Nintendo finally rolled out the red carpet for the Switch 2 yesterday, and I'll be honest, I'm super excited for it.

The hardware

The hardware for the new Switch is everything I ever wanted, minus one thing. The performance looks pretty darn good, and it appears from these trailers that the games coming to the platform will be able to run better than they do on the Steam Deck and other similar handheld PCs. I don't know if this is down to raw horsepower or a simple benefit of fixed platforms, but the games look really nice and are a real step up from the visual quality we've grown accustomed to with Switch games.

4K output was an obvious step, even if most games will never run at that resolution, but it's great to see games like the new Metroid Prime game running at that resolution out of the gate. 120Hz variable refresh rate, 1080p, and HDR on the built in screen are also a few nice surprises, all specs higher than I was expecting. I'm bummed that we're not getting OLED from the start this time either, but this surely is a cost saving measure to hit what it already a pretty high price point for Nintendo consoles.

I'm bummed that the C button is something I'll basically never touch.

The Joy-Con 2 controllers look like they improve on the teeny tiny original Joy-Cons, which I found so uncomfortable to play with that I bought a third party set that didn't have wireless, gyro, or rumble, but losing those was worth it for me to be able to not have my hands cramp after 10 minutes. Here's hoping these are easier to use and don't experience drift as I and many others have experienced with the current Joy-Cons. Also I'm really happy to see my current Pro Controller will continue to work.

And in terms of backwards compatibility, I'm happy to see that basically all Switch games work. Here's a list of games from Nintendo that are known to have issues, but it's pretty short and selfishly, includes zero games I own.

The games

Mario Kart World looks awesome, and a suitable sequel to Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. I'll be getting this day one, as will basically every Switch 2 buyer. I will surely put hundreds of hours into this game.

Donkey Kong Bananza looks astounding and I can't wait to tear the whole world down.

Metroid Prime 4: Beyond was already on my most anticipated games list for 2025 and knowing I can play it in a better form on Switch 2 is just icing on top.

Kirby Air Riders could be kinda fun, but meh.

Drag x Drive looks terrible. What is going on with this art style?

Welcome Tour is the free tutorial app that looks like something most people would just skip over if it autoplayed during the console setup, but Nintendo is apparently charging for this. Weird.

The Duskbloods is a spiritual successor to Bloodborne: yay! It's also advertised as a multiplayer game first and foremost: noooooo. We'll see on this one.

Civilization VII plays best with a mouse, and miraculously, now we can do that easily with the new Joy-Cons. This is rad.

Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition very well might ship on Switch 2 before it finally comes to the Mac.

Final Fantasy 7 Remake Intergrade is a big, beautiful game, and I hope more Nintendo-only gamers enjoy this one.

Hollow Knight Silksong is supposedly coming this year and will be on the Switch 2. It was coming "within a year" back in 2022, so I hope my heart isn't broken again.

And then there are upgrades to some Switch games to make them run better than they did on the original Switch. I bounced off The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom in part because the performance was frustrating and that game is getting a free upgrade to run better (here are Nintendo games getting free updates). Also Pokémon Scarlet and Violet are getting performance boosts, which is good because those games honestly should never have shipped the way they did. Then there are the paid upgrades for games like Tears of the Kingdom, and we'll see what the cost is there…I'm not thrilled about paying to make them run better on new hardware, but my tone will depend largely on what the actual numbers are. $10? No big deal. $20? Ummmm. More than that? Get outta here!

The prices

$449 for the Switch 2 and $499 for the Mario Kart World bundle is certainly not nothing, but it's not that crazy given the state of the world, especially as massive tariffs are about to rock the US. Given the base Steam Deck (which people adore) is less powerful, has a way worse display, worse battery life, and has no included dock or controllers, and is only $50 cheaper than the Switch 2, I find it hard to get too worked up over the price.

Mario Kart World sporting a $79.99 price tag is a bit of a shocker. There were rumblings whether Grand Theft Auto 6 would break the $70 price barrier, and then we got blindsided by Mario of all characters! As I said above, I'll surely get my money's worth on this one, but man oh man, that's a pretty penny. It really seems like they're driving (heh) people to buy the Switch 2 bundle that has the game included for just $50 extra. Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if GTA6 goes for up to $99 at this point.

The only other game I think we have pricing for is Donkey Kong Bananza, and it's sporting a $69.99 price point, which is aligned with typical game pricing for the Sony and Microsoft consoles. It's probably fair to say this will be the new standard for Nintendo games now as well. Nintendo already broke the seal on this in 2023 with Tears of the Kingdom, which also retailed for $69.99.

As a consumer, I'm obviously not happy about everything with this console being more expensive than when the original Switch released, but I also understand why this is happening. it still stings. I would just remind you that indie games exist, often cost much less, and are tons of fun as well. You absolutely don't have to spend this sort of money constantly to enjoy video games, so venture out a bit if you haven't explored the wonderful world of indies in a while.