image source: Wikipedia, with color modification to match the official look
Yesterday we did an overview of the promotion for the newest version of the Nintendo Switch, lazily called Switch 2. Yes, they gave their reasons, but it still feels lazy to me even if there’s a huge change from Switch 1. Since then I did manage to watch a few videos to get an idea of what the response is.
I’m going to go over that, but then I want to focus on my own thoughts, things I’d like to see out of the system. The biggest praise seems to come from the size, while the biggest complaint is coming from the prices. Fair enough, but I can’t afford the current Switch or any of the games no matter how cheep they are, so I guess I don’t have a huge dog in this fight.
BW Media Spotlight is a storytelling analysis blog, and I’ve gone over how video games can tell stories. So I want to come at the discussion from that angle. What potential do I see for this as interactive entertainment, and does it really advance anything or it only made so Nintendo can make more console selling money? Well, it’s being reported today that the US’s current plans to tariff what they’re being tariffed in the name of fairness that there may be a delay, causing worries of a price increase. Please note that I don’t want to discuss the tariff situation. This is not the site for that. I have my views and they are just that, MY views. You’re entitled to yours but this is not supposed to be a politics blog, and sociopolitical extremism is already coming up too much lately by force. I understand both sides and I see good and bad points by both sides whether I ultimately agree with them or not. We’ll discuss the prices but that’s not going to be a focus for this site.
Okay? Good? If not I might break out the edit scissors if I have to. I’m all for free speech but we will NOT HAVE A POLITICAL FLAME WAR IN MY COMMENTS, UNDERSTOOD!!!!!!!!!
tHEN LET’S…. I mean then let’s get on with this.
There has been some confusion on prices, but I’m not into it because even when you sort out all the different prices in different countries the Switch 2 and games will be more expensive. On the portable console side, it’s bigger and with slightly redesigned Joy-Cons (the controllers) and kickstand. Some are annoyed that it’s LED versus OLED, but if you think the price is bad now, imagine how that would add to things. The problem is that Nintendo is not really being open with the cost of production versus the original. It has to be costing more to put together, it’s a new system (though not “brand new”, more of an upgrade), and the games are taking advantage of the larger portable screen, memory storage, and added Joy-Con 2 mouse function, while the Joy-Cons also have an upgraded connection system that will hopefully work. (I always thought magnets and electronics were a BAD combination, but I’m not a hardware guy. I need to bother a friend of mine for that.)
Apparently in a recent “Treehouse” livestream the chat was filled with demands to drop the price. What I didn’t hear is what would be an acceptable price for the console and whether or not Nintendo would make a profit at that price. I will agree that the “tech demo” (and it seems more like a tech demo than the “interactive manual” I’ve heard Switch 2 Welcome Tour described as) being $10 instead of the bundle cart is a bad idea. Other system tech demos with more game function than I’ve seen for this have been free because any game that comes with the system should get players used to all the functions. Even the old NES Super Mario Bros/Duck Hunt game got players familiar with the new control pad vs the joysticks of the day and the light gun “Zapper”. Nintendo needs to explain their reasoning but they might be worried about someone stealing their secrets, despite Steam Deck being the only other console that operates like either Switch.
At least they’re starting off with some of the right titles. While a regular Super Mario Brothers game would have been nice, a Mario Party game is a good substitute considering there’s a new Donkey Kong Country-style game. (I’m old. Donkey Kong to me is a one-screen platformer where you try to climb and save the girl, or the monkey if you’re his son.) A new Metroid Prime game should make the harder core gamers happy, though I don’t know how Prime fits in the franchise with the non-Prime games. Drag & Drive is an odd duck. From what I can tell it’s some kind of wheelchair racing or basketball game…in the future (future, future, future). Wheelchair basketball is real and it’s nice they can use it as a game mechanic instead of a lame attempt at false representation but nobody seems really excited by it.
There are also upgraded versions of some Switch 1 games. I don’t know if you download a whole game or if it’s Switch 2 exclusive compatible DLC for the old cartridge that sits on the SD card (and there is word of SD cards that can store enough games to be worth it), but the enhancements do come with extra features for each of the games announced. I did see one person concerned about game legacy, though. If the servers go down, do you lose all those nice bonuses, while some games have a physical “demo” that you can grab the full game for but only if the servers keep it up there. This is an issue Ross Scott of Accursed Farms has led the charge against, wanting to preserve games for history, a problem with many other media. While the corporate engine just sees this stuff as a source of money, gamers join moviephiles in wanting to see our media history preserved. Corporations love disposable media because they can replace it, not realizing that if the job was good enough to buy and support it, it’s going to have people who want to keep it around. We still have silent black & white movies.
I’m not sure how any of this improves gaming. Nintendo trying to advance HOW you play games was always their advantage in the modern console wars. They had a Wii being used for therapy in the convalescent home I recovered from my surgery in, and that was well after the Wii had been replaced. The Wii U was winding down and the Switch was still the “NX”. Us old gamers who were there when the Atari 2600 was the must-own console love going back to that nostalgia. It’s why gamers ask for as much backward compatibility as possible because they still own the old games and want to play them between new games. Now it’s just “the Switch but bigger with a few tweaks”, and it just isn’t as impressive. That means I can’t see what it can add to the interactive storytelling experience or just improving gaming as a whole. What does it really do different?
If I had money I’d probably buy one when it comes out and hold back on the regular Switch, but that won’t be an issue for me because I have no money. We’ll have to see if Switch 2 proves itself worthy of the upgrade…once all the financial situations are dealt with.
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