Games Inbox: Has the Nintendo Switch 2 been a disappointment?

The Thursday letters page thinks that the power of a console has become irrelevant, as one middle-aged reader loses their enthusiasm for gaming.

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Post-launch verdict
After having a few weeks to think about it, I’m afraid to say that I’m pretty disappointed with the Switch 2. Or rather, I am impressed by the console itself, and have no complaints about that, but everything else connected to it seems so low effort.

Mario Kart World is a good game, but the free roam stuff is pretty bad and whether Nintendo has more planned for it or not, they haven’t said anything so that’s hardly an excuse.

The real problem is there’s literally nothing else going on with the console, except for Donkey Kong next month. The only exciting game after that is Metroid Prime 4, which is a Switch 1 game that was going to come out this year whether the Switch 2 was out or not.

We know nothing of their future plans for any of their big franchise (even the Splatoon game was just a spin-off) and incredibly there’s no sign of a new Mario game or any hope for more Zelda this decade. Given how time and goodwill was on Nintendo’s side with this, they really have fumbled the ball.
Focus

Do it yourself
I agree with readers complaining that the games industry is in a very dark place at the moment, with constant layoffs and another new round looming at Xbox. The only positive I can hope for from this is if it pushes more developers towards setting up their own indie studios and kissing goodbye to the traditional publisher system.

You often hear about ultra low budget indie games selling in the multiple millions and yet AAA games, that must’ve cost 100 times more to make, still only sell around the same amount. Admittedly, indie games are almost always cheaper but even so, the profits on them must be enormous.

Sure, you won’t be working with state of the art graphics anymore, but surely that’s a small price to pay for owning everything yourself, getting all the money, and getting to make whatever you want.
Frampton

Faux-Zero
I’m not a massive WipEout fan but I thought I’d give Fast Fusion a go on Switch 2, as it was only £15, and I’ve been amazed by it. It looks fantastic and plays great, with some great track design. In fact, I think it looks better that a lot of games on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X.

There’s an update this week as well, that’s going to add more tracks and features. Only thing missing is online play, but the four player splitscreen is great. Also, there is a GameShare option that allows my daughter to play on her original Switch with me and I can’t believe how good it works, seeing the game run on her Switch is like magic. More games need to add this feature. So, for £15 this is a steal, I look forward to what the devs do next.
Rob

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Games before merch
I see the new Donkey Kong and Pauline amiibo is in stock to pre-order on Nintendo Store UK for £16.99. I am tempted to buy it but I was planning to buy a new gaming PC in August and a deluxe edition of Metal Gear Solid Delta for PlayStation 5, so will have to put it on my wishlist.
Andrew J.
PS: I have just heard about this game, but I don’t remember GameCentral reviewing it, it is called BZZZT. It’s a platformer from 2023 and it looks amazing and has got a very positive rating on Steam. What is GameCentral’s opinion of it?

GC: We’ve never heard of it before, but it looks a lot like Super Meat Boy.

Death stranded
I’m not sure how big a franchise Death Stranding is but I notice no one around here has been talking about it and that seems to follow for everywhere else I see online. Maybe the algorithm knows I don’t like it, but it looks like a really expensive game, especially with all those Hollywood actors in it, but I’m really not sure how it’s making its money back.

Like you say, I admire Hideo Kojma’s ability to talk people into funding him, and then making whatever he wants, but at some point aren’t these same people going to want a return on their investment? If a sequel to Death Stranding was meant to be a surefire hit I think there’s going to be some disappointment…
Lambo

Unlimited power
I think the concept of the power of a console (or a PC GPU for that matter) has shifted massively since the release of PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. PlayStation recognised this with PS5 Pro and dipped their toe in the water with AI upscaling, but being tied to AMD meant they had to (co-?) develop their own hardware-accelerated algorithm in PSSR, which inevitably led to some teething issues.

Now that FSR 4 is available (and may even be implemented on PS5 Pro in future) I expect this to be a key feature of both the PlayStation 6 and the Windows NeXtbox One. While AMD still lag behind Nvidia in this regard, FSR 4 is a huge step-up in image quality compared to what’s available on PlayStation 5/Xbox Series X, and should have a similar impact to DLSS 3/4 on Switch 2: achieving much better image quality over the current generation consoles even if the GPU and CPU upgrades seem fairly modest on paper.

Throw in hardware-accelerated ray tracing support and maybe even frame generation and we’ll get some very capable consoles which hopefully won’t break the bank. But probably will.
Magnumstache
PS: Quite interested in Tempest Rising – PC only at the moment but looks like a fun throwback real-time strategy, released back in April.

Infinite Pass
I was receiving Game Pass for free once upon a time, I think I concluded that it was an ex-girlfriend who liked her choice games and so created her own profile on my Xbox. When we separated a good while later she got her own Xbox and Game Pass, so I assumed it was still tied to the account she had on my Xbone.

I only realised when my subscription ran out, but I kept receiving it! Out of guilt I had to resubscribe and strangely it didn’t work on the Xbox Series X, but for all I know it could still be running on the Xbone.
big boy bent

Gaming midlife crisis
I wrote in a few weeks back about how good the Sony State of Play amazed me. I’m a VVVVV long time reader, since before you became Digitiser (there was something else before that.) I’m 50 and have been gaming since I got an Atari 2600 for Xmas in 1980.

You wouldn’t believe how games have progressed since Adventure, Pac-Man, and Asteroids. Graphics and worlds are so amazing you couldn’t wish for anything else but I now find myself in a bit of a gaming rut, in that everything that is made has a sword or gun or whatever else is the best method of killing something or someone, with super duper million pound graphics.

What has happened to the creative ingenuity of our past time? Why is it that everything that’s released I have to slaughter something? Fetch this, get that, and hope I don’t get killed? I know Nintendo do cutsey have-fun games but where has this all gone on the other consoles? I’ve looked and looked at indie games but nothing takes my fancy; Concrete Genie, walking simulators?! (I’ll go for a walk myself!).

The amazing ideas that were around during the Amiga/Atari ST time have been sidelined for blow anything up or footy or racing, that’s it. This drive for fab graphics and a myriad of different ways of making something die or drive here and do this is all a bit too much.

I know profit margins and risk aversion is at play, but come on, stop releasing the same sort of stuff all the time and let’s have a bit of imagination (even though it don’t sell). Rant over, just after 40 odd years of making games we only now get the same four or five genres?! Sad times from what we all imagined as kids.
Indiegaz (PSN ID)

GC: Concrete Genie was six years ago and walking sim is a derogatory term for games with no action elements, they’re not literally about walking. Based on your comments, we’d recommend indie games such as the excellent Blue Prince or Citizen Sleeper 2.

Inbox also-rans
So happy to see Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 do well. It really is the feel good success story of the year and well deserved too.
Benson

Time Crisis? Now there’s a name I haven’t heard in a very long time. If they can make it work on modern TVs though I’m interested. Just do Gunblade NY afterwards!
Maxo

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