One Year On, Nintendo's Switch 2 Impresses Me More Than Ever
Key takeaways
- A year ago, I scrambled to give on-the-fly thoughts about the Switch 2 as it arrived on shelves amid a ton of hype.
- My thought then was that the Switch 2 was the best gaming handheld, but not something any Nintendo Switch owner needed to buy.
- The economy has been brutal, driving prices of electronics and game consoles up constantly.
A year ago, I scrambled to give on-the-fly thoughts about the Switch 2 as it arrived on shelves amid a ton of hype. The long-expected follow-up to one of the most successful game consoles ever felt like it should be a slam dunk.
My thought then was that the Switch 2 was the best gaming handheld, but not something any Nintendo Switch owner needed to buy. And that was always the paradox: For all that the Switch 2 does better than the Switch, it's also the same proposition in many ways. It's another Switch, but with better graphics and some new games that, somehow, didn't include a new Zelda or 3D Mario.
In 2026, things already feel different. The economy has been brutal, driving prices of electronics and game consoles up constantly. PC gaming handhelds and Steam Decks are now climbing to prices that can reach $1,000 and higher. Years-old PlayStation 5 and Xbox consoles are more expensive too. Nintendo's also driven its Switch hardware prices up, but not nearly as much. The Switch 2's price is getting its first increase, up $50, to $500 on Sept. 1. A $500 price tag for a Nintendo console is a lot, but it's now on the lower end of a price spectrum that climbs higher than I ever imagined. Console gaming is a luxury now.