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Consoles and handhelds · Nintendo Switch

Nintendo Switch 2

19owners with an opinion
67%of verdicts positive
10/5positive/negative since 2024
0happy after 3+ years

Praised for performance and value; criticized for support.

What owners wrote

Doesn’t like it
Looking forward to the eventual full jailbreak. Maybe sooner rather than later with all of the advanced AIs of today. Nintendo recently banned my Switch 2 from accessing online services. This effectively turns it into a fancy brick, since you can't install any digital games or updates - only games on physical cartridges will work (without possibility of installing updates). This is despite both the console and all games being purchased legitimately. The only weird part is me being in Ukraine where there is no official Nintendo presence, and so I had to use US eShop (with PayPal and prepaid digital codes). Nintendo support is extremely unhelpful, they just say that "unauthorized transaction detected" or something like that, without offering any human review/appeal path. It's one thing to reject a transaction in the eShop, it's another thing to permanently ban console for that. What a shit company with shit business practices. 0/10, would not recommend, would not touch anything Nintendo-related ever again without a jailbreak.
Doesn’t like it
This is everything and much more than i wanted from a VR system, it feels like its designed exactly for me. Also tbh i thought after the steam machine price shock i got that this will be like 200 more. 1. It is SteamOS with desktop mode, the SteamDeck made me really miss that feature on any newer console i use like my ps5 or switch 2. Like even if we just limit it to games, playing games like The Binding of Isaac or Minecraft unmodded is a pain for me. Even just using websites for Streaming Services that dont have their app on every system ever, PS5 and Switch 2 dont even have webbrowsers you can just access, I think you have to edit DNS settings to make it think you have to sign up for a free wifi in the browser IIRC. 2. Wireless Streaming without the (Quest 3S) downsides of Wireless Streaming. I have a 6ghz router in my room, connected to my Laptop with an ethernet cable and tried the streaming on a quest 3S. I dont want todo that ever again, it was so inconsistent. It felt like the beatsaber song and gameplay speed up and slowed down like 1-5% in waves to catch up with the stream. Also sometimes my right eye turned into a chess grid of black pixels but i would assume that was more of a Linux Quirk. Also since i use a Laptop i dont want any wires from my headset to the Laptop, I dont want to pull my laptop and possibly more off my desk in the middle of a game. Also for movement games like beatsaber i find cables really annoying when you want to quickly accelerate. 3. Both…
Likes it
I updated my LG C5 firmware via USB and my Nintendo Switch 2 now says “Switch 2” on the home page instead of “Unknown Device”. So that’s nice I guess. Also it seemed to fix something with the 120hz HDR 10:10:10 signal when connected to my PC if I recall correctly that before resulted in poor image quality.
Likes it
I have a Switch 2, Nintendo user since I was very young, with the 8 bits NES, SNES, Game Boy, Nintendo 64... I would not change my Switch 2 for any PS5 or XBox, even if they are interesting :) It is indeed a hybrid, but a very well-thought one I'd say.
Likes it
I am so glad i jumped out of the Xbox ecosystem back when I did. I was such a loyal fan, but the Xbox One made me go from an avid gamer to a casual gamer. I thought I was done with gaming until I picked up a Nintendo Switch back in 2018 and I rediscovered the joy. I gave Xbox one more chance with the Series X and that was the final nail in the coffin. I only play on Switch 2 and Steam OS nowadays.
Likes it
What sort of games do you enjoy playing? For my part, I use my Switch 2 as an upgraded Switch 1 for all but one game (a franchise I am fond of release a "Definitive Edition Nintendo Switch 2 Edition") and feel as if I got a good value (esp. considering the upcoming price increase). Debating on getting the updated Sports Resort, and wishing that there were more motion-controlled games (esp. miss _Red Steel 2_)
Doesn’t like it
I have the switch 2 and an OLED steam deck and it's not even close - the switch 2 screen is just not very good. To a point where if you have grey on grey movement you can see visible smearing like it's some old LCD from 20 years ago. When an OLED version comes out I'll definitely upgrade(so I guess the joke is on me, because I'll end up buying the same console twice just to have the screen that it should have had from the beginning)
Likes it
I've played BotW on Switch 1 and the Switch 2 upgraded edition. While some scenes are a bit choppy on Switch 1 it's never in the way of gameplay and even on Switch 1 one of the best video games of the last decade. Of course Switch 2 is faster and the better console (it should be), but if you're focussing on raw performance you're in the wrong crowd. Even on PS5 you have load times and performance tradeoffs. There will be a time when we're wondering how we put up with the 'impossibly slow' current generation of consoles like we're doing with the 8-bits machines now.
Likes it
I bought a switch 2 over a steam deck. I have over a thousand steam games. A few reasons: Nintendo makes fun games that I want to play. I want to play the new Metroid, the new Pokémon games, Kirby DLC, etc. Maybe it's nostalgia, but I grew up with the original Metroid, and that series sticks with me. The switch 1 gets a ton of use in my house. Switch 1 games perform so much better on the 2. The pro controller for the switch 2 is incredible. Switch 2 is cheaper, significantly cheaper if you play docked. Our family uses it to play docked a lot. The switch 2 library is large enough that you can play a lot of the same titles you can on the deck. Or at least enough games you'll never run out of fun options. You don't need to have the biggest library to be fun. I have a powerful PC in my house for when I want to play shooters and 4x games. The switch 2 library gets way more exercise.
Likes it
I just bought a Switch 2 for my kids and I am very impressed with it. Yes, pricing for games and components is wild, but so is everything else these days. The Switch software is very good, the kids love it, Nintendo online retro games are awesome, and we've had a lot of fun playing Zelda together. I would pay 50 more dollars for the same experience if thats what it took. I do think Nintendo should provide a little more value at the new price, but it's not a huge gap.
Likes it
Nintendo indicated when the Switch 2 was launching that they were going to do their best to ensure a large supply and make sure actual players were prioritized. They did not want resellers to be profitable and did not want to create a situation like the PlayStation. It still sold out and was a little difficult to get on release, but consoles came out at a pretty quick pace and resellers basically could not unload their stock for a profit. It became a bit of a joke about the resellers not being able to unload their stock because stores were getting replenishment stocks so often and Nintendo was constantly sending out emails to players saying they had been selected to buy directly from Nintendo. I had my personal Switch 2 from the store within about a month of casual checking around and got one for a Christmas gift directly from Nintendo the next week.
Likes it
That said, my kids got a Switch 2 for Christmas and we just got done with a super fun session of Mario Party Jamboree and boy are Mario, Bowser, and the gang looking GREAT! Super fun, everyone was laughing and having a great time. They’ve always operated in a different universe than the other console makers. If we want to play the sorts of games XBOX and PlayStation offer, we’ll just load up the Steam Deck, or if it’s a super graphically intensive game we’ll use my RTX 5090 I use for local LLMs anyway. With a few console commands and config hacking, I was able to get Portal 2 to run split screen across 2 full screens for each player, which was super fun!
Neutral
This is my experience. I played some Xbox here and there and every once in a while fell down the Factorio hole but I wasn’t gaming a ton. I got the steam deck somewhat cause it was cool, and somewhat as retail therapy but now I play it almost every night. I love playing smaller indie games on it, it’s a great device. Compare that to my Switch 2 and I’ve played it about 1/100th of the time I’ve played on the Deck. The Switch 2 is nice and all, just the Deck is way more flexible. Replaying my favorite GBA/DS/etc games again on the Deck was so much fun. Huge screen for my (older) eyes, ability to speed up/rewind/save slots, and other tweaks if I wanted were all a blast. I played back through some of my favorites as a kid and enjoyment and nostalgia were both off the charts.
Doesn’t like it
How old are you? I'm convinced this is an important detail. I hosted a LAN party when I was in my early twenties when higher hz monitors were getting more popular in specifically the gaming scene. My buddy and I were playing a match of Counter Strike together side by side, me at 60Hz and him at 120Hz. I used to think like you, but it blew my mind how smooth it was in comparison, so much so I ordered a new monitor that weekend. I don't think it improved my ability to play in any significant way but it definitely felt nicer and smoother. Conversely, at the time you had to specifically set the option in Windows to account for higher Hz and if I forgot to on a reinstall or for whatever reason, I could tell something was off and would question my FPS and turn my counter on to see if I was getting lower FPS. You may not believe it, but I would noticably play worse. I thought it was psychosomatic myself until it happened a handful of times. Now, I'm not a pro CS player by any means, but I guarantee you it matters, makes a difference, and is noticeable. I'm getting older now and care less as time goes on, but I still swear by and game on a high Hz monitor. When I look over my wife's shoulder on her low Hz monitor, the mouse movements are like a flipbook and when gaming on a Nintendo Switch 2 at 60 FPS, it is laughably noticeable.
Likes it
> PS5 did not have any novel approach that was consequently adopted by others DualSense haptics are terrific, though the Switch kind of did them first with the Joy-Cons. I'd say haptics and adaptive triggers are two features that should become standard. Once you have them you never want to go back. PS5's fast SSD was a bit of a game changer in terms of load time and texture streaming, and everyone except Nintendo has gone for fast m.2/nvme storage. PS5 also finally delivered the full remote play experience that PS3 and PS4 had teased but not completed. Original PS5 also had superior thermals vs. PS4 pro, while PS5 pro does solid 4K gaming while costing less than most game PCs (and is still quieter than PS4 pro.) Fast loading, solid remote play, solid 4K, low-ish noise are all things I don't want to give up in any console or game PC. My favorite PS5 feature however is fast game updates (vs. PS4's interminable "copying" stage.) Switch and Switch 2 also seem to have fairly fast game updates, but slower flash storage.
Doesn’t like it
Just one more reason not to buy a Switch 2. Seriously, Nintendo has become worse than Apple when it comes to treating their customers. I own hundreds of Nintendo games and every console they ever made, sometimes in multiples. But when I saw of all the shit they were trying to pull with the Switch 2 I decided I was done with that company for good.
Neutral
Paying in installments is cultural (buy now, pay later, auto financed in 12 months). Pix will add this in the next months. I bought my Nintendo Switch 2 in 10x monthly payments, but I already paid back to the back and they gave me back the interest and some cashback as well. So there's a lot of flexibility by using Credit Cards currently. Also the idea of cashbacks and travel "miles" is widespread among the middle and upper middle class. But for instance I'm getting some good deals where is better to get a discount on the nominal price than getting the cashback and so on. It depends on the merchant. The smaller merchants are definitely the bigg winners, since they don't have so much leverage negotiating card fees with banks. But at least here in my city, smaller sellers and shops are still not managing properly, they ask you to show a receipt that can be forged, instead of asking their banks how to confirm transactions instantly from their side (yes they do have products for that where they pay a bit more, but still nowhere near the credit card fees). So the usual. Merchants and business owners without a vision wants the employees to check all transactions, but don't provide adequate tools. In some transactions it ends up taking more time because the merchant is still uneducated on how to properly confirm the transactions, then I just ask to switch to credit card.
Doesn’t like it
For myself it was my first console bought on pre sale. And here in my country is much more expensive. Basically I raised the bar tremendously. I have the console, MKW, probably will buy Metroid, probably another Zelda. But that's it. I will not tolerate a low bar. Now that indies are constantly increasing theirs with more genuine experiences? No no no I bought NSW2 to be my defacto indie platform as well, but I just reporpused a laptop with Arch/Proton/Steam/Gog and I will work on that. All my accessories from 8bitdo are working flawlessly, so not even a controller I will buy. I don't even bothered to buy the special SD card they require because I can't see myself using even the internal storage, unlike my NSW1. I'm also part of the group that was shocked with the changes on MKW as well. A long time Nintendo fan disappointed. I stayed fan for all this time because the experience hassle free. I don't want another Denuvo strategy, or games becoming boring like many mobile games. I hope more people realize that there are options out there. Support the indies is my choice.
Likes it
I would guess that the overlap between people deeply concerned about display response times and those excited to buy a Switch 2 is tiny. Most Switch buyers aren’t chasing cutting-edge codecs, they’re buying it for Splatoon, Zelda, Mario, and Animal Crossing. Nintendo’s audience has always prioritised unique first-party games and portability over hardware specs. Speaking from experience, I've been thoroughly enjoying the Switch 2. Even if I knew about this information before I bought the console, it would not impact my purchase decision.
Neutral
After experiencing the Nintendo Switch 2 firsthand, here’s my take on this exciting yet non-essential upgrade.
Likes itHasn’t owned it
Steam Deck sells a tiny fraction of overall Steam games, in most of the world they are not fairly priced and Steam Deck doesn't have any focus on performance at all, they slap Deck verified on everything, even stuff that barely works. Source: I have Steam Deck since the launch. Nintendo might suck in many ways but in Europe Switch 2 is 60% of Deck price, provides way better fidelity in pretty much every title and I can play cheaply by just buying physical games and selling them after. Second hand market is great through Vinted. I barely pay any money for a game after selling it and sometimes I even earn money. Digital versions of indie game prices are basically identical in both storefronts. And the docking experience and coop play is unmatched on Switch. Steam Deck is ridiculously shitty in that regard. To be honest I still use it just because of Emudeck, if not for that I would barely touch it.
Recommends itHasn’t owned it
If you’re interested but don’t want a console, check out the N64 recompilation scene. People recompile N64 games natively for PC and enhance them. Example: https://www.shipofharkinian.com/ The answer is no, Nintendo will never do that so long as they are making consoles. The whole point is to keep you in their controlled marketplace, and the PC is the opposite of that. Nintendo’s business model very frequently involves re-selling you the same games. Case in point: the Wii U virtual console. If you bought into that, you didn’t get to keep those games to play on the next console. They still work on your Wii U but it’s a dead end. For Switch, their selection of classic console games are tied to the online subscription. That said, I wouldn’t call it a horrendous deal despite somewhat of a cynical business model. The positive of this is that Nintendo’s whole model depends on generally making very high quality games, since you can’t sell bad games over and over again. If you haven’t bought a console in years, the Nintendo Switch 2 is an excellent choice. It can be used on the go or at home. That said, my PC certainly gets more use, and for exclusively classic gameplay emulation is still the way to go.
Likes itHasn’t owned it
We shouldn't ever forget the sweet spot of the Game Boy Advance SP (proudly exclaimed "plays all games" on its box, and that wasn't a lie) and the original model of the PS3 which had full BC for every previous generation. It's such a shame how far things have fallen since. The Switch 2 is an amicable modern day effort, but still, the industry has gotten much pricklier for the average consumer. Not to mention prices that will irreparably damage the scene.
Doesn’t like itHasn’t owned it
I feel this in my bones and it's a great way to frame it. My last Playstation console was a PS2 and I've also opted out of recent generations. Historically, for me, one of the benefits of a console was that you could just pop the game in, and it would always work, simply and easily. DRM, online checks, DLC that should have been part of the base game, digital-only games, etc have ruined all that, and if that's going to be the trend everywhere I'll just stick to a PC and Steam where I have a library of games built up over the decades. I have a Switch and feel that Nintendo provided a decent experience on their recent systems, but with the advent of "game keys" or whatever they call it on the Switch 2, they've flipped to being even worse than the digital-only systems. At least Sony isn't (yet?) trying to sell you a license on a disc to try to fool you into thinking you own a physical copy.
Likes itHasn’t owned it
Even that Nintendo Switch 2 Game-Key Card implementation still works better for parent’s game reselling use case (for a limited time) than outright removing the physical media option as Sony is doing. From the link you posted: “ Game-key cards are different from regular game cards, because they don’t contain the full game data. Instead, the game-key card is your "key" to downloading the full game to your system via the internet. After it’s downloaded, you can play the game by inserting the game-key card into your system and starting it up like a standard physical game card. An internet connection is only required when you launch the game for the first time. After this, the game can be started even without an internet connection. However, like regular physical software, the game-key card must be inserted into the system in order to play the game. A Nintendo Account is not required to download the game data. ” So lending and reselling game-key cards is still possible in the same way as physical media… at least until Nintendo’s servers stop serving the game, heh.
Doesn’t like itHasn’t owned it
On paper, the Switch 2 hardware is underwhelming. And the graphics comparison, coming from Switch 1, and looking at current state of the art console PS5, along with Top Gaming PC, Switch 2 isn't that impressive. But then when you look into some numbers, double the resolution, double the frame rate, better quality texture and rendering. That is 4 - 5x computational difference. This is just to remind myself on expectations. The SoC is still on 8nm Samsung, which is on the 10nm family. A one generational die shrink would be on 6nm. On one hand that is not too bad, on the other hand we have $200 android phone shipping today that is much better than that.
Doesn’t like itHasn’t owned it
There was a time where Nintendo clearly made consoles and games for children. I think the price of the console and the game (80€ by now) is just too high for most children. When I was a child I was always a console generation behind and bought games off the flea market or borrowed them from video rental stores. With physical copies going away or being discouraged heavily by higher prices, I feel like Nintendo is not even competing in financially accessible gaming anymore and it's sad to see. And since they are so expensive now, you might as well buy a Steam Deck. The only reason to buy Nintendo now really is just Zelda and Mario Kart. Also how many years ago was it that publishers released announcements about 60€ games not being sustainable anymore? Three maybe? The physical copy of Mario Kart World will be 90€! They got by without an increase for almost 10 years and now they increase it by 50% in just three years. I hate that we live in a time, where allowing someone to raise a price by 10€ will just lead to them doing it as many times as they can as quickly as they can.