The Nintendo Switch 2 has been out for three weeks and already enjoyed some unprecedented wins. After 3.5 million units were sold globally in its first four days, despite what has been perceived as quite a high $700 asking price, it can comfortably claim to be the fastest-selling game console ever.
Part of that could be attributed to Nintendo’s preparation of adequate stock for launch, whereas many previous systems have sold out before demand could be satisfied. But it’s also partly due to gaming’s ever-growing popularity, along with the massive success of the original Switch.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is off to a strong start, following the original Switch which has sold more than 150 million units.Credit: Bloomberg
Ron Curry, chief executive of peak body the Interactive Games and Entertainment Association (IGEA), said Nintendo was a deeply ingrained entertainment brand for Australians. People who grew up playing the company’s first handheld Game Boy could easily be in their forties or older today, and those people tended to pass the hobby down to their kids.
“Their media diet as they grew up included games. That was the way they connected with each other and enjoyed their downtime. So it’s not surprising that they continue to do that,” he said, adding that price was not likely to be an inhibitor, even as major games inflated to cost more than $100.
“If you look at the longevity that $100 buys, it’s quite different to going to a movie, or some of the streaming services we have. On a dollar per hour basis, it’s really good value.”
Curry said IGEA research indicated that 81 per cent of Australians played games, with 79 per cent of those being aged 18 or older. The gender split was close to even, the average age of a game player was 35, and 91 per cent of parents who play games said they play with their kids to connect as a family.
Customers pile into a Bic Camera in Tokyo to buy a Switch 2 earlier this month.Credit: Bloomberg
But who are the people buying this new and unproven system right at launch, and what do they think of it?
Software engineer Kate Appleby, 28, said she and her partner both upgraded right away. A new game in one of her favourite series, Rune Factory, was a key deciding factor. But she also felt the original Switch was struggling to keep up performance-wise.
“Rune Factory 5 ran absolutely horribly on the Switch 1. I didn’t finish it because it was so bad. And I’m finding it runs fine on the Switch 2,” she said.
“I’ve recently finished Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, which ran okay on Switch 1, but it would lag and lock up when you were loading into a new area. Whereas I’m not getting any of that on the Switch 2.”
I definitely took a deep breath when I saw the price of it, but considering what other consoles go for, that’s unfortunately the new reality.
Donald Duong, 37
In addition to a more modern processor, a lot more power and compatibility with all the existing Switch games, the new console has a bigger display, support for 4K HDR visuals when connected to a TV, and new versions of the Joy-Con controllers that attach to the side with magnets. Appleby hoped the Joy-Con 2, which can be placed on a tabletop to act like a computer mouse, would help improve the simulation games she likes to play on the system.
”I’m getting the new Rune Factory tomorrow, which has the mouse controls, I’m quite keen for that because there’s a village-building aspect to it. So instead of trying to struggle with the control, hopefully you can drag and drop exactly where you want,” she said.
“I won’t play The Sims on console because it’s weird with the controller. Or Rollercoaster Tycoon. So it would be cool if they can go back and patch in mouse controls, or release new games with that.”
Appleby’s partner was replaying The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a launch title for the original Switch in 2017. But it’s now been updated to run at twice the resolution and frame rate on Switch 2.
Breath of the Wild can be upgraded to run in 4K and 60 frames per second on Switch 2.
Government worker Nick Fitzgerald, 42, said the Switch was the obvious system for him and bought one during its 2017 launch. His downtime was mostly when the kids were in bed and his wife was watching something on TV, or when commuting on the train.
“It doesn’t make sense for me these days to buy a home console. I need something that’s on the go. I’m not a tech-head that gets into buying [a portable PC like] the ROG Ally or Steam Deck, but I’m aware that being tied to the Switch 1 really restricts the types of games that I could play,” he said.
“So for me, the reason for the upgrade was [the] bigger screen, better quality overall with the Joy-Cons, and the potential of the games that are going to come out. There’ll be a range of third-party games that were not previously available to me.”
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For now, he’s playing Mario Kart World, Nintendo’s major launch title for the Switch 2 online, and is anticipating Donkey Kong Bananza next month. But he has also enjoyed dipping into the small library of Gamecube games included with Switch 2, through Nintendo’s online subscription. Gamecube is a system originally released in 2001 and joins the retro libraries already available on Switch, including Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Game Boy and Sega Mega Drive.
As a fan of revisiting older games and systems, Fitzgerald said the Switch’s integrated battery was among his concerns, along with a reliance on connecting online to verify game ownership, meaning it was unlikely to last as long as something like a Super Nintendo.
“I want to keep my Switch and all my digital purchases there. But there’s a potential one day that I don’t charge the Switch for a year, and then it’s possibly dead,” he said.
The other primary beneficiary of the Switch 2 in the Fitzgerald household is eight-year-old Sam, who claimed his dad barely lets him touch the machine, but now has free access to the hand-me-down original Switch. The fan of Minecraft and Lego Star Wars said he was most looking forward to Pokemon Legends: Z-A – a sequel to 2022’s Pokemon Legends: Arceus – coming to both Switch consoles later this year.
“That was the first game my dad got me to play on the Nintendo Switch. I’m gonna play it when I get home again, because I haven’t played it in a while,” he said.
Pokémon Legends: Z-A is coming to Switch and Switch 2 later this year.
Sam said he had also explored the older games included on the Switch, including Pokemon Stadium (for Nintendo 64) and Kid Icarus (for NES). Most of his friends have Switches, and they show each other games they’ve discovered. If he could choose any game to get next, Sam said it would be Worms WMD, a modernised version of the classic PC artillery game. His friend showed it to him.
“Charlie let me play it. They say funny things, the enemy worms,” he said.
Nintendo has specially tuned its Switch systems for family use, with the ability to link up to eight profiles together. As part of a $55 annual Switch Online subscription, each profile gets access to retro games and online play, plus cloud save storage that means users can put the profiles on multiple devices (for example, the kids have their own Switch, but their profile is also on the Switch 2 connected to the TV), and each user can access their progress across multiple devices.
There’s also the ability to lend digital games between family members, even between Switch and Switch 2 systems, meaning you don’t have to buy multiple copies. And Switch 2 comes with a new feature called GameShare, which can stream games to other Switch systems (including the original), for multiplayers using only one copy of the game.
Icarus (right) tests out the Switch 2, while his brother Starling waits for his turn.Credit: Tim Biggs
While a parent’s upgrade to a Switch 2 can benefit all players in the house, kids can be tough to impress. My children both immediately noted that the new console was bigger – one said the magnetic Joy-Con “makes it cooler” – but weren’t that fussed about playing on it versus their Switch Lites if it mostly played the same games. Technical advancements like higher frame rates and HDR colour, or even 4K output to a TV, meant little to them.
“It looks exactly the same,” said Icarus, 8. “The controllers are different, that’s about it,” said Starling, 5.
While most adults I spoke to were excited by the prospect of their existing games working better on Switch 2, kids were most excited about the brand new games. As soon as they’d spent some time playing Mario Kart World, they were on board. A few days after the initial lukewarm reception, I asked which system they’d rather play.
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“Switch 2. It’s the only console with Mario Kart World,” Icarus said. Starling nodded. I asked: “What’s so good about Mario Kart World?”
“It looks brighter and more realistic. It has free roam [where you can drive anywhere],” said Icarus. “I like how each person can unlock all different versions of themselves. All the outfits,” added Starling.
And now that they have more of a grasp of the things that are only coming to Switch 2 and not the original (including an expansion later this year for one of their favourite games, Kirby and the Forgotten Land), they’re excited.
For accountant Donald Duong, 37, the exclusive Nintendo games are the entire appeal of the machine. He plays on other systems and has a handheld gaming PC, but was compelled to buy it on day one, since he knows many of Nintendo’s games will only be available on the Switch 2.
“It was an inevitability for me. I definitely took a deep breath when I saw the price of it, but considering what other consoles go for, that’s unfortunately the new reality,” he said.
“And the Switch is unique. PlayStation is increasingly releasing games on PC, and Xbox is just straight out making them for everything. You can still only get first-party Nintendo games on the Switch.”
The increase in power and fidelity will also, he hopes, make the Switch 2 a perfect home for indie games, like the original Switch was for most of its life.
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