Topic: Does anyone else feel like this is more "Switch U" than Switch 2?

They do it this way because it works. The dumb looking thumbnails, the click bait titles, etc. It all used to fill me with crimson hot rage until I realized that most of the world goes about their day blissfully unaware of what some forum troll or blogger thinks about a video game system, company, or whatever else.

As a user and follower of Apple products as well, I have to remind myself of this often. Most Apple blogs these days exist solely to get you to click on their "1000 best iPhone Cases of 2025" articles so you'll click their affiliate links and earn them money that way too. They double dip on your rage in a way. It's pretty gross.

For the record, I don't think of Nintendo Life like this--it's largely a positive and fun site to read in my opinion.

@Bolt_Strike
Just to repeat. You think that the Switch would've been overall LESS compelling if games like Arms had also been on Wii U, games like Splatoon 2 and MK8D had been DLC for people who had the Wii U equivalents, games like DKTF had been free patches and games like Wind Waker HD, Samus Returns and Pokemon Ultra Sun/Moon were just on Switch with not effort. Purely because the net result of the above would be a reduction in the count of exclusives.....

I don't think it works like that. Especially as someone who repurchased DKTF, Bayonetta 2, MK8, skipped Samus Returns and has been wondering where Wind Waker HD has been

@skywake Yes. Because then people could just purchase them on their existing 3DS and Wii U. Or at best it would've started off slower and then caught up when the trickle of 3DS/Wii U games stopped completely (but then again that slower trickle could've had a butterfly effect that reduced the overall sales).

There is some element of repurchasing, but that's usually more effective when it's been a game that's been off the market for a few years, not one that's being released close to the original release.

@Bolt_Strike
By that logic the Steam Deck to most people who got it has no value because those people could play them on PC already. And why in the PC space would you ever upgrade any of your components. No point, the games can already run

And by the same logic kid me would've had more reason to get a GBC if Pokemon Pinball was GBC only even if it meant Pokemon Red/Yellow/Gold weren't GBC compatible. Despite, you know, the main reason I wanted the GBC back in the day was to play Pokemon in colour. Silly me for not wanting it based purely on the count of exclusives

As I said earlier, this is one of those forum game categorising arguments. It means absolutely nothing for how people actually interact with game and console purchases

I swear, some of you guys just want another Wii u

This might be the comment of the century for all sorts of reasons lol

@Megas75 Another home console from NIntendo, with a tablet controller, a power level close to PS5/Series X, with backwards compatibility with Wii U, Wii and a slot for Switch cartridges? I'll take two.

Only $1200 each!

@Megas75 I mean I do want them to give the Gamepad another shot since they never actually really used it much. There's a lot more things they could do with it besides "dual screen gaming on console" (which itself isn't the worst thing in the world but not quite good enough to drive the console). The gimmick was woefully underutilized and then unceremoniously dumped when the issues had more to do with poor marketing, lack of games because of unpreparedness for the transition to HD, and recycling concepts from DS, 3DS, and Wii. Everything else about the Wii U? Yeah, pretty much pure garbage, but the Gamepad still has unrealized potential that I want them to revisit.

How is DKB short as no one has even gotten the game nor has it been released? This is being disingenuous at best. MKW is only Switch 2 what are you talking about here. Switch 2 can play Switch 1 games and some of those got Switch 2 upgrades to take advantage of the Switch 2 performance upgrade.

To be free on NSO you have to be NSO+ so this needs to be cleared up here-only those NSO+ gets free updates aka BOTW/TOTK editions and maybe more. Your clearly trying to put down Switch 2 games here. What old games are you talking about here? Not sure but how do you know how much work it take to make a enhanced edition?

How is that even a BOTW game they are nothing alike and BOTW has a Switch 2 version. It's not a old game they have version for both Switch and Switch 2 so not sure how one can say this is old when you nor anyone has even gotten the actual game here.

I take the opposite view. My steam, epic, gog etc libraries improve with time as I get more powerful hardware and can choose better settings. The games look and play better and at no cost to me for the software as I already own them. I often re-visit PC games not just because of the visual and gameplay updates but because there are new levels available I can play. A bit like Fallout London. A whole new game for free.

A steam deck or similar appears to allow me to to play many PC games I love on the move easily. No extra software investment required. I've seen people now optimise the steam deck to run XeSS or FSR with Cyberpunk to enhance the experience and be more competitive with Switch 2. I'm not a fan of Cyberpunk myself but there are many games that I do love that would be playable on steam deck. Currently I use a lightweight Celeron laptop to play pc games on the go. It's only powerful enough to play Skyrim as its newest game well. Fallout 4 is a bit of a chug fest even at low resolution and low detail on it. Nintendo have abandoned support for wii u but my earlier PC games are still supported. I am looking for a portable PC gaming system like steam deck to buy but currently there are a little bit below the performance level I want and the prices are too high. I've seen laptops that were more powerful and better value. So at the moment I'm playing the waiting game for a good handheld pc gaming system.

[quote=BonzoBanana]

You missed the value of a portable gaming console already here. Those systems can play the PC games on a portable that is the real story here that's why the exists. Game get's bigger and more powerful if you don't upgrade your hardware you will be left behind that's the name of PC gaming if you want to play the most graphical games.

This is why Switch 2 came about to improve game mechanics that game such as BOTW/TOTK was pushing the Switch hardware beyond it limits and the Switch 2 gave older games new life and gameplay along with cleaner graphics.

That is investment to make it run better on Steam from OEM unlike Switch 2 is OEM to be more power to run game demanding performance from factory setup.

All game console makers abandoned older hardware you make sounds like only Nintendo does this. Old hardware gets old and new one replaces older hardware or systems just like PC hardware.

Gaming Laptops and or Gaming Desktop will always be top Dog here nothing has come to remove them from the Top so far even high priced consoles. Gaming console the likes your looking for will never come down in price nor be affordable - those are sweet dreams that will never bear fruit.

@tr1p1ex Yeah, we have 2 big new games and 6 S2Es. The Switch had a few Wii U ports, sure, but not 6, that's an unprecedented proportion of old games.

Also look beyond the first 2 months and look at the first year, Switch also had Mario Odyssey which was huge. Splatoon 2 is kind of rehashy yeah, but it's not Splatoon 1 DLC. It had a completely different story mode and only some of 1's multiplayer maps and gear while introducing new ones. I would say that Mario Odyssey, Splatoon 2, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 was a fine amount of new games.

In that BotW was also a long delayed game that was originally meant to be a Wii U game that ended up cross gen between Wii U/Switch. Prime 4 is playing a similar role in the Switch -> Switch 2 transition.

What improved game mechanics? The Zelda Notes which aren't even on the Switch 2 and use a smartphone. The Switch 2 is improving performance, not game mechanics. Game mechanics wise, the only thing the Switch 2 is improving is adding mouse functionality.

@tr1p1ex yes, I feel it. Wii - Wii U. Switch - Switch 2. A few stupid decisions like "game key cards", "$80 games" and "microsd ex only support" included.

@Bolt_Strike
Sorry, I haven’t been following this super closely (because it’s dumb, as I think we’re all realizing), but are you one of those people who refuse to consider Donkey Kong Bonanza a “big” game for whatever reason? Honestly just wondering.

And I’m sure this was brought up before, but isn’t it fascinating how we’ve arrived at this place where Switch 1’s only launch exclusives were Snipperclips and 1-2 Switch yet we’re romanticizing it and saying it’s better than Mario Kart World and Welcome Tour?

The internet is a crazy place, yo.

@rallydefault I never look at the "launch" in terms of the first few days/weeks, that's kind of a pointless exercise because you never really have much that soon anyway. I typically look at launch year, which is a much more reasonable timeframe. And the Switch's 2017? Hard to top, maybe even impossible. Brand new 3D Mario, new cross gen 3D Zelda, a Mario Kart port with all of the DLC and packed with even MORE features, a sequel to the best new IP Nintendo's come up with in over a decade, and Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is a pretty killer lineup for a first year.

@sethfranum @BonzoBanana
.... I'm not sure either of you realised I was mocking the argument

@sethfranum

I think abandoning support for a fixed platform is a lot different to a more open platform like PC. Yes they may discontinue driver updates etc but ultimately you can still use them and play the same games long into the future without cost on pc even online. I think PC gaming handhelds will become cheaper and more common. At the moment its more done by premium brands who charge more for hardware but I feel like other options will become available. I think the issue is Switch 2 has shown you can have very weak hardware running impressive games by use of AI upscaling so you only have to render at tiny resolutions like 640x360p to get a 720p or 1080p output. All we need is a PC handheld with similar AI upscaling and even if it has the same CPU and GPU performance of the original Steam deck it would be more powerful as a portable than Switch 2. Remember the Switch 2 is built on a mainly 10Nm fabrication process despite Samsung calling it 8Nm and it only has a 20Wh battery. The Arm A78c's are only at 1Ghz approx and again they are built on 10Nm when the optimised fabrication is 5Nm for A78c. The CPU performance is not great on Switch 2 and I suspect GPU performance gets nowhere near the max allowed clock rates for the GPU in portable mode when you only have 20Wh to play with.

A PC handheld with a 2-3 Teraflop GPU, 50Wh battery and AI upscaler should be easily retailable for less than 300 pounds. In Japan the Switch 2 retails for less than 300 pounds and Nintendo like good profit on their hardware and would have had large R&D costs to pay for plus Nvidia are also a company that likes very high profits. A chipset from AMD could be far better value to Asian manufacturers.

I bought a mini pc from Aliexpress for 130 pounds using vouchers and it was an offer price. It came with 16GB memory, 512GB storage and the Ryzen7 5700U with about 2 Teraflops of GPU performance. It's 16 thread CPU and based on a 7Nm fabrication process. It's a laptop processor basically. Something similar but with AI upscaling built in to the same quality of Switch 2 would be fine. It won't take much to match or slightly exceed the Switch 2. Remember the Switch 2 T239 chipset is a design from 2020/2021 using a fabrication process of that time. It's only DLSS that really makes it seem competitive in performance.

I am personally gonna wait a year or two before calling the S2 a Wii U scenario. As of right now, the Switch 2 has been selling millions of units in its first MONTH alone. The Switch 2 was always gonna sell well in its launch period. Every Nintendo console does that (even the Wii U I think, correct me if I'm wrong). If Switch 2 sales start plummeting because of the economic situation at the moment, then maybe the Switch 2 won't sell as well as the 3DS, even. But I see no world where a Switch 2 doesn't surpass the Wii U's sales of 13.5 million units by its first anniversary in June 2026, if not earlier. It's all a waiting game at this point. Now that a decent amount of us (not me included at the moment) have a brand new console in our hands, this is the console we are all stuck with for the next 7-10 years (an estimate)

@Bolt_Strike
I don't see how the Switch 2's lineup doesn't match or beat that, is what I'm saying.

-Instead of a port, we got a brand-new Mario Kart, AND it was a launch day title.
-We're getting a cross-gen Metroid Prime 4 which hardcore fans have been dying for for years and years
-We're getting a brand-new Pokemon game in the fresher style that everyone says they loved with Arceus (not a Pokemon fan myself)
-We're getting the first brand-new DK game in how long, made by the Odyssey team, and it's looking absolutely amazing from all the previews I've read
-We're getting a brand-new Warriors entry for the Zelda franchise

Only thing missing is an exclusive RPG-style game like Xenoblade 2 that Switch 1 had, but for me, the lineup here is more diverse. Plus it's backed by a third-party suite that blows the first year of Switch 1 out of the water. Borderlands 4 in the fall, launching simultaneously on Switch 2? I mean, come on, Switch 1 didn't have stuff like that most of the time.