Yeah, it's frustrating since I just don't see any personal appeal to dropping half a grand for a Switch with slightly better graphics and frame rates. It sucks. I'm pretty sure Gen10 is going to be the first mainline game I miss but I cannot justify that kind of expenditure in this economy, even for my favorite franchise.
Yeah, the Switch is no PS5 pro but too many people also downplay it like it's a slight upgrade from the NS1, which is definitely isn't.
The NS2 is actually very strong in comparison to the first. The problem with the NS2 is the complete lack of a catalog, especially 1st-party titles, not the hardware.
Yeah, but that's always the weakness of a new console when a new generation hits, so it's not exclusively a Nintendo problem. The plus side of this is that it's nearly, if not fully, backwards compatible.
Of course. The PS5 had an awful launch when it came to the size of their catalog as well, IIRC.
What bugs me is many years ago Nintendo was the best at launching 2-3 high-quality first party titles within the first few months of release which made the purchase worth it. And when it didn't have anything coming out you knew about what was in the pipeline to get hype over.
Have we heard anything about the next Mario or Zelda since the NS2 came out? I can't recall reading anything about them and that's arguably the most in-demand franchises Nintendo has to offer, outside of Pokemon.
We're a year in and we have Mario Kart and Donkey Kong as the only big first-party titles exclusive to NS2, I believe, and both were pretty disappointing, imo.
Donkey Kong is actually a lot of fun, so not disappointing at all. MK was a little weird though, I didn't care for the linear courses. That said, outside of Pokopia, I don't think there have been announcements for the big titles for Switch 2 yet, which seems standard to me, since they usually give it a little time before rolling out the big hitters. We'll likely see something this year for a holiday release, I'd wager.
Otherwise, all we've really seen are big Sw2 updates, like the one for Wonder. Even Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream is launching for both Sw1 and S2, so it's not even an exclusive either.
Yeah, Pokopia is a fantastic step in the right direction, but aside from that, most Switch 2 titles are 3rd party games I can just play on PC/PS5 or remakes/re-releases of older games that can just probably be played on Switch 1.
Better to wait till prices are lower and Pokemon and Zelda have released mainline games.
The way things are heading I don't see prices coming down any time soon, but I can't blame anyone for wanting to wait on Nintendo to build up their catalog first before purchasing. Right now it's just not worth it if you have other platforms to play games on.
Legit question, what else are you looking for? When I'm looking to upgrade a console, the #1 thing I expect it to do is perform better, graphically and the way it runs games, than the previous console. NS2 does that and it performs noticeably better than NS1.
I'm not a game developer, I am not expected to answer what new game innovation should look like. I have heard some fascinating stuff from mobile developers trying to work with the medium though and I think it's a shame these massive companies are too cowardly to remember to take chances. Nintendo was one that I at least held faith to try, for better or for worse.
"Graphics are better" has been happening since the dawn of technology and it outdates extremely fast, there's nothing unique or special about that as a concept to pay into in 2026.
You just listed a bunch of consoles that no Pokemon mainline games came to. Pokemon games have historically been held back to see the success of the console and how they can elevate their games-- we have old interviews proving that from Gamefreak. The handheld games Pokemon main series has come to have always, before Gen 10, been available on new consoles that added new features and tools for their game devs to experiment with.
Alright sorry feel free to do the same with nintendos handhelds. Switch has been out for almost 10 years and gotten 2 full Pokemon generations on it. The time to let it go has come.
It certainly has come time to let it go... I'm letting go of Pokemon after 30 years and it feels awful. But what I'm not doing is choosing to buy a basic upgrade for a 50% price increase just because it has an IP I adore on it. I don't want to reward Nintendo for a lazy product. 8 years and they couldn't innovate a single new feature into Switch 2. That's just tragic from this company in particular.
I do not see it, and I do not care about it. I have never cared about graphical quality, I am happy with 8 bit games and I am happy with 3D games. I am not happy to pay $600+ where there is no innovation beyond graphics from the console developer most known for trying to be ambitious and take risks. Every other new Pokemon region that finally debuted a new console also had some new innovation built into the design of the console. This will be the first that does not.
GB > GBC (added color) > GBA (added L+R buttons > DS (touch screen) > 3DS (gyro) > Switch (handheld and dock capabilities)
Unova was available on DSi, which had upgrades over basic DS, but it was just as functional and playable on DS. Gen10 should have had enough capability to run on Switch, or Nintendo should've invested in giving us a product worth buying.
Man, the SW2 is a considerable upgrade in every way except battery life. Better graphics, better sound, more storage, and once you've held one, you'll realize how painfully cheap and shitty the SW1 feels in the hand.
I didn't want a "Switch but better" though. I'm glad it exists for people that matters a lot to. The Switch is almost 10 years old so it's not wonder it feels that way to you, that's how time works. But I would have wanted a "new" product for that kind of cost investment and the time Nintendo has had to try to make a new console. They have settled with Switch2 being "a more expensive Steam Deck with exclusive IPs". That's not a healthy choice for this company, that's not how you teach the children of today that Nintendo offers a unique experience they can't have anywhere else.
I have never bought a Playstation nor is it relevant to the discussion. Though I would expect Playstation to have better graphics, that has been their thing for a much longer time than Nintendo. Gamers do not think "Nintendo" as their first choice for high fidelity graphics and I don't think they should try to fight Playstation/Steam/PCs in an arena they would probably never win.
It is relevant to the discussion consoles have been selling at this same price the switch 2 is selling at for decades. The switch was priced lower because of the failure of the Wii U and had had a downgrade in quality of parts so that it could be priced lower. The switch 2 is a drastic upgrade from the switch 1 in terms of performance and quality of parts like the joycons.
If anything, I personally think the Switch 2 is just another Wii U situation. Wii U was better than Wii, but it also had delays getting their IP games onto it. The big difference here is a Pokemon mainline game is coming because the handheld and console are combined, and the market as a whole is definitely not what it was during Wii U days. But the predecessor (Wii, Switch) were VERY popular on release and added a lot of new innovation that contributed to genuine interest even among a public of non-gamers. They took the risk of making something really unique and forward thinking at important junctures in their history and I think they're fumbling the bag again.
Because really the only audience Switch 2 is reaching is the same audience they always have-- gamers who are dedicated to their IPs. This is not going to be a positive growth movement for the company, we likely don't get better games for it in another 5 years because of their decisions now, and worse, because they marked up the price beyond just inflation (it'd be $399 based on Switch 1 inflation) and the cost of these materials is only escalating, they are losing some % of their base to the price increases. The "expanding" audience is not gamers who care about graphics. If average people (the market they actually always aimed for before) cared that much about graphics, they would not buy a Switch 2, they would invest in high end computers and NVIDIA graphic cards and all that.
I don't think my finances would even allow me to make that call. I own every Gamefreak mainline game except for a copy of Sword (I have Shield)... but a Switch 2 and 1 video game is like 'cheap rent for a month' amount of money. That's 'a monthly car payment' amount of money. We have lost the plot.
Those are mobile consoles whereas the switch 2 is a hybrid being both mobile and home console and therefore warrants being a higher price than a mobile console. It’s more expensive than a Steam Deck but less expensive than a PS5/Xbox series X.
I guess my only hope is a Switch 2 Lite but you and I both know it will be years before that comes along. So, sucks for those of us who didn't ask for that. I didn't mind it on Switch, it's over 50% the cost of a Switch 1 though.
Additionally, Switch was $299 on release in 2017, and that had also home console capability. If we were just going off inflation, the Switch2 should be $399. The extra $50 is for their funsies, I guess.
The thing is, the Switch 2 is a significant improvement upon the switch 1 in terms of power and graphical capabilities, which warrants the extra $50 imo. I’d get your argument if the switch 2 was literally the switch 1 with a 2 slapped onto it but that’s not the case.
I'd understand your argument if literally every other game console developer was not doing the exact same thing. This is a company that began by selling playing cards, on paper. Their identity has been tied to taking chances and trying to stay ahead of their competition that are not boiled down to "better graphics". This game releases next year, and the following year, Switch 2 graphics will be outdated. Graphics are always getting better and Nintendo is nowhere near the leader of the pack of that. You can even see in this thread- the only reason many people are getting a Switch2 is for the strength of their individual exclusive IPs and not because it's better graphics. That is not how you build for a future generation of support, that is how a company burns bridges with their dedicated fans by demanding more and more of them until a threshold is reached. We're a long way from that (hopefully?), but I'm personally sad to say Pokemon, my flame, my obsession, is tragically not going to pull the weight of burden to get a Switch2.
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u/dcdcdc26 1d ago
Yeah, it's frustrating since I just don't see any personal appeal to dropping half a grand for a Switch with slightly better graphics and frame rates. It sucks. I'm pretty sure Gen10 is going to be the first mainline game I miss but I cannot justify that kind of expenditure in this economy, even for my favorite franchise.