Nintendo’s Switch 2 got off to a roaring start but demand has started to sag, particularly in the US. Where are the big games to reverse this?
Wasn’t it the fastest selling console, at least for some time? So many people who wanted one will already have one.
My favorite part of the steam deck is how I didn’t have to pay to “upgrade” the games I already own.
Oh and how I didn’t have to buy my game library again
Nintendo definitely learning the wrong lesson from this:
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The Right Lesson: Maybe we shouldn’t released an expensive console, with only a handful of new games and tons of repeat releases that are $70 (and suck) especially in a really bad global economy, and some of those games dont even have a real physical copy, and stop treating our fans like they are literally Hitler because they are passionate about our products.
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The Wrong Lesson: People must not want powerful hardware and physical games anymore.
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My friend has been liking his but even moreso misses the Steam Deck he had stolen. And now can’t replace.
I loved my Switch but wasn’t planning on getting a 2 due to cost of device and new games. I was gifted one for Xmas, and while I enjoy it, outside Mario Kart (that came with it) I haven’t found a new title made specifically for S2 that I wouldn’t buy for the other consoles or PC. I’m just playing some older catalog stuff, or games that I would prefer on the go. There’s no new Zelda, Mario, Splatoon, nothing 1st party to keep driving a console. It boggles my mind they didn’t have more 1st party lined up for the first year of launch
You can, and should, just get used to downloading games for free on an open device like the Steam Deck or just a regular PC/gaming laptop.
We need to stop giving power to the companies that only use it to take advantage of us.
Where/how do I get them on my steam deck? I’m old and confused
Oh I have an Ally. One of the big reasons I wasn’t going to get an S2. I was just about to get a bigger battery for it when I got the S2 gifted to me.
I was tempted to get it for the Metroid Prime game, but after reviews (and having to lower my discretionary budget because EVERYTHING COSTS MORE) I’ve decided to hold off. The Mario Mafia is definitely souring my opinion of the Big N, and the fact that their titles practically never go on sale means I wouldn’t buy many games for it anyways. Meanwhile my PC (and by extension my Steam Deck) continues to be my favorite gaming platform.
Pokopia, Bananza? It’s better than PS5 launch imo
I was just gifted a Switch 2 for my birthday, and Bonanza was what I was most looking forward to playing. I’m enjoying it a lot, but so far I’m glad I didn’t spend the money myself.
Bananza feels so pointless, pokopia is the first thing so far that feels worthwhile.
Meanwhile ps5 launch had demons souls, and was the high end thing so multiplats made sense there like cyberpunk and asscreed Valhalla.
Ultimately; they’re both sad launch lineups
I’d love to get a Switch 2, but $500 + $70/per game is just too steep for me.
They’re a business and they need to make money.
If you’re too poor to afford video games, then you shouldn’t be playing them.
It’s not about affording something, it’s about it’s value. Nintendo is way overpriced atm.
If I have a PC (which is practically a necessity for modern life anyways), I can get a bunch of fantastic titles on Steam for super cheap right now from their Spring Sale. If you’re too poor to afford a Switch 2, there are plenty of other options.
Please, leave the poor billion dollar company alone :(
People ain’t got no money.
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personally, I’ve been hesitant to buy because Nintendo is willing to brick consoles for people using 3rd party software. otherwise, I’m just waiting for splatoon 4 to come out to buy it. I can wait for an emulator for anything else :p
As a long time Nintendo fan since the NES, Switch 2 is the first Nintendo console (except Virtual Boy, I suppose) that I did not go out and purchase day 1. I still have no real interest.
I like physical carts and the idea that a cart is really just a license key to download a game is a no-go for me right from the start. $80 games. So heavily tied to the online account that any ban, accidental or otherwise, effectively bricks the console. No games that interst me (other than Metroid, which I just bought for Switch 1).
Add all that together and I don’t know if/when I will ever get a S2 at this point. Maybe in a few years second hand. We’ll see.
Same boat. Nintendo fan since the NES, this is the first one I don’t want to buy (I even had a Virtual Boy, although I got it cheap on clearance). The quality of their games has dropped while the cost of their games and hardware have gone up. I’m sure I’ll play the good games they release that I missed eventually, whether via emulation or a cheap used one MANY years from now.
I’m rooting for the demise of what Nintendo currently is, but this isn’t so much of a story. They had lofty projections for sales and manufacturing to make sure that they could meet demand, they’ve met that demand, and it’s high. This is revising one quarter’s production down from 6M to 4M. It’s still doing well for them.
Right? They specifically set out to make sure it wouldn’t be scalped to hell and back after repeated complaints.
They did that, and now the product is real, and market predictions on existing products are much more reliable. The initial production wasn’t sustainable but wasn’t meant to be sustained, either.
Agreed, this feels like making a story out of nothing for clicks.
Just look at this comment section, it’s popular to hate Nintendo. It’s mostly justified, but this story isn’t.
Games costing $70+ is a giant turn off for me with that console. I would like portable cyberpunk, but I’m not buying that several year old game for $70
I played cyberpunk on my steam deck - it’s my only device. I picked it up on sale for £22
As of 2 days ago, FSR 4 works on a Steam Deck, w/Cyberpunk:
https://youtube.com/watch?v=0er-7pyMr3Q
This will also work on AMD 6000s and 7000s series cards.
And if you’d like a linux native mod manager:
Cool! I’ve been meaning to give cyberpunk another playthrough when I get time.
That’s why you buy a Steam Deck instead, pirate Cyberpunk and be able to play it with mods for much better performance than on the Switch 2. Plus, you can pirate a shit ton of other games. Proton on Steam Deck has come a VERY long way.
buy a Steam Deck
Yeah, not really an option now, unless you want to pay scalper prices.
Expensive console + $80 games - decent amount of games = Fuck Nintendo???
Switch 2 had record-breaking sales FYI. This story is really about the overall economy and how fans already bought it.
Ya I eventually night a switch 1 and I loved it. I’ve got stacks of games, some which I haven’t even played yet.
Also a long time PC gamer with shit tons of games in gog and steam and other stores. I bought a steam deck on sale a year or so ago. Now my library is practically endless, especially when you consider emulation. It also plays switch 1 games pretty damn well…
The value proposition just isn’t there. Much more expensive for better performance and… pokemon pokopia? There aren’t any games really taking advantage of that increased performance that I am aware of. My switch 1 still works. I’d like better performance, but not for $500
I would take a new fire emblem game, but certainly not a full upgrade for it.
I upgraded to the OLED model years back and it works fine for me.
My Switch Lite with Diablo 2, Brotato and Balatro will last me till heat death
That’s why most people I know got the switch. They got it in spite of bad performance to play older 3rd party games on a portable, social format. Can play with friends, on the bus, on the couch. Don’t really need better specs to do that. Even hardcore gamers may own a switch to do that - the appeal and accessibility is very broad.
The nintendo games are largely just a bonus, imo. They’re very expensive and I personally wouldn’t seek them out if I didn’t also own a switch. If I had kids or was a kid that’d be a different story, probably. The modern legend of zelda games, mario kart, and super smash were great though.
A bunch of the other nintendo titles were fun, but many of them feel weirdly like mobile games with way more content or something to me - hard to explain, but they don’t feel like $60 or $70 games (to me). Something to do with the repetitive gameplay loops, visual style, and design built around levels rather than exploration/open world. Animal crossing 100% feels like less of a game than the gamecube version did - more repetitive, basically the same appearance, feels less complex.
Exactly. Until the last year or so, it was simply the best handheld you could get for the money. Is it good as a current-gen console, obviously not. But you could play nearly anything on it, and the Lite is surprisingly reliable compared to the standard’s issues with stick drift etc
The only thing the Switch 2 has over similarly priced Linux-based handheld PCs these days is The Duskbloods, which i wont lie is tempting but not tempting enough
DK Bananza is fun but I don’t think it’s worthy of buying a new system. It’s also pretty cool running Cyberpunk on such a slim system but there’s plenty of ways to play that. It’s got a strong third party base already, but I do think this calendar year’s first party releases will be really important for the system.
They also released an update so all switch 1 games can run in docked mode when the switch 2 is in portable mode, but that only benefits those that use the system portably often.
Yeah, this is the “tock” part of the “tick-tock” hardware cycle. People bought the Switch because it was refreshing and a new way to play. Now Nintendo is offering to let us pay again and more for nearly the same. It’s a little cynical but true.
They could have called it the SwitchU, but honestly that’s a disservice to the WiiU - its second screen had more innovation.
Thing is, a lot of people, me included, were asking for a more powerful Switch rather than something entirely new. Its just a compelling form factor.
What I did not want (and what’s the reason I never bought a Switch 2) were 70-80 bucks a game, subscription based hardware features (Chat button), sorta-proprietary storage and gimmicky shit like the camera on a stalk and the sheer audacity to charge 10 quid for a shitty tech demo / marketing game.
And yet, so many people still bought a Switch 2 - so I guess Nintendo did the right thing…financially.
To me, the problem is that this is effectively the Switch Pro, and they called it the Switch 2. The marketing psychology makes a big difference. Switch Pro would imply it coexists alongside Switch and is for those who want to pay for more performance. Switch 2 implies that it’s something worthy of abandoning the prior generation. I think the former is fine (even desirable) and the later is just a bad value proposition.
Also interesting there were leaks about a Switch Pro a year or so prior to the Switch 2 reveal. My guess is the Switch 2 IS the Switch Pro.
Also you can buy 2 of the Switch 1 for the price of 1 Switch 2, and more people can play nintendo
Any games that do take advantage of the increased performance cost $5-20 extra.
One of the smartest thing Nintendo could have done, and it seemed like they were doing this with BOTW/TOTK was to offer the upgrade for free with NSO Expansion Pak memberships, to increase the value of NSO Expansion Pak, get more people to sign up for NSO Expansion Pak and make the Switch 2 a more viable purchase.
BUT NAAAAAAH, ROTFLMAO, $20 ON TOP OF $70 ANNUALLY ON TOP OF $70 GAMES COMING OUT MONTHLY ON TOP OF A $450-500 CONSOLE + $100 ACCESSORIES IS MOTHERFUCKING CRAZY.
The switch 2 costs considerably more in the US than elsewhere thanks to the tariffs. That tax is going to suppress sales no matter what, and there are other economic pressures that harm most people’s buying power as well
it doesn’t, in fact the switch 2 seems to be cheaper in the us than anywhere else (except maybe japan)
msrp is 450$ usd in the us, 630$ cad (458$ usd) in canada, 396£ (530$ usd) in the uk, 700$ aud (487$ usd) in australia, and 470€ (545$ usd) in france
i don’t think the tariffs are having much of an impact, or more likely nintendo is charging everyone to cover them
The games are $99.99 on the shelf for Canada too. Just seeing that is immediately revolting. $110 for the “switch 2 upgrade pack” versions of games, like BOTW. A fucking switch 1 launch title that is currently 9 years old.
Before tax. So add another 5-15% depending on province.
Yea, honestly I don’t know anyone that has bought or plans on buying a Switch 2, but I know a lot of people that bought or have Switch 1. Of course, that’s anecdotal, but shits just way too pricey. I and most that I know got into the Switch because of the affordability and on-the-go console play. Half of that equation is gone, and we already have the on-the-go console play with Switch 1.
And now the price point competes with handheld pcs
Keep in mind though that US prices don’t include VAT, whereas in most countries they do. But you’re right that it’s not significantly more expensive in the US, it’s pretty similar to other regions.
State+local sales tax at around 7.5% (weighted average) takes it to 480 USD (sales tax in the US can be 0 in a couple states, but is usually much more), canada appears to be winning this competition!
Edit 1: Apparently Canada doesn’t include sales tax in their prices, so North America is just special in general, I wonder if we can get Mexico in this coalition.
Edit 2: Mexico has declined to join our coalition.
We also have sales taxes in Canada, but that precentage depends on the province or territory. So you could expect the final Canadian price to go as high as $710 CAD.
it’s 725$ where i live 😭
it’s ok, we have… well not much anymore but we used to have a kinda alright welfare state
Oh I thought Canada would have it included, interesting!
The sales taxes were not to be included in the final price so that companies don’t jack up the price of things to the next $x.99 amount. It’s to be shown separately. Whether that actually does anything, I’m not sure. But I got pretty good at estimating 14%.
Minimum 5% tax in Canada too, swings back the other way.
Can’t account for tax on only one side.
I was under the impression Canada included sales tax in their pricing since usually people from the US are mocked for not having tax on their prices, the more you know!
It’s pretty confusing. Not everything is taxed, clothing and food aren’t for example, but processed food is. So they can’t include the price? Not every province is the same either, some have pst exemptions, some include both together as an hst.
I’m in AB where it’s simple and you just add 5%.
There aren’t enough appealing Switch 2 games at least for me, the price should go down and I rather wait for that EU model with easier battery-swapping.
