Nintendo Switch 2
Here’s the problem: I like the Nintendo Switch 2. But I also don’t care about the Nintendo Switch 2. At least, not right now. But now I have one. Completely by accident.
I was never planning to buy one, at least, not yet. I didn’t want to deal with the stress of trying to secure a pre-order or waiting at the ready, and there was no big Zelda game waiting for me with the launch, nor was I bothered about playing games I already owned now ported to another console, regardless of how technically impressive it is that’s it’s able to run something like Cyberpunk 2077.
I thought I might wait at least a month until Donkey Kong Bananza, but then again, I’ve also never played a Donkey Kong game. My only interest there comes from the fact that it’s made by the Super Mario Odyssey team, and it’ll mark two (2) Big Exclusives on the Nintendo Switch 2.
So What Kind Of Joy Did I Con Myself With To End Up With A Switch 2?
There I was, on a night like any other, not a care in the world for the encroaching Switch 2 launch. I was playing games at 5 am, which is doing wonders for my 27-year-old self, and saw some of my American friends were picking up their Switch 2s from varying stores’ midnight launches. Cool. I didn’t even feel the FOMO, which I thought I might, but it was just nice to witness this event.
“Huh,” I thought (stick with me now, the play-by-play thoughts are definitely necessary), “I wonder if the stores here have the Switch 2 listed as launched now?”. I checked Argos, a merchandise retailer here in the UK, and it sure was. The Nintendo Switch 2 had a page of its own, almost. Stock would go live on launch day around 6am, and this was about 5:30am now. “Maybe I’ll refresh it in a little bit, it’ll save me the hassle of grabbing one at a later date.” But I also told myself I was not going to wait there, mere pixels from my screen, trying to be the first one to the punch, because I just don’t have that Gamer energy in me right now.
I clicked refresh at 5:50am. There it was. I added it to the cart. There it was. I clicked order. There I was, walking at 7am to go and pick up a Switch 2. Oops.
I Know, You’re Asking: “Wow, What A Wonderous Tale, Surely You Must Be Thrilled?!”
Don’t get me wrong, I’m glad I have a Switch 2. It’s a relief that I don’t need to stress about scalpers and add-to-cart battles, and it is a fantastic console. The Nintendo Switch is one of my favourite systems of all time, and this is just a Nintendo Switch but better. But that’s also the problem, and exactly what I was worried about.
It doesn’t feel like an exciting, shiny new piece of tech. It just feels like I’ve replaced my Switch with a better Switch, and I won’t reap the rewards of that for a while yet. Sure, Mario Kart World is fun — I mean, it’s Mario Kart (I didn’t pay ridiculous amounts for it, I got the bundle). I’m also jumping back into Tears of the Kingdom with Hyrule looking and running better than ever before. But, that’s it. The games aren’t exciting. The console isn’t exciting. It was all to be expected, and while it met the expectations, they weren’t exactly set very high.
I know I’m lucky to have gotten my hands on one, and I know I’m making some Very Privileged Complaints™ right now, but I just feel like it’s such a weird launch for a new console, especially one from Nintendo, which are often flashier, cooler, and more presentably fun by nature. The Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is not flashy or fun.
I probably won’t be writing sonnets about this console for a while, but I’ll sit here enjoying its company until then.
Nintendo Switch 2
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