Can’t wait to never buy one. My switch has tears and BOTW on it, and those are the last games I’ll buy from Nintendo so…
120 and 4K are often claimed on console specs but are rarely achieved within games. At best it will be capable of that when playing Netflix or streaming.
Or it’s actually running at 720p30 and being FSR/framegenned into a blurry shimmery mess. There’s no way Nintendo managed to cram a chip powerful enough to render its own Switch 1 games at true 4k120 into a tablet.
The real advantage of a 120 Hz screen is that you get a much more graceful degradation if you dip below your fps target for a bit. If you’re targeting 30 fps but drop to 25, it still feels pretty smooth on a high-refresh screen, whereas that’s appallingly clunky on a low-refresh one. A “poor man’s gsync”, if you will.
To the gsync comment, the Switch 2’s screen also has VRR
They announced Metroid Prime 4 will be able to run at 1080p 120fps or 4K 60fps when docked. It doesn’t have the most impressive graphics or anything, but it sounds like they’re actually going to try doing it for a few games.
I’d bet that’s using a lot of upscaling in both modes
Something I’ve seen far less reaction to than I expected? While the Switch 2 looks like it takes standard MicroSD cards, it DOESN’T. It takes the fairly obscure MicroSD Express standard! I can’t even BUY an SD Express card locally right now! It seems likely, at launch, that Nintendo’s branded cards will be the only ones people can get that will work with it!
The Switch 2 has 256GB of onboard storage, much more than the Switch, it is true. But it’s also backwards compatible with the Switch, and lets users bring their old digital library over with them. I have a 256GB card in my Switch, it’s nearly full, and it doesn’t have my whole library on it! If I got a Switch 2, I’d have it filled up on day 1!
And the MicroSD card issue won’t be obvious to most buyers. Parents will get their kids Switch 2s, and wonder why their old card won’t work with it. It’ll look to them like the Switch 2 or the card is broken, unless they implement a physical lock against incompatible cards, and I don’t know if SD cards even support those. Also, SD Express cards are more expensive than standard ones.
This could end up being a debacle almost on the scale of the price (which, as others have noted, isn’t even Nintendo’s fault entirely).
Console price doesn’t bother me so much, but these game prices really instantly killed my hype. Can’t wait to not buy the Wii U 2
That pricing is really putting Nintendo out of its core market. The reason the Switch was an absolute smash is because it was and remained accessibly priced. The fact they’re charging $450 is really putting them out of the “hey that’s not too bad” audience. This is a wildly bad move on their part.
The nickel and diming about every single thing they mentioned makes Sony and Microsoft seem generous by comparison.
Switch 2 announcement in one image:
The G stands for gamers’ money!
Yes, it is a price increase, but the inflation has been wild. For context, the Switch in 2017 for $299 is equivalent to $389 in 2025 dollars. It’s really been insane. The Nintendo 64 from 1996 was $199, or $404 in 2025 dollars.
While you’re not literally wrong adjusting for inflation, their “value proposition” is a bit out the window. It’s so close in price to comparable tech, it seems like a much more serious purchase. Nintendo hit it right with the Wii and the Switch by pricing competitively low. The Switch 2 should follow the same value quotient to be a runaway success. This is effectively what killed the Wii U. The Switch 2 could be destined to follow the same fate.
Even the mental trickery of “$399” would be more effective than “$449” for Nintendo in the long run. They have to question whether that $50 is worth losing marketshare. I think if they are keeping the game prices and (potentially) the cost of services like online higher than the entry point of buying the system should be lower.
Given Nintendos never on sale pricing I cannot commit to this console. God 90 for a game is ridiculous.
Not to mention their awful peripherals pricing and chatoic lineup.
So it’s $650 CAD $700 AUD for the Switch 2 and it’s $120 CAD $150 AUD for Mario Kart.
LMAO
Preorder for mk in AUD is $114, fortunately. 😅
…still fucking steep.
Also it’s a “preorder”
Holy fuck lol. I’ll buy it used in a few years then. This’ll motivate softmodders and emulation too.
I think I might buy a steamdeck instead and just hope that the fromsoft game is a temporary exclusive
Definitely getting a Steam Deck instead. I was waiting for confirmation of the ridiculously high price.
For $50 less, you get a similarly capable machine in terms of specs but more comfortable to hold, with an immensely larger library, and an operating system far more respectful of your authority to do what you want with the machine you bought.
90€ for Mario Kart 🤡 I hope this console flops because of this alone.
You know it will not… The best I hope is that MK doesn’t sell too well separately thus forcing a discount.
The reporting I’m seeing puts it at 40 if you buy the console bundle. Which… I mean, why wouldn’t you?
I’m not sure what the deal is with the physical version, I have to assume it’s some collector’s edition deal with an Amiibo or something. Can’t imagine they straight up double the price if you want to buy the card in a box instead of bundled with the console. Waiting on official prices for all of it, in any case.
This is the price for the game on the official Nintendo store. DK is priced at 70€ digital and 80€ physical, it’s not just a Mario Kart thing.
Got a link? My official Nintendo site hadn’t updated with Switch 2 info when I checked. Do they detail the contents of the physical versions?
Here’s the link to the French store: https://store.nintendo.fr/fr/nintendo-switch-2 all regional stores have similar prices in their own currencies. No details on what’s inside the box.
Got it, thanks. Yeah, it seems it’s a 10 euro extra for physical. I get why, those Switch carts were expensive, and it seems like they’ve moved to even more expensive, faster storage, but it REALLY sucks. Puts the “virtual card” stuff they announced in perspective.
It just seems crazier for MK specifically because… well, it’s forty bucks with the bundle, and the bundle is digital-only. Makes physical 2x the cost, which is nuts.
They’re really milking this launch on a number of avenues I’m not cool with, and I’m not sure the offering justifies it. Some of those current-gen ports looked rough.
Best switch console is still the steam deck I’m sure :3
Given the switch2 is going to cost more, definitely.
Also games are going to be $80 apparently :(
Are they legit charging money for the tech demo game?
Also did they mention how much the “upgrades” will be?
Seems like I’m staying on Steam Deck until that thing wears down into a pile of dust huh.
Also did they mention how much the “upgrades” will be?
My understanding is it’s $10 for upgrades that just run better with no new content, and $20 for ones that also have new content of come sort. Nintendo’s gonna be the most expensive console to buy games for now. Remember the Switch tax? Get ready for the Switch tariff!
From what i am reading only mario party jamboree and kirby upgrades will cost money, the zelda ones are free if you pay for switch online and metroid and pokemon dont appear to have any proce attached to their upgrades.
The running theory is thst most games wont cost to upgrade unless they offer expanded content. But expansions costing money is nothing new.
if you pay for switch online
The more expensive Switch Online Expansion Pass, specifically. That’s a big if.
That’s $4.17 a month. It’s even cheaper if you get a family account and share with your family and / or friends like i do. (I am actually UK, but it seems the US price is the most quoted.) And comes with all the n64 (and the new gamecube) games. Its the cheapest online service of the three main consoles.
Also, to be clear. Im not a big switch guy, and i think nintendo are a greedy company. I mostly play playstation these days but my switch is handy and there are some amazing first party games.
That’s $4.17 a month.
…on top of all the other “It’s only $X!” subscription services out there. If it’s the ONLY subscription you have, sure, that’s not bad, but how common is that?
person just unironically said they pay nintendo 5 bucks a month for the privilege to play a curated list of 40 year old games you can quite literally find anywhere online. That’s 60$ a year to access an emulator they probably have less than 10 hours of playtime on. There’s just really no justification for Nintendo anymore, BOTW broke me and I had to be talked into it.
Ok. Let’s not misrepresent what i said.
Firstly, you dont round up 4.17 to 5.
Second. I said i am in the UK, so i dont bay any dollars a month.
Third, I pay for 1 quarter of £5 a month, which is the monthly cost of a family account. Which i said i have. So it’s actually £1.25 ($1.64) a month.
Forth, The games that come with the expansio are not 40 years old.the expansion gives you the n64, gameboy advance and genesis games, which are 28, 23 and 35 years old respectively.
Fifth, as well that i get 48 mario kart maps, as well ss some other games. On top of the online play which you get in the standard pack, and some other bits.
Sixth, i have played and completed mario 64 and bajo kazooie on the n64 emulator. I have introduced my son to mario kart 64 as well. I also am slowly working my way through jet force gemini. I have complete goldeneye played multiplayer with my brothers here and there and am working through perfect dark. On the GBA emulator i am playing golden sun. 10 hours is a severe underestimate for all that and more.
Finally. If you are salty about BOTW, then thats your problem. But dont go around lying about what i said to make yourself feel better.
Man I’ve just forgotten about Nintendo at this point. Microsoft and Sony get that exclusives aren’t working when people don’t have enough money to buy every system anymore. I see Nintendo as a niche console with a handful of games. There’s just not enough to justify buying one, and I grew up on Zelda and Metroid. I love them, but it’s not worth buying another console for a few high priced games with questionable performance.
What exactly do you consider high priced? $60 for a game that you end up playing for 10 hours is only $6 an hour. Compared to the price of a movie ticket, that’s pretty cheap entertainment.
You can try to rationalize it all you want, bottom line is people don’t have money to buy $80 games these days. Those people aren’t going to the movies either.
I bought a rug that I’ve gotten years of value out of, should it have been thousands of dollars then? The idea that time used is how you measure value is flawed.
Edit: look what popped up on my feed, so looks like it’s not just me
https://tech.yahoo.com/gaming/articles/former-blizzard-boss-says-hard-090054442.html
I mean, yeah, I never said it was a perfect basis for measuring the value of games or anything else in the world. It’s just one metric, and by that measure it’s a pretty good value for time of enjoyment. Congrats on the rug bro.
As far as games go, it’s still a lot. I’ve played some $20 games for hundreds of hours. Not a dealbreaker, and I’ll gladly buy the game if it looks fun. On the other hand, the games generally being expensive is not a selling point for the console.
The Switch has sold more than the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S combined. Very “niche”
Cool. And Sony can sell to PS and PC, same with Xbox. They have two markets, one that they don’t have to support with hardware. They can also make games that look nice and run nice because they have much better hardware. Plus they actually do cross play with each other, making bigger player pools for match making and such.
We’re not talking about consoles sold. I’m talking about game choice and experience. If you want to look at how you can play the games, there are a few more PCs than Switches sold.
But sure, Mario Party is fun every so often.
Best selling PS5 game: Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 @ 11 million
9th best selling Switch game: Super Mario Party @ 21.1 million
Super Mario Party Jamboree released in October and already sold over 6 million.
But sure, I guess Nintendo is the niche one
Cool and how many games are there on the system? With no backwards compatibility for these expensive games? How many shooters are popular on switch? Or is it that they lock down their IP and it’s marketed strongly towards children and cashing in on nostalgia.
But sure, nuance doesn’t matter. Nintendo is clearly the best system with the best games. I wonder how gaming PCs are even selling anymore, no one even should be playing on anything else it’s so obviously good. Jesus…
Bet they priced it that high to get ahead of any tariffs that might affect them. Consumers really don’t like to see price hikes right around a launch. Plus they still want to milk the Switch 1 since they probably have a very healthy profit margin on that machine. This price makes the Switch 1 look very appealing for people who still haven’t bought one.
Okay, but why are they charging $80 for a digital game, which tariffs don’t apply to?
I believe the tariffs do apply to digital goods as well depending where the server is.
Either way, the main reason would be because of digital was cheaper it would cannibalize physical sales.
How could it? It’s just data, no physical goods are being imported. Do tariffs apply to phone calls from other countries?
It doesn’t matter if it’s data, tariffs are meant to be protectionist so you could easily say that since Nintendo is headquartered in Japan or because the majority of their workers are in Japan or because their name sounds vaguely Japanese that all sales of their product in insert country here has to pay an additional 10% tax
I don’t THINK that’s how tariffs work - I’m pretty sure it’s physical goods only - but I’m no expert, so I guess we’ll see.
They currently don’t affect digital goods but there is no actual reason they couldn’t make one that does we are in some truly interesting times
I have never purchased a game at $70 so for $80 they can be sure as shit I am hard noping out of this one. I was a day 1 3DS (ambassador club!) and Wii U buyer. Really hope this backfires, so incredibly stupid
What’s the source for the $80 thing? If it’s in the article I’m missing it.
And you’ll be sued by Nintendo into lifelong poverty if you use it wrong.
Fuck Nintendo.
When has Nintendo sued someone for using something wrong?