Last week, Nintendo gave us a whole wealth of Nintendo Switch 2 details. We learned about its games, its mysterious C-button, and got more details on how its mouse controllers worked. It was a presentation filled with surprises too, from a shocking Kirby Air Riders reveal to the announcement that GameCube games are coming to Nintendo Switch Online. I experienced some real shockers of my own when I went hands-on with the Switch 2 and found myself enamored with its new control scheme.
I’ve had a lot of time to process all the news since then, and even changed my tune on things I was initially critical of, like GameChat. Sitting down to reflect, there’s one thing that still surprises me more than anything: just how next-gen the system actually feels.
I wasn’t expecting much when it came to power heading into last week’s Switch 2 Direct. Nintendo is historically allergic to fancy tech upgrades, and I can understand why. Franchises like Kirby and Mario don’t necessarily need huge power boosts to keep them fun; game design has always trumped graphical fidelity over at Nintendo. I figured that would hold true with Switch 2 and that features like 4K and AI-upscaling were pipe dreams. Basically, I expected that a lot of people were going to be very, very mad.
Instead, Nintendo went above and well beyond my expectations. Not only will the Switch 2 be able to output in 4K (the dock even has a cooling fan to make that happen), but it also will feature a 120Hz HDR screen. That’s even an improvement over the Steam Deck, a device that I figured the Switch 2 wouldn’t surpass. Later, we learned that the console supports ray-tracing and DLSS upscaling. It’s a list of features that you’d expect to see in a portable gaming PC like the ROG Ally, not a Nintendo system.
I could really feel the tangible results of that power when I demoed the console, too. Metroid Prime 4: Beyond is drop dead gorgeous and was running at a jaw-dropping 120fps when I tried it. I played Cyberpunk 2077 on the device and it held up as well as it does on my Steam Deck OLED, if not better. Even just seeing old Switch games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom run at a much smoother frame rate was enough to convince me that the console is a serious upgrade.
This is the part I keep coming back to more than games, pricing, or controls. For the first time in decades, it feels like Nintendo has an actual next-generation console on its hands. It may not have the raw specs of the PS5 or Xbox Series X, but it clears a bar set by industry-leading handheld PCs. That’s enough power for Nintendo to introduce open-world exploration to Mario Kart World and fully destructible environments to Donkey Kong Bananza. It’s also enough to get current-gen games like Split Fiction running on the device, even if it’s with visual compromises. The gap between Nintendo and its more technically capable competitors is closing, which could make gaming more consistent across all devices. The more that gaming tech reaches a plateau, the more future Nintendo systems will now be able to eliminate that gap further.
Granted, this is all easy to say right now. The Switch 2’s true test will be how it holds up over an eight-year lifespan while the portable PC space continues to rapidly innovate. Microsoft could announce its rumored handheld device in two months with specs that put the Switch 2 to shame. We could get a Steam Deck 2 next year that does everything Switch 2 does, even adopting mouse controls of some sort. The Switch 2 feels great now, but it’s coming five years into the PS5 and Xbox Series X generation. If Sony and Microsoft both release new systems three years from now, how outdated will Nintendo’s system feel?
We’ll cross that bridge when we get there. For now, I’m just happy to see Nintendo embracing techie features like VRR and DLSS now instead of waiting for its next generation. The Switch 2 feels far more futureproofed out the gate than its predecessor and I hope that remains true a few years from now. We can’t go through another eight years of people pining for a Pro model that never comes.
The Nintendo Switch 2 launches on June 5.
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