Is the Switch 2 worth the price? Reviews are mixed

Gaming specialists who’ve dealt with Nintendo’s new Switch 2 say the console is a transparent improve on its predecessor, nevertheless it lacks must-have new options and the progress comes at a steep worth.

Dozens of European journalists, together with a reporter from AFP, had been invited to the Grand Palais exhibition house in Paris on Wednesday for a preview in certainly one of two occasions held globally.

They had been allowed in shortly after the Kyoto-based firm introduced the hotly awaited launch of its newest iteration of the Switch for June 5 in a YouTube presentation watched by hundreds of thousands round the world.

“The console feels superb in your palms, very gentle,” stated Nicolas Dixmier from the French specialist gaming web site jeuxvideo.com after dealing with the much-hyped successor.

The Switch 2 retains the core options of the authentic that made it such a success: removable “Pleasure-Con” controllers and hybrid performance which means it may be moveable or plugged right into a display or projector.

But it surely comes with an even bigger, greater decision display, bigger joysticks, improved buttons, quicker processing time, and a battery that the firm says will final between two to six-and-a-half hours.

Should-buy?

The 2 main design adjustments are a brand new “C” button that prompts a GameChat operate, enabling gamers to speak with their buddies whereas taking part in.

And the controllers, now hooked up with magnets relatively than sliding on, can be utilized like a pc mouse.

They had been demonstrated with taking pictures video games equivalent to “Metroid Prime 4” or technique challenges equivalent to “Civilization VII.”

“We’ve got made changes so you’ll be able to management the mouse on the pants (trousers),” Kouichi Kawamoto, certainly one of the creators at Nintendo, instructed journalists throughout a roundtable.

However this was not sufficient to impress some critics, on condition that the worth of the console is ready to be about 30% greater than the authentic at $449.99 in the United States.

It has gone on pre-sale for £395.99 in Britain and 469.99 euros in France.

Shares in Nintendo dropped greater than 3% on the Tokyo inventory trade on Thursday because of disappointment amongst followers who are used to Nintendo being extra accessible than its Sony and Microsoft rivals.

“Impressed is just not a phrase I’d use. It is a logical evolution,” Alexander Bohn-Elias from the web site Eurogamer Germany instructed AFP after taking part in with the Switch 2 in Paris.

Paul Hinrich Aeils, from German media Gamestar, agreed.

“The brand new options are cool however I do not know if it’s a must-buy day one for Switch 1 customers,” he stated.

He was additionally left underwhelmed by the variety of video games solely out there for the Switch 2 at launch which embrace “Mario Kart World.”

Video games may also price round 30% greater than for the authentic Switch.

Succession

Analysts had predicted beforehand that Nintendo would possible go for an improve, relatively than making an attempt to rewrite the Switch script.

The unique model launched to relative indifference in 2017 earlier than happening to be the third best-selling console of all time, with 150 million models purchased globally.

However the creator of Mario Bros has had hassle with successors in the previous: after its phenomenally common Wii machine, its Wii U flopped commercially.

Kawamoto and his colleagues from Nintendo revealed that they began engaged on the new Switch in 2019.

That they had many discussions about the title, he revealed, saying one concept had been to name it the “Tremendous Nintendo Switch”—a reference to its star console from the Nineteen Nineties.

On Friday, followers who entered a lottery to deal with the Switch 2 are set to get their palms on it at occasions in Paris and New York as a part of promotional efforts forward of the launch.

© 2025 AFP