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

@Alcea
Switch 2 ALL ONLINE (like XBOX ONE)?
Even for playing the Switch 2 or Switch 1 games Offline??

I'm not really a fan of Nintendo, Sony or Microsoft. I don't particularly like these companies but I am a fan of Nintendo game design and did buy a wii u early and very much enjoyed owning and using the console even though technically it was rubbish for the time it was released and its price point. So I'm a fan of Nintendo game design rather than the company. I only state that as it often seems like many are fans of the company and seem to have some sort of loyalty to the company itself which I certainly don't have.

@Anti-Matter, that person is overexaggerating by a long shot. Most games still have offline modes that do not require any internet at all. On Switch 2, internet is only needed to download digital games, download updates, play any game online with other players, use GameChat, play most free-to-play games, play any cloud games, sometimes obtain special items like mystery gifts in Pokémon, buy avatar icons on the Nintendo Switch Online menu with platinum points, or send pictures and videos on your album to the Nintendo Switch App, and I believe that you can't get any new news articles without an internet connection, but you can view old ones. Other then that, everything else is offline thankfully.

I'm confused on the direction this conversation went... Switch 2 requiring online? Maybe for updates, which is a one and done. Who cares? Unless you are modding the console, why would you not update it? I commute 3 days a week, minimum, so the vast majority of my play time is offline, while commuting. I can't play games like Fortnite, but I can play any game in my library that is not online dependent. Unless I am missing something, there seems to be some misunderstandings here (or maybe I'm clueless??)

As for game key cards, I really don't get the hate. 90% of my SW1 games were virtual, and my SW2 games will likely follow the same trend. While it is helpful to have big games on a cartridge - we went through 8+ years of "code in a box" or small cartridges requiring big downloads. I get wanting a full game on a cartridge, but the game key card gives people a way to resell a virtual game. I don't resell, so it's not for me... To me, it just seems like we are seeing similar trends that have been in place for almost a decade, with an additional way to resell a game. (and I know, developers can be lazy, opt for key cards vs cartridges...it just doesn't impact me)

Additional thoughts - to answer the original question, is the SW2 feel like Switch U? Absolutely not. Nintendo gave us exactly what we wanted, a much better Switch, capable of playing current games. It feels like Nintendo has caught up to the current gen, which is MORE than I expected. I was a Wii fan, and when the Wii U came out, I had no interest in it. And I wasn't alone there. I knew what the Wii U was, and I didn't care, because I primarily play away from my house. The Switch, and Switch 2, are perfect consoles for me. It's an upgrade that was needed, and pretty incredible at what it's able to do. What's more apt - the SW2 is the Super Nintendo to the Switch's NES.

tbh, this whole thread is long past its sell by date 😆 People keep resurrecting it and going off on tangents.

Though I've gotten some physical games in the past, I've actually been all digital myself for the past two years, but have been considering going back to physical only for games where all of the data (except maybe a bug fix patch or two) is on the cartridge due to my recent digital paranoia. If a game that I want has any dlc that isn't on the cartridge, I'll just go digital. One nice thing about going back to physical is that I can get the Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth games (that I've been wanting to play for a while) physically via Playasia (the American eShop release was cancelled by order of Nintendo of America). Heck, the cancelling of Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth and other Japanese games by Nintendo of America is one of the things that is keeping me undecided on whether to get a Switch 2 or not. Also, if I get a Switch 2, I won't be buying Game Key Cards because of reasons already mentioned by many. Not trying to start any arguments, just stating my final opinion before leaving this thread for good 😃 (unless someone responds to me, then I might respond back).

Insane or not for your retro mindset to wrap your head around, does it actually impact you at all? I'm being serious. I have some physical copies of Switch games and some digital. I've long since downloaded these games and their updates so functionally the only difference between the two is that one is a licence tied to a card and the other is a licence tied to an account. That's it

Outside of the initial download functionally there would be no difference to me between my fully on card version of Breath of the Wild I had from the Switch launch and a theoretical Game Key Card version of it. The game is already downloaded, that happened once, it's in the past. If I want to play either version I need the game in the console. If I want to lend it I just lend the physical game. In a real world, practical, day to day sense they're the same thing

I do wonder if you even thought about what you were saying here before you posted it. Yes, Valve's DRM is fantastic and something that I wish others would copy. But this discussion we're having here is about physical DRM of which is arguably what Steam killed off

Before Steam often the PC game buying experience involved walking into the shops and getting a box of discs which had a little code on a piece of paper. You'd drop those discs into your PC one-by-one and then at some point you'd be asked to manually type in that code. Then additionally in order to play the game you had to have the disc physically in your optical drive. So you had a paper key and a disc key. This could be done entirely offline, it had to be, a lot of people were still on dial-up. And you wanted updates you'd have to find the publisher's website and hunt it down

Then Steam came along and created an online store with online accounts and online DRM for games. If you went out and got a copy of Portal at a games shop for PC on disc? It came with a code. But the entire thing was completely useless until you went to your PC, went online, created a Steam account and attached that code to your Steam account. And then at that point your physical copy of the game was entirely worthless.... other than maybe saving you a download of the launch version of the game if you ever actually deleted it from your HDD full of games you'll never play

Again, I do wish Nintendo's digital licences and family sharing worked more like Valve's does. Steam has effectively the same system as Nintendo's Virtual Game Cards it just entirely lacks the arbitrary limits of 2 week lending and only 2 consoles. But I'm entirely perplexed why people are citing Steam as a better citizen here when complaining about Game Key Cards and how it's the death of physical media.... because if the death of physical media is a bad thing, Valve did it first. So much so and so long ago that somehow that fact doesn't even register

@ShieldHero
Oh, thanks for the clarification.
I thought it will be XBOX ONE case which requires constant Online connection just for playing Offline games.

I think because of how desperate Nintendo was to make the Switch a huge success they went ALL OUT at the launch. This time feels much more muted in terms of marketing and communication. However I think allot of this is because they are following the road map they have been following for the last few years.

I remember thinking before June Direct last year that Switch was done and all the gas was out of the tank. Then they turn around and announce Mario and Luigi Brothership, the best Mario Party of ALL TIME and a 2D Zelda game where you PLAY AS ZEDLA! These were pretty big announcements for the dying days of the Switch.

And because the hype for Switch 2 was so high I think the reality of it feeling like a Switch Pro kind of let the air out a bit. And the launch timing in June has meant their typical marketing cycle has been off which is putting everyone on direct watch again.

In April when they were showing us Bananza and Mario Kart I will be honest, it was super underwhelming, and look ONE title direct turned Bananza into I will wait for XYZ to OMG this is GOTY! So I do think Nintendo has been TOO quiet in their marketing and really creating this feeling of yeah a shiny new Nintendo console, they aren't chasing their tail trying to make us all buy it for some gimmick which no one cared about like the gamepad.

We are potentially looking at a record breaking holiday for them if the third parties actually come. Imagine this for your holiday lineup:

Sept: Metroid Prime 4 Beyond, Star Wars Outlaws, Daemon X Machina
Oct: Pokemon Z-A, Hyrule Warriors Age of Imprisonment, Final Fantasy VII,
NOV: unannounced first party Nintendo Mario game, Halo Master Chief Collection, Call of Duty Black Ops 7, Assassin's Creed Shadows, Elden Ring
Dec: Kirby Air Riders

You can start to see how this is going to be a WALLET BUSTING holiday!

What are you smoking....This is what I expect of someone doing "Console Wars" would say and do. Nothing this launch other then success is what happened for the 2nd Gen Switch2. But that was lost on you already.

@Haruki_NLI There still isn't on PS5/XBSX. Or at least not much that you can't just get on another console or PC.

This whole thread title is nonsense, but we keep giving it oxygen by posting to it. Just let the crazies keep posting here and the rest of us move on. It’ll die off on its own eventually.

It’s defo the switch pro in my mind. That’s not a criticism but rather an observation.

I agree. Similar to how the snes was the Super nes. Or GBA was Gameboy but Advanced. Nintendo occasionally does well by utterly shaking up the formula like with Wii, but a lot of their successes have been improved sequels.

@FishyS On that note the xbox one should have been the '720' or whatever instead of what it became. Being the pro version of something isnt a bad thing. I was a huge fan of the wii u back in the day and it felt like a refined wii or what the we could or even should have been.

I mean in terms of functionality it is.

In terms of sales it isn't.

I agree that - so far - the Switch 2 is little more than an upgrade machine right now.

All I play on it are Switch 1 games, but I'm happy to do so because they all run at least more stable and some look better as well. But all of that is bound to change once more Switch 2 exclusive games are released that I want to play. Once a new Fire Emblem and Xenoblade have been released for instance, the Switch 2 will get promoted from an upgrade machine to a worthy successor in my eyes. It's only a matter of time.

@stephalear, for me, the "worthy successor" mark is a new mainline Pokémon game, but I've heard good things about Fire Emblem and Xenoblade Chronicles (I actually want to play Xenoblade Chronicles someday) so I'm excited to see what happens with those franchises and others on Switch 2 as well 😃!