Next Gen Advent Calendar III: Countdown to Switch 2 - Launch Day

[wakka]

It makes sense to me.

Nintendo are famously secretive and we know that finished units have been circulating for a while, hence the leaks from people who handled units that were already in the US.

It doesn’t surprise me that they’d take measures to ensure they were non-functional.

Imagine how disastrous it would be if before the machine had even been announced the software was cracked and YouTubers were deep diving on how well Switch 1 games ran on it, etc, or issuing complaints that certain games had incompatibilities and so on.

[fishbowlhead]

I’m not sure what their trying to hide to be honest, it’s a Switch pro, same same but slightly more power 🤷♂️

[Neon Ignition]

The more snippets that come out about MKW the more I've been starting to be convinced that the open world aspect is actually going to be a major game changer for the series and the game isn't as iterative as it first appears to MK8. I'm hoping so as like DT, it's the only game I have lined up for the system as the rest of the line up is port heavy.

[Neon Ignition]

Presumably the system launch is doing all the work for Mario Kart World but it's amazing how subdued this launch feels now that it's finally here

[fishbowlhead]

I’ve paid for one and keep forgetting launch is this week 🤷♂️

[Neon Ignition]

Same boat - After six years of reading and hearing people moan about desperately needing a Switch Pro and so on, we're hours away and I can't recall the last major console launch that has such a lack of sense of 'event' to it.



"For some, the day Switch 2 graced your palms was the most important day of your life. But for me, it was Thursday"

[fishbowlhead]

For me this is a Switch Pro, which is fine, but that’s also the reason I’m just not excited about it. It just feels like an event that should have happened 5 years ago, and not a supposed full console sequel, Nintendo have simply dragged it out too long.

[Neon Ignition]

I remember going into high school when the hype over the Shoshinkai N64 footage the night before couldn't have been higher

I'll be in my 50's when Switch 3 releases...

[egparadigm]

I'm rather excited, personally. It's the first console I've bought at launch since the GameCube. I thought that's what happened with 360 but, looking back, I think that was a short time after launch. I've queued up various games, mainly upgraded Switch 1 games (I only got Switch in 2022 I think it was and haven't played much of its catalogue).

Having said all this I am sort of expecting to get an "oh, is that it?" reaction after the first few hours, because of its similarity to existing hardware.

Although I'll play a bit of Mario Kart, what I'm most interested in is Bananza, which hopefully won't be too far behind.

[Wools]

That's a good one; When was any of us last excited about a game console, handheld or PC component releasing?

I was super excited about the Xbox 360 and PS3, but was happy to wait for stocks to calm down so I could walk into a store and buy one with a game I cared about. I was giddy for the PSP launch, and imported a console from this very forum, but then sold it and re-brought a UK unit, going to the midnight launch at my local indie.

Didn't much care for the XB1 and the PS4 but picked up both a year or so in. Didn't care for the Switch but picked one up in 2020 and fell for the console. Was excited building my PC back in 2019 during the 2070 era of GPU's. PS5 and XBSX I couldn't care less about, but did buy a PS5 when GT7 came out and happy with it now.

Yep, the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox and PSP was the last era where I was giddy for the machines, and picked all of them up on UK release day.

All other generations of console, PC and Handheld, very much has a policy of waiting till either a must have game is released or for the time to be right. For myself, Mario Kart World isn't a system seller in my household for the Switch 2. When a new Mario is released though, that'll be when I break.

[Dogg Thang]

Well the money has come off my card. I’m committed. Not quite excited and I have a bit of regret and maybe I should have demonstrated some self control and waited. I’m looking forward to Mario Kart World. In terms of other launch day or even launch window games, what even is there? I guess Nintendo systems are often slow to get the software out but this seems particularly barren.

I’m hoping that, when I have it in my hand and I’m playing Mario Kart, that I’ll be really happy with it and I’ll be all ready for whatever games are to come. At least what I’ve done is avoid the future dithering over whether I’ll get one or not - it was always just a case of when, not if. Now it’s done.

[wakka]

That's a good one; When was any of us last excited about a game console, handheld or PC component releasing?

I was super excited about the Xbox 360 and PS3, but was happy to wait for stocks to calm down so I could walk into a store and buy one with a game I cared about. I was giddy for the PSP launch, and imported a console from this very forum, but then sold it and re-brought a UK unit, going to the midnight launch at my local indie.

Didn't much care for the XB1 and the PS4 but picked up both a year or so in. Didn't care for the Switch but picked one up in 2020 and fell for the console. Was excited building my PC back in 2019 during the 2070 era of GPU's. PS5 and XBSX I couldn't care less about, but did buy a PS5 when GT7 came out and happy with it now.

Yep, the Dreamcast, PlayStation 2, GameCube, Xbox and PSP was the last era where I was giddy for the machines, and picked all of them up on UK release day.

All other generations of console, PC and Handheld, very much has a policy of waiting till either a must have game is released or for the time to be right. For myself, Mario Kart World isn't a system seller in my household for the Switch 2. When a new Mario is released though, that'll be when I break.

I was pretty excited about the PS5 to be honest. The PS4 was such a dog, so noisy and the interface so slow and clunky. I was well up for a revised machine and I was excited to play Demon's Souls. To be honest I was a lot more up for the PS5 launch than I had been for the PS4.

The 2000s were the peak though. PSP, DS, 360. Was super excited for all those launches. My Japanese PSP absolutely blew my socks off. Was sat in geography class when my dad texted to say something had arrived from Japan and I was sooooooo excited and it absolutely delivered big time. Longest journey home from school ever though

[Dogg Thang]

My Japanese PSP absolutely blew my socks off.

Best new system feeling for me by far. It has never been topped.

[wakka]

It felt properly like it came from the future. The whole design of it, the aluminium ring on the back, the UMDs. The ridiculously good graphics of Ridge. Even just the menus and interface of the console itself and Ridge.

It was a totally class act. I've still got that unit, complete with the slightly dodgy square button that most/all of the launch machines had.

I remember taking it to school and people were just blown away by it. There really had never been anything quite like it.

Now that insanely powerful pocket computers are so de rigeur and have been for so many years, it's cool to look back on as a moment in time when mobile technology was suddenly accelerating forwards at a bonkers pace.

[Wools]

The 2000s were the peak though. PSP, DS, 360. Was super excited for all those launches. My Japanese PSP absolutely blew my socks off. Was sat in geography class when my dad texted to say something had arrived from Japan and I was sooooooo excited and it absolutely delivered big time. Longest journey home from school ever though

Agreed. Although I was so excited about the PlayStation and Saturn as a kid, I never had the money for one on launch day and my parents could never have afforded one, so I had to wait for those to come down to £129 before my parents brought a PS1 for myself as a Christmas present. And 1 year later, I got a job and my local indie was selling a moded Saturn for £60 and I picked that bad boy up!

Best new system feeling for me by far. It has never been topped.

The PSP is dealt a bad hand in history but the feeling of PS2 standard games on not just a handheld, but a widescreen handheld was astonishing for the time. Ridge and WipEout in the palm of your hand, with internet access... Also, one of the best looking consoles / handhelds / consumer devices ever made?