Review | Nintendo Switch 2 Launch Two Months Later: I Want My Switch 2 To Be My Last Traditional Game Console

To preface, I want to make it clear that I do not even wanna see a future game console from any company, to be perfectly honest. The concepts of a PlayStation 6, and however the hell you describe what the “This is an Xbox” campaign is a lead in to feel rather unnecessary when this generation of consoles and exclusives does not really have a firm identity around it. I thought that since Nintendo has a stronger identity with exclusive software for its consoles, we may see that pattern change, and while I think Nintendo’s first-party exclusives and the sales charts are proving that notion correct to some degree, I still feel left with a sour aftertaste for what this new generation means.

After resting on the ironclad yet increasingly seen as underpowered laurels of Nintendo’s first handheld-home-console hybrid for nearly a decade, fans, families, developers, and reviewers all now have a big taste of what a new console from Nintendo means in our current era. While I find myself excited after my first two months with the console, I honestly feel deflated thinking about what’s in store for the future. What’s more is that I feel somewhat defeated, after all, what real good would come from complaining? I already spent 500 bucks on the console. Many have buzzed about their complaints around game prices, deeming Nintendo Switch Welcome Tour and its $10 pricetag as the coming of the antichrist, the slightly off GameCube emulation, and all the things many of us had gotten used to on the first Nintendo Switch, but hoped against hope, might get ironed out this time.. 

From the hype, the controversy, to even global tariff issues potentially getting in the way of the console’s launch, there has been a lot of noise that has to be cut through when it comes to anything Nintendo related right now—especially when the discussion happens online. To be candid, the Nintendo Switch 2 has been a good way to reflect on how many boots fans have been willing to lick and how many hate bandwagons they are willing to join, but when it comes to actualising into words how I feel about this console, I don’t really care to appease one of those two extremes. I know what my time with the console has been like, and I am here to relay it to you.

So let’s talk video games! :)

Actually, first, let’s talk talking.

GAMECHAT

One of the strongest marketing pushes and main gimmicks (second to mouse mode) that Nintendo Switch 2 has to offer is the more “social” experience of GameChat. To be honest, for a feature that seemingly replaces what everyone else was already doing with Discord and other video/voice chat services, GameChat has been the new feature I had the most fun with when reviewing this console. A lot of that does come from the top-notch engineering. You can use third-party USB cameras and microphones; the microphone on the console itself can hear your voice from across the room and still output it clearly; the noise cancellation works pretty well, meaning you don’t need to wear headphones; there is even a voice-to-text feature that has been pretty accurate. There isn’t a ton of slowdown for your actual game, at least between four systems that all have their camera on, and while the weaknesses of GameChat primarily come from the low framerate of video and screensharing, I am mostly using the Switch 2 as a phone rather than a Brady Bunch simulator. It has replaced the typical iPhone FaceTime setup my family group was previously using, given all that, and the fact that it acts more as a system-wide party chat rather than a game-specific chat lobby also adds to the convenience. 

I think GameChat still has a lot to prove, the camera head integration in Mario Kart World made me laugh many of my vital organs off by the sheer mundanity of it, but it only zooms in on your face if you have set up the camera that way, (which, to its credit, you can detect two people on one system with this setting, even with third-party USB cameras) and otherwise it is just a circular picture frame that reacts to what happens in the game. I think  SUPER MARIO PARTY JAMBOREE: NINTENDO SWITCH 2 EDITION + JAMBOREE TV (lovely title) was gonna be just more of that in terms of its GameChat features, but from what I have been hearing, it has also kinda been a UI crisis, and something I don’t have a full segment dedicated to, just a bit of a disappointing lament in the NINTENDO SWITCH 2 EDITIONS section. 

[Editor’s note: Having used GameChat for Super Mario Party Jamboree, I can confirm that it's frustratingly limited. While it's fun to see player reactions on screen when you screw them over, most of the GameChat camera-supported modes and games don’t support online play, and all of them block screenshots from being taken. Which, like, at that point, what are we even doing?]

I also felt that GameChat works well with a small handful of people across the globe. Editor-in-Chief, Lex Luddy, and I both ended up screensharing a friendly game of Tetris Effect: Connected. I had my camera on, and we were both using wi-fi connections. There was no slowdown in the game’s performance, no added latency for online play, and we could still hear each other’s voices loud and clear. The framerate and picture quality of the screensharing and camera feeds were the main drawback, but also, to me, felt like the most non-essential aspect of the experience.

GAMESHARE

Nintendo has brought back the spirit of Download Play from the Nintendo DS and 3DS era with GameShare. I say the spirit, but not really the soul, though, as while having the ability to play a single copy or license of a game online is an amazing option to enable in a globalised gaming community, it all really comes down to being a feature developers need to also support. I have only tried a bit of online GameShare via Clubhouse Games 51 Worldwide Classics (51 Worldwide Games) (as the host) and Donkey Kong Bananza (as the guest), and while I am impressed, I would also be remiss if I didn’t say there were very disappointing aspects to the implementation. For 51 Worldwide Games, the list of games playable via GameShare not only dwarfed the full 51 number as it normally does in multiplayer, but the options were even further limited in ways that it wouldn’t be if done via traditional online multiplayer, or even using Nintendo Switch 1’s Guest Pass as a way to enter your friends’ lobbies as done previously in games like It Takes Two and, indeed, 51 Worldwide Games. It felt like the Download Play philosophy of giving guest players a limited selection of the game, such as only playing as Shy Guy in Mario Kart DS, etc.., but that sort of limitation of features feels very antiquated and frustrating in the modern era, when we’re supposed to view GameShare as a quality of life improvement rather than a “first taste is free” advertising.

 I did fare better with Donkey Kong Bananza as the guest with my sister as the host. Bananza’s GameShare co-op mode is one-to-one with the admittedly together but unequal gameplay of the second player, playing as Pauline, using either the mouse or analogue stick to sing and shoot materials. The materials do honestly mess with how much the game has going on, but I noticed the dip in performance almost never came from the framerate; instead, the resolution was the thing taking a huge hit, as you are essentially being sent a video stream rather than locally running the game. It did not help that I did this particular GameShare session in handheld mode, but at the end of the day, maintaining the framerate and having the resolution take a dip still impressed me. However, all this did still take place within the confines of Donkey Kong Bananza’s asymmetrical co-op that, while enjoyable in its own way, is not really a fully fledged co-op platforming experience, which still paints this limited gameplay option picture of what GameShare will let players do. 

GameShare doesn’t have as much universality or widespread integration as something like remote play may be on another console or Steam, and while I can see the headache with the existence of competitive games on Nintendo Switch 2 about not wanting to hastily enable a remote second controller via GameChat system-wide, GameShare is a situation where I knew it was going to be a bit limited, but I still felt it could have done a slight bit more.

MOUSE MODE AND CYBERPUNK 2077 ULTIMATE EDITION

Mouse mode is also something that seems rather inconclusive to me at this time, not so much in that I cannot determine whether or not it is well implemented (it is, for the most part), but rather, I feel the real showcase for what mouse mode can do is still to be seen. I am fortunate to have taken a gander at how these controls work for games like Cyberpunk 2077, where you get the benefits of analogue movement—rather than the WASD or arrow keys—and a traditional mouse first-person shooter camera. It is a little disappointing that there is no on-the-fly mode shift for Cyberpunk, but nonetheless, having so many control options with mouse mode, gyro, and even bullshit Wii waggle “motion patterns” (which I would love to see someone try to go through the whole game with) makes the port the definitive handheld experience, or at least feel like CDPR was willing to try some new stuff with version of the game. Although, since there is an issue with VRR (variable refresh rate) only being implemented in handheld mode and not TV mode, it has created an interesting case where playing in TV mode, to some, is a major visual downgrade. From my own gameplay experience, which has basically entirely been in handheld/tabletop mode, the game runs at a barely noticeable unsmooth 40fps (thanks to the VRR) in its performance mode, and I barely see a difference between this and the footage I would see on a PS5, for instance. As this is my first time in Night City, I am very happy Nintendo was willing to work so closely to get the penis slider and pubic hair color selector laden game that embodies why Reaganomics taken to its absolute extreme would actually be the worst thing the planet earth has ever witnessed as one of the system’s third-party blockbusters, (I’m genuinely serious, time to curbstomp some taboos and capitalisms) and I feel ashamed for being so sheltered because it was hard to branch outside Nintendo—at least for Triple-A titles—while also simultaneously being a physical games obsessed loser after the pandemic, not saving my money for new consoles. Third Parties would be what I would be looking forward to the most with Nintendo Switch 2, but the way a vast majority of them are handled is a very deflating spectacle that I will get to later.

MARIO KART WORLD

I would argue Mario Kart World is a no-brainer choice as the main launch title for a new Nintendo console, but I do not know if I would say this is the best launch title for Nintendo Switch 2. It is an amazing new title in the franchise, and, knowing how this entry works compared to 8 Deluxe, I am not really upset about the lesser track variety. I honestly also find myself liking the open world more than what others have said, though I do understand where the issue for people is coming from. The races themselves and the multiplayer are some of the highest highs of the series, but they also seemed to be bogged down in Nintendo Corporate or Nintendo EPD 9’s own bureaucracy. 

The Free Roam mode of the game does not really have the stakes or objectives of something like an open and explorable 3D Mario platformer. There are three main types of collectibles—Peach Medallions, Question Block Panels, and P-Switch Missions—and while they are fun to collect and have a tiny bit of distinction, (Peach Medallions are placed all over the map, Question Block Panels are more hidden within the tracks themselves, with five per track, and P-Switch Missions are missions akin to Mission Mode seen in previous games, but contextualised in the open world) there is not really a clear incentive or reward for collecting everything, nor a progression structure or even a robust tracker to help players feel like they’re reaching the end goal of something like a Super Mario 64 or Super Mario Odyssey. The rewards you get for reaching certain milestones, collecting collectables, or completing missions, is simply just a single decal you can apply to your kart and in-game profile. These are not stickers you can use in photo mode; you only get one to put on your kart; aside from unlocking mirror mode, which is its own whole thing I do not even want to really spoil, there is very little reward for progression in Free Roam. It sort of reminds me of how ARMS, also a Nintendo EPD 9 game, really only had the objective of unlocking everyone else’s Arms for every character, little lore collectables, and also a collection of badges to use as an in-game profile icon for milestones and completing certain objectives. Additionally, the only way to get those collectables was through modes that did not really have enough substance as a cohesive whole. ARMS Grand Prix was a fine, typical arcade mode, sure, but these little trinkets that players work towards are not really cohesively coming together towards a satisfying end goal. Mario Kart World has the added benefit of having the progression through the existing Grand Prix mode and the amazing finale of Rainbow Road in Special Cup, and there are additionally the knockout tours to get through, but once you are satisfied going for gold on 150cc, and SPOILERS, mirror mode, there isn’t even a 200cc to piss you off. Additionally, there are some very minuscule yet unclear (from what the game tells you) things you need to do in the free roam mode to unlock mirror mode, though the imagery you do get when unlocking it is indeed worth seeing for yourself. Even when you have a reason to do free roam, it is not really told to you, and it still feels aimless as to how you stumble into finding out.

If I rebrand free roam in my head as just “mission mode inside a sandbox you can mess around in”, I have more fun with it in a single-player, almost ASMR or fidget-esque “turn your brain off” kind of way, and I think the goal was to have as many pressures of an open world game as possible stripped from this experience. I enjoy running around as a cow on a motorcycle shaped like R.O.B. the robot while I eat burgers, cheese-flavoured frozen custard, Pokey shaped samosas, and seafood pizza (seriously, I envy the 3D modelling work on the food in this game). However, as said, this focus on pure vibes and carefree exploration removes all matter of substance, progression, or any helpful tracking of what you have collected and not (aside from the Question Block Panels) and feels simply like a way to contextualise the track design. 

The open world does not even really feel like a showcase for the Switch 2 hardware capabilities from a game design standpoint, as this game was planned for the original Nintendo Switch, though I do find it to be a good choice at the end of the day as a graphical showcase. The water sections of the open world can be very pretty to traverse in Free Roam, so many items in the environment react to the physics of your kart, and there are many cute distractions, be it piledriving all of Crown City’s Traffic in a double-trailered semi-truck for ten seconds, sneaking up behind a single car, following them for as long as you can, and seeing them commit a severe blight on safe driving protocols, and listening to the amazing remixed anthology soundtrack from across the entire Super Mario franchise.

NINTENDO SWITCH 2 WELCOME TOUR

It’s not really an amazing introduction to the console. I said the thing, there you go. Moving on. 

The “Welcome Tour is 10 dollars and I feel like I’d be robbed if it was downloaded for free” jokes around the Switch 2 launch for me quickly became an earworm I wanted to shove a cotton swab down the throat of. I do not fully disagree with the sentiment, and given how nobody really has talked about Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour in recent weeks, I do think it left barely an impact in the grand scheme of things. I just feel that fully explaining what went wrong with this game would be to both simultaneously retread very familiar waters while also kinda busting some pretty strongly held misconceptions.

I will say a few things that Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour has gotten right. In most cases, I do feel the minigames do demonstrate the console gimmicks and hardware capabilities decently well. This is mostly in the case of the new Joy-Con 2 controllers, though. I particularly loved the balloon popping minigame that combines mouse camera movement with analogue player movement. I liked the HD Rumble 2 matching minigame, having a game incorporate the programmable GL and GR buttons was a neat thing albeit underbaked (and uncomfortable when done with the Joy-Con 2 grip), and the camera emoji minigame also has potential to be goofy, but didn’t seem to work well with my setup even using an OEM camera. 

Going through all the minigames, though, I am often reminded of other typical ways Nintendo usually showcases its console gimmicks, and how those games have worked, and in light of that, Welcome Tour still could have totally worked too. I think mainly of the WarioWare series, Nintendo Land, even, but something like  Wii Play as something I’d hoped this 10-dollar digital-only eShop game would be like. Wii Play may also have rudimentary games, but their often high-score-based nature gave them a lot of depth and/or replayability. There is not really a Wii Play Tanks!! moment among the entire lineup of minigames and tech demos, but there was potential, say, if the balloon popping minigame had a full 100-level campaign with different colored enemy balloons in a similar fashion to Wii Play Tanks!!. This may have involved lessening the variety of content, reducing the number of insight quizzes, and cutting some of the tech demos, but I would take that if their replay value was just a bit better than it is now.

This is where the main issue of Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour comes in: the unsubstantial stuff you can do never ends. Whereas Mario Kart World’s issue with free roam felt like something with lots of depth but not a lot of purpose/objectives, Welcome Tour is the opposite, there are so many objectives the menu keeps track of between the stamp rally, lost and found items, minigames, tech demos, and the dreaded insight quizzes, a lot of them lack depth beyond literally telling you what the Nintendo Switch 2 can do in the most plain way possible. 

You can work towards all the medals from minigames in Welcome Tour, and there are even ways to get placeholder medals for minigames and demos that require 4K TVs and controllers with GL/GR via a morse code cheat just in case you couldn’t 100% the game otherwise, but there is honestly more of an overwhelming feel to it all rather than a motivation. Once again, Mario Kart World felt underwhelming to “progress” in, whereas Welcome Tour reverses that and ends up feeling like chipping away at endless semi-bureaucratic busywork, reading and passing quizzes to get anywhere. There is value here, but the value could have been presented in ways more interesting than homework and disjointed hardware showcases.

However, simply put, maybe in another timeline, especially if the economy was a lot better, Welcome Tour would be bundled in free with a Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller or Camera, just like how Wii Play and Wii Play Motion were bundled in with Wii Remotes, and the game could better fit that mold of being a type of introductory experience, rather than this sensory overload package of checklists. This and Mario Kart World being launch games certainly didn’t make me feel sour about Nintendo Switch 2’s launch like other things did, but it did make me feel sour about the design priority choices and content balance issues people were lamenting in the last generation, especially with the earlier Mario Party games (as Nintendo Cube did develop Welcome Tour), ARMS, and Mario Sports games, for instance.

NINTENDO CLASSICS - NINTENDO GAMECUBE

I want to take a step back to talk about something a bit more positive, that being the new benefit for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack members on Nintendo Switch 2, drip-fed Nintendo GameCube games. I got to take a little bite out of F-Zero GX, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, Super Mario Strikers (Mario Smash Football), and a big chomp out of the stellar Gamecube version of Soulcalibur II, Voldo’s nipples and all, and while I loved how everything visually looked very crisp and smooth, the emulation quality has been criticised by others, and noticeable by myself specifically with the Wind Waker, in its input delay and sensitivity. I promise this is still a mostly positive segment. I kept falling into the water on Outset Island due to how bad the issue was, and while I still mostly enjoyed Soulcalibur II, I found it easier to do things like Guard Impact (essentially parrying) by putting my GameCube disc into my Wii rather than going through this subscription service version. I figure that this will be something addressed in patches, as I know NERD (Nintendo European Research & Development) actively online, has resulted in Nintendo making tweaks to the emulation of other consoles like the Nintendo 64 and SNES emulators, and I still managed to put tons of hours into SCII’s Weapon Master Mode in this Nintendo Switch 2 version in spite of it all. While the launch could have used the addition of some other much-needed heavy hitters like: Luigi’s Mansion, Super Smash Bros. Melee, Pikmin 1 & 2, Mario Sunshine, Metroid Prime 1 & 2, Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem, et cetera, however, I do think the lineup we have so far is decently balanced in its own way. 

F-Zero GX, while being a super difficult racer, but it is an amazing get, both as a four-player title and a way to satiate Nintendo’s core “WE WANT A NEW F-ZERO NOW” audience that my crybaby behind fits into often with many B-tier series of the Big N. Soulcalibur II is just one of the best fighting games ever, both for crybaby beginner fighting game players like myself and longtime veterans to the 3D fighter genre. The inclusion of Link also definitely strokes the core audience’s ego a bit (even with Link here, Cassandra and Yoshimitsu fit my playstyle better) and as a good segue, The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker is an amazing choice as a radically different take on the traditional Zelda story, even if saying I prefer it over Twilight Princess and even the modern open world games also makes me look like a crybaby. Oh yeah, Mario Strikers/Smash Football is fun, but honestly, now having instant access to the GameCube version whenever I’d like, makes me want to get Battle League Football even less. 

The last thing I’ll cry about is the likely slow drip feed we’re in for with the traditional way things have been with “NSO” (renamed from *console name* Nintendo Switch Online to Nintendo Classics) but while that is going to be grueling over the coming years, I am excited that Nintendo is looking to go for the jugular and overpriced on the secondhand market first when it comes to the future rollout, especially with Chibi-Robo!, Fire Emblem: Path of Radiance, and the Genius Sonority-developed Pokémon Games. 

BACKWARDS COMPATIBILITY

I have quite the soft spot for games that I played the first time on the original Switch, which ran horribly on that console, namely, the Ai: The Somnium Files series. I was often upset about the fact that it took several performance patches, well after printing the physical copies of these games, to get these ports up to snuff and beatable from beginning to end, but one thing that perplexed me about its release was the choice of an unlocked framerate. The games got to 60 fps in very particular instances before screechingly halting back to 30fps or 20fps, but inserting these game cards into my Nintendo Switch 2 suddenly made these versions of the game absolutely delightful, and the same holds true for the Nintendo Switch 1 version of No Sleep for Kaname Date - From Ai: The Somnium Files in case you’re like me and want to maintain offline ownership of Kotaro Uchikoshi and Team Zero Escape’s amazing point-and-click character driven adventures. 

Side Note: Even if this one isn’t penned by Mr. Uchikoshi himself, I still think the character writing at the very least is still worth checking out eventually. It was still deflating to see how the Nintendo Switch 2 physical version was handled. I hope one day a future print can fix the whole key-card issue that I will mostly be getting to later.

Other games with unlocked framerates I was rushing to try were also pleasant treats to check out on Nintendo Switch 2, such as Bomb Rush Cyberfunk’s “Unleash the Beast” mode and games like  Bakeru, Neo: The World Ends With You, Cruis’n Blast, Bugsnax, and tons of darlings you maybe wouldn’t expect become killer apps if you only played them on a base Switch. What’s more, it was nice that many of these games didn’t even need a patch to see amazing benefits when played on Nintendo Switch 2, and those aforementioned games would be my recommendations, both to everyone and my future self, with the last three, for what are now must-play, near-flawless ports.

Some of the downsides I have noticed is that there is some artifacting and fuzziness on textures–particularly on 2D text and images–when the handheld mode resolution is blown up on the Nintendo Switch 2 screen. Unless it has been improved by a patch, the Nintendo Switch 2 is only really improving performance and framerate with the backwards compatibility layer. It does not reconfigure the TV mode resolution to handheld mode just because the Nintendo Switch 2 can now handle the higher resolution, so if it is 720p handled 1080p docked, still expect it to be 720p handheld and 1080p docked. This isn’t the end of the world, but some ports like Doom (2016) kicked down the resolution to sub 600p in handheld mode and it’s currently locked there despite the Switch 2 capability to probably brute force running it at a much higher resolution.

I mainly noticed this while playing the base Nintendo Switch version of No Sleep For Kaname Date and Tetris Effect: Connected on my Switch 2. One game that fully crashed even on Nintendo Switch 2 was NiER Automata - the End of YorHa Edition. There were a lot of machine lifeforms performing a ritual in the factory, and the game crashed after everything rendered in the game went dark. It was odd and disappointing as a game I was hoping would fare better on the new console. I do hope maybe there is a Nintendo Switch 2 Edition of both Automata and Replicant, though I would whine about how Square Enix may handle that in terms of the physical release.

One big original Switch game I played on my Nintendo Switch 2 was a replay of Super Mario Odyssey, and I almost hate myself for doing so because of how on-par graphically it looks with Donkey Kong Bananza. As Mario Odyssey got an official Nintendo Switch 2 patch, the game not only feels crisper, but more importantly, looks crisper too. While I was for the most part, rather blissfully unaware of how often resolution dips happened on first Switch, the higher resolution consistency of the Switch 2 patch made it hard to go back to playing it on Switch Numero Uno, and honestly made its graphical fidelity blend in with everything else that came out during the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch. I would not be mad if most Nintendo Switch 2 “versions” were simple patches of the original Switch ROMs with accommodations for players on Nintendo Switch 2. Some say that is what the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition is meant to be, and I would agree that should be the case, but I am not fully ecstatic about the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition lineup we’ve gotten so far. Here’s why:

NINTENDO SWITCH 2 EDITIONS

Out of the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games, I have only really tried a bit of Jamboree TV, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma, and Tamagotchi Plaza, and while secondhand accounts of people playing the open world Legend of Zelda games as Nintendo Switch 2 Editions sells me a little bit on the concept, the execution of Jamboree TV also has sadly highlighted the issues of Nintendo Switch 2 Edition implementation. Super Mario Party Jamboree is ostensibly the same game with Jamboree TV tacked on at the start menu. There is no cross progression with achievements in Jamboree TV’s Mario Party mode, and it is really just that mode plus Minigame Free Play that is carried over from the original Mario Party Jamboree  which gets the Switch 2 resolution and performance bumps due to this segregated setup. I really dislike that this is how Nintendo went about this, especially considering this is meant to be the definitive edition of this game. However, I have been disappointed by development decisions from Nintendo Cube before, so I have accepted that odd content structuring/organising decisions is a quirk the developers are struggling to rid themselves of. 

The other aforementioned Switch 2 Editions, Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma and Tamagotchi Plaza, are still something I’m working towards coming to a consensus on, but as I got both of those games physically, and I have to commend the ability of Marvelous and Bandai Namco Southeast Asia to put both the original Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 versions of the game onto one game card. However, there is one small drawback. I think part of the way this Nintendo Switch 2 Edition system works is in the form of a DLC update for the original Switch version to some degree, as when Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma got a more than 12GB day-one patch, that actually was the system redownloading the full upgrade pack when it already was on the game card, plus the actual contents of the day one patch in both the first Switch and Switch 2 Editions of the game. 

I am quite bummed out that despite that little flaw with day-one patches, it seems only Marvelous, Level5, Bandai Namco and hopefully SEGA (and in those last two cases still only in certain instances) have taken a swing at the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition format, not only because an upgrade path, for many, would make up for the physical media fiasco the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch is laden with, but also the less cross-gen games that have a Switch 2 Edition structure diminishes the whole structure overall. I would rather this system be a frequent thing with third and first-party games alike, but as it stands, it honestly feels as underutilised as the New Play Control line on Wii was for GameCube games.

GAME-KEY CARDS

As far as I’m aware the only released third-party physical games you can play without an internet download as of August 10, 2025, are as follows:

• Cyberpunk 2077 Ultimate Edition

• Rune Factory: Guardians of Azuma (Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, full card in US and Europe only)

• Tamagotchi Plaza (Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, Japan and Southeast Asia regions only)

• Fantasy Life i: the Girl Who Steals Time (Nintendo Switch 2 Edition, Japan region only)

That is only four games, and a very slim percentage of the overall third-party physical lineup that do not fall under this new category of physical releases, that being Game-Key Cards.  I remember discussions at launch claiming Game-Key Cards were what was going to replace the concept of code-in-box games, and then not only did code-in-box games still happen with WWE 2K26 and Split Fiction, but the reality of every other third-party game being a Game-Key Card release paints a rather grim picture for the future of game preservation and ownership. 

The way Game-Key Cards work is by rather than having the game data on the physical card or disc, the system alerts a server that then allows the game data to be downloaded onto the system’s internal storage or Micro SD Express card, the latter of which is not that easy to come by, especially in larger sizes. The cartridge still remains basically as the “key” to access the software downloaded to the system; if you take it out, you cannot play the game. The main issue with this process is the finite nature of that online check-in requirement; this has led many to believe, including myself, that Game-Key Cards will be rendered useless soon after the Nintendo Switch 2 generation passes. One important thing to note is that Xbox, PlayStation, and original Switch physical games have existed like this for many years at this point, and the Game-Key Card branding mandate is, in a way, a blessing in disguise to require a physical game to say, “Don’t waste your money on me!” I have noticed that some very eager to remind others of the fact these “dud” physical games have existed, however, also do not tend to realise or care that physical games that can be fully played offline still are relatively normal and appreciated by fans, not just hardcore collectors, but simply fans of a well-cherished series or genre enthusiasts. 

This is why my stance from Game-Key Cards immediately changed from, “If publishers can’t fit their game onto the 64GB upper limit, then sure, how else would it get a physical?” to, “Something is very fishy, Stepford Wives or ‘No War in Ba Sing Se’ style” after seeing the Game Key-Card banner at the bottom of No Sleep for Kaname Date - From Ai: The Somnium Files and a damn Puyo Puyo Tetris game. My favorite semi-popular point-and-click series (a genre that benefits from mouse controls!) from a publisher that has hyped up its collectors’ editions in the past being willing to just drop its game onto Switch 2 without a way to really “own” the Switch 2 version felt kind of like a slap in the face, but even more like Spike Chunsoft has shoved carrots in its ears. 

The same thing then happened with Capcom, SEGA, Square Enix, Konami, Nippon Ichi Software America, and basically every publisher except CD Projekt Red, Level5, Marvelous—with Marvelous interestingly only supplying full game cards in the US and Europe. I was not really holding my breath for a full physical release of every game, like Street Fighter 6, for instance, but the aforementioned games, plus a 3DS game like Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster, and the lesser known Capcom masterpiece Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, are just some examples of games that would just be better served in an ownable, no download required package.

I feel like I sound insane caring about this topic, and I know expressing my rage about it is very “Been there, done that”. Preferring physical media is kinda like preferring diet/lite soda. Everyone will make sure you know the product is not all that it’s cracked up to be, data rot is inevitable, and you’re crazy for panicking about losing your game, and aspartame will kill you. Plus, preservationists will point to the fact that a physical is not the full story of a video game, especially with updates, DLC, etc., to consider. I have long since abandoned the “physical = preservation” stance myself, and at the end of the day, Nintendo can remotely detonate the serial number of a specific game card to ban consoles, as is what has been happening with MiG Switch false flags detecting used games that have been dumped and since resold. However, even in spite of that, having offline ownership access to the software itself is important to me in the age of delistings, storefront sunsets, removing games from accounts, and now intense censorship from payment processors. Game Key-Cards are dependent on the online servers that provide the game data to the system. I imagine their shelf life is only as long as the Nintendo Switch 2 eShop is open, or for as long as Nintendo is still in the console market, and given this economy, I do not want to jump the gun and say that is guaranteed for the next 50 years. On that note, I think Nintendo is more to blame in some aspects for the Game-Key Card rollout than third-party publishers. It has been stated by publishers and leakers that Nintendo only really gave publishers the option between an expensive 64GB cartridge that somewhat acts like a mini-SSD, and a very slim, cost-cutting Game-Key Card option. Nintendo has left publishers and boutique physical retailers holding the bag on this. Something that seems to have been proven by the “all on cart” Switch 2 release of Mortal Kombat: Legacy Kollection, costing 10 bucks more than the PlayStation or Xbox physical discs.  

I felt like Nintendo’s combination of limited development kit rollout and limited physical game options came to a head in the July 31st Nintendo Direct. Everything revealed either felt expected, underwhelming, or serviceable. Chillin’ by the Fire was honestly among my favourite reveals from sheer silliness and vibes, and I still like what I have played for the demo of The Brainrot Philabieldia Adventures of Yapping Faie and Elliot: the Millenium (and Gen Z) Tales or whatever Square Enix has named that game. However, the big ports like Persona 3 Reload, Cronos: The New Dawn, Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac, Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, anything from Square Enix and Konami, and the Yakuza Kiwami duology (sorry Lexi), just feel very not worth it when they get the Game-Key Card label slapped onto their online listing. I feel like I wouldn’t even have these mixed emotions if these games were all digital-only releases. At least then I could wait out for a boutique publisher to be willing to handle their physical release, a necessary evil in some cases, perhaps, if physical games are still going to exist.

Nintendo’s PR does appear to understand that pushback at the very least exists. The survey sent out by both Nintendo of America and Japan has given people the chance to give feedback about Game-Key Cards. An investor at June’s annual shareholder meeting raised concerns about Game-Key Cards not selling well, and publishers, like some folks at Atari, that have a full Nintendo Switch 2 Game Card release, are very proud to advertise that fact. (as vicariously encountered by friend of the site Shawn “TurboShawn” McDowell as he reported in his experience at Evo for Game Mess Mornings for August 6, 2025) However, there is still that line presented by Kaoko Kino from Kyos Inc. that publishers are thanking Nintendo for offering Game-Key Cards, (Bloomberg) and the Nintendo of America survey might sadly be discarded after the link was widely circulated beyond the intended participants. The future for physical games looks hazy, and I am trying my best not to be too emotional about it, but with the itch.io and Steam censorship disasters (and not just censorship, mind you, full on anti-LGBTQ+ bigotry), those fears have been stoked again. Even if physical isn’t really an end-all-be-all given its high cost to produce, there is a reason fans of independent authors also like to get works they enjoy in print form as well, and that is still where my mind is at with games.

SHOULD WE COMPLAIN ABOUT NINTENDO SWITCH 2?

Sure, I could say that Nintendo should not increase prices so that more people can afford its games. Sure, I could say Welcome Tour should have been a pack-in predownloaded on the console. Sure, I already have said that Nintendo should offer more options to publishers for game cards so that more than half of its third-party lineup is not game-key cards. However, I don’t think this game of “should”s really means much of anything, especially when we have seen record-breaking sales figures for the Switch 2’s first month. If I were to make my review an angry diatribe on the price of the system and its software, I feel that my words would ring pretty hollow due to how much I have, and seemingly everyone else, has bought into the new generation. I think it is rather naive to say that reviewers or influencers who were comfortably able to buy the system within their budget are hypocrites and traitors if they speak negatively about the high price, since that feels like it defeats the purpose of a review’s independence from the product’s manufacturer/producer. However, I recognise that I, in the future, will likely be fawning over how much I love Metroid Prime 4: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition or Kirby Air Riders. It is because I know how fickle of a consumer I am that my verdict is less focused on condemnation of the new pricing, because I endorsed the pricing by making that purchase, but, rather, my speculation that the widespread adoption of the unsavory practices Nintendo is participating in (game-key cards, branding/marketing particularly and opacity, walling off its news and music in proprietary ecosystems, and what I feel I have most understated up until this point, a shoddy development kit rollout) is not guaranteed to be a successful move for Nintendo. 

I say “for Nintendo” because while Nintendo is at an all-time high with revenue, the company is not the top dog throughout the entire video game medium if one were to branch outside of console ecosystems, especially for young audiences. I really hate to say the first three things on this list, but in a time of massive income inequality in nations that are paragons of capitalism, miniscule purchases like gacha game currency, Roblox and Fortnite skins, and budget indie releases that run just fine on a family laptop, tablet, or smartphone, are an easier thing to fit into a budget than a whole console or even a fully priced retail game. The console audience is shrinking in large part because the middle class is shrinking, and I really do not see increasing the price being something that helps more people get their foot in the door if there’s not really any wage increases for the general population to go along with these price increases and overall inflation. People are still going to want to play video games, but bullshit will drive people away, and I do think this is sadly going to be a more “bullshittier” era for Nintendo. 

I still think that with the strong launch the Nintendo Switch 2 has had, these problems are nowhere near immediate, and I think this might be more of an issue for a Switch 3, 4, or whatever comes next, but with that said, I think there is a chance that just like a PlayStation 6 or the nonexistent next Xbox console, I may outright dread or reject the idea of upgrading, or, perhaps, I may be in a situation where I am priced out due to my likely lower income in a darker future.

Gathering from speculation by Nate the Hate and Digital Foundry, Nintendo Switch 2 development kits are not really being rolled out to several notable independent and third-party developers. With the July 31st Nintendo Direct, I feel like the rather expected and unimpressive lineup of reveals from that showcase, plus the fact that all physical games revealed in that presentation were confirmed to be Game-Key Cards, was a bit of a red flag as to how Nintendo is handling the rest of the Switch 2’s first year. After indie games found a lot of success at the launch of the Switch in 2017, the development walled-garden approach of the Nintendo Switch 2 may have its economic reasons, but it does notably make the software lineup more bland than it could be. The future is not guaranteed to be bright for this console. I think, bare minimum, things will still be alright for the rest of the year, but my mixed emotions mostly teeter on the side of unimpressed, just given the new pains this generation has brought us.

I don’t intend on giving a lot of scores out of 10 unless I find it to add to the review; I find it to be pretty reductive on its own in terms of persuading someone about how I feel about a game. However, in this particular case, I am willing to give the Nintendo Switch 2, as an upgrade to the original Nintendo Switch and its launch first impressions, a 7 out of 10. Nintendo has stepped into the modern era, but that includes some of the pains that the modern age has brought with it. A lot of this modern era funk just feels dishonest, purposefully opaque, and just like “out of 10” review scores, pretty reductive, in terms of innovating on why people like to play games on consoles.  This seemingly vindicated rumour about development kit access being a pristine Triple-A walled garden feels more detrimental than well-curated, and additionally, shows that the leadership at Nintendo is a little too insular to recognise what’s going on in the industry backyard, maybe with blinders on for what the future holds. I am someone who is far from thinking all hope is lost, but if things do not really improve, I don’t think seeing what the future of Nintendo looks like is really worth it. However, I’m still really enjoying the buzz of a new generation. I am finding new appreciation for my original Nintendo Switch back catalogue, and I am one of the many folks here at startmenu who is ecstatic to tell everyone how good Donkey Kong Bananza is. I just worry about that momentum dying down a little bit too quickly, as I am already deflated as much as I am overjoyed when it comes to news about this console.