Nintendo Direct: Nintendo Switch 2 - 4.2.2025 thoughts?

[weirdfeline]

Join us April 2nd, at 6 a.m. PT for a closer look at Nintendo Switch 2! The Nintendo Direct: Nintendo Switch 2 – 4.2.2025 livestream will be approximately 60 minutes long.

June 5th | price announced after direct: $450 without mario kart world, $500 with mario kart world

Mario Kart World looks good! love the free roam and Moo Moo Meadows cow

Nintendo Discord seems pretty unnecessary as does the camera, no one used Wii U Chat

charging for the sequel to PS Vita's Welcome Park is insane

4k and 120fps options

June 5, 2025 release date

Nintendo Switch 2 gets exclusive paid expansions to the latest Mario Party, Kirby and both BOTW and TOTK

drag x drive wheelchair basketball with mouse controls, reminds me of the 2005 documentary Murderball

metroid prime 4 and pokemon za both get native switch 2 versions

bunch of existing games getting ported including elden ring, street fighter 6 with amiibo support, split fiction looking noticeably downgraded

spongebob level for tony hawk's 3+4

more hyrule warriors no one asked for

wind waker finally coming to switch! via gamecube nso.. also soul calibur II, f-zero gx, chibi robo, luigi's mansion and a few more, launch titles for switch 2

deltarune 3+4 day one (new release)

video freezes for everyone and continues playing audio during some pirate game and the world premiere of enter the gungeon 2 gameplay, they have now moved back the video but the current audio is still playing

fast fusion launch title just like fast rmx, big montage of games

essentially Bloodborne 2 (title is the duskbloods) by From Software exclusive to Switch 2, very embarrassing for Sony

kirby air riders (air ride 2) directed by sakurai this year

donkey kong bananaza looks amazing - looks like a mix of super mario odyssey and knack, releases in july

no price, maybe revealed later today? two SKUs for no real reason, one includes mario kart world. i guess if you want physical you'd buy the one without it?

pretty good showing!

[Cartagia]

They announced the price and pre-order date outside of the direct.  April 9 for pre-orders at $450 USD.

Stoked about Mario Kart, the new DK game and the new From Soft title.  Not really stoked enough for Day 1, but I'm definitely interested.

[bikingjahuty]

Mario Kart World looks awesome and I'm looking forward to hearing more about the new DK game. Other than that, the presentation was a bit underwhelming given it mostly focused on third party games that have been out for a while getting ported over. I'm sure my wife will do a backflip when she hears they are porting over Bravely Default and also a new From Software game getting released, but for me it was pretty much the book end first party titles that have me hyped.


One thing that made me breath a massive sigh of relief was knowing Nintendo is keeping physical games alive for at least one more console generation. I'd be shocked if Sony and especially Microsoft do the same for their 10th gen systems, but we'll see. I'm stoked enough about just Mario Kart World and physical games that I'm going to try and get a Switch 2 at launch. I'll probably preorder the Switch 2 version of BotW since its one of my favorite games of all time. I'm actually surprised about the June 2025 release date. I thought for sure it would get a holiday launch, but I'm definitely not complaining.


On a more negative note, it's pretty lame they're charging extra to enhance Switch games on the Switch 2 despite you already purchasing them. Sony didn't do that crap for PS4 titles on PS5, so I'm a little annoyed by this, but whatever. I'll also never use the Discord-like social features, and I pretty much just tuned that part of the Direct presentation out. It's probably exciting for a lot of people who enjoy the social aspect of gaming, but for me gaming is mostly a solo activity or at the very least a local multiplayer activity.


I'm hoping getting a preorder on one won't suck since there is only one Gamestop in my town. We have a Best Buy, Target, and a couple of Walmarts, but I'm sure fans and scalpers will be out in full force to grab one on June 5th.

[nathan776]

Mario kart seemed interesting and something I'd like to play
Donkey Kong could be fun.
Feel bad for the Gungeon 2 team with the freeze during their trailer, I think FF7 came after?

Curious to see how Nintendo adapts some titles as they seem to want to lean into multiplayer, incorporating their chat function into the console.

Pokemon being displayed on the Gamecube portion is nice, would love to play gale of darkness or colosseum on the go - does this mean they might add the gba games?

Not a lot that excites me overall. Would of liked a game that really sealed it for me. Probably purchase it either way but probably end up regretting it.

[weirdfeline]

mario kart world is confirmed $80

donkey kong bananza is $70

the bundle for getting mario kart world for $30 less is only available for the summer

[dhaabi]

Mario Kart World
New Mario Kart entry that, for the first time, actually has appealing novelty with its free-roaming capabilities. Launch day release.

GameChat
Seems fine as an alternative to Discord, and it isn't surprising that Nintendo decided to create their own software for this feature. Unsurprisingly, it requires a Nintendo Switch Online membership, though free access is through March 31, 2026.

GameShare
Grants access for certain games to be played on multiple consoles when software is only owned by one user.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour
How this isn't free is baffling.

General
Cartridges confirmed, June 5 release. Suggested retail is $449.99 USD, a 50% increase than Nintendo Switch's $299.99 launch price. I can't say I'm interested at that price point.

Game Updates
Certain games will have system updates available to purchase which utilize new system-specific features. For instance, they showcased Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom with new features. I am probably in a huge minority, but I'm not a fan of this kind of development. Just move on, and make something else. Some of the camera support for Mario Kart Jamboree greatly reminded me of PlayStation 2's EyeToy. On a somewhat related note going back to The Legend of Zelda, the Zelda Notes Guidance system looks terrible. Way to completely remove the games' total sense of free exploration. It's obviously optional, but why even offer something so counterintuitive to the games' core design philosophy?

Games
Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment
A new game within the Breath of the Wild setting, but it's yet another Warriors title.

Kirby Air Riders
Not long ago, I was thinking about how I wished I owned Kirby Air Ride for GameCube, so this is a surprise.

Donkey Kong Bananza
The only thing worth mentioning is that Donkey Kong now wears overalls.

Various third-party support
Numerous games were mentioned, though I'll highlight Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition, Yakuza 0: Director's Cut, Bravely Default: Flying Fairy, and Street Fighter 6. As far as new games, chapters 3 and 4 of Deltarune will be releasing on launch day. FromSoftware's The Duskbloods seems to be exclusive to Switch 2 which is certainly a choice decision.

Nintendo Switch Online GameCube
Three games were featured in-depth: The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, SoulCalibur II, F-Zero GX. Others were highlighted too but not shown, including Chibi-Robo! Controls customization is a feature shown. The catalog launches on day one, and a dedicated wireless controller will also be available.

[dhaabi]

On a more negative note, it's pretty lame they're charging extra to enhance Switch games on the Switch 2 despite you already purchasing them. Sony didn't do that crap for PS4 titles on PS5, so I'm a little annoyed by this, but whatever.

Actually, Sony did this, and on more than one occasion too. Here is their blog post detailing exactly that for The Last of Us Part II.

[weirdfeline]

a look at the box art: https://x.com/Wario64/status/1907445568026116264

looks pretty ugly with the giant red banner and the small logo centered, red cases are nice to differentiate from switch

[dhaabi]

mario kart world is confirmed $80

Let's see how many others games now follow suit. Another new industry standard for AAA games?

a look at the box art: https://x.com/Wario64/status/1907445568026116264

looks pretty ugly with the giant red banner and the small logo centered, red cases are nice to differentiate from switch

Agreed.

[weirdfeline]

mario kart world is confirmed $80

Let's see how many others games now follow suit. Another new industry standard for AAA games?

a look at the box art: https://x.com/Wario64/status/1907445568026116264

looks pretty ugly with the giant red banner and the small logo centered, red cases are nice to differentiate from switch

Agreed.

gta 6 is for sure $100 now

[bikingjahuty]

mario kart world is confirmed $80

Let's see how many others games now follow suit. Another new industry standard for AAA games?

a look at the box art: https://x.com/Wario64/status/1907445568026116264

looks pretty ugly with the giant red banner and the small logo centered, red cases are nice to differentiate from switch

Agreed.

gta 6 is for sure $100 now

Yep...and most other AAA games most likely.


That $90 physical game pricetag really took a lot of the wind out of my sails.

[dhaabi]

Given the state of Japan's economy and the low value of the yen, there are actually two hardware sets. One is the expected, a ""multi-language" system that will retail for ¥69,980. Meanwhile, there is also a "Japanese-language" system that will retail for ¥49,980 and effectively re-introduces region-locking.
https://www.nintendo.com/jp/hardware/switch2/lineup/index.html

[dhaabi]

mario kart world is confirmed $80

Let's see how many others games now follow suit. Another new industry standard for AAA games?

gta 6 is for sure $100 now

Yep...and most other AAA games most likely.


That $90 physical game pricetag really took a lot of the wind out of my sails.

I won't be surprised when many up-to-date gamers retire from modern gaming as prices continue to rise. It's not just collecting now that's pricing people out of the hobby, but playing games altogether.

[bikingjahuty]

mario kart world is confirmed $80

Let's see how many others games now follow suit. Another new industry standard for AAA games?

gta 6 is for sure $100 now

Yep...and most other AAA games most likely.


That $90 physical game pricetag really took a lot of the wind out of my sails.

I won't be surprised when many up-to-date gamers retire from modern gaming as prices continue to rise. It's not just collecting now that's pricing people out of the hobby, but playing games altogether.

I was certain that I was going to pre-order a Switch 2 at launch, but now I'm not so sure. As much as I loved Mario Kart 8, Mario Odyssey, and BotW, I don't know that I want to pay nearly $500 after tax for a system and then have to shell out nearly $100 every time I want to buy a new game. I could always wait for the games to drop in price or get a used copy down the road for cheaper, but I'm sure I'm not the only one thinking about doing this. I don't know what I'll do yet. It seems like the more info about the system and games that come out, the more I'm thinking about not getting one for a while and possibly not at all. Same goes for the PS6 and Series X successor, even if they do surprise us with keeping physical games alive.

[dhaabi]

In their support section, Nintendo features an overview page for Game-Key Cards.

So, this is similar to the Switch's packaging which states how a physical product may not contain the game's full data and instead require an internet download. Except, the wording actually states how these types of cartridges are actually "keys," which seems to suggest that they allow for the full data to be downloaded via an online connection. At the same time, this page also mentions that "like regular physical software, the game-key card must be inserted into the system in order to play the game" even in spite of data being downloaded to the console's storage.

So, it seems like Nintendo is paving the way for trading digital games. And that idea is with the hopes that these Game-Key Cards can be used more than once.