It's reasonable to say that I use my Switch a lot...mostly for "casual" rogue-like games, as my Year in Review kindly points out. I'm say about 90% of my gaming is currently done on it, mostly in handheld mode, in quick, short sessions (rarely more than 15-20 minutes at a time). it's rare these days that I sit down for a prolonged gaming session.
As such, the final announcement of the Switch 2 is a fairly big thing for me. It has big shoes to fill, and I think it's reasonable to say that Nintendo have never quite landed the awkward second album well (mostly referring to the Wii U here). It looks like they have gone very safe initially, with a similar form factor...just bigger. There have been lots of leaks about the internal performance, but I think it's been proven that the internal power is not their focus. in no particular order, here are my hopes;
- Battery life is similar/better. I get ~3-3½ hours out of mine. Bigger screen, and more powerful inners hopefully doesn't mean short battery life.
- The older joycons can be used as spare controllers for the new one. This would be a big encouragement for upgrading...I have 4 joycons (which gives me Mario Kart in a box), and being able to have 2 spare controllers for 4-player party games would be great, as well as reducing eWaste
- Good games. Obviously Slay the Spire 2 is on my radar, and Mario Kart 9 is all but announced. Hades 2, and my dream is the remakes of FFVII
- Weight - I mainly play in handheld mode, though I have had prolonged sessions in docked mode before...just not got the setup in this house yet
- Reliability - I did have one joycon get drift. It was replaced rapidly (even thoguh technically out of warranty), but there are plenty of solutions. Having slightly better buttons on the Joycons would be nice as well
- Better screenshotting - a constant weirdness is how hard it is to get media off the Switch...there is a dedicated screenshot/video clip button, but it's then hard to get it off onto "anywhere but Facebook" via the native tools. I don't know how many 30 second videos I have of me killed the Spire Heart, of shots of finishing builds in Hades, but very little I can do with them.
- Better virtual console - I'd love to see some more modern generations being made available in the online service. The Switch is an amazing old-games-emulator, but the games selection is underwhelming (at least to me). I have a 90's childhood that needs reliving.
Anyhow, roll on 2nd April and more information. Gill is tempted to get one as well (shes looking at cosy games like Stardew Valley).
Comments
While I'm not in the market for a handheld, this doesn't really feel like a "2". It's just another one. Sort of a 1c. Or am I missing something? A Steam Deck might be better bang for your buck given many of your games already work on it.
I've considered a Steam Deck, or one of the variants, however quite honestly the games I play don't work on it. I've been hoarding free Steam and Epic games on PC for a while, but playtime is absolutely minimal. For in-house (or with a bit more faff streaming, but I think that wll have to wait for improved networking in the house/street) PC gaming away from my desk, I'd probably go down the Moonlight route, using a tablet (or the Shield under the main TV) and an xBox controller. For longer term away-from-the-house PC gaming, I simply take my laptop and a controller, which kicks the ever-living shit out of a Steam Deck.
So the Switch 2 has been anounced and confirmed. I've qualified for a pre-order from previous behaviour. Gill has expressed a desire to have my current Switch, so I'll proably be taking the slot up, thus avoiding any scalper fun!
In terms of interest to me, from the list of announcements;
Mario Kart world, while expensive, I think is worth the money. I think in Steam land, we're spoiled for great games that are dirt cheap. The rest of the world isn't. It looks like a great device!