Nintendo Switch 2 Main Thread - Launching 2025

[Batman90]

I wonder what OG Switch games this won’t be supporting.

[Kid Ryan]

Originally Posted by bradnoyes

One thing I really hope Nintendo considers this gen is a boost dock. I'd gladly pay $100+ for an optional dock that will further boost performance on games when playing on the TV. I seem to recall that before the Switch was announced that Nintendo had actually applied for a patent for something like that. So there's a little hope that they might consider it. I don't expect 4K on everything, but I'm simply done with 30fps gaming and if they can't do it on the base hardware, sell me a freaking dock that will make it happen.

Same thoughts here. I want to play Switch 2 games docked in 1080p at 60 fps, or 4K at 30 fps.

4K at 60 fps would be lovely, but I don't see that ever happening.

[emailking]

It's upsetting there isn't full backwards compatibility with the Switch. You'd think with how long they've spent on this could have put in a little extra work for full backwards compatibility for such a popular console but I guess not.

There also was no unless I missed it mention of forwards compatibility with the Switch, and I assume that's because it won't be forwards compatible. And this is disappointing, I don't want to get this right now and definitely not if it won't play all my Switch games.

Ughh.

[Havok83]

Originally Posted by emailking

It's upsetting there isn't full backwards compatibility with the Switch. You'd think with how long they've spent on this could have put in a little extra work for full backwards compatibility for such a popular console but I guess not.

There also was no unless I missed it mention of forwards compatibility with the Switch, and I assume that's because it won't be forwards compatible. And this is disappointing, I don't want to get this right now and definitely not if it won't play all my Switch games.

Ughh.

Its probably going to be near full backwards compatible. That line at the end was probably to cover them for tiltles that arent and that'll likely be centered around accessories that are not supported

Originally Posted by Batman90

I wonder what OG Switch games this won’t be supporting.

Most likely Labo titles and other random accessory games specific to the Switch. Games that have been delisted

[Diesel]

Originally Posted by Havok83

Its probably going to be near full backwards compatible. That line at the end was probably to cover them for tiltles that arent and that'll likely be centered around accessories that are not supported



Most likely Labo titles and other random accessory games specific to the Switch. Games that have been delisted

This. It’ll be like PS5 to PS4, 99.9% of real games will work. It’s just to cover them legally for any hiccups on super obscure eShop shovelware and stuff like Labo that already isn’t even compatible with the OLED because of its size.

[captveg]

This looks to be exactly what I wanted: A more powerful, more sleek designed Switch. Don't Rock the Boat: The Console.

[ChadFL]

Does it warm anyone else's heart seeing the absolute crash in "live service" games happening on rival consoles? The latest, after the Concord debacle, is a God of War live service game from Bluepoint. A ridiculous waste of resources for a developer whose niche is making great remasters.

As someone who loved Playstation consoles up through the PS3/early PS4, it pained me seeing Sony focusing inordinate resources on that garbage. But in the end, this had to happen to get Sony back on track. Nintendo's success with the Switch has been in part because they haven't wasted endless sums of money on that BS.

[dyne]

In a way yes but in a way no. Morons got paid a lot of money to push GaaS and it was people under them that got the axe. Now Bluepoint hasn’t had a release since the PS5 launch and Bend hasn’t had a release in over five years when both could have been working on a Syphon Filter remake or reboot. Now it’ll be at least three more years until we see anything from either. Despite what they claim it’s kinda hard keeping studios around that havnt produced (through no fault of their own) titles in close to a decade.

[Diesel]

I hope they at least assign the teams to help run support on other PS Studios titles in development until they get rolling on their next projects. No more layoffs…especially since the projects being canceled (and even started!) were directly Sony’s fault.

I’d be happy to see GaaS die but don’t wish the layoffs and wasted time on the developers forced to work on them.

[Kid Ryan]

Originally Posted by emailking

There also was no unless I missed it mention of forwards compatibility with the Switch, and I assume that's because it won't be forwards compatible. And this is disappointing, I don't want to get this right now and definitely not if it won't play all my Switch games.

I imagine some Switch 2 games might be cross-gen, at least for 2025.

We'll know more for sure when April 2nd arrives. Just be patient.

[Donl1282]

I hope they will add new features to NSO on Switch 2 including the option to buy the games offered under the subscription.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

Does it warm anyone else's heart seeing the absolute crash in "live service" games happening on rival consoles? The latest, after the Concord debacle, is a God of War live service game from Bluepoint. A ridiculous waste of resources for a developer whose niche is making great remasters.

As someone who loved Playstation consoles up through the PS3/early PS4, it pained me seeing Sony focusing inordinate resources on that garbage. But in the end, this had to happen to get Sony back on track. Nintendo's success with the Switch has been in part because they haven't wasted endless sums of money on that BS.

If you don't think Nintendo wants a slice of the live service pie, you're nuts! They'll jump into that pool at some point but they'll be smarter about it and not go all in immediately the way Sony tried. Who knows? The next Mario Kart or Smash Brothers could very well be tailored towards a live service format.

I'm not completely opposed to Live Service games, but it has to be the right studio, the right IP, and it has to be executed properly. The problem with Sony is they tried to do too much, too fast. They should've just started with one or two titles. Helldivers 2 is live service, and I absolutely love that game! I play it almost every night. My kid's playing time is made up mostly of Rocket League, Fortnite, Roblox, and Gorilla Tag. ALL of which are live service games!

[dyne]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

If you don't think Nintendo wants a slice of the live service pie, you're nuts! They'll jump into that pool at some point but they'll be smarter about it and not go all in immediately the way Sony tried. Who knows? The next Mario Kart or Smash Brothers could very well be tailored towards a live service format.

I'm not completely opposed to Live Service games, but it has to be the right studio, the right IP, and it has to be executed properly. The problem with Sony is they tried to do too much, too fast. They should've just started with one or two titles. Helldivers 2 is live service, and I absolutely love that game! I play it almost every night. My kid's playing time is made up mostly of Rocket League, Fortnite, Roblox, and Gorilla Tag. ALL of which are live service games!

That playtest thing they had a while back was basically the makings of a live service test in alpha.

[ChadFL]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

If you don't think Nintendo wants a slice of the live service pie, you're nuts! They'll jump into that pool at some point but they'll be smarter about it and not go all in immediately the way Sony tried. Who knows? The next Mario Kart or Smash Brothers could very well be tailored towards a live service format.

I'm not completely opposed to Live Service games, but it has to be the right studio, the right IP, and it has to be executed properly. The problem with Sony is they tried to do too much, too fast. They should've just started with one or two titles. Helldivers 2 is live service, and I absolutely love that game! I play it almost every night. My kid's playing time is made up mostly of Rocket League, Fortnite, Roblox, and Gorilla Tag. ALL of which are live service games!

Sure, like all companies, Nintendo would be happy with making money anywhere it can be made. That being said, Nintendo is clearly skeptical and isn't dumping a ton of money into this live service play. Mario Kart and Smash have optional online play, which I'm fairly sure only makes up a small % of hours played in those games. Most players have probably not utilized online play even once for those games. I'd be shocked in the online features for the next MK or Smash have much if any additional features from the Switch games. Heck, Nintendo still clearly has no interest in an achievement system akin to Microsoft or Sony, which would probably lure more people to playing online.

If anything, I'd say Nintendo is even LESS prone to following hot market trends and experimentation than they have been in the past. The Switch 2 seems like the safest/least change/least loaded with new gimmicks console Nintendo will put out since the SNES. I suspect much of that is the current management (namely Furukawa) being more risk averse than past leaders at Nintendo, which I generally think is a good think.

My only minor quibble is that I'd like to see a bit more in the way of bringing back certain older Nintendo IP's or games long dormant, such as F-Zero, 3D Donkey Kong Country, Wave Race, Star Fox, etc. But I do get why most of those don't return. Mario Kart seems to cannibalize all other Nintendo racing games, seemingly every Star Fox games goes through development hell, and their one attempt at a pure 3D DKC continues to give Nintendo PTSD due to it's reception (a lot of which is unfair, it was an amazing game) even decades later. Apparently, there was a 3D DKC being farmed out to Blizzard Albany not too long ago, but Nintendo hated it and scrapped it. So I'm not exactly optimistic about anything other than a new 2D/2.5D DKC anytime soon.

[ChadFL]

While I don't love the wait till April for the software, man am I glad they opted to reveal the games in a Nintendo Direct rather than another live presentation to a clearly very corporate audience, as they did with the Switch. Video game people in general don't do particularly well with live presentations (large share are very introverted and/or autistic, as am I... not trying to criticize), resulting in a LOT of cringe worthy presentations like the Switch software reveal and most E3 presentations. The original Switch software presentation was like that, but also with an audience that had ZERO excitement. Nintendo is better suited all around for taped Directs. Still miss Iwata's presence and wish he were still around to witness the huge Switch success.

[heyadol]

Originally Posted by ChadFL

Sure, like all companies, Nintendo would be happy with making money anywhere it can be made. That being said, Nintendo is clearly skeptical and isn't dumping a ton of money into this live service play. Mario Kart and Smash have optional online play, which I'm fairly sure only makes up a small % of hours played in those games. Most players have probably not utilized online play even once for those games. I'd be shocked in the online features for the next MK or Smash have much if any additional features from the Switch games. Heck, Nintendo still clearly has no interest in an achievement system akin to Microsoft or Sony, which would probably lure more people to playing online.

If anything, I'd say Nintendo is even LESS prone to following hot market trends and experimentation than they have been in the past. The Switch 2 seems like the safest/least change/least loaded with new gimmicks console Nintendo will put out since the SNES. I suspect much of that is the current management (namely Furukawa) being more risk averse than past leaders at Nintendo, which I generally think is a good think.

[Show spoiler]My only minor quibble is that I'd like to see a bit more in the way of bringing back certain older Nintendo IP's or games long dormant, such as F-Zero, 3D Donkey Kong Country, Wave Race, Star Fox, etc. But I do get why most of those don't return. Mario Kart seems to cannibalize all other Nintendo racing games, seemingly every Star Fox games goes through development hell, and their one attempt at a pure 3D DKC continues to give Nintendo PTSD due to it's reception (a lot of which is unfair, it was an amazing game) even decades later. Apparently, there was a 3D DKC being farmed out to Blizzard Albany not too long ago, but Nintendo hated it and scrapped it. So I'm not exactly optimistic about anything other than a new 2D/2.5D DKC anytime soon.

Nintendo already has a live service Mario Kart and it has been going for more than 5 years so it must be reasonably successful. Maybe not as successful as MK8, with or without an online subscription, but it's got to be making money.

Maybe they will keep this type of game on smartphones, or maybe older IPs that Nintendo doesn't have high-sales expectations for (like F-Zero) will get a f2p version and have cross-play/cross-buy across NS2 and smartphones.

https://mariokarttour.com/
https://www.nintendo.com/my/games/smartphone/index.html

[master gandhi]

I would very much welcome a live service multiplayer mode in Mario Kart 9, if done well. The Mario Kart Tour mobile game is quite solid if you ask me. There’s weekly competitions and points systems, and new courses added occasionally. If they can extrapolate the things that are working really well on the mobile game and implement them into the online multiplayer mode on the Switch 2 version, I’ll be pleased. But if they can exceed my expectations, that would be even better.

[Steelmaker]

Originally Posted by master gandhi

I would very much welcome a live service multiplayer mode in Mario Kart 9, if done well. The Mario Kart Tour mobile game is quite solid if you ask me. There’s weekly competitions and points systems, and new courses added occasionally. If they can extrapolate the things that are working really well on the mobile game and implement them into the online multiplayer mode on the Switch 2 version, I’ll be pleased. But if they can exceed my expectations, that would be even better.

Did Nintendo ever include a wide-screen mode on the mobile Mario Kart game? That's the only reason I stopped playing it. I didn't like the aspect ratio.

[dyne]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

Did Nintendo ever include a wide-screen mode on the mobile Mario Kart game? That's the only reason I stopped playing it. I didn't like the aspect ratio.

Just downloaded it on my iPhone and you can't rotate it. Not a way that I can see anyway.

[heyadol]

Originally Posted by Steelmaker

Did Nintendo ever include a wide-screen mode on the mobile Mario Kart game? That's the only reason I stopped playing it. I didn't like the aspect ratio.

Originally Posted by dyne

Just downloaded it on my iPhone and you can't rotate it. Not a way that I can see anyway.

Also on iPhone and the default setting rotates the playfield to match your portrait/landscape orientation, you can also go to settings and make it permanently one or the other. Don't think it has controller support though.