My thoughts on the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct
It’s been a couple of days now since the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct and, I don’t know about you, I have a lot of thoughts about it.
I did a breakdown of everything we saw in the Switch 2 Direct and whilst there was a lot of interesting stuff shown off, but I can’t help but feel rather disappointed and a bit lacklustre over the whole event.
What should have been the biggest Nintendo console launch ever seems to have fallen flat before it’s even begun. From interesting choices in the pricing to a lack of games for cosy gamers, it was definitely a Direct which I didn’t expect to unfold in the way that it has and I have a lot of thoughts about what the problems are right now with the Nintendo Switch 2 and how things need to change.
The lack of transparency
The big thing for me which is really affecting Nintendo right now is the lack of transparency in the Direct itself. There was a lot of key information missing with the most important being the price of the console and the date on which pre-orders would go live. Yes, Nintendo did reveal a launch date for us which was great to see, but how can a consumer make an informed choice on whether to buy the Switch successor without knowing the price?
Credit: Nintendo
Instead of just revealing this, Nintendo told you to go onto their website to find out more information about Nintendo Switch 2 which very quickly led to long queues trying to get into the website and pricing being shared all over social media with no one really knowing if a price of $450 for just the console was right or not.
Generally speaking, I’ve not seen a lot of discourse around the cost of the console. For the most part, I think the prices are reasonable. At the time of writing the cost for just the console without Mario Kart World is $449 USD/£395.99/€469.99. It is expensive, and I’m not going to deny that at all.
For a games console which has historically been pretty accessible for families and casual or cosy gamers, this is a huge price hike which puts the cost of Nintendo Switch 2 in line with base versions of the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. The console now is not something that would be considered for a child’s Christmas present because it is too expensive, but the prices are generally in line with what was expected given inflation going up. However, the euro pricing is crazy and that is completely out of line with what I would have expected the console to cost.
But it’s not just the price of their consoles that was missing, there was also confusion over the cost of the games themselves. Rather than sticking with a single pricing structure with everyone really expecting games to be marketed at around $70, we get a good look at Mario Kart World which looks incredible and then Nintendo shares on their website that the price is going to be up to $80 for a physical copy of the game.
At time of writing, I still don’t really know how the price structure is working for the launch games, some of them are priced at £60 for a digital copy, whilst others are £70 and there is a price increase for physical copies of the same games. It’s all over the place and very difficult for you to work out if it’s even worth the time buying a game because you don’t know which one is worth the money you pay.
Physical games are actually digital games
Then there’s the issue with buying a physical copy of the game, but you aren’t actually getting a physical copy of the game you want. What Nintendo didn’t reveal in the Switch 2 Direct is that some of the physical games you will be able to purchase are not going to be on the game card themselves. Instead, you will be getting a game cartridge called a game-key card and when this is inserted into your Nintendo Switch 2, you will will then download the game onto your console before you can play the game.
So, even though you will have a physical cartridge, you don’t actually have a physical copy of the game you want to play. What you are doing is paying the increased price for a physical cartridge but actually getting the digital version of that game.
Credit: Nintendo
To me, this is an incredibly shady practise because not everyone has access to a reliable internet connection to download games and some players want to collect physical media. Instead, of charging a fair and reasonable price for a game, Nintendo is charging you for the privilege of having a box and a cartridge which may not have the full game on it! I will acknowledge that there are additional costs in producing physical copies of games, but is it fair to pass that onto a consumer if they don’t have a choice in how they play their games? I personally don’t think so, and it’s something which should have been properly addressed in the Direct.
With the lack of transparency from Nintendo comes a lot of confusion for gamers, and right now, I can see this really harming Nintendo in the sales of the Switch 2. No one is clear on why games have increased so much in price versus the console and having a confusing price structure on a game by game basis is not going to help matters. Really, what Nintendo is going to have to do in future Directs and showcases is justify the price of the games that are being charged because you guys are going to want to know that you are paying a fair price for games. If Nintendo doesn’t make that clear upfront, their game sales are going to really struggle.
The lack of game variety
It’s pretty hard to argue that Nintendo didn’t showcase that many games in the Switch 2 Direct. We actually got 59 different games shown off with various different release dates from launch all the way through to games which haven’t been given a release date yet. However, as a cosy gamer, I felt like there wasn’t really anything for me.
I’m not just talking about the lack of farming simulators. We have seen more than enough of those in the past few months and not getting an update for Animal Crossing whilst disappointing is not entirely unexpected. I mean games which are more wholesome and don’t have any violence in them.
Credit: Nintendo
Mario Kart World honestly looks amazing and I love playing Mario Kart casually when I just want a break from decorating in Animal Crossing. But is it enough for me to go out and buy a console now just for Mario Kart World? Not really.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe was fine for me but it didn’t hold my attention in the same way as Mario Kart Wii. There are definitely a lot of new things to the Mario Kart franchise in the new version for the Switch 2 and I really need to hear more about it before I would take the plunge to buy a console just for Mario Kart World.
The only games which appeared that were briefly shown off which are of interest to me are not coming out any time soon. There was finally a date put next to the new Professor Layton game, which is coming out in 2025, and we saw Witchbrook again after seeing this in the Nintendo Switch Direct last week.
Every other game shown off is not what I would describe as a cosy game. There was an awful lot of violence and not really much focus on collaboration and chilled out or positive vibes. So, for me, there wasn’t really a lot shown off which makes me excited as a cosy gamer for the future of the Nintendo Switch 2.
I know Nintendo will address this in time and we will see more cosy games in the future as Nintendo Switch 2 becomes the predominant console, but as an initial launch, to not see more variety in the games presented at what should be the biggest console launch ever for Nintendo makes me question right now if Switch 2 is even designed for cosy gamers.
GameChat is exciting, but incredibly risky
One of the brand new and exciting updates from the Switch 2 Direct is one which came completely out of no where for me and is a welcome and needed upgrade for Nintendo consoles, but is one which really worries me at the same time.
GameChat is Nintendo’s version of Discord on a Switch console which will allow you to chat with your friends via the built in microphone on the Nintendo Switch 2 console. You can also connect a camera to have a video call with friends and share your screen with those on the call so you can see what your friends are up too.
Credit: Nintendo
I love this as a new feature because you now don’t have to rely on the Nintendo Switch Online app to have voice chats, which was always clunky and no one really used it as a result. But, there’s one major issue with it and it’s to do with the audience Nintendo consoles have.
With bright, colourful and fun games which are quick to pick up and easy to understand, Nintendo consoles and games are perfectly designed for a casual audience, and that inevitably means a lot of children are drawn to Nintendo games.
Originally Nintendo did remove a lot of my concerns about children accessing GameChat by saying that you had to have a Nintendo Switch Online membership to use it. It wouldn’t stop every child from using it because family plans exist and are used in the way they are for a reason, but at least that would mean that you need to have some kind of age verification to make sure you were old enough to use something like GameChat as part of the service. But, then Nintendo decided to say that GameChat would be available for everyone up until March 2026.
This is a massive problem and Nintendo hasn’t shared many more details on how GameChat is going to work and how they intend to keep children safe whilst they use GameChat. Can children just stumble into a Voice Chat with a streamer and share their game and camera straight away? Is there an invite system so someone is a host and they can turn off permissions for those on the call like we see on Discord? And what permissions will parents and guardians have to make sure their children are protected whilst they play games online?
Nintendo did reveal that parental controls will exist for GameChat but nothing has been shared yet on how this works in practise. Before I even attempt to use it, I want to know how this is going to be limited to keep children safe online and what other users can do to report inappropriate behaviour as I can really see this being misused by both children and those with less than ideal intentions.
Can Nintendo fix the Switch 2 launch?
The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct certainly left a lot to be desired in terms of the expectations for cosy gamers and, in many ways, it feels like Nintendo really missed the mark with their first full presentation of the Nintendo Switch 2 console.
Nintendo seem to really be targeting hardcore gamers with the Switch successor and moving towards a space where they can bring PC style games to a handheld market. Whilst this isn’t a bad thing, it seems like gamers are responding in kind. From easy to grab pre-orders to people balking at the cost of games, Nintendo’s lack of transparency in this upcoming generation doesn’t seem to be helping them out on what should have been an incredibly successful launch for them.
I do believe that it will be possible for Nintendo to fix many of the issues by being more open about their plans and demonstrating the console and game value up front and by not hiding information on their website. Hopefully in the next couple of months we have before the Switch 2 launches they will reveal more information which allays a lot of the concerns gamers have right now about their next generation console.
What did you think of the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct? Are you going to be picking up a pre order and what games are you looking forward to on Nintendo Switch 2? Let’s talk about it below, and I’ll see you in the next one.
