‘It looks the same': Who's buying Nintendo's new $700 Switch 2?
'I've recently finished Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, which ran okay on Switch 1, but it would lag and lock up when you were loading into a new area. Whereas I'm not getting any of that on the Switch 2.'
I definitely took a deep breath when I saw the price of it, but considering what other consoles go for, that's unfortunately the new reality.
Donald Duong, 37
In addition to a more modern processor, a lot more power and compatibility with all the existing Switch games, the new console has a bigger display, support for 4K HDR visuals when connected to a TV, and new versions of the Joy-Con controllers that attach to the side with magnets. Appleby hoped the Joy-Con 2, which can be placed on a tabletop to act like a computer mouse, would help improve the simulation games she likes to play on the system.
'I'm getting the new Rune Factory tomorrow, which has the mouse controls, I'm quite keen for that because there's a village-building aspect to it. So instead of trying to struggle with the control, hopefully you can drag and drop exactly where you want,' she said.
'I won't play The Sims on console because it's weird with the controller. Or Rollercoaster Tycoon. So it would be cool if they can go back and patch in mouse controls, or release new games with that.'
Appleby's partner was replaying The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild, a launch title for the original Switch in 2017. But it's now been updated to run at twice the resolution and frame rate on Switch 2.
Government worker Nick Fitzgerald, 42, said the Switch was the obvious system for him and bought one during its 2017 launch. His downtime was mostly when the kids were in bed and his wife was watching something on TV, or when commuting on the train.
'It doesn't make sense for me these days to buy a home console. I need something that's on the go. I'm not a tech-head that gets into buying [a portable PC like] the ROG Ally or Steam Deck, but I'm aware that being tied to the Switch 1 really restricts the types of games that I could play,' he said.
'So for me, the reason for the upgrade was [the] bigger screen, better quality overall with the Joy-Cons, and the potential of the games that are going to come out. There'll be a range of third-party games that were not previously available to me.'
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For now, he's playing Mario Kart World, Nintendo's major launch title for the Switch 2 online, and is anticipating Donkey Kong Bananza next month. But he has also enjoyed dipping into the small library of Gamecube games included with Switch 2, through Nintendo's online subscription. Gamecube is a system originally released in 2001 and joins the retro libraries already available on Switch, including Super Nintendo, Nintendo 64, Game Boy and Sega Mega Drive.
As a fan of revisiting older games and systems, Fitzgerald said the Switch's integrated battery was among his concerns, along with a reliance on connecting online to verify game ownership, meaning it was unlikely to last as long as something like a Super Nintendo.
'I want to keep my Switch and all my digital purchases there. But there's a potential one day that I don't charge the Switch for a year, and then it's possibly dead,' he said.
The other primary beneficiary of the Switch 2 in the Fitzgerald household is eight-year-old Sam, who claimed his dad barely lets him touch the machine, but now has free access to the hand-me-down original Switch. The fan of Minecraft and Lego Star Wars said he was most looking forward to Pokemon Legends: Z-A – a sequel to 2022's Pokemon Legends: Arceus – coming to both Switch consoles later this year.
'That was the first game my dad got me to play on the Nintendo Switch. I'm gonna play it when I get home again, because I haven't played it in a while,' he said.
Sam said he had also explored the older games included on the Switch, including Pokemon Stadium (for Nintendo 64) and Kid Icarus (for NES). Most of his friends have Switches, and they show each other games they've discovered. If he could choose any game to get next, Sam said it would be Worms WMD, a modernised version of the classic PC artillery game. His friend showed it to him.
'Charlie let me play it. They say funny things, the enemy worms,' he said.
Nintendo has specially tuned its Switch systems for family use, with the ability to link up to eight profiles together. As part of a $55 annual Switch Online subscription, each profile gets access to retro games and online play, plus cloud save storage that means users can put the profiles on multiple devices (for example, the kids have their own Switch, but their profile is also on the Switch 2 connected to the TV), and each user can access their progress across multiple devices.
There's also the ability to lend digital games between family members, even between Switch and Switch 2 systems, meaning you don't have to buy multiple copies. And Switch 2 comes with a new feature called GameShare, which can stream games to other Switch systems (including the original), for multiplayers using only one copy of the game.
While a parent's upgrade to a Switch 2 can benefit all players in the house, kids can be tough to impress. My children both immediately noted that the new console was bigger – one said the magnetic Joy-Con 'makes it cooler' – but weren't that fussed about playing on it versus their Switch Lites if it mostly played the same games. Technical advancements like higher frame rates and HDR colour, or even 4K output to a TV, meant little to them.
'It looks exactly the same,' said Icarus, 8. 'The controllers are different, that's about it,' said Starling, 5.
While most adults I spoke to were excited by the prospect of their existing games working better on Switch 2, kids were most excited about the brand new games. As soon as they'd spent some time playing Mario Kart World, they were on board. A few days after the initial lukewarm reception, I asked which system they'd rather play.
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'Switch 2. It's the only console with Mario Kart World,' Icarus said. Starling nodded. I asked: 'What's so good about Mario Kart World?'
'It looks brighter and more realistic. It has free roam [where you can drive anywhere],' said Icarus. 'I like how each person can unlock all different versions of themselves. All the outfits,' added Starling.
And now that they have more of a grasp of the things that are only coming to Switch 2 and not the original (including an expansion later this year for one of their favourite games, Kirby and the Forgotten Land), they're excited.
For accountant Donald Duong, 37, the exclusive Nintendo games are the entire appeal of the machine. He plays on other systems and has a handheld gaming PC, but was compelled to buy it on day one, since he knows many of Nintendo's games will only be available on the Switch 2.
'It was an inevitability for me. I definitely took a deep breath when I saw the price of it, but considering what other consoles go for, that's unfortunately the new reality,' he said.
'And the Switch is unique. PlayStation is increasingly releasing games on PC, and Xbox is just straight out making them for everything. You can still only get first-party Nintendo games on the Switch.'
The increase in power and fidelity will also, he hopes, make the Switch 2 a perfect home for indie games, like the original Switch was for most of its life.
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Sydney Morning Herald
27-07-2025
- Sydney Morning Herald
This '80s pop icon is back, and it's better than ever
Donkey Kong is one of the most iconic video game characters of all time, and one of the earliest. Yet despite remaining relevant for the bulk of the past 40 years, none of the major Donkey Kong games since the 1980s have been made by any of Nintendo's internal Japanese studios, meaning the character has become a bit of a nebulous B-tier entity next to Mario and company. With the Big N solidifying its properties through movies and theme parks, as well as new games, a Donkey Kong reclamation was inevitable. The surprising part is that Nintendo threw its absolute best at the franchise. Donkey Kong Bananza is not only a contender for the best game the series has ever produced, it gives other contemporary games a run for their money when it comes to sheer fun, constant innovation and technological achievement. In the first year of the original Nintendo Switch, the company reasserted its place among the best game-makers by combining industry trends such as open-world design with its Mario and Zelda franchises to produce unexpected, delightful and utterly inimitable games. And now at the beginning of the Switch 2, Bananza sends the message that it's not slowing down. Created by the team behind Super Mario Odyssey, it combines elements of Minecraft -like permanent terrain alteration with Mario-level control and acrobatics, an evolved take on 3D platformer collectables, heaps of fresh ideas and plenty of inspiration from the past Donkey Kongs developed by Rare and Retro Studios. It has the climb-anywhere style of the recent Zeldas, but also the cathartic ability to tunnel through and destroy just about anything you see. It also sets a new tone and visual design for the series and character, which feels current but is perfectly in line with the arcade original. Bananza is set far away from DK Island, where our hero (and seemingly every other ape and monkey) is investigating a massive cache of underground gold. Donkey Kong is more interested in Banandium Gems, special jewels that look and apparently taste like the delicious yellow fruit, but unfortunately the evil Void Kong also has his eye on them. After a dastardly scheme sinks the mine deep into the ground, DK finds himself in a subterranean world populated by all sorts of weird creatures, and partners with a lost tween named Pauline (a young take on the damsel character from the arcade game) to head to the planet core. DK's abilities seem simple – you can jump, roll, punch forward, down and up, grab stuff, slap the ground and whistle – but it all adds up to a very satisfying arsenal that's easy to deploy. You can smash directly down into the ground, or rip chunks of rock out of the wall. You can combine rolls and jumps to cover huge distances. You can surf on hunks of concrete over hazardous terrain, or use a kind of sonar to detect goodies underground and tunnel right through them. And it feels heavy, crunchy and satisfying, like the very essence of the character's benevolent aggression. The central loop of the game is pretty simple too. You're steadily descending through layers, each one with a wildly different theme and inhabitants, and each with a number of sub-layers. Most have an elder to meet, who is of course a DJ, and because Pauline has a talent for singing, she can learn a magical song from each one. That's how you unlock transformations for DK. Several of these are just hideously jacked animals with angry faces and all the aesthetic appeal of the worst AFL mascots – an ostrich, a zebra – but intentionally and humorously so, and they come with abilities you will need to explore and progress.
The Age
27-07-2025
- The Age
This '80s pop icon is back, and it's better than ever
Donkey Kong is one of the most iconic video game characters of all time, and one of the earliest. Yet despite remaining relevant for the bulk of the past 40 years, none of the major Donkey Kong games since the 1980s have been made by any of Nintendo's internal Japanese studios, meaning the character has become a bit of a nebulous B-tier entity next to Mario and company. With the Big N solidifying its properties through movies and theme parks, as well as new games, a Donkey Kong reclamation was inevitable. The surprising part is that Nintendo threw its absolute best at the franchise. Donkey Kong Bananza is not only a contender for the best game the series has ever produced, it gives other contemporary games a run for their money when it comes to sheer fun, constant innovation and technological achievement. In the first year of the original Nintendo Switch, the company reasserted its place among the best game-makers by combining industry trends such as open-world design with its Mario and Zelda franchises to produce unexpected, delightful and utterly inimitable games. And now at the beginning of the Switch 2, Bananza sends the message that it's not slowing down. Created by the team behind Super Mario Odyssey, it combines elements of Minecraft -like permanent terrain alteration with Mario-level control and acrobatics, an evolved take on 3D platformer collectables, heaps of fresh ideas and plenty of inspiration from the past Donkey Kongs developed by Rare and Retro Studios. It has the climb-anywhere style of the recent Zeldas, but also the cathartic ability to tunnel through and destroy just about anything you see. It also sets a new tone and visual design for the series and character, which feels current but is perfectly in line with the arcade original. Bananza is set far away from DK Island, where our hero (and seemingly every other ape and monkey) is investigating a massive cache of underground gold. Donkey Kong is more interested in Banandium Gems, special jewels that look and apparently taste like the delicious yellow fruit, but unfortunately the evil Void Kong also has his eye on them. After a dastardly scheme sinks the mine deep into the ground, DK finds himself in a subterranean world populated by all sorts of weird creatures, and partners with a lost tween named Pauline (a young take on the damsel character from the arcade game) to head to the planet core. DK's abilities seem simple – you can jump, roll, punch forward, down and up, grab stuff, slap the ground and whistle – but it all adds up to a very satisfying arsenal that's easy to deploy. You can smash directly down into the ground, or rip chunks of rock out of the wall. You can combine rolls and jumps to cover huge distances. You can surf on hunks of concrete over hazardous terrain, or use a kind of sonar to detect goodies underground and tunnel right through them. And it feels heavy, crunchy and satisfying, like the very essence of the character's benevolent aggression. The central loop of the game is pretty simple too. You're steadily descending through layers, each one with a wildly different theme and inhabitants, and each with a number of sub-layers. Most have an elder to meet, who is of course a DJ, and because Pauline has a talent for singing, she can learn a magical song from each one. That's how you unlock transformations for DK. Several of these are just hideously jacked animals with angry faces and all the aesthetic appeal of the worst AFL mascots – an ostrich, a zebra – but intentionally and humorously so, and they come with abilities you will need to explore and progress.
News.com.au
18-07-2025
- News.com.au
Donkey Kong Bananza: Iconic Nintendo character gets best makeover yet
The first Donkey Kong game in over a decade has just been released and critics (including this one) are already hailing it as the best Donkey Kong game ever. But what makes Donkey Kong Bananza so special, and why has it been so long between drinks? The big ape named Donkey has been a key Nintendo character for almost as long as Nintendo has been making video games. What most people don't know, though, is that the world of video games would look very different now if Nintendo had been able to release a Popeye game in 1981 as planned. The story goes that back in the 1970s, Nintendo was trying to make an arcade game to appeal to American audiences and save Nintendo of America from the verge of collapse after the failure of their Radar Scope release. The executives turned to a young, early career graphic designer named Shigeru Miyamoto to make this game. He decided to make a Popeye title, but because rendering the usual Popeye antagonist (Bluto) would require too many pixels and make him a giant, Bluto was replaced with a giant ape, marking the creation of Donkey Kong. Later on in development, due to unspecified licensing issues, all Popeye characters had to be removed from the game. He was replaced with an American plumber to match the setting of a construction site. In the instruction manual, this plumber's name was Jumpman, but the developers nicknamed him Little Mario, after the landlord for their office in Seattle. Olive Oyl was turned into Pauline. Donkey Kong then became one of the first platform games, and the rest is history. Donkey Kong kept antagonising Mario for a few more games, before they both went on to separately star in their own game titles, like members of a boyband going off to do solo projects. In this analogy, Mario is the Harry Styles of the group, Donkey Kong Is Zayn Malik and Pauline is one of the other band members no one ever remembers. Pauline never got to enjoy the same popularity as the other heroes, or even her fellow Nintendo damsels Peach, Daisy and Rosalina. However, her recent outing in Super Mario Odyssey began to get her some of the recognition she deserves. That's why her prominent inclusion in Donkey Kong Bananza is so notable, though it's weird that Nintendo aged her down to a 13-year-old. The reason Pauline didn't take off as a character earlier, or why Mario apparently broke up with her in favour of a princess, Adelaide-based Donkey Kong super fan Chris Button isn't sure. 'I'd really like to ask Nintendo that one myself, actually, because she's one of the original Mario characters,' he told 'She's also one of the earliest examples of the classic damsel in distress trope that video games have leant on ever since. I think Pauline deserves more respect than what she has previously received.' Button points out, though, that Pauline has gotten more attention from Nintendo in recent years, being included as a racer in the latest Mario Kart World game, and getting a role as mayor of New Donk City in the popular Super Mario Odyssey game. Pauline's time to shine might finally have come. Donkey Kong has now almost completely shed his old villainous ways (though his greed remains). This latest Donkey Kong Bananza game follows a different story to the ones we're used to seeing DK in. He's a miner now, sort of. The game starts with him trying to get special Banandium Gems from the ground in the middle of a gold rush. However, there is villainy afoot in the quest to have a great wish granted and so Donkey Kong gets to do what he does best: smash stuff, collect collectables, and eat bananas. But he also must help a 13-year-old Pauline, who in turn can help transform DK using her songs. I don't want to say much more to avoid spoiling the game, but it's surprisingly touching at times. I can't believe I'm saying that about a Donkey Kong game. Daniel Vuckovic, who runs Australian community Nintendo site and is based in WA, doesn't believe that Donkey Kong would be FIFO on the mines. 'Judging by the chatter of the characters in the game, it seems like he up and left to go mining because there's bananas there, so I think he's more of an on-site guy. He's really involved and goes where he has to go to get his bananas and his money.' Made by the same people who made Super Mario Odyssey, Bananza has some of the same DNA. Although it plays completely differently, it will still be familiar to players who enjoyed Odyssey. Some people are already theorising that Bananza is a prequel to Odyssey. However, Vuckovic cautions against trying to find continuity. 'I think like Zelda, and like Mario, there are some interconnecting ideas between games, but at some point they're all just different characters. 'Link from Breath of the Wild and Link from Tears of the Kingdom are different characters. Is there an actual timeline? Who knows anymore.' Donkey Kong Banaza walks a fine line between catering to longtime fans and being the perfect introduction for new players. It's filled with tonnes of references and Easter eggs to previous games, but is enjoyable even without the context, and it would work well as someone's first video game, if played in co-op mode with someone else. With the success of the Nintendo Switch 2 console as the fastest selling console of all time, and Donkey Kong Bananza being only the second exclusive title for the new console, it's expected to sell very well. But while other game companies might use success as an opportunity to suddenly release a lot more Donkey Kong games, that's not Nintendo's style. It might be a further 11 years before we get another one. Part of what makes Nintendo stand out from other game companies so much is that it's willing to let games breathe. Button says this is down to Nintendo focusing on unique ideas over quantity. 'I think Nintendo puts a real focus on trying to find a unique element to kickstart each game,' he said. 'You only have to look at the poor Metroid fans. I would love them to throw a bone to some of those long- neglected franchises or some of those franchises that have for gaps between games. 'But I suppose that when they do return with something, like when Metroid Dread came out a couple of years ago, they really knock it out of the park.' Having now played Donkey Kong Bananza, I can confidently say that they've definitely knocked it out of the park this time. Donkey Kong Bananza is avalable now on Nintendo Switch 2.
