Did Nintendo make another mistake like the Wii U?

General Gaming Console Gaming
1

So I’ve been thinking about the Switch 2 trailer. I think this is the first time I’ve watched a new Nintendo Console announcement and I was not really all that excited.

Maybe it’s age, but maybe the Switch 2 just didn’t deliver anything great?

Another Mario Kart, I mean, I’m sure it’s nice, I’m just not a huge Mario Kart guy.

A new Donkey Kong game? I don’t know, could be great, personally I’m just not excited about it. Reminds me of Banjo for some reason and I hated Banjo lol.

For the most part, I’m thinking about the system itself. Like, who is it for?

A lot of people love to play indie games on the Switch, and, well, honestly why even upgrade for that? the Switch can handle most of those Indie games just fine.

Hardcore gamers that want AAA games are not all that much into the Switch anymore. Yea, some keep it because it can be fun but let’s face it, they are very much behind the times in many ways.

Casual gamers will probably look at the Switch 2 and be as confused as they were with the Wii U, like “What is this for?”. They probably won’t think it’s an add on, but they may think “eh, another version of the same thing”.

I could be wrong but I just don’t see a whole ton of people finding a need to upgrade to the Switch 2 when the Switch is doing everything they want.

2

A couple of other things I thought about that I didn’t mention on the original post.

  1. The Price, at $450, that’s kind of steep. You can get a PS5 for a bit more… Sometimes the Xbox Series X is $450 on sale.

  2. The need for an Extreme Micro SD Card for storage. I think people are going to buy that Yellow one that says “Nintendo” on it for the Switch and then assume they can use it on the Switch 2.

3

I was thinking today that if Nintendo had called the WiiU, Wii 2. It might have had more success. Also selling virtual console GC games would have been a big boost.

4

I don’t know, I think Nintendo’s decision to not focus on raw power kind of hurt it more than we think. With the Wii, it sold well because it was a new idea, so a lot of people were buying it because it was a cool new thing, it introduced a lot of people to different kinds of games. But these weren’t hardcore gamers, these were just very casual gamers. Hardcore gamers were the ones going “Why does everything have to be motion controls??” lol

When the Wii U came out, yea there was a game pad but for the most part, it was a lot of the same. People already had their Wii Sports and what not, no real need for another switch for most people.

The Switch comes out and once again it’s something new, and it’s good, it’s different, people like it. It generates a whole new industry of gaming devices. But now, Switch 2 comes out and it is just another Switch. Yes, technies can tell it’s different, but will the average consumer find it to be different or will they just say “oh I already have a Switch”?

Hardcore gamers will still not be able to get what they really want out of a Switch 2. Plus now they have options like the Steam Deck.

Hardcore Nintendo fans that just love those Nintendo games, they’ll get a Switch 2 and they will buy all the main Nintendo games, that’s basically the main reason they get the Switch 2. But, they also got Wii Us and we all know how well that turned out.

So, yea, just not sure if the Switch 2 is going to convince Switch owners that it’s worth having.

Don’t get me wrong, I hope it IS a success, but right now I just don’t see it. If it can’t compete with the PS5 in Graphics it’s not going to get the hardcore crowd. That crowd will most probably just get a steam deck and play the games they already own on the PC. If it’s not different enough, it’s probably not going to attract the very casual gamers the Switch has.

The only thing that can sort of save it is Nintendo making some banging games for it, but they did that with the Wii U and we all know how that went.

Unless, maybe, just maybe, the Switch actually managed to create a whole new generation of Nintendo fans? I don’t know, we’ll see I guess.