Nintendo Switch 2 Direct April 2, 2025

[greensara]

Just finished watching the direct. Wow!! So excited about all the new stuff! If you watched the direct, what are you all most excited about? I think the Mario Kart looks fun, but I am most excited about the new Hyrule Warriors and the Gamecube games. My poor wallet though. It might be a while before I can afford to pick one up. I think the summer release is a good move though.

I had the right link but it looks like it went private. If anyone else has the complete direct feel free to link it. All I can find now on YouTube are clips.

Edit: maybe this one works

[Kikki]

I was hoping someone would post this. I didn't want to do it myself.

I already thought the S2 would be out earlier in the year rather than at the end...glad I was right, but...wow. I don't know if I can afford that on release. Not that I know a CAD price for it, yet, but if it's 470 Euros...

Like $700 CAD, maybe? Horrifying, lol. I don't want the bundle, since I don't like Mario Kart, but I still think it's gonna be about $700 CAD pre-tax.

But I saw Silksong in that presentation, and that it has a 2025 release date. Saw it instantly and thought of Bluie.

Extraordinary, honestly. Nintendo always innovates.

EDIT: It's easy to find the Direct to watch it again...just go to Nintendo's site directly. It still has the very long pre-presentation blank logo screen at the beginning, but if you check the Nintendo Switch archives, the presentation is in there. I'll post it, but yeah it has that long pre-bit.

https://www.nintendo.com/us/nintendo-direct/4-2-2025/

The S2 is pre-orderable on April 8th. But yeah I doubt I can find it and I have to make sure I can actually afford it. There were no games in there that I wanted that weren't already announced before (like Grand Bazaar and Azuma) but the S2 itself looks great, and I figured we'd be getting upgrades to games like TotK and so on. Not interested in the Warriors game because I don't enjoy the gameplay.

[midnighttherabbit]

It looks cool! Honestly it's a little expensive for me but if they come out with a budget/lite option in a few years I'll probably go for it. A lot of the features just look like things I won't really use, especially voice and video chat, so I'm mostly interested in the upgraded specs.

What's tempting me right now / giving me the biggest potential FOMO is the new Fromsoft game. Hopefully it gets ported to PC after a few years like some other console exclusives do.

[Bluie]

But I saw Silksong in that presentation. Saw it instantly and thought of Bluie.

Heh, another crumb to add to my basket lol. Would've preferred an actual release date, but confirmation of it being this year is nice.

I found most of the presentation to not be my thing, and that's OK. The bulk of Nintendo's IPs are just not my cup of tea. I'm JRPG and Simulation 'pilled', so I'm not attracted to much else. Seeing as most of the games shown to my tastes were VC, enhanced ports, or remasters of games I've already played, I'm just eeeeh for now. Seeing Path of Radiance being on VC is cool, might be enough for me to actually upgrade my online plan. Guardians of Azuma essentially being a launch title is good, and if I can get my hands on the Switch 2 on launch, it'll be my first game on the system. Portable Elden Ring is also tempting while I'm also mildly interested in Duskbloods as it looks interesting. I am... kinda burned out on Hyrule Warriors, but it was cool to see. And of course, Silksong, my long awaited beloved lol.

Overall, it looks good. The Mario Kart game might be enough of a launch title to get the system selling, but I think the Switch 2 is lacking the oomph the Switch had with Breath of the Wild. We'll see though. Hubbo and I will probably trade in both of our Switches towards one Switch 2, as I don't anticipate us having issues hogging it or fighting over who gets to play this time around. I anticipate he'll want the Donkey Kong game and Duskbloods.

For now, I'm anticipating Guardians of Azuma, Silksong, and Pokemon A-Z specifically for the Switch 2. I'll probably get the Grand Bazaar remake on there too. I'm willing to wait.

[Kikki]

Looks like game pricing has been increased quite a lot...though I need to access the site myself before I know what that'll be in my own currency.

[Bluie]

LOL I FORGOT ABOUT DELTARUNE. OFC I want to play that too. The Undertale obsession is still 10 years going strong.

[Kikki]

I see some having meltdowns over the probable fact that there are going to be fewer games available on cartridge. (Physical.) Some games will only be codes on the cart. But I don't know if that's a fact or a rumour.

I don't care, personally. I've never really cared about physical games. But people who LOVED the Direct itself are now outraged. But this was already how it worked on Playstation. Every physical game I buy there forces me to download the entire thing onto my console. To me, that feels the same. You don't get to play the game ON the CD, you have to bog up your console storage with it.

I dunno, it doesn't seem like a big deal to me. I already buy almost all my games in digital. I'm concerned that the price hike seems to be more than just $10 for games. Well...I need to see some info in my own currency, first.

The presentation was fun, even if it didn't show me even one new game I want. We got a release date for the console only 2 months away.

EDIT: Found a site (mobilesyrup) that says the S2 will be $629 CAD, for the base model, which is all I'm interested in since I don't like Mario Kart. Hmm, if that's true, it's better than I thought. I've 'registered my interest' in preordering on the Canadian Nintendo site.

[Bluie]

...Is it bad that I kind've want to postpone my playthrough of XCX now to see if it'll get an enhanced edition or patch? Same for my Fire Emblem Engage replay. Also, games like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet would GREATLY improve with a performance patch.

[Kikki]

No, Bluie. I mean, you wanted to postpone your XCX playthrough anyway since you're not in the mood right now...might as well wait for the shiniest version, unless you get a huge hankering for it before then.

~

The Canadian website confirms the $629 CAD.

[PaleSunflower]

The US site puts the Switch 2 at ~$450 for the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Price. I really don't have ~$450 (without tax) to spend on a brand new console right now, so I'm going to wait a year or two (or three) until I can get a secondhand unit for at most half of that. If there is a massive price drop like what happened to the 3DS, then I might get the Switch 2 sooner than expected, but probably not. None of the announced games for the Switch 2 make me want to buy right away.

(Man, I hope there isn't a console shortage again like there was with the Switch 1 or the Wii.)

I wasn't expecting so many of the titles for Nintendo to show off for the Switch 2 to be either ports or re-releases. The amount of games getting both a Switch 1 and Switch 2 release seems ... weird to me? It would seem to me that so many duel Switch releases could cause unnecessary competition between the two consoles.

[Kikki]

They've put considerable barriers to scalpers. When I go to the Canadian site, where I registered my interest in preordering with Nintendo, it says

Open to Nintendo Account holders in the U.S. and Canada, who are at least 18 years old. If you are eligible, an invitation email will be sent to the email address associated with your Nintendo Account when it is your time to purchase. The invitation will be valid for 72 hours. Invitation emails will be prioritized on a first-come, first-served basis to registrants who have purchased a Nintendo Switch Online membership with a minimum of 12 months of paid membership and a minimum of 50 total gameplay hours, as of April 2, 2025. Once invitation emails have been sent to all registrants meeting the priority criteria, invitations will be sent to remaining eligible registrants on a first-come, first-served basis.

Invitations are non-transferable and will be sent to the email address associated with the Nintendo Account that registered interest in purchasing Nintendo Switch 2. Optional accessories will be available to purchase alongside your system. For system and each accessory, limit one purchase per eligible Nintendo Account during the invitation period.

EDIT: If you go down to the FAQ on the same page, you also see this:

Priority requirements are as follows: As of 4/2/2025, (i) you must have been the one who purchased any Nintendo Switch Online membership, (ii) you must have had any paid Nintendo Switch Online membership for a minimum of 12 months, and (iii) you must have opted in to share gameplay data and have at least 50 hours total gameplay hours.

I'm not sure what it means, opted to share gameplay data. Made your play activity available to everyone in your user profile? I assume Nintendo has a program to run checks on Nintendo accounts to see if they qualify before an email gets sent to them, so that they can't be grabbed up by scalpers who set up accounts just for buying up stock.

[JustABeautifulGuy]

The game announcements are so so cool but « Harvest Goddess » the pricing ruined all my excitement. I can't believe they couldn't even give that tech demo for free when PS5 gave us literally Astro for free. Game upgrades cost too much. 10$ for just visual upgrades and 20$ for games with "content" added.

I knew something was immediately off when they didn't share prices for anything on the Direct. I just don't know if I'm ready for 80$ games.

The system itself feels a lot more like a pro version. I don't know but 3DS felt quite distinct from DS in many ways. They didn't even give a huge facelift to the UI (not that I really care about it but it just would've been really nice to see something being changed).

Even Marvelous is charging 10$ more for the Switch 2 versions of RF GoA and GB remake

[PaleSunflower]

Scalpers are crafty and motivated. I'm sure they will find a way around the restrictions. I give Nintendo credit for trying regardless.

Still, as someone who does not have an active Nintendo Switch Online account, I am even less inclined to try with this console right away than before. It sounds like that I would get shunted to last priority to actually get the mere chance to buy the console. I'll consider getting it 2-3 years out after when the rush is over.

---

The price of games also doesn't pique my desire for the console. Some of the games should be cheaper or more prone to go on sale in 2-3 years, too. I am feeling my lack of funds today. I've seen the future (of video games); I can't afford it.

[Kikki]

Bluie, it looks like XCX will get an upgrade pack. I was almost certain it would, but I saw this:

Spoiler:

They're showing XCX as an example of a game when buying an upgrade pack, so I can only think it's gonna have one. Unless that is only there because it is currently the face of the Nintendo eshop, of course. But I think it'll have one. I always thought that. Though it already looks awesome and runs great, so I don't care anyway lol.

[Bluie]

Wooooooo! That settles it then! Thanks for letting me know!