The Nintendo Switch 2 has been the subject of non-stop coverage across the internet from here at Tom’s Guide to the slimiest corners of Reddit and beyond. Nearly every square-inch of the device has been rumored, rendered, alleged and "confirmed" in a flurry of leaks that has only picked up pace in the last couple of weeks.
I’ve seen all of them and the thing I keep coming back to is one worry. Where’s the weird?
For other companies what Nintendo does would be consider a gimmick, a trifle, the Xbox Kinect.
When it comes to consoles, Nintendo literally changes the game.
Nintendo Knows How to Bring the Weird
In the history of Nintendo, no console has looked or really felt the same as the previous one. The NES went from a gray box to the slimmed down Super NES with purple buttons and top-loading cartridges and graphically upgraded 8-bit to 16-bit (mostly in response to Sega). Of course, the N64 gave us the strangest official controller ever that is only rivaled by the spaceship that was the Sega Dreamcast controller.
The GameCube was an actual cube with its tiny, proprietary optical discs and carrying handle, making it the most portable console until the Switch. The Wii introduced the Wii-mote and motion controls that were quickly copied by rivals Sony and Xbox in their own ways. While a failure, the Wii-U introduced the tablet controller and hinted at the future Switch.
We may not recall but in 2017 there were no handheld consoles. There were set top consoles and there were portable ones. You had all of Nintendo’s various Gameboys, the 3DS, the Advance, the DS against the PSP or the, I still argue, excellent PS Vita.
Nintendo created a new market with the Switch.
Yes, it took five more years for Valve to launch the Steam Deck after bombing with the overly expensive and finicky Steam Machines, but you can see the inspiration. In turn, there are legions of handheld PC consoles now. Sony and Xbox are basically expected to create a handheld something whenever the PS6 and Xbox Stanchion or whatever off-putting name Microsoft gives its next console.
But the Switch 2? Boring.
Nintendo Switch 2: Just a Bigger Switch?
Every single leak and rumor paints a picture of the Switch 2 being just a bigger Switch with some functional improvements. The sliding rail for the Joy-Cons sucks, so it's reportedly being replaced by an electromagnetic system that we can lock in with a button at the rear of the controller.
An extra USB-C port? Interesting, but allegedly just for charging. Adding the Hall Effect to the Joy-Cons to prevent drift? Awesome, and much needed but not exciting.
Perhaps it’s unfair to expect Nintendo to revolutionize gaming with every new console but the company has done that to itself.
We can snarkily look at a Nintendo console and sneer, “Where’s the gimmick?” but Nintendo seemingly knows fun and joy, and is able to wring that out of every "weird" idea it shoves into its consoles.
My fear, when looking at renderings, dummy models and carrying cases, is that Nintendo is being iterative instead of interesting.
A VR/AR future
There is some hope to be had that Nintendo is working on exciting new things for the future.
In September 2024, the company filed a patent with the FCC for a mysterious new wireless device featuring a 24GHz mmWave sensor and a Wi-Fi radio. It hints at a Nintendo device that could use an mmWave sensor to track movements or gesture controls.
While VR and AR haven’t taken over the world, VR headsets and AR capable smart glasses are gaining ground and popularity. Nintendo has played with both in its experimental cardboard Labo kits. Those kits featured a VR display of sorts and live games like the Mario Kart Live system.
Why couldn’t Nintendo innovate in the VR and AR space? Especially since the Joy-Cons are essentially tiny Wiimotes that could be tracked with some sort of external sensor. It’s not a full console but it’s something. And Mario will probably feature.
Switch 2 outlook
We can complain that Nintendo will most likely release an iterative Mario Kart 9 and the next Mario platformer or Mario Party game with the next Switch. But what separates those iterative titles from previous years is the console they’re released on which always provides a new angle to look at Mario, Zelda or any other Nintendo mainstay.
Nintendo changes the gaming world with its consoles and I hope that it doesn’t retreat into slightly more powerful iterative consoles that are nice but don’t truly excite or innovate. Gimmicks (the good kind) coupled with solid games are what they do best.
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