The Nintendo Switch

[mikeszekely]

So, yeah, way more powerful than the Switch 1, but after 8 years so is your phone (probably).

The takeaway I was reading somewhere else was that there's a bigger gap between docked and handheld performance on the Switch 2 than the original. Which makes sense; the Switch was 720p handled and 1080p docked, the Switch 2 is 1080p handled and 4k docked. Going from 720 to 1080p is just over doubling the pixels, but going from 1080p to 4K is quadrupling.

[azrael]

46 minutes ago, mikeszekely said:

So, yeah, way more powerful than the Switch 1, but after 8 years so is your phone (probably).

'Granted...Ampere is 5 years old now.

[davidwhangchoi]

hey guys, interesting data...

free updates to switch 1 games for switch 2

-ARMS - Res Bump + Framerate Bump + HDR support

-Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker - Res + HDR

-Game Builder Garage - Res + Mouse controls

-NSMB U Deluxe - Res

-Pokemon Scarlet/Violet - Res + Framerate

-Mario 3D World - Res Bump + Framerate / HDR (Bowser's Fury only)

-Mario Odyssey - Res + HDR

-Zelda Echoes of Wisdom - Res + HDR

-Zelda Link's Awakening - Res + HDR

[azrael]

Switch 2 unboxings and (sponsored) gameplay are showing up. There will be no reviews until after the launch tomorrow (June 5, 2025).

[Hikuro]

I forgot it's already June and it being released. I did see some unboxing videos and well, I still dunno. From what I could see, it does look neat, but I've also been happy with my original switch I've had for a decade. I don't see right now where I even need to do this purchase yet and sorta wanna wait now until they fixed bugs.
My biggest issue right now would be the magnetic joycons....I can just see people pushing those release buttons and dropping their system a lot. 

[mikeszekely]

Well, despite Walmart cancelling a bunch of preorders mine's got from "placed" to "preparing" and is still set to arrive tomorrow.  I'll let you guys know when it gets here.

EDIT: I enjoyed my original Switch, but I enjoyed it at less when the framerate was dipping into the 20fps range playing Tears of the Kingdom.  I'd already moved from console to PC for most of my gaming years ago, and stuff like the ROG Ally X has largely displaced my Switch for portable gaming.  I wouldn't have bothered with the Switch 2- the price put me off, and the first game I'm truly looking forward to on it will be Metroid Prime 4- but I do like Nintendo's first party software, and articles keep popping up about how tariffs are going to make Nintendo raise the price.

EDIT 2: Arrived at 7:15am. Doing the initial setup and transfer from my Switch OLED, then going back to bed.

Edited yesterday at 11:58 AM by mikeszekely

[sh9000]

[Hikuro]

I caved….so wow was really surprised it was still in stock on my lunch break cause Targets inventory check online was really accurate. Supposedly they have 5 more bundled variants left, lots of the standards. 
initial thoughts, it’s big, it’s kind of heavy. The joycons are bending at the main body like I thought they would and that’s an issue I had with the original console. However my thought of accidentally pushing the release buttons has been forgotten. You gotta push a fairly noticeably big button on each to get them to dislodge.

but right now that’s about all I can say. I really haven’t been able to try anything cause it’s taking forever to download the blasted update on company guest wifi.

Edited 18 hours ago by Hikuro

[mikeszekely]

Well, after spending the day with my Switch 2, I can confidently say that unless (like me) you're worried tariffs are going to drive the price up even higher, you can probably skip for now.  The launch lineup is extremely sparse, with almost every good game being available on some other console*.  Seriously, most people seem to be playing Cyberpunk 2077, and hey, if this is the first console some people bought that can play it more power to them, but I'll stick with PC for that.  Mario Kart World is probably the only Switch 2-only game most people will look twice at, and... well, it's kind of just ok-ish.  The open world map that's supposed to shake things up kind of doesn't.  You can only play singleplayer, and unlike games like Forza Horizon you're not driving to different racing events.  About the most exciting thing I found was the occasional P-switch that would start a short mission.  The mission is always to get to a goal by a certain time, and the rewards seem to be stickers and maybe a new outfit.  The meat and potatoes of the games is still Grand Prix, which is still a series of four races for points.  I did two cups, and both of them started with a typical three-lap track, followed by three courses subdivided into three segments instead of laps.  The idea is that one course flows into the next; these courses do exist as part of the open world.  But since you're not actually racing in the open word it's not actually doing the game any favors.  Rather, it reduces the variety of the courses as they start to blend together- and there's no Rainbow Road!  Honestly, I think I'd rather play Mario Kart 8.

The majority of my time with the Switch 2 was spent playing BotW with the $10 upgrade pack... a game that, as a Wii-U title as well as a Switch 1 launch title, I don't recall pushing the Switch hardware the way TotK did.  Is it actually better on Switch 2, then?  Actually, yes... right away I noticed textures like the filigree in the Sheikah ruins is a lot sharper, and HDR means the colors pop more.  Going back, it makes playing on the Switch 1 look kind of muddy and washed out.  Link's character model doesn't look all that different, though, and I've noticed several instances of shrubbery popping in.  Ultimately, the gameplay is unchanged, and after awhile you kind of get into it and stop really looking for or noticing differences.  I'd say if you get a Switch 2 and want to play BotW again it's worth getting the upgrade for it, but the upgrade for BotW isn't worth getting a Switch 2 over.  Frankly, I think Nintendo should have stockpiled consoles for another month and launched it with the new Donkey Kong available.

And while you're probably thinking it's pretty cool that you can use the Switch 1 Pro controller on the Switch 2, I think Nintendo did it more so all the Virtual Console controllers they've sold still work.  Nintendo definitely wants you to buy the Switch 2 Pro controller, and they made sure you know it by making the old Pro controller unable to wake the console from sleep.

*Even though the Remaster is exclusive to Switch 2, the original Bravely Default can still be played on the 3DS, so I'm not counting it as a Switch 2 exclusive.

Hey, @Hikuro, I'm a little bit of a car guy so when you post a picture like that I'm looking at your dash, no the Switch 2.  Is that an early 2010's Infiniti?