Switch 2 Will Be Nintendo's Best Ever Console From Day One

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For Nintendo fans the world over, time seems to be passing slower than ever. Since the January reveal of Switch 2 (the official Nintendo one, not the leaks weeks before) we've all been crossing days off the calendar counting down to the April Nintendo Direct, when we'll finally get a proper deep dive at the hardware, a look at new games, and perhaps even a release date. Well, hopefully.

Ravenous as we are for solid Switch 2 details — ones that don't come from coverage-hungry case manufacturers or a 17-second peek of a new Mario Kart — there's one I’m confident of: from day one, Switch 2 will be the ultimate Nintendo console.

I can already sense some '?' Blocks popping off but hear me out – even at this early stage it's hard to argue that Switch 2 won't be the ultimate portal for Nintendo games past, present, and future.

It's largely thanks to Nintendo Switch Online and the huge, historic catalogue steadily assembled since September 2018. You get access to 182 games with a regular sub, or a whopping 290 with the 'Expansion Pack'. It’s not just Nintendo games either, the 47-strong selection of SEGA Mega Drive/Genesis games covers some of that system's absolute best too. Plus the rubbish Virtua Fighter 2 port.

Hey, they can't all be winners, but from classics to cult curios (seriously, check out the late-cycle Sutte Hakkun for Super Famicom if you haven't already), NSO is a vast buffet of historical video game nuggets served on a single handy device, a perfect introduction for younger gamers unfamiliar with the olden days. Grizzled vets can baulk at the idea of whippersnappers not having played Yoshi's Island or Ocarina of Time or GoldenEye>Bunker>Power Weapons - no Oddjob, but time marches on and it's only natural. NSO's boon is offering so many iconic, formative games on a platter. We can debate the quality of the emulation (and we have), but the library is impressive, despite gaps, and it's still growing.

That's all before we get to backwards compatibility with the current console; its lineup of series-bests should almost all be playable on the new Switch. Calls of recency bias will ring out for a generation or two yet, but the towering quality of Breath of the Wild and its direct sequel Tears of the Kingdom, Super Mario Odyssey and Super Mario Bros. Wonder, Animal Crossing: New Horizons, Splatoon 3, Pikmin 4, the Metroids, the Xenoblades, and more is undeniable. If they're not the pinnacle of their respective series, they're in the conversation, and they'll all almost definitely be playable on Switch 2.

But what about third parties? What about indies? The specifics are hazy at this stage, but we're assuming that everything's coming over, so historians can still access Hamster's enormous Arcade Archives series and Digital Eclipse's masterful work on various collections, not to mention its excellent Gold Master line.

The vast ocean of incredible indie games should speak for itself at this stage; one of Nintendo's greatest strengths this gen has been fully embracing the community of smaller devs. More surprisingly, Switch has also held its own with larger third-party devs, too, and signs point to that support expanding on Switch 2, and that includes games from other platform holders.

Switch isn't far off becoming a brilliant PlayStation history lesson, and even first-party Sony is starting to turn up with MLB and LEGO Horizon. Throw in potential support from Microsoft with Call of Duty and rumours of other ports, plus the wider world of modern games and other firms eager to mitigate rising production costs across multiple platforms, and we're entering an era of unprecedented cross-platform support. Another win for anybody with a Switch 2.

There's also the small matter of whatever Nintendo's got bubbling on the stove in its Kyoto kitchens. Internal devs have been beavering away while partner studios have handled most first-party output since Mario Wonder. I'm expecting the biggest hitters on Nintendo's bench to come out swinging in April. A 3D Mario, naturally (it's the 40th anniversary of Super Mario Bros., remember), but anything except a full-blown 3D Zelda is possible. And there are a couple of potential Wii U ports that could tide us over nicely in the Hylian department, too.

Switch sales have slowed dramatically in the last year - not unexpectedly considering the system's age (it's going into its ninth year in March). As any Captain F. Obvious can tell you, Nintendo needs the energy, excitement, and profit that new hardware generates, but day-one demand is likely to be colossal. Stockpiling inventory makes eminent sense, even if analysts, investors, and fans alike are gagging for it ASAP.

Could the next mainline Mario be total toilet? Of course. Past evidence suggests it'll probably be quite good, though, and Switch 2 will likely have other quite good games. Nintendo's software batting average is quite good.

Even considering that history, though, Switch is the only console I remember buying on launch day. I got a Wii in its first month, but I'd never walked out of a store carrying the new hotness on the very first day before. It worked out rather well but a day-one purchase felt like a real gamble given the fate of Wii U, even for a card-carrying Nintendophile desperate to play BOTW on the bus.

Conversely, this Nintendo console feels like the surest possible bet for fans of the medium, even knowing practically nothing about its launch lineup. The historical library that took years to build up on previous systems is all just going to be there!

Well, almost all. As Nintendo has mentioned (though not yet detailed), there will be "exceptions". A background graphic on its website shows various games presumably playable; the likelihood is that only outliers employing peripherals and modes involving the IR sensor will be technically incompatible. Pour one out for Labo.

Beyond that, all signs point to Switch 2 being a brilliantly comprehensive overview of Nintendo history from launch day. Despite many unanswered questions, and not forgetting my professional obligation to get involved from the beginning (a golden excuse, granted), the possibility of buyer's remorse has never been lower for a Nintendo console. I've never been more eager to get stuck in on day one.

Whenever that is.

Gavin Lane is the Editor at Nintendo Life. He’s been flying the Nintendo flag since the 8-bit days. You can find him in the usual places as @dartmonkey.