Topic: Switch 2: how was its year 2025?

Now that first calendar year for the Switch 2 is about to come to an end, how do you feel about the console and its games for this year?

Personally, I've been mostly satisfied with the console itself. The original Switch was my main gaming platform for years, and all I really wanted from its successor is that it would have more power so it could run games better, and so we could get ports of newer games that the Switch 1 couldn't handle. And that's pretty much what we got. As for the new features, mouse mode was a great addition, and while I don't really play online multiplayer games and therefore haven't got much use for those functionalities, I'm still glad they are there in case I do want to try some online games in the future. Some elements of the console could've been better, mainly the battery life and the fact that it doesn't have an OLED screen, but I can live with that and I understand why they had to make compromises.

As for the games, I'm one of those people who genuinely appreciates the hybrid nature of the Switch, and my playtime is split pretty equally between handheld and docked mode. Because of this, the Switch 2 has now become my main platform for video games, and most of the 2025 games I've played in have been ports and not exclusives. I've been quite happy with the quality of the Switch 2 ports in these last 6 months: Cyberpunk 2077, Guardians of Azuma, Bravely Default, No Man's Sky, Grand Bazaar, Silksong, Hades II... These are all excellent games with fine Switch 2 versions, no complaints there.

I can sorta understand the criticism that the Nintendo exclusives for the Switch 2 haven't been as dazzling as the ported games. Besides the Switch 2 upgrades for Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom, and Kirby and the Forgotten Land, the only new Nintendo games I've bought for the console are Donkey Kong Bananza and Age of Imprisonment. Most other Switch 2 exclusives are in genres I don't really care about, such as racing and sports games. So yeah, if I'd only bought the Switch 2 for its exclusives, I might've been a bit disappointed in its 2025 selection of games. But because of all those great ports, I'm more than happy to have bought it at launch day.

If it weren't for Game Key Cards and the continued cancelation of Japanese game releases like Hyperdimension Neptunia Re;Birth, I would give Switch 2's first year a 10/10. But with how the year went in real life, I give it a 7/10 and that's being generous, even though there are a decent amount of Switch 2 games that came out that look absolutely awesome. I'm not complaining about the games or the console. I'm just complaining about how the year went for the console. If the issues I mentioned don't get addressed, I will expect year scores like this throughout the entire console generation, as cool as the Switch 2 itself is 🙁.

Switch 2 is dreadful machine with infamous game key card in my opinion.
My impression with Switch 2 quickly dropped into nearly zero interest because of game key card situation.

In terms of output, the Switch 2's game releases have been phenomenal, outdoing in half a year some full years from the Switch 1's lifespan. Unfortunately, the amazing games released have been soured by Nintendo's anti-consumer practices---the most notable of which being Game Key Cards and the introduction of $80. Considering this, I give this year an 8/10 overall.

I've had my Switch 2 since July, and overall I'm happy with it. I've played a fair amount of new games/stuff on it (Mario Kart World, Donkey Kong Bananza, the Switch 2 upgrades for Breath of the Wild and Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and the demos for Mina the Hollower and Kirby Air Riders) and I can't wait to see more. I enjoyed my time with MKW and DKB, and I like how a lot of the Switch 1 games run better on Switch 2 (like the Link's Awakening remake).

In terms of the new stuff I've played, the only one I'm slightly disappointed with is the Kirby upgrade pack, specifically Star-Crossed World. I think it's good, don't get me wrong, but I thought it was a little too short for what it is.

Going back to the Switch 1 games, I still want to play Super Mario Odyssey on the Switch 2. It's been a long time since I played it, and I did hear it got a resolution upgrade, so that would be good timing. Plus I'd prep for the inevitable coming of the next 3D Mario, lol.

Selling out is what Switch2 is doing and Holiday hasn't started yet and from the looks of it 2026 games will be a blockbuster selling as seems like 2026 will be the year of the switching (pun) to Switch2 for everyone...

For me - the SW2 has had a fantastic year 1. The system is better than I expected, the 1st party games have been great, and the 3rd party ports have been fantastic! Key cards are not an issue for me at all, I just buy digital ! The SW2 has introduced me to games I've been wanting to play for years (Cyberpunk, Hogwarts Legacy - which I bought for SW1 but didn't play, patiently waiting for a SW2 upgrade). But most importantly, I've just been having so much fun gaming this year. The build up to the launch was so much fun, there have been plenty of systems available to buy, and I'm finding that there are too many games to play.

Its only been six months. Nintendo are doing a good job keeping the console stocked at retail. The console is selling well. The software sales...aren't as good as Switch 1. Switch 1 software attach rate in 2025 was over 9, while the Switch 2 software attach rate was only over 2.

And the number of games sold is where the money's at.

I’d give it a 7/10, 8 if I’m feeling generous. I’ve been pretty happy with the Switch 2 console itself but software, while mostly good, hasn’t hit the same stride as the Switch 1’s first year, despite a few strong showing, mainly relying more on a few cross gen games that aren’t as strong as MK8 or BOTW. 3rd party support on the other hand is better. GKCs are disappointing but honestly not the end of the word, more of a sign of publishers cheapening out

For me it’s been awesome. But I HATE game key cards. (And these new amiibo prices… holy cow.)

I’ve been buying Consoles at launch for 30 years now and Switch 2 has had a first 6 months up there with the best.

MKW, Hyrule Warriors, Fast Fusion and DK Bananza are great exclusives.

The upgrades to BOTW, TOTK, Kirby and Forgotten Land, Links Awakening, Bowsers Fury, Splatoon 3 make it very hard to go back to the originals. Metroid Prime 4 looks to be a big leap too.

Third party support is the best bit though. Games like Hogwarts Legacy, Cyberpunk, Star Wars Outlaws, No Man’s Sky, Red Dead Redemption, FC 26 and Madden are at a close enough level to the PS5 versions that the portability makes them (to me) a much more desirable way to play.

It’s basically my main Console now, I’ve let my PS Plus lapse as it basically sits there waiting for the odd game of Sackbot or Astrobot. When my GPU expires next year I expect I’ll do the same to my poor Series X.

I'm no business analyst, but surely these numbers are partly because there are so few Switch 2 games available yet when compared to the number of Switch 1 games, and because you can play S1 games on the S2? Presumably the rate is gonna continue to go up as the game selection for the Switch 2 grows. I wonder what the sofware attach rate was for the first Switch 6 months after its launch?

I'm not sure if you can really call game-key cards "Nintendo's anti-consumer practice". Sure, they introduced the concept and therefore are partially responsible for it, but so far they haven't published any game-key card games themselves, and third-party publishers have had the choice whether to release their games as a traditional cartridge or as a GKC. Except for very demanding games Star Wars Outlaws, where apparently the read speed of the cartridge wasn't high enough for the game to run properly, so a GKC was their only option for a physical release.

Also, in some ways game-key cards are even consumer-friendly, at least when compare to fully digital games, since you can share them with friends and family, and you can also resell them. Though I do think their price should be lower to take into account that they're presumably cheaper to make than proper Switch 2 cartridges. To me the real anti-consumer practice is selling them at the same price as traditional physical games, not the existence of game-key cards as such.

I think commercially its a mixed bag, In Europe where pricing is higher than US and Japan, numbers aren't amazing. The PS5 returned to selling more after 2-3 months and stock levels remain high with heavy discounting. The very high pricing in Europe has not gone down well so its a much slower start. The console itself is quite nice but the poor display panel and small battery capacity makes it a bit of a rough launch model. I think I'm right in saying the battery pack is less than 20Wh and the chip is fabricated on a very dated mainly 10Nm process making it more power hungry and creating more heat. At this point there aren't enough Switch 2 exclusive games. It feels like the wrong time to buy. Both Mario Kart World and Metroid Prime 4 have issues, they are good games not great games and Donkey Kong Bonanza is decent and I'm sure for many a must have title. I personally feel at this point from a European perspective its just not worth purchasing yet due to excessive pricing on hardware and software that isn't really justified by the hardware and software. Commercially I feel Europe lags well behind Japan and the US and its likely to stay that way. Europe is 750 million people and Japan is 120 million and yet numbers sold is just over half that of Japan on a weekly basis. Japan gets a Switch 2 for less than £250 from launch without discounts. Today its £241.85 currency converted. Where as the suggested retail price of the Switch 2 in the UK is £395.99. A huge difference which simply isn't justified for the hardware. Yes the UK has seen sub £300 pricing as special offers and refurbished units on occasion either hong kong units from Aliexpress or returns. The Switch 2 does seem to be frequently returned in the UK and I suspect there will be a glut of returns for sale early 2026, Amazon etc.

The other issue is third party software sales that publishers have stated is well below their worst expectations and these are the games that have been discounted the most even half price weeks after launch for some gamekey carts. We are also seeing cheap conversions to Switch 2, cheap in price but also cheap in effort like Tomb Raider. A game that is beaten by PS3 in many areas of its graphics and far superior on PS4. A quick and dirty port as the publisher knows it won't sell well I guess.

The other issue is games like Metroid 4 where they link game features to purchase of a amiibo i.e. getting music in the overworld while you ride the motorbike. It's like they purposely designed that bit to be boring and long so you would buy the amiibo to get music to make it more enjoyable. Cynical commercialism exploiting their customer base. So to get the full game suggested retail price is £55 and the amiibo is £25 so £80 for the full game as it was meant to be played really. That's a game that has scored as low as 60 at Eurogamer and generally averages around 80 on metacritic.

For me a simple summary of Switch 2 so far (In Europe) is excessive pricing. The way its going I can't imagine I will be buying a Switch 2 for 2 years where pricing will be more reasonable and hopefully the hardware will be better.

If I was ranking portable gaming systems currently my ranking would be;

1. Steamdeck
2. Switch (OLED or lite)
3. Other PC gaming handhelds
4. Smartphones or tablets
5. Switch 2

This is based not just on performance but choice of games, value, portability and battery runtime. However I won't be surprised if the Switch 2 starts climbing that ladder as more amazing exclusive games come onboard its just at this point its slim pickings or ridiculous pricing.

I agree that hiding any exclusive content behind the Amiibo paywall is predatory on Nintendo's part, but this practice has been around for quite some time, and it was even worse during the early years of the Switch 1. Cosmetic effects like changing the colour of Samus's bike and the desert section background music are one thing, but in Breath of the Wild you had actual gameplay-changing content (Wolf Link, Epona, the various exclusive costumes with buff effects) that could only be unlocked with Amiibos, and in Skyward Sword HD a significant quality-of-life mechanic (the ability to teleport between the sky islands and ground level anytime you want) was similarly Amiibo-locked. Which is just gross.

If anything, I think Nintendo has gotten a bit better in this area in recent years, since in games like Tears of the Kingdom and Echoes of Wisdom Amiibos only unlock non-exclusive items you can also find by just exploring the world. Let's just hope Prime 4 with it's exclusive-but-really-just-cosmetic Amiibo unlocks isn't a harbinger of a new trend where Nintendo starts putting significant content behind a paywall again.

@Polvasti Wow I didn't even know there was stuff I could unlock with amiibos in TOTK but admittedly I mainly played BOTW on wii u. I take your point though it just seems there has been an increase in pricing for software and amiibos and so pricing has got much higher so when you combine both together the final price is really high. It just seemed worse because that section from the reviews I've seen is really boring and music makes it less boring so it just seemed manipulative in almost forcing people to buy a amiibo. Nintendo's blatant profiteering annoys me and also makes me uncomfortable it destroys good will towards the company. In Europe pricing seems so excessive anyway so its a double issue. Mario Kart World in Japan is about £50 on cartridge or slightly less, full price before discounts.

It just feels value with regard the Switch 2 in Europe is 1/5 because of loads of issues, amiibo paywalls etc are just one thing in a dozen or so issues and this is reflected in European sales which lag hugely behind Japan and the US.

@BonzoBanana I know the Switch 2 itself is a bit cheaper in the US, but aren't the games pretty much the same price there as in Europe? Of course the sales taxes vary in different parts of the US, but in general I don't think there's much of a difference between their prices and ours?

Looks like someone else started a similar thread after this one. I wonder if it could be merged with this one or something, doesn't make a lot of sense to have two threads with pretty much the same content.

Pokemon Pokopia is a Game Key Card. I know it's published by The Pokemon Company in Japan, but as Nintendo is the majority shareholder in Japan, and that Nintendo publishes the game internationally, there is no excuse for Pokopia to be a GKC. It's fine for the handful of 3rd-party games that absolutely are infeasible on the card (like Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade) so long as they are discounted, but for those titles that CAN work on a card, it is up to Nintendo to provide more options outside of the 64 gigabyte card for smaller 3rd party games.

@Polvasti
Yea. I commented in both and only realized later lol

Also (and not directed at you), can people who haven’t actually played a game please refrain from speaking like they have? That would be awesome.