According to Nintendo, the company had a clear vision for theNintendo Switch 2from the very start, and it was “designed from the ground up,” in terms of updating the hardware and the Joy-Cons for the Switch 2. A lot ofNintendo Switch 2 questions were finally answeredwhen the console was officially revealed last week, and while the Switch 2 appears to be quite innovative, Nintendo fans are seemingly torn about the console right now, especially since it has generated so muchcontroversy regarding both console and game prices.
In an interview withScreenRant, Bill Trinen, Nintendo’s Vice President of Player and Product Experience, told us that the Nintendo Switch 2 has been in development since shortly after the release of the original Switch, and the Switch 2 and the Joy-Con 2 controllers have been"designed from the ground up.“Trinen also said that not much has changed from Nintendo’s conceptual vison, saying: “I don’t think that we’ve seen big pivots.” Trinen added that “what we see today is what’s been in plans for the last several years.”
Nintendo Touts Switch 2 As Innovative, Not Iterative
Making Changes Where It Counts
The Switch 2 is aiming to be more innovative, and is not designed to just be a simple sequel to the original Switch, with Nintendo taking what worked with the first Switch and improving it and also adding new elements. Trinen toldScreenRantthat the company’s mission with the Switch 2 was taking"everything that people love about Nintendo Switch and then building upon that with new features.“One of those new features is the introduction of GameChat with theSwitch 2’s C button, which was notably absent from the original Switch.
Nintendo Switch 2 First-Party Games Take Up A Surprising Amount Of Storage
The game file sizes for the first-party titles on the Nintendo Switch 2 have been revealed, and they occupy a surprising amount of storage space.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is also aiming for innovation in other hardware capabilities. The system can run games at 4K and up to 120 FPS (for select games in docked mode) and will offer a choice between Quality and Performance modes for some titles likeMetroid Prime 4: Beyond. Nintendo is also introducingGameShare for the Nintendo Switch 2, which will allow players to play locally or online with just one copy of a game.
Fans Have Felt That Switch 2 Isn’t Innovative Enough
Fans Seem To Be Divided On The Switch 2
While the Switch 2 definitely has some interesting innovations for its hardware and controllers, the reception to the Switch 2 has been mixed thus far.Many people feel the console is just an improved Switch, while others praise the new additions, like thenew mouse functionality for the Joy-Con 2 controllers, and while that is an innovative feature to allow for various input methods, it remains to be seen how well the new features of the Switch 2 will actually be implemented in a lot of games.
The Nintendo Switch 2 has a lot going for it on paper: a follow-up to one of the best-selling consoles of all time, updated hardware to allow 4K outputs and higher frame rates, and new features like GameShare and GameChat. But with only select games available to play with GameShare, and GameChat being a service that has been offered by other consoles and PC for a long time, it remains to be seen if theNintendo Switch 2is innovative enough for its audience.
