and I gotta be honest I kinda wanna play rimworld, emulated stuff and stardew valley mainly. I just rlly like the idea of it being run on linux and me owning the fucking games forever.
You can download and keep the installers forever in your personal storage somewhere, and install them without the need of Internet connection.
When you buy a game from GOG you’re buying without DRM and have all the installers available to download as backups. Regardless of what the fine print may say, this is effectively owning your games forever.
Regardless of what the fine print may say, this is effectively owning your games forever.
However, if you don’t ignore the contract you signed, this is effectively piracy. Which is fine, don’t get me wrong. But you still don’t own anything. BTW Steam has plenty of DRM-free games which you can run without Steam; backing them up is a more manual process but the end result is the same.
Yup. Install either Heroic or Lutris (though Heroic is a little better). I think there’s also a plugin to allow you to access Heroic through the Steam frintend, but in Desktop Mode, when installing a game through Heroic, it’ll add it to your Steam library, which means you can access it in Game Mode too.
They also flat out said it will be a long time before they even consider a 2nd version. Performance efficiency and battery tech need to make some leaps to make it practical.
For $50 less, you get a similarly capable machine in terms of specs but more comfortable to hold, with an immensely larger library, and an operating system far more respectful of your authority to do what you want with the machine you bought.
I’d encourage you to utilize those limited funds legally by buying games on deep discounts, if you were implying piracy, but even legitimately, being able to sideload all the old PC games you have is a massive plus. GOG and Epic give away great games for free on the regular, and an Amazon Prime subscription has recently been filled with some bangers that you get to keep via both of them.
I don’t think we know the specs yet, it might be way more powerful than the Steam Deck. I agree though that the Steam Deck is a better value considering the amount of games and their prices.
“$450 is an insanely high price for a new console, so I’m going to buy a $400 2 year old console instead.”
It’s a 60Hz vs 120Hz screen, and it’s got true 1080p resolution. It’s certainly on-par with the Steam Deck in terms of performance and performance per dollar. The price isn’t ridiculous by any stretch.
“$450 is an insanely high price for a new console, so I’m going to buy a $400 2 year old console instead.”
Sure. But it’s also a choice between a library that will forever cost $70 00-$90.00 per game, and a game library infamous for game sales so good that an average player cannot finish their library because the seasonal sales are too good to pass up.
A $400 2 year old console that I can sideload games onto, yes. Nintendo’s strength has been “weaker hardware, cheaper price” since the Wii. Now they want to price themselves alongside Sony and Microsoft? No thanks.
The thing for me is: The Switch is only a closed-down console. You can only buy games through the nintendo store. The Steam Deck is open. I can play my older games, even physical games via external optical drive, on my Steam Deck.
The Steam Deck is getting long in the tooth. New triple A games don’t run very well on it or aren’t even playable. It’s fine if you wan tot run older games or indie games, but otherwise you might have to look for one of the competitors.
For sure. It’s a great machine. I have one. But I’m trying to keep expectations down. Some people might be surprised to know that it isn’t a latest gen machine. Some people might have too high expectations because of all the rave it gets.
I don’t think I’ve played a new triple A game in over 5 years. If the steam deck can play modded Minecraft it will have more hours than the switch oled I got right after they released.
The reporting I'm seeing puts it at 40 if you buy the console bundle. Which... I mean, why wouldn't you?
I'm not sure what the deal is with the physical version, I have to assume it's some collector's edition deal with an Amiibo or something. Can't imagine they straight up double the price if you want to buy the card in a box instead of bundled with the console. Waiting on official prices for all of it, in any case.
Here’s the link to the French store: store.nintendo.fr/fr/nintendo-switch-2 all regional stores have similar prices in their own currencies. No details on what’s inside the box.
Got it, thanks. Yeah, it seems it's a 10 euro extra for physical. I get why, those Switch carts were expensive, and it seems like they've moved to even more expensive, faster storage, but it REALLY sucks. Puts the "virtual card" stuff they announced in perspective.
It just seems crazier for MK specifically because... well, it's forty bucks with the bundle, and the bundle is digital-only. Makes physical 2x the cost, which is nuts.
They're really milking this launch on a number of avenues I'm not cool with, and I'm not sure the offering justifies it. Some of those current-gen ports looked rough.
The 10 FPS screenshare feature didn’t entice you? And like cmon, gamechat. Nothing else has gamechat. And you will never even have to use a mouse ever again cuz u can just take your joycon to work and scratch it over the desk.
Don't quote me, but I think they will ship a plastic guard to use for the mouse, just like the Lenovo Legion Go does. Don't knock it til you try it, it does work.
For the record, it's weird to see Nintendo stumble upon the incredible concepts of Kinect and Discord in the year of our lord 2025. But hey, every Nintendo console needs a gimmick you can proceed to ignore, and this one will at least be useful to... somebody? At least it's a gesture that online games aren't an afterthought anymore.
What I'm not sure about at all is the pricing model for games and backwards compatibility as it is. And while the hardware is perfectly acceptable for a modern handheld and very comparable to the current batch of PC handhelds it's the target for the next decade, presumably, so it's at best as outdated as the original Switch was while not being the only game in town to play some of those HD ports.
I don't think it's an underwhelming propostion at this point, and you can't deny the first party software on display. I don't think it's nearly as exciting as the first Switch, though. We'll see how it does with mainstream audiences, I suppose.
I really did love my Switch for the past many years but I thought the switch 2 looked underwhelming. You are right about the software though. Nintendo knows how to sell consoles with games and the hardware while not revolutionary does look good.
Yep, agreed. I mean, revolutionizing the entire concept of home consoles and starting an entire new hardware segment is a hard act to follow, I wasn't expecting to be blown away by an iteration on the same idea.
I seriously think the new big thing is gonna be steamOS or something very similar to it. That was kind of unthinkable 10 years ago but I believe we are gonna see a shift in the industry.
I don't know about that. Reception to most of this Direct seems to be positive, they have a literal 10x sales advantage and 150 million people already in the ecosystem.
I wouldn't be surprised if it sold a lot slower, but half as fast as the Switch 1 is still faster than the PS5 and much faster than the Steam Deck.
Will PC handhelds gain some ground? Maybe, I'm curious to see.
Oh yeah sure the deck isnt gonna be a real danger to nintendo anytime soon but steamOS as an operating system is doing great things for gaming on linux and other hardware developers might use it too. SteamOS or at least proton is gonna be bigger than the steamdeck.
But you know that’s not gonna be the only $80 game. The next Zelda and 3D Mario are guaranteed to be $80, too, because they know people will pay it. Just like TotK’s $70 price point.
Depends on the customer really, we do not live in times where everyone can buy food or even think about raising another family member. Mind the release sales of the switch 1 were pre covid.
This might flop due to 2-class conflict, although Id love to see the switch 2 to succeed
120 and 4K are often claimed on console specs but are rarely achieved within games. At best it will be capable of that when playing Netflix or streaming.
They announced Metroid Prime 4 will be able to run at 1080p 120fps or 4K 60fps when docked. It doesn’t have the most impressive graphics or anything, but it sounds like they’re actually going to try doing it for a few games.
The real advantage of a 120 Hz screen is that you get a much more graceful degradation if you dip below your fps target for a bit. If you’re targeting 30 fps but drop to 25, it still feels pretty smooth on a high-refresh screen, whereas that’s appallingly clunky on a low-refresh one. A “poor man’s gsync”, if you will.
This is what a lot of people don’t understand. Higher refresh rate even with lower fps makes games feel more responsive. I can play 30 fps games much easier on a refresh rate higher than 60hz.
Or it’s actually running at 720p30 and being FSR/framegenned into a blurry shimmery mess. There’s no way Nintendo managed to cram a chip powerful enough to render its own Switch 1 games at true 4k120 into a tablet.
Or it’s actually running at 720p30 and being FSR/framegenned into a blurry shimmery mess. There’s no way Nintendo managed to cram a chip powerful enough to render its own Switch 1 games at true 1080p120 into a tablet.
That asshole company everyone* cares about. My hatred of Nintendo runs deep. But I still watched the direct. I’m so excited for the innovative new features, and the new Mario Kart looks sick. I am disgusted that they will use the money to go after fans. I need help
Yup, new lawsuits, good hackers in jail just for helping retards like me to play a game when we feel like it…me, once a year maybe? Why would I buy a console if I only play once a year?
They’re thrusting themselves back into directly competing with Sony and MS with those prices. Bold move in this economy, but they’ll probably do fine. I don’t expect nearly as many Switch 2s sold compared to the original, though.
I was waiting for confirmation of the price to get a Steam Deck as well. Nintendo was fine as a cheaper side console, but I don’t need 2 $500-ish walled garden consoles.
That pricing is really putting Nintendo out of its core market. The reason the Switch was an absolute smash is because it was and remained accessibly priced. The fact they’re charging $450 is really putting them out of the “hey that’s not too bad” audience. This is a wildly bad move on their part.
Yes, it is a price increase, but the inflation has been wild. For context, the Switch in 2017 for $299 is equivalent to $389 in 2025 dollars. It’s really been insane. The Nintendo 64 from 1996 was $199, or $404 in 2025 dollars.
While you’re not literally wrong adjusting for inflation, their “value proposition” is a bit out the window. It’s so close in price to comparable tech, it seems like a much more serious purchase. Nintendo hit it right with the Wii and the Switch by pricing competitively low. The Switch 2 should follow the same value quotient to be a runaway success. This is effectively what killed the Wii U. The Switch 2 could be destined to follow the same fate.
Even the mental trickery of “$399” would be more effective than “$449” for Nintendo in the long run. They have to question whether that $50 is worth losing marketshare. I think if they are keeping the game prices and (potentially) the cost of services like online higher than the entry point of buying the system should be lower.
Yes, but it doesn’t cost $389 but $450. For $389 I would’ve considered it, bot not $450. Also the bigger issue for me are the game and accessory prices.
The prices plus the fact the “physical” games are just download codes (cartridges are not preloaded) really killed the hype for me. I was excited for the new Mario Kart. But $90 for a physical download code after the lackluster, unfinished feeling main titles (Animal Crossing especially) on the Switch has me kind of disgusted. The game “upgrades” also are a bummer. Mario Party Jamboree, while fun, also feels unfinished. A lot of Nintendo’s newer games do, save for Zelda.
I just hope Tomodachii 2 is available on Switch 1. If it’s not I’m just going to have to wait for a rip.
I don’t think all games are like that, only some. Probably the ones that got larger file sizes. I hope they don’t cheap out and put smaller games also on licence-only cartridges.
Only some games are like that, and the ones that are, are cheaper.
I don’t know how you think Mario Party Jamboree is unfinished tho. It’s felt like the most polished one on years - probably since the first one on the Wii, except it has even more stuff than that.
That takes away much of the appeal of physical copies since Nintendo can still still control how it’s used after it is sold and will eventually no longer offer it for download while their DRM will make it difficult to make and use a backup copy. Buying would not be owning in that case, so what’s the point?
I have never purchased a game at $70 so for $80 they can be sure as shit I am hard noping out of this one. I was a day 1 3DS (ambassador club!) and Wii U buyer. Really hope this backfires, so incredibly stupid
Scroll down a good amount, 79.99$ MSRP for Mario kart world. Thats not a guarantee they’ll all be 80$. The new donkey Kong is 70$. No official word on other games, though.
In Australia we had an au$90 price tier with only 6 titles:
Breath of the Wild
Pokkén Tournament DX
Fire Emblem Warriors
Xenoblade Chronicles 2
Super Smash Bros Ultimate
Tears of the Kingdom
All their other AAA titles were au$80, for example:
Super Mario Kart 8 Deluxe
Animal Crossing: New Horizons
Super Mario Odyssey
Pokémon Sword/Shield or Scarlet/Violet
Super Mario Party / Superstars / Jamboree
New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe / Super Mario Wonder
Then smaller releases were placed at $70, for example:
1-2-Switch
Go Vacation
Fitness Boxing 2/ 3
Miitopia
WarioWare: Get It Together / Move it
You can see they used the $90 tier quite aggressively early in the piece and then scaled back significantly with almost 5 years between Smash Bros and Tears of the Kingdom.
At the same time they made sure the Marios (Kart, 3d, 2d, Party, Sports), Pokemons and other franchises with broad all-ages appeal were priced in the middle at $80.
To be honest I’m a bit worried about the pricing for Super Mario Kart World, the previous one was the beat selling Switch title and if they come out of the gate with high sales they may take the wrong lessons and try to lock in that au$120 price (a 50% increase!).
On the other hand they may just be price anchoring with the bundle. Having the standalone console priced at au$700 and the bundle at au$770 will let the consumer find ways to justify the purchase, they might say the console is worth $700 so the game is only $70, or they might argue the game is $120 so the console is really only $650. Either way will make them feel better about giving Nintendo the money.
I suppose the best outcome for the consumer would be for most people to get SMKW in the bundle and then hopefully the next title they release at that price point has lacklustre sales. If they see they sell more units at a lower price it can be a good outcome for everyone.
I won’t lie, I’m only interested in the new Pro controller. My old one has slight stick drift which absolutely sucks of course but it’s over 7 years old and feels so much better than anything else on the market. I also prefer the Nintendo button layout over Microsoft’s so it’s an easy purchase.
I have, but going by several reviews the Switch controller still faires the best for me and I hope the new one will do even better. There just isn’t anything that can compete right now.
For me, its not the console price thats the problem. £395.99 in the UK but if we consider inflation, the switch 1 would be around £360-365 today. An extra £30ish for a bigger screen and more power is not too unreasonable. Plus ending in 95.99 rather than 99.99 suggests Nintendo have tried to trim the headline price down.
The real problem is the accessories and games. £75 for new pro controller, £50 for new microSD Express (only ones compatible) £50 for webcam and £67-75 for physical games, £59-£67 for digital.
It seems like there’s nothing special about the camera, hopefully you could use others.
The SD Express makes sense, they’re not just upcharging (you can use any manufacturer’s cards), it’s how they guarantee the storage is reliably fast enough for all games to prevent lag in loading speeds
But for the other accessories, sure. And charging for switch 2 edition upgrades is annoying.
In the nintendo direct, when they were talking about the extra usb-c port, they’ve mentioned it could be used to connect a usb-c camera. Their camera announcement came way later.
Until March 31st, 2026, the GameChat system will be available for free for all Switch 2 owners
Is this so they can lock it behind the subscription after this? Along with all the other new features, not worth it for me. Getting the steam deck once I can’t get anymore physical games on the switch 1.
I hope they at least allow gamechat to be used locally, and by that I specifically mean allowing the camera stuff to be active (like if you plug in a small USB C camera in portable mode, maybe even if you sit in wireless range but in different rooms)
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Aktywne