to flash across my screen. And I nearly jumped out of my seat during the Kirby Air Riders trailer, which looked almost like an intro for a new SSB game.
It wasn’t, unfortunately, though SSB creator Masahiro Sakurai, who also directed the original Air Ride, is directing Riders. Here’s hoping he’ll be up for another SSB.
-Emma Roth, news writer
GameCube games on Nintendo Switch Online
It’s been more than two decades since Nintendo released F-Zero GX, my favorite anti-gravity racer of all time, and Switch 2 Direct revealed that it and several other GameCube games are coming to the new console as a Nintendo Switch Online feature. In addition to GX, I can’t wait to finally play bangers from Nintendo’s most adorable console in higher resolution without the need to screw around with the pain of emulators.
-Wes Davis, weekend editor
Virtual cartridges look useful
After my decision to stick with digital game downloads for the original Nintendo Switch led to frustrations with playing those games on the Switch OLED, I was planning a return to physical cartridges for the Switch 2.
But Nintendo’s reveal of its new virtual game cards last week has changed my mind. Being able to more easily move games between several versions of the Switch without the consoles needing a constant internet connection is exactly the upgrade Nintendo needed to introduce to streamline digital game management with the Switch 2 enroute.
-Andrew Liszewski
Promising updates for old games
Nintendo squeezed in some promising info about Switch 2 updates for older titles during today’s Direct. The selection of games getting updates — which includes Arms, Super Mario Odyssey, and Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker — is relatively small, and it sounds like Nintendo is taking steps to make them compatible with the Switch 2’s new GameChat feature. But Nintendo also said that the updates “may improve performance,” which feels very significant for certain titles on the list like Pokémon Scarlet / Violet and The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom.
–Charles Pulliam-Moore, film and TV reporter
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