Switch 2 First Look

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Nice presentation

I couldn’t resist it. And it is lovely hardware. As to where it takes me, that’s another matter. The Switch 2 arrived today. First observations:

  • It is very easy to put the joycon controllers on the wrong sides when you first get the machine. They work that way round, but the console politely asks you to swap them over.

  • You can’t use the original Switch power supply with the Switch 2. The Switch 2 claims it is being charged, but the internal software doesn’t properly notice. If you try to power the dock with a Switch 1 supply nothing happens. The new supply is just a little plug with a usb c socket for the usb c to usb c lead that comes with the console. Additional chargers are 25 quid. You can find them here.

  • The Switch 2 has 128G of internal memory, which is more than previous Switches. Mario Kart world is around 25Gb. Tears of the Kingdom is 20Gb. No Man’s Sky is 25Gb Breath of the Wild is 10Gb, as is Animal Crossing.

  • The wrist straps clip on in a really nice way, and the buttons on the joycons are much, much nicer.

  • There’s an extra USB socket on the top of the Switch 2, which makes using the stand much nicer.

  • It’s very easy to transfer your identity from the original Switch to your Switch 2, but make sure you can plug the old Switch into the mains during the transfer, otherwise it won’t work.

  • The picture looks great in HD on a big telly, and it just works. The lcd screen is much larger than the original Switch, and I reckon the contrast is as good as the Switch OLED version.

  • You can’t use old microSD cards in the Switch 2. You need new fangled “Express” ones which cost 50 quid for 256Gb of storage. Wah.

  • No Man’s Sky looks good value. It is fifteen quid at the moment for the Switch 2 version.

  • If you are a Nintendo subscriber you can get the Switch 2 upgraded versions of Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild for free.

  • The HD version of Tears of the Kingdom looks a lot smoother, but that’s about it (or at least it was for me).

  • Mario Kart World is provided as a download code. It took around half an hour to come down when I loaded it. Things go a lot faster if you pop the Switch 2 into a docking station with a wired network connection.

  • Mario Kart is very good. But it is still Mario Kart.

I really like the Switch 2. I just hope that we get new games with the impact of the ones that came out with the Switch 1.

Still got it