The Switch 2 reveal was boring, uninspiring… and absolutely fine
Ultimately, it’s the games that will be the deciding factor in Switch 2’s long-term success
Christopher Dring
For many, the surprising thing about the Switch 2 reveal was how unusually safe it appears to be.
Since the Nintendo DS in 2004, Nintendo consoles have had a reputation for reinvention (or, if you’re feeling unkind, novelty). This time Nintendo appears to be building a straight sequel.
However, this drive to be different with its hardware didn’t stem from some creative need, but rather a business imperative.
During the GameCube era, Nintendo lost the console war. Not only did it lose to the increasingly dominant and powerful PlayStation, but was struggling against the ambitious incumbent with a large warchest (Xbox). Nintendo couldn’t win in the increasingly expensive technology arms race. If it was to continue making games machines, it needed to do something different.
The Wii was the immensely successful answer to this challenge. Nintendo avoided the head-to-head fight with Sony and Microsoft that it knew it couldn’t win, and managed to find an audience all of its own.
Yet by the time the Wii generation came to close, the interest in motion controls were beginning to wane. But what’s more, the companies it had deliberately avoided competing with were following Nintendo’s lead and moving into the same space.
The successor to the Wii couldn’t simply be a HD Wii, because Xbox 360 with Kinect and PS3 with Move were already effectively offering those experiences.
Thus the Wii U with its tablet controller was born. Yet this time the reinvention failed to excite consumers or developers.
There’s a similar story with the DS. When it came to launching its successor, the smartphone revolution was well underway. Playing games on phones were commonplace, and what’s more they utilised touch controls, which had been one of the DS’s unique selling points. Nintendo felt it needed to offer something different with its DS sequel, and so the 3D screen was introduced (again, to broad disinterest from gamers and developers).
The glasses-free 3D effect of the 3DS’s top screen was an attempt to offer something new, even though a more powerful DS was arguably enough for most.
Nintendo innovates with hardware novelties to be different to what everyone else is doing. And eight years after the Switch first entered this world, it remains largely peerless. There have been some competitors emerging from the PC space, headlined by Valve’s Steam Deck, but these have a specific use case and are not (yet) at the scale of Nintendo’s products. Xbox has stated it’s working on something, while reports suggest PlayStation is, too. But as of right now they remain very much in the future.
In other words – just like it could with the Super Nintendo and the Game Boy Advance – Nintendo has no need to do anything drastic to separate itself from the crowd with Switch 2. Nintendo can iterate on what it did before. It can increase the console’s power, tweak the design, update the control options, and continue what it started in 2017.
And ultimately, this is what the fans are asking for. They’re not after some mind-bending new way to experience the games they love. Switch is already packed with novelties: it has motion controls, and it has (I am reminded) a touch screen.
“Ultimately, this is what the fans are asking for. They’re not after some mind-bending new way to experience the games they love.”
The challenge for Nintendo is the question I was asked on BBC radio this morning: “Why do I need another Switch?” To the readers of VGC the answer is obvious. We all played Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. The machine can barely run anything at a good frame rate these days, and the iPhone can put out better looking titles. But what about the broader audience who are perhaps less concerned about these things?
The teaser video yesterday offered next to no insight into what Switch 2 can do. One gamer friend of mine messaged me moments after the video to simply ask: ‘Isn’t this just Switch Pro?’ And who can blame him for thinking that when the only game we saw was a Mario Kart that looked very similar to the last Mario Kart.
If I was to offer some feedback to yesterday’s teaser, perhaps it would have been wise to show off something noticeably above and beyond what Switch 1 was capable of. Perhaps an existing third-party game, like a Final Fantasy or a Cyberpunk. Just a few seconds would do to tease people of what Switch 2 might be able to pull off.
Of course, offering feedback at this stage feels churlish. This was just part 1 of a two-part reveal. Or rather, the tease for the main event in April. Switch 2’s success or failure won’t be decided by unique control schemes, or magnets, or even the machine’s ability to output in 4K. It’ll be entirely down to the games. The answer to ‘why do I need another Switch?’ and ‘isn’t it just a Switch Pro?’ will only be answered by the things Nintendo (and the rest of the industry) make for it.
But even though the video was uninspiring, I can’t help but get a little excited. It’s been a slow 18 months for fans of Nintendo. Since the launch of Super Mario Bros Wonder in 2023, we’ve mostly just had remasters, spin-offs, alarm clocks and museums to keep us engaged.
