Mario Kart World-Mario Kart's up first! The art style might take a little getting used to. Mario's a little smaller than I'm used to seeing him in 3D. But, everyone else looks more or less similar. Weird. Sliding on the rails with one side of the car looks pretty stylish! Looks like we've got more maneuverability now than EVER before. Also...cow racer?! And power-up costumes, interesting. The tracks all look really big, not sure if that's going to be a good thing or not. It might make races drag out a little. They're kind of trying to make a "open world" kart racer, which is a interesting idea. It's kind of a cross-country race, where your goal is to get from one side of the continent to another ala Rat Race or something. This is shaking up the formula a little. Hopefully, it doesn't hurt the "flow" of the gameplay too much. I do like that you're able to free-roam, if only so you can scope out all the tracks and look for secrets before a race. And this is confirmed to be a launch title! We're even getting a dedicated Mario Kart Direct on April 17! They're REALLY pumping out these Directs, lately!
The C Button!-We have...Game Chat!!! This should NOT be that big of a deal, but it kind of is for a Nintendo console. We can actually talk to the people we're playing with online, without having to use a separate cell phone app! Nintendo finally caught up...to two or three generations ago! Oh...there will be SO many swearing children. It's built into the system, so it's probably going to be mostly useful in handheld mode, but still, it's something. I know they say it'll work great even from across the room, but I don't buy that. Funny that the "pro controllers" don't have the mic inside them.
They show off a bunch of Switch 1 games running on Switch 2 during this, too, so that's interesting. Although...the frame rate seems to drop pretty bad around 8:45, when they show off expanding another player's game screen. So, that's not optimized the best. Still, not that big of a deal, as long as it doesn't affect the person actually playing the game. And I suppose it's a concession to keep 5 screens running at the same time.
There's a Switch 2 Camera! Which..is probably sold separately. That's not ideal. But, better than nothing, I guess. I do like that you can use it even with retro games on Switch Online. That's kind of neat. You will need a Switch 2 Online Membership to use Game Chat at all, though, but that's to be expected. But, it's free until March 26 of 2026! That's kind of unexpectedly nice of them. I guess that's a early-adopter bonus. It does kind of give me EyeToy vibes, though.
Gameshare is also making a comeback! If only for local play. 4 players at once, so that's kind of neat. Nintendo's actually introducing a BUNCH of ways to share games. But, this only works with a handful of titles. So, there's the drawback. We only see 5 for now. But, probably most first party Nintendo games will work with it.
The Switch 2 Console-It's got a bigger screen. 1080p Screen. Up to 120 FPS (we'll see how many games actually get up that high). HDR support. Magnetic Joycons (which makes me a touch worried, but that's only because I grew up with electronics that were more sensitive to magnets, I'm sure it's fine.). Mouse controls, which is interesting, and promises interesting things for Shooters and Point and Click games on the system. 256 GB of storage, that's better! I would have preferred something closer to a Terabyte, given how everyone's pushing digital games nowadays, but at least this is a step in the right direction, and you can bump that up with SD cards. 4K support, that's good news for the people who care about it. A fan for cooling, that's...a little worrying that they think the system needs that, but we'll see. How hot does this system get in handheld mode? And it's backwards compatible with the Switch 1 (for..."compatible" games...that phrase still has me worried, but we've discussed that before.)
Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour-Basically, a game to teach you more about the new system. Cute. But...it's weird that they're making you PAY for what's essentially a interactive user's manual. It better be cheap.
Switch 2 Game Card-It's red! Huh.
We're going to have to buy new Micro SD Express Cards. Not surprising, and only a little annoying.
Transfer-...wouldn't it just be easier to "share" the games, since they both belong to the same account? Kind of shame that they're making us transfer stuff, if we want to move our games over. Not surprising, but I'm not sure this is really necessary in today's world.
The Pro Controller has a audio jack, but I still feel like just having a mic built in might have been easier. Though, that would have probably make the controller more expensive. I could see them putting out a "Plus" version of the Pro Controller later on.
And the Nintendo Switch 2 launches...June 5! That's actually pretty early! I was expecting a holiday launch! That's only two months away!
Switch 2 Edition Games-So, Switch 1 games that get a bit more of a upgrade on Switch 2. They're choosing to start this with Mario Party Jamboree of all games?! So, it's almost a way to give DLC to older games? This is not helping dissuade me of the EyeToy comparisons. And they are going to make us pay to upgrade the games, not surprising. Yeah...this is basically DLC, to me. So, fine.
Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom are getting Switch 2 Editions. Good choices, but it seems to be mostly visual upgrades, so I'm not sure if I personally care that much. They're also putting out a Zelda Notes App. That's...another app, alright. Siri/Alexa for Zelda games. I never thought I'd see the day, because why would I?
Kirby and the Forgotten Land-Oh, we're getting a new story! Now, that's more like it! That's more appealing to me! It actually looks pretty neat. This one's tempting!
Metroid Prime 4-This is expected. Again, it mostly seems to be visual upgrades, so...meh.
Pokemon Legends Z-A-Oooh...well, I guess this should have been expected. Though, it does make me worried. Just...don't mess it up, Gamefreak. I mean, at least it isn't the worst case scenario, and they're locking certain Pokemon behind both versions to make you buy both, I guess. It looks like the draw distances are a little farther and clearer, too. Just...I hope both versions of this game actually run competently, that's all I ask.
They are not mentioning how much these Upgrade Packs are. So, hmm.
Drag x Drive-Well, we have our tech demo game for this generation. But, it does have a bit of style. It's probably not for me, but it could be fun with friends.
Elden Ring! I know everyone loves this game. Hopefully, this is a good port. "Tarnished Edition" sounds like a bit of a backhanded compliment, though.
Hades 2-Yeah, this is likely to be a good game.
Street Fighter 6-And..we're getting a motion-controlled mode. That's probably going to be terrible, but maybe it'll be good for a few laughs. And they mention local wireless play, but not online play...that's a bit worrying. Oh, and Amiibo! Cool! Do...Amiibo actually do anything on Switch 2, or are they just neat toys and cards, now? We'll have to wait and see how this port turns out.
Daemon X Machina Titanic Scion-Well, that's a name I didn't expect to see again! I didn't think this did well enough for a sequel, but I'm glad to be proven wrong. Looks cool.
Split Fiction-These aren't really for me, since I don't anyone to play with, but I'm sure this will be pretty good.
Tony Hawk 3 and 4-Skater Island?! Bikini Bottom?! I guess these games got crazier than I knew.
A new James Bond game. Which is probably VERY early in development since they don't even have a name, yet. Well...see you in a few years, I guess.
Bravely Default HD-Oh, this is a bit of a surprise, but I'm glad to see it back.
Yakuza Zero-Again, people love these games, so this is good news. Not really my thing, but I'm glad it's on the console. And this is actually a launch title. Okay.
Hyrule Warriors Age of Imprisonment-Okay, now we're talking! Suddenly, we have our first must-buy Switch 2 game! I am loving that they're using these Warriors games to put out Zelda games between "main" Zelda releases. It's just nice to have more story.
Gamecube games on Switch 2 Online-Alright! Good news! Glad to see it! Wind Waker, Soul Calibur 2, F-Zero GX...these are all great games. A little odd that they're waiting to put Mario Sunshine and Luigi's Mansion on there day one, but...Nintendo's gonna Nintendo, I guess. I see Fire Emblem Path of Radiance, Pokemon Colosseum, and XD Gale of Darkness, too, so I'm looking forward to that. I wonder if they'll find a way to do the "Bonus Disc" Jirachi event? Probably not, but oh well.
And we're getting a new Gamecube controller! Smash fans rejoice!
Deltarune Chapters 1-4-I'll admit, I've been waiting to play this until it's complete. I don't think it's complete yet, so...maybe I'll wait or maybe I won't. Who knows?
Borderlands 4-Huh. Well...I'm interesting to see how it runs, at least.
Enter the Gungeon 2-Well...this game is probably going to be too tough for me.
Starseeker-This might be worth keeping an eye on. I'm not quite sure what it is. But, it looks like it could be okay.
Cyberpunk 2077-Huh. Well...again, I'm interested to see how it runs. I mean, can it REALLY be MORE broken than it was when it originally launched? The answer to that is, of course, YES! But, at least we might get some funny reviews out of it, if it is.
Final Fantasy VII Remake-Cool! Hopefully, we get the second game, too. And, again, hopefully it runs well.
Kunitsu-Gami Path of the Goddess-Looks fun!
Hollow Knight Silksong-...Sure, sure.
Goodnight Universe-A psychic baby. I am..intrigued?
Fast Fusion-Looks like a fun F-Zero like.
RIIIIIIIDGE RAAACER!
Professor Layton New World of Steam-Still looking good!
The Duskbloods-Huh. A brand-new From Soft game? Okay...that's a pretty big get for Nintendo. I know some people who are going to be hyped. These games tend to be too hard and painful for me, but I'll keep eyes on reviews. And it's exclusive! Yeah...there's enough From Soft fans nowadays that this could move systems.
Kirby Air Ride..RS-Okay, I'll admit, I thought this might be a Smash Bros trailer at first. But...this is arguably cooler? Kirby fans really do get everything! Funny that they're releasing this and a new Mario Kart so close together. Especially since they always claim that's the reason they never do a new F-Zero. But...this could be cool! The CG cutscene we get isn't much, but I like the artstyle so far.
Donkey Kong Bananza-A new 3D Donkey Kong game! Just in time for that movie they're making. How convenient! Looks like money is going to be VERY important in this game. It looks fun. If we can't get a new 3D Mario at launch, this is a pretty good substitute. Looks like you can destroy...EVERYTHING, which could be a lot of fun. It has 2D sections, too. Interesting. Going for a Sonic Frontiers type thing? That pun, though.
The highlights to me were: Kirby and the Forgotten Land Switch 2 Edition, Daemon X Machina Titanic Scion, Hyrule Warriors Age of Imprisonment, and Donkey Kong Bananza.
There's definitely some good games here. But...I'm probably going to wait and pray for a price drop.
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