Nintendo Pins hopes for familiar joy with the Switch 2

Perhaps there is more to come. Some of us think that Mouse style function is completely confirmed could be a game-changer, but it’s hard not to see the Switch 2 as an interim console at this stage. This is a straight-up sequel of a cliffhanger, giving Nintendo another generation to figure out what to do next – and I don’t think Nintendo has another eight-year cycle to figure that out.

Don’t get me wrong: I like the look of this thing and clack Bring the colorful, surprisingly larger new Joy-Con to the system, and Nintendo will squeeze in innovative interactions beyond the familiar format. I imagine we’ll be racing noisy Joy-Cons across the table, using that optical sensor for things other than mouse movements, and plugging everything into the USB-C port on top to do all sorts of things. Interesting peripheral action to surprise and delight.

But the base product here appears to be the least immediately appealing home console the company has put out since the GameCube? And that benefits from a dramatic graphical upgrade over the N64’s visuals, plus a novel form factor. Mario Kart looks quite nice when you detailed analysisbut it’s nothing that can’t be achieved on the current Switch (which makes some at NL Towers think it might even be cross-gen).

Then again, everything Nintendo has done with the Switch has been more influenced by past handheld lines than it was by home consoles, and as we and other viewers have said before Here, the Switch 2 is a lot like the Switch’s original 3DS to DS, just without the gimmick of the same name.

The problem is that the Switch no longer exists in a vacuum. We’ve seen a series of bespoke handheld gaming devices hit the market that, while not direct rivals to Nintendo’s system, are certainly inspired by it.

The Steam Deck and Lenovo lines of handheld computers are the most prominent, and Valve has recently signaled that Steam OS is coming to other devices soon. Elsewhere, Sony’s PlayStation Portal acknowledged players’ growing desire to play console games without a TV. With Nintendo having proven that there is mass demand in the mass market, rumor that both Sony and Microsoft are working on new handsets suggests the market will only get more crowded.

That’s good. Competition drives innovation, and Nintendo’s DNA is to use tested technology in new, unexpected ways. We’re eager to see what the developers can do when they come back for a second pass. And after exiting the specs race years ago, Nintendo is to some extent in its own bubble; no matter how the competition plays out, they won’t have Mario and co., at least not in any official capacity.

I can’t imagine Nintendo hardware tethering us to TVs again. More and more big companies need to monitor their audiences wherever they are – which is why Microsoft and Sony are expanding beyond their own consoles. With the success of the Switch, Nintendo is in a great position, but without some big new ideas, it’s difficult and difficult territory.

This all sounds disappointing when the future is so bright and there is so much we still don’t know. Sony fans won’t be upset that the next console is the PlayStation with new numbers, and rightly so. This reveal was successful and made us all breathe a sigh of relief – I just don’t see this cycle lasting anywhere as long as the last one (which some might say was a Good thing). At some point, Nintendo will have to turn the table with something truly unexpected and take video games in a new direction. To feel some relief, there’s a question lingering in the air: What’s next, Actually?

Answer? Great Nintendo games of course; The tantalizing prospect of first-party gems for a new generation! As we said beforeno one does ‘more of the same’ better than Nintendo; it seems ‘joy’ will take the wheel with ‘surprise’ in the backseat this generation.