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Update: Our full Nintendo Switch 2 review has now been published.
Hey everyone, the long-awaited Nintendo Switch 2 has finally arrived! Some lucky gamers have already received their consoles, while others eagerly waited in line at midnight launch events around the world.
Thanks to my awesome job, I was able to get my hands on the console a day early. After spending a full 24 hours with the new Switch 2, I have some early thoughts to share. I understand that some gamers may be hesitant to spend $450 on a new Nintendo console (not to mention an additional $80 for the new Mario Kart World), especially during tough economic times. While my full Switch 2 review is still to come, let’s dive into my first day of gaming.
And now, the moment you’ve been waiting for – my early verdict: It’s awesome, although it does have some setup quirks.
My Nintendo Switch 2 first impressions
Just a heads up, this is not a comprehensive review as I’ve only had the console for a little over 24 hours at this point. These are my initial thoughts on the hardware and user experience so far, with more detailed game reviews to follow. Let’s start with my experience with the setup process.
Setup is easy enough but not perfect
Setting up the console for the first time is relatively straightforward. You power it on, log into your Nintendo account (if you have one), connect to the internet, and you’re almost ready to start gaming. It’s worth noting that you may not be able to play games immediately if you don’t have physical copies, as downloading games can take some time. Overall, I found the setup process to be quite smooth.
However, there is a potentially lengthy data transfer process if you want to move everything from your old Switch to the new Switch 2. This can be useful if you have saved games or want to transfer your data manually. Nintendo Switch Online members have access to cloud saves, which makes downloading save data quick and easy for most games.
I didn’t personally try the data transfer process, but based on feedback from other gamers, it seems to be a bit complicated. Some users, like former Mashable writer Adam Rosenberg, reported that the process took around two hours and didn’t offer an easy way to select which data to transfer. While I would typically suggest skipping the transfer process, there are games like Pokemon Scarlet and Violet and Animal Crossing: New Horizons that don’t support cloud saves, so transferring data may be necessary for certain players.
Second, it sounds like you only get one shot at the transfer, weirdly enough. Hat tip to Kotaku for bringing that to my attention; if you have any interest whatsoever in transferring data, don’t skip it at setup just assuming you can do it later. I’ve reached out to Nintendo for clarification on this and will update the article if/when an answer arrives.
### The hardware itself is an immediate and profound step up
Strange setup quirks aside, the Switch 2 is so, *so* much better than the first console once it’s actually in your hands.
The new 7.9-inch, 1080p display has a 120Hz refresh rate and is a *colossal* improvement over the 6.2-inch, 720p, 60Hz original. There’s one more caveat here, though; it’s an LCD display, meaning it is, in one specific way, inferior to the Switch OLED. I was never a Switch OLED owner, so I can’t say authoritatively that the lack of OLED is a huge problem on the Switch 2. The new display looks pretty darn good to me, though I suppose it could be a bit more vibrant in certain spots. That said, your mileage may vary if you’re used to looking at an OLED display.
Beyond that, the new Joy-Con 2 controllers are substantially bigger than before, making them much better suited to adult-sized hands. The new analog sticks have a bit more travel to them and feel a little more responsive overall, though it remains to be seen if stick drift will be a big problem on Switch 2, given the lack of Hall Effect sensors.
I’d also like to shout out the new magnetic attachment mechanism for the Joy-Con controllers. On the first Switch console, the Joy-Cons slid on and off via a vertical rail. This was fine for 2017, but over time, it became clear that a better solution was needed. Switch 1 Joy-Con controllers have a bit of wiggle to them, even when attached. That’s been entirely eliminated on Switch 2, based on my experiences so far. Attaching a Joy-Con 2 to the unit is as easy as slapping it into the open slot and letting magnets take over from there. Thankfully, there’s a release lever you have to pull to detach them, making it functionally impossible to detach them accidentally. (At least, that’s been my experience so far.)
Attaching and detaching the magnetic Joy-Con 2 controllers feels *so good* the first time you do it. Just trust me.
The new dock, which looks and works similarly, is also worthy of some praise. The new dock can output at up to 4K resolution and has a new built-in fan for heat dissipation. Crucially, it also has a built-in ethernet port now. Please, please wire up your dock if you can. Your experience will be so much better.
### Virtual game cards are weird
The Switch 2 introduces “virtual game cards,” a new feature Nintendo has added to both Switch consoles. This essentially turns any games you’ve purchased digitally into a commodity that can only live on one console at a time. At any time, you can scroll to the new virtual game card section in the main system menu and load any games you own digitally onto the console. In fact, you *have* to do this to bring over any Switch 1 games you plan on playing. Once that’s done, you can’t play it on any other Switch console unless you boot that machine up and do the same thing over there.
For a single and childless person like me, this is only mildly inconvenient. I’m not going to complain too much about having to press an extra button to tell the Switch 2 to download a Switch 1 game I own. However, I can imagine this being nightmarish for multi-Switch households. Users have the ability to “loan” virtual game cards to other users for up to two weeks, but as I understand it, that means the loaner loses the ability to play that game while it’s in the hands of the loanee.
While some games now support “GameShare” (a new feature that allows users to play multiplayer games with only one copy of a game), that’s not universally supported. There are definitely good use cases for loaning digital games to other people, to be sure, but this is also a *lot* of extra management that’s foisted upon every Switch 2 owner. I can imagine it’s going to create entirely new ways for siblings to fight with each other, too.
### Storage is going to be an issue in the long term
Obviously, I’ll do a deeper dive into the console once I’ve had more time with it, but the final first impression I’ll share is that the Switch 2’s internal storage capacity of 256GB might not be enough for serious gamers.
Switch 2 Game File Sizes Revealed
Initially, I wasn’t too worried about the file sizes on the Switch 2. However, it turns out that they have increased significantly compared to the original Switch. First-party Nintendo games like Mario Kart World and The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom have manageable file sizes, but third-party games are a different story.
External Storage Expansion and Memory Cards
The Switch 2 only supports microSD Express cards for external storage expansion. While these cards offer faster data read speeds, they are expensive and hard to find. This may be a minor inconvenience for now, but it’s something to consider when purchasing the console.
Despite some quirks with the Switch 2, I still think it’s an awesome console. The games are impressive, and the hardware is a clear improvement over the original Switch. Stay tuned for a full review in the near future!
