Nintendo Switch 2 has arrived

Well, now we've seen the Nintendo Switch 2 in all it's glory. Nintendo has given us a glimpse into their future and for the most part it looks very bright. Nintendo did not go fully in-depth with the tech in terms of confirming or denying the use of DLSS or Ray Tracing. From what I can see, neither of those features were present. At least I couldn't tell. That being said, the visuals look incredible. I would go so far as to say that the visuals in some of the 3rd party ports and EXCLUSIVES (more on that later) actually looked better than some of the 1st party titles shown. Nintendo really went through a lot of effort to enhance the gameplay experience as much as possible. Particularly in portable mode. This is still a very "Nintendo" like device. Lots of gimmicky features that may or may not pan out. The "C" button opens up a whole new world for communication on the Switch 2. I think that Nintendo is definitely trying to make up for the Voice Chat debacle on the original Switch. There were a lot of patents filed for something called a "Virtual Camera" and the camera shown in this Direct showed off a lot features that were described in those patents. So, now we know what the Virtual Camera was all about. It seems like Nintendo is using the increased power of the Switch 2 to expand the scope of the games rather than bleeding-edge visuals, but the visual still look really good. When I first saw the brief footage of Mario Kart World during the Nintendo Switch 2 teaser, I was kinda like "Eh....ida know about this." Now that I see the sheer size and scope of the game I can understand why the visuals aren't at peak level. This is essentially a Mario Kart platformer. This is WAAAY beyond just a racing game, and there seems to be more to explore and do outside of the racing. Now I can understand why the game is exclusive to Switch 2. The game is just too huge and too robust to run on the Switch. They also had taken the traditional gameplay as far as they could. This was the next logical step. The number of 3rd party titles and the QUALITY of 3rd party titles coming to Switch 2 was impressive. To get an exclusive title by From Software I didn't see coming. I expected Elden Ring because that had Been long rumored, but a brand new exclusive title? That's nuts! That's a HUGE get for Nintendo.

I expected a Final Fantasy game coming to Switch 2, and we got that. I expected Madden and NBA2K, and we got that. I was puzzled as to why Yakuza 0 was not included with the recent bundle released on the Switch. Now I know why. Yakuza 0 Director's Cut is coming to Switch 2. If I may be so bold, that is the best game in the series. I've played through the story twice, and I'll do it again! It will be interesting to see if the motion-controls and mouse functionality will be worked into the gameplay. Plenty of opportunity for it. I'm also very impressed about the sheer number of titles both 1st and 3rd party that are going to be available on launch day. These are QUALITY titles too. Not just random filler titles. As I stated before, there was no mention of any upscaling or Ray Tracing that I saw unless I missed something. The visuals from what I can tell don't look as good as the PS5/XSX, but Nintendo is in the room. The wide chasm that was between Nintendo and the other companies in terms of visuals, resolution, and frame rates at least for the short-term has been greatly diminished. 4K60, 1080p120? That's pretty good. In terms of raw horsepower, that is definitely above the PS4 and even above the PS4 Pro. Not as powerful as the XBOX One X, but maybe outperforms it due to having a newer and faster CPU, as well as newer and faster RAM, and more of it. It seems like without any tricks the actual horsepower of this device is enough to get the job done for now. Nintendo has to save some stuff for Switch 2 Pro. :) I have a funny feeling about a new 3D Donkey Kong game, and I'm glad to see one. It was time. We haven't seen one in 3 decades. I also think it's time to give Mario a rest. There are enough games out there that can be remastered and upgraded that haven't been yet. Super Mario Sunshine probably won't be one of them as the game is going to be a part of the GameCube Classics coming to NSO. Overall, I am impressed. It launches June 5th, 2025 with the retail price of $449. The bundle that includes Mario Kart World is $499 which is interesting. It makes me wonder how much the games will be themselves. Am I impressed enough to purchase a Switch 2? Perhaps. We'll see. However, $80-80 dollars for Mario Kart World? I thought people were capping when I first saw that, but it is true. That sucked all the air out of the room for me. I expected games to increase at least to $70 dollars, but $80-90, Nah, ya'll can miss me with that Nintendo. I hope that this price is just an exception for this particular game.