The Switch 2 is the newest brilliant Nintendo innovation. It’s an overpriced, outdated upgrade for the original Switch that puts Nintendo’s greed on display. No, wait, it’s well worth the price, because it’s the most powerful console yet. But the battery’s even weaker than the first switch, and it bricks if you don’t plug in the right charger.
Hold up – that’s not true; third party accessories work fine, actually, and are backwards-compatible with old Switch products. However, the cartridges don’t have any games on them. No, wait, the cartridges will have games on them, it’s just a new technology.
Only one thing is in agreement: the thing is bound to get stick drift.
The release of the Switch 2 has been explosive, immediate, and above all, sensational. Amidst this, two factions, for a long time dormant, have reemerged – the Pro-Nintendo and Anti-Nintendo legions.
They are going to war. People are exaggerating and lying for money, views, and for fun. Misinformation about the company and console are being hurled like bullets at each other, and of course, like in real war, the losers aren’t going to be one of the factions, but that of the commoner standing in no-mans land; in this case, the consumer.
All fight over one question: should you Switch, or switch?
SWITCH 2: A DIFFERENT CONSOLE
Despite being unmistakably familiar, Nintendo wants you to know the differences in this console from the moment you open the box. The Switch 2 is bigger, sleeker. When you pick it up, it’s weightier. It’s a sober monochrome where its predecessor screamed clashing colours. The Switch 2 looks and feels less like a children’s console, and more like a console anyone could buy – and that is no accident.
Even just its arrival caused intense excitement, and even more intense scrupulousness. Nintendo carefully set up the packaging to unbox gradually. The first thing you see when you open the box is the main event: screen and joycons, for those who are initially uninterested in the other surprises. As you delve deeper into the box, more and more goodies emerge.
However, this design had a distinct flaw. Customers for the Switch were horrified to open the box and find them broken, the screens scratched and damaged. After some initial outrage (how dare Nintendo ship out a faulty, £500 product?!), the fault actually lay not with Nintendo but with Gamestop, one of the shops selling them. After purchasing, its receipts were stapled to the top of the box – exactly where, directly underneath, the screen was.
But of course, this doesn’t not reflect on Nintendo. The packaging might unpack well, but it offers little padding protection for the screen, both against unwitting stapled receipts, and general transport. And those who received a damaged Switch 2 might have to wait months before they get their replacements.
This is the kind of attention and fervour that the Switch 2 brings. In today’s videogame industry, in today’s global economy, and in today’s society of gamers, everything about it is controversial. But when you actually look at the console itself, how warranted is it?
HARDWARE
The first Switch was released in 2017, and it’s been nearly a full decade since then. Obviously the hardware has gotten an upgrade. What’s more contentious is whether the hardware is up to scratch for 2025, or if Nintendo is selling a console with outdated equipment.
Screen:
The most obvious upgrade just from looking at the thing is that the screen got bigger, which makes the console easier to hold for adults, and easier to see for passive watchers, or for the split-screen function.
Unfortunately, as demonstrated before, this big screen is very easy to scratch. There is a screen protector permanently sealed to the front, but it’s made of easily-damageable plastic when in the vicinity of any kind of metal. Difficult to remove, but a necessary caution against what lies underneath: a thin layer of glass. If this glass shatters, it projects tiny, needle-like shards everywhere – hence the permanent plastic protector. But to prevent scratch damage, Nintendo do also provide a glass screen protector that can be sealed on and peeled away easily.
Joycons:
The joycons also got bigger, but the particularly neat upgrade is that you can slot them in however you like next to the screen, and they’ll still work. Reversed, upside-down, backwards – all maintain functionality.
Their overall design has remained intact. The white font on the buttons has been inlaid so they won’t rub off after a couple dozen hours of friction, and the joysticks have thick rubber padding that’s fairly typical of Nintendo.
What people are most concerned about is stick drift. The original Switch was notorious for it, so much so that Nintendo began to offer free repairs for stick-drift issues, or suffer the wrath of the public. People want to see this fixed. Unfortunately, nothing about the design seems to have any significant change – only that the joysticks are now easier to remove, which more so indicates that Nintendo hasn’t solved the problem and only made it simpler to replace, which is incredibly disappointing.
When you prise off the plastic exterior, the joysticks are the only thing easy to remove – and this is going to become a trend. The battery is glued to its tray to make replacements and self-repair very difficult without paying for a specialist. Alcohol is required to remove the battery, and even then it’s a job to prise it off without damaging the overall joycon.
Alongside the battery is the new HD rumble 2 – the vibrator for the Switch 2. It’s bigger than the previous rumble and has a larger range, alongside it being easier to make quieter, more realistic vibrations, and a faster response time.
Under the Console:
Taking a look at the back of the console, the kickstand has been made much more durable. I just took out my own Switch 1 to compare, and I’m not kidding, the moment I popped it out the damn thing broke. The Switch 2 has a nicer way to prop itself up that spans the entire back of the console, rather than a tiny pop-out plastic article an inch long.
Beyond that, when you pry open the back and get down to wires and machinery, the Switch 2 is, on the surface, very similar to the original. There is a large central turbo fan for cooling, and a battery – although this battery is not long lasting, and again, glued to its housing, so those who want to upgrade or manually repair will struggle to get it out. The exterior LCD display is also underneath the copper heat pipe, meaning any screen repair will require thermal paste to put back the pipe. Nintendo is, once again, going out of their way to make things difficult for people to fix problems themselves.
A last note is the side-magnets, which help snap the joycons to the console. They aren’t glued in place, and look like standard rectangular magnets you might find on the fridge door. Nevertheless, if they work, they work – magnets have an extraordinarily long shelf-life.
SOFTWARE
The hardware seems to stack up – the Switch 2 is more powerful than its predecessor, and aside from being difficult to repair yourself, seems to fit the modern day standards for a handheld. But what does it amount to?
Display:
The Switch 2 has a 1080p screen and 4K graphics, which is nothing to sneeze at for a handheld console, but not quite the quality that many fans were looking for – 4K was the standard about a decade ago, and most games have moved on to a far higher resolution.
Unfortunately, game performance drops significantly when using the Switch 2 at 4K. The frame rate halves from 120fps to 60fps in 4K, which is an enormous disappointment for the main sell of the Switch 2 to be better quality.
The UI also hasn’t been overly changed for the Switch 2, and while in setup, has no accessibility features. Players who require larger text to read, contrasting colours, or text-to-speech, are out of luck.
Games:
A console is all about the games it has, so the Switch 2’s storage has been turned up to the max with 250GB to play with. If you need even more than that though, the Switch 2 will only work with microSD Express cards, which are still new, and very expensive to purchase.
More pressing are the games themselves. Nintendo has always cost a pretty penny, but the new price point is shocking: £74.99 per game. Not a bundle, and not with a DLC; the entire game is nearly eighty pounds.
This has been the most contentious point of the Switch 2. The original Switch’s pricing was £59.99, which was already a steep cost; now Nintendo is looking to make that even steeper. Paying eighty pounds for each Nintendo game is enough to make anyone go bankrupt. Even the tech demo costs £7.99; typically, tech demos come free with the console as they teach new customers how to use it. That’s eight pounds for Nintendo to tell you how to use the console you already paid £500 for.
Even older games ported to the Switch 2 have had their prices boosted. Supposedly this is because they’ve been “enhanced” in some way, however, many of the enhancements are at a detriment to overall quality. Paper Mario: The Thousand Year Door ran at a flawless 60fps on the GameCube back in 2004, but twenty years later the “improved” HD remaster can’t even run at a consistent 30fps for the Switch, and costs £50 to boot when the original was £20!
Furthermore, when you buy the new Nintendo games on a cartridge, you are not purchasing the game itself. You are purchasing the “key” to the game; once the cartridge slots in, you will have to download everything. This is likely so that the license can be taken away from you at any point (e.g. if Nintendo thinks you’re hacking or modding), which leaves you with a useless key. Not only is this ridiculously anti-consumer, but it bears no regard for those with slow internet speeds, or perhaps no internet at all. All for the low, low price of £80.
When it comes to games and their consoles, I believe that anyone should be able to slot in a game cartridge anywhere and have full functionality of the game, no matter the internet or lack of it; that’s what the cartridge is for. A tiny game to play in your pocket, not dependent on external factors. There has been a rise in recent years of companies releasing games half-finished and requiring several enormous patch updates (which requires the internet) – and now this. Japan is a well-connected country with high internet speeds, but not everywhere in the world can say the same.
This technology is also going to impact the lifespan of the games, because one day, Switch 2’s servers will shut down, and those key cards will mean nothing – you won’t be able to download a single thing. Whereas if I wanted to start playing on the Gameboy, all I would have to do is slot the cartridge into the console and press Start.
While this feature currently only pertains to Nintendo first-party games, other game developers have the option to make key cards for Switch 2 cartridges as well. And since Nintendo is a giant conglomerate and a trendsetter, plus these cartridges have the added bonus of restricting piracy and mods, many game developers probably will use “keys”, to the detriment of their playerbase.
Game Share
Sharing games has been a feature of most game consoles for years. The PS5 has local multiplayer, and Steam allows you to share games within a family unit. So, the fact that GameShare is only coming out to the Switch brand is overdue – and a little lacking.
Only the Switch 2 console will be able to share games; the Switch 1 will only be able to receive. This is a downgrade, even for Nintendo – twenty years ago, they implemented “download play” to the 3DS so that the console and predecessors to the console (DS, DSi, 2DS) were able to share games back and forth. So why can’t the Switch 1 share games? Clearly the technology is there. It’s just another way for Nintendo to pressure their consumers into getting the Switch 2.
Game Chat
The mysterious “C” button from the trailer was finally revealed to be a “Chat” button. A pity you need a Nintendo Switch Online membership to access it.
For a machine that already cost £500, Nintendo is eager to squeeze every last penny from customers. Not only do you require the membership to access that button, it costs an additional £50 for the camera. It’s fairly clear this feature is supposed to draw customers away from third-party streaming software, but Game Chat isn’t even good! The display is terrible – pixelated and latent with a bad greenscreen mask and 3fps when streaming. This is not the quality Nintendo promised.
SWITCH TO A DIFFERENT CONSOLE
Despite disappointing software service, the Switch 2 is not necessarily a terrible console. It is an improvement on the original (despite the money-hoarding business practices), but the original dropped into an unfilled gaming niche; eight years ago there had never been a console like the Switch before, and that was exciting. Now there are, and consumers have options.
The Steam Deck
For anti-Nintendo gamers, the Steam Deck has been the number one recommendation to replace the Switch 2 – particularly for those with a penchant for PC playing, as you are able to download your Steam library onto it.
It’s a more powerful console than the original Switch (though not as powerful as its upgrade), and can hold your Steam library games. It even has some Nintendo games, supporting emulation of some GameCube and Wii games, and all for a much lower price than the Switch 2 offers.
It is less powerful than the Switch 2, but not that harshly, and the Steam Deck is, fundamentally, a DIY console that gives the player as much control over specs as possible. They can tweak fps and adjust graphics settings, as well as provide mod support, give access to multiple digital stores, and as stated before, it allows the emulation of old games, all so the player can adapt it to their specific gaming style. The family share is also better and cheaper than Nintendo’s GameShare.
The Switch 2 on the other hand, is more of the casual gamer’s choice, since its ease of use is central to the console. Those who know little about the technicalities of games are able to just boot up the console and have the best optimizations for all their games already working (if not perfectly), with no adjustments necessary. The Switch 2 is also a more popular console than the Steam Deck, which incentivises developers to make games specifically for it.
The Steam Deck is also a little… unwieldy. It’s big and lumpy, and not entirely aesthetically pleasing. The Switch 2 looks sleek and modern, with rounded edges and a cleaner design overall. Both the Steam Deck and the Nintendo Switch 2 cost around £500, so those considering the Switch 2 should definitely look more into the Steam Deck. It might be a better fit!
The Sony PlayStation Portal
If you own a PS5, you might also want to consider getting a Portal. It’s far cheaper than the Steam Deck or Switch at around £200, and has the same 1080p screen with 60fps, even on hardier games, with a playtime of up to 8 hours.
The caveat is that the Portal is NOT a console; it is a handheld. You need a PS5 and a good Wi-Fi connection to play it. For those with a slower Wi-Fi, the Portal also works on a hotspot, but this can be a bit inconsistent. Though despite requiring a PS5 to play, you don’t need the PS5 to be unused to play on the Portal; a friend or family member can use the PS5 to play one game on the TV, while you play a different game on the Portal. It’s just like a PS5 to fit in your hand.
And for something that looks fragile, the Portal is very lightweight and comfortable to hold. The unique grip design ensures that you’re able to play for a long time without getting tired. I know whenever I use my Switch, I usually have to take a break every hour or so, because my fingers start to numb – holding it cuts off blood flow often. This isn’t an issue for the Portal, and it has a unique and futuristic design to go with its ease of use too.
ASUS ROG Ally
The Ally is a machine very similar in both style and use to the Steam Deck, although connected to your PC Game Pass library instead. Unlike the Steam Deck, this console’s identity leans more into having a handheld PC, with more than just game functionality. From this device you can access the Windows OS, navigate your files, have easy access to the Command Centre, and get access to the web.
This does mean there is more to keep track of than the Switch 2 however, whose identity is enmeshed in ease of use. You have to keep track of your launchers and remember to update your software like you would as a real PC, and it’s not entirely optimized for non-game uses. It can be difficult to use it for anything other than navigating files or basic web surfing; it has no keyboard, and the screen is on the smaller side, making the touchscreen difficult to use as a tablet, although there are accessories to make it easier.
On the other hand, the display is good quality, with 35-55fps on low performance and 40-80fps on high, with a 1080p screen and good loading times. Its battery life varies, depending on factors such as screen brightness, and the type of game you’re playing – and there is a wide variety of games it can run. If it can run on a PC, any game on the Game Pass should also be able to run on the Ally.
Like the Portal, the Ally is comfortable to hold – more so than the Switch or Steam Deck – and has RGB lighting. However, it only comes in one colour (white), and, like the original Switch, has a cheap stand.
The largest downside, in my opinion, is that it’s the most expensive console on this list. It’s more expensive than the Steam Deck or Switch 2, but to be fair, only by about £50 – and it comes with 3 months of Xbox Game Pass Ultimate.
But if you like the sound of this console, you might want to consider waiting. The Ally is about to get a successor later this year: the ROG Xbox Ally X. Its prospective launch will probably smooth out a lot of issues noted here and be a more powerful machine to boot.
Conclusions:
At the end of the day, you need to pick the console that will be right for you. Do you like to have a certain amount of control over your games, or do you prefer not having to worry about things like that? Are you absolutely certain you want to have the Nintendo library, or do you prefer PlayStation or PC games?
Nintendo has an incredible amount of domination over the market, so much so that casual gamers don’t even know they have other options. You might find that after a little research; you want a handheld that’s not even listed here – these are just the most popular alternatives.
SO: SWITCH OR SWITCH?
Maybe, after reading this, you decide you still want to buy the Switch 2. Just be careful about what else you’re buying alongside this console.
As touched on, this console isn’t just about the games and the wires and the cartridges; it’s about principles, and where Nintendo’s lie. The Switch 2 has the best hardware of a handheld yet – it could have been a really quality console, an enormous feather in Nintendo’s cap already adorned with amazing consoles – but their greed, carelessness, and controlling practices ruin it. Their priorities are shifting away from making worthwhile game services, and into making as much money as possible and protecting licenses, to the detriment of their customers who’ve made them the prolific enterprise they are today.
Game companies have always guarded against piracy and at-home console repair, but this is a new level of greed and control – and Nintendo, as one of, if not, the most popular game company out there, sets a precedent for the others. Forking over money at higher and higher prices is only going to lead to greater price gouging from Nintendo, who set an example for much of the industry.
In five to ten years time, who knows what the landscape of gaming will look like? If you buy the Switch 2, don’t be shocked and outraged if you find the prices get steeper while the quality stoops lower. You let Nintendo get away with this.
The question remains: switch, or Switch?
