Nintendo’s Switch 2 reveal felt like a lightning bolt delivered straight from Zeus himself for everyone except, well, most people. In fact, since the console – which fans have spent years clamoring for – looks so much like its predecessor, some analysts predict it’ll have trouble appealing to a general audience.
“I can imagine ‘normies’ being a bit confused,” gaming industry consultant Serkan Toto tells GamesRadar+. “The device is bigger than the original Switch, but not comically large. The form factor, button layout, and overall design are very similar to Switch 1, so I can imagine issues arising when potential mainstream buyers look at the new device.”
I think the GB and DS Lineup was much more difficult.
The reveal trailer has almost 20 million views BTW.
I think with Nintendo’s attack on emulators and stuff, I’m going to finally crack my OG switch (the unpatchable one) and rip all of my games and buy a Steamdeck, honestly. I heard emulation there is great, and I’ve already backed up all of the emulators since before they were taken down.
If the Switch 2 is backwards compatible and can play the OG switch games; then we know exactly WHY they started the crackdown - because likely the same methods as before will work just fine against the Switch 2 as well.
I won’t pirate the games, but I don’t think I’m gonna worry about my old switch being banned from their online network any longer either. Especially after they shut down the old DS network.
What’s there not to understand? It’s a better version of the first one. Isn’t this what console makers have been doing since the beginning of time? Wii U was weird with the screen on the controller and everything. None of that with Switch 2. Just more of what made it good in the first place.
Yeah, people really have a big problem understanding “I’ll buy the latest, since it’s the best, number is bigger” . Concepts like “ok, all previous stuff works but new stuff only works here”. Such crazy concepts. The GBC was a flop because GB already existed.
If buyers can handle whatever X Box’s naming convention is then I’m sure they can handle previous gaming console name plus one.
That’s the neat part: they can’t :^)
Gamestops during the Xbox Series launch were a mess, parents weren’t sure which “Xbox” was the Xbox their kid wanted, and people ended up walking out of stores with Xbox One S boxes when they were asked for a Series S 🤣
To be fair, Microsoft’s actively self-sabotaging marketing didn’t help with their push to blend every model’s identity together as “The Xbox” (even before last year’s “This is an Xbox” campaign), so maybe it’s not the fairest example lol
Xbox “Series” is the stupidest name for a mainstream game console since the WiiU. And the Xbox One is pretty dumb, too.
How do I look up games for the original Xbox? People used to call it the Xbox 1 when the 360 came out.
What about Xbox-exclusive games? Well, can’t call them Xbox series anymore.
They cemented themselves as a permanent underdog after trying to keep up with Sony. It worked for the PS360 era, but it seems they’ve been getting lost ever since then.
It’s like the switch, but 2. I just don’t understand it. /S
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The only thing I don’t actually understand are what appear to be the exact same sticks as my drifty joycons, and the $70+ price tags on Nintendo games. If Nintendo can aggressively slash game prices on sale and fix their hardware issues, I might buy it.
They are reportedly using hall effect sticks this time which cannot develop drift.
This was written by someone with a raging Nintendo hate-boner. I’m certain because I have my own Nintendo hate-boner and even I’m not that deluded.
Some analysts are morons. The reason the Wii U failed was because it wasn’t clear that it was a successor console, and not just a weird add-on.
People have been conditioned to understand numerical console increases for over two decades now thanks to the PlayStation.
Edit: As an aside, are there any console manufacturers besides Sony who have had sequential model numbers consistently? I’ve been mulling this under the last couple of hours and nothing comes to mind!
Windows 7 8 9(lol) 10 11
Mac OS 7 8 9 X 11 12 13 14 15
I can verify that. I am a video game fan, though don’t always follow everything that closely. I remember seeing Wii U for sale and not really understanding what it was. It seemed like just a Wii with a weird controller.
I had a coworker who was convinced that the whole thing was a scam. That it was just an upgraded Wii with a weird controller. So he went out and got a secondhand Wii U console. Just the console. Gave it to his kids for Xmas. Got mad when it didn’t work. Eventually got a gamepad (and maybe the power brick? I don’t remember if it’s cross compatible) and ended up spending more than buying it new.
I’m pretty sure even he can follow Switch -> Switch 2.
I can see people buying used without a dock and getting mad the old one won’t work. But then there’s usb-c so you can at least charge I for handheld;)
I find myself feeling bad for a lot of people’s kids and the ones in this story are no exception.
People have been conditioned to understand numerical console increases for over two decades now thanks to the PlayStation.
And they even managed to do it while Microsoft counted to potato.
Even if they don’t buy consoles, it’s how most thing works, phones are an obvious example. iPhone 14 comes after iPhone 13, but iPhone 14 Pro and iPhone 14 Pro Max are just versions of 14.
If gamers can navigate Xbox -> Xbox 360 -> Xbox One -> Xbox X -> Xbox S, I think they can figure out Switch 2.
Heh, glad you mentioned Xbox - they’re a perfect example of consistent inconsistency! 🤣
Also the touch component and motion controls were something of a turnoff for adults who bought previous generations.
This bozo thinks it’s just gonna be a picture of the switch on the box instead of a huge mario kart graphic. Kids will ask for switch 2 and parents will buy switch 2. That’s the beginning and end of the decision making on getting it. It’s gonna be wildly sold out no matter how many Nintendo can get to retailers.
If “normies” are able to buy a Playstation 5 after having bought a PS4, 3, 2 and 1, Then I think Nintendo is going to be just fine.
I’m interested to see how it lands. My family have zero interest as they’re happy with there switches, but as a techy person I’m really keen for the switch to get some much needed upgrades under the holds for the games progress sake. I suspect the first party launches that aren’t available on OG switch will be the decoded for some.
The Switch 2 is very likely to struggle, but this consultant’s reasoning is dumb as fuck, and belittlies average gamers as ‘normies’. His analysis of why it will struggle, and why the WiiU failed is off base. The average person doesn’t look at the PS5 and PS4 and go “but why, they look the same.”, they understand that its the updated version with imrpovements.
Nintendo is going to struggle due to:
- Handheld PC alternatives that outperform and have much larger game libraries for similar cost.
- Pissing off the emulation crowd
- Pissing off fans for fan project shutdowns
- Pissing off fans of Smash Bros Melee
- Joycon drift denial
- Stealing fan art.
- Failing to adapt to a rapidly changing gaming market.
- 500 other things.
If I were Nintendo, I’d be working quickly as possible to getting their virtual store available for Windows/Linux/Mac and developing a brand for the platform to feature games that reflected their consoles.
Bro like maybe 5 people care about anything you listed and 4 of them will still buy the switch 2
Yep. Hardly any of that registers as a blip on the mass market. People have been calling for Nintendo to give up on hardware and just make games for other platforms for decades. Then the DS line happened. And then the Wii. And then the Switch. Each one pushed the boundaries of what the gaming space could be, despite the spec nerds raging at the lack of horsepower.
Nintendo does a lot of shady shit, but once Sega exited the market they were the only true gaming company left in the console space. PlayStation? Xbox? Just a small part of larger corporate empires.
I’m fucking thrilled that Steam picked up on the hybrid format. Not everyone wants to screw around with maintaining a PC. I was in corporate IT for 25 years and want nothing to do with any of it anymore. Enormous PC game library, consolized experience, and a big push to Linux, all with the Deck? That’s awesome from every angle. It’s always good to have more options. And if they can sell a hundred million more units, Nintendo might start having a problem. Until then, I’m pretty sure they’re just going to continue to print money.
Your first point hit the mark, but boy did the rest drop off quick.
Nintendo might struggle with a percentage of the hard-core gaming community for those reasons, but the general public does not care about (or is aware of) any of those things. Little Timmy and his parents have no fucking clue what a Yuzu is.
Those concerns are so super niche, I doubt they’ll be a big problem for Nintendo. I know it may not seem that way, but handheld PCs are not a widespread product.
Yet. There is a ton of models coming out, some more shown army CES, and the SteamOS news shows the direction of what low end gaming laptops are going to become over the next 2-5 years.
As an indsutry insider, I there is lots of people discussing this and more studios and publishers starting to look into the cost/benefit analysis of getting Steamdeck Verified.
Nintendo has been staunchly anti-emulation since even before the N64 launched, and it hasn’t hurt them yet.
I’m a proud Steam Deck owner, and I’ll be the first to admit that I predominantly use it to emulate my old games collection (PS1-3 & PSP), plus SNES out of sheer spite at Nintendo.
However, my relatively tech-savvy relatives (even those in their 20s), baulk at something as complex as SteamOS.
I think Nintendo’s safe for at least one more console generation, before the normies get on the portable-PC wagon.
If the graphics are a good enough upgrade I might pick one up. My current switch only gets used when a new Zelda game comes out (or I get nostalgic for some bowling)
The Wii had so many peripherals and used naming like “Wii blah” so often, that WiiU was viewed as an attachment and not a new console. The name Switch 2 is very clear. I don’t think it’s comparable at all.
