Games

So... its $50 more than an LCD, 256 GB Steam Deck (the Switch 2 is also LCD).

A Deck has two touchpads that work as mice.

And you can buy a real mouse with those $50 bucks you saved.

Oh right and it has a bigger screen, can run almost every modern to ancient PC game, and basically every retro game if you can handle an EmuDeck or RetroDeck guided installer, oh and it also just is a computer that does everything a mid tier linux laptop can do.

It can even run Switch games, and probably will be able to run Switch 2 games in... what, 2 years? 3 years?

I'm really not trying to rain on the parade here, but uh... yeah I do not understand the cost benefit analysis on a Switch 2 vs a Deck unless:

You really, really want to play Switch 2 games soon

OR

The Switch 2 somehow has vastly superior performance to a Steam Deck

... I kinda doubt that last one being the case, but the specs aren't out yet (afaik) so I guess it is possible.

EDIT: Ok, so uh... tariffs just happened.

Switch 2 may now be $600.

https://www.tweaktown.com/news/104409/nintendo-switch-2-price-may-jump-from-449-to-600-following-trumps-tariffs/index.html

Preorders have been delayed.

Steam Decks are manufactured in Taiwan... so they'll likely jump in price too... but that could possibly be delayed for at least a bit...

I think Valve has warehouses in the US full of them, and they are also a private company with absurdly deep pockets, and thus don't have the 'maximize shareholder profit in current/next quarter' mandate... so they may be able to keep their costs to consumers from raising, by just internally subsidizing them...

But I really have no idea.

Glad to know that Nintendo admits PCs are the best way to game lol.

I mean... A gaming mouse is probably cheaper than the controller alone lol

Two words: Mario Paint

i can't imagine that will be comfortable to use for any significant amount of time.

That looks much less comfortable than the way the Lenovo Legion handles it.

...also the pessimist in me is afraid this will result in less games with gyro aiming support...

It's a funny gimmick but all the competitors already have support mouse and keyboard. You can also use them in some games like Sims 4 or Cities: Skylines.

But guess this mouse mode could also encourage 3rd party developers to add mouse and keyboard support for their games on consoles.

Could be useful for RimWorld. Factorio maybe.

I can't wait for it to be a thing that only a small handful of actually good 3rd party titles use that feature and the rest are gonna be 1st party titles shoehorning it in to say "Look at our fancy new feature we swear nobody has ever done before! Trust me!".

Am I the only one thinking that a huge chunk of the initial audience are Nintendo adults who already have a pc for main games and a switch on the side?

Feels like this gimmick (although every new Nintendo console gets one) was so forced just to upsell a switch 1 and justify splitting the community with exclusive releases. Really sad to see mk world not playable with a player base on switch 1. Most next gen were happily bought enough with a reasoning in increasing hardware (which the switch 2 really also does well).

Just the predatory move of splitting or even passively force the playerbase to leave behind the switch 1, makes the mouse sensor so MEH.. I mean.. lackluster in my eyes. Idk

Eh?

Conceptually I like the idea.

But even if it isn't uncomfortable to use and has decent DPI? It is going to have the same problem the OG steam controller or even the PS5 adaptive triggers have. If only one platform is going to use an input type then it is not going to be used by any third parties.

Yes, in this case it is two platforms: Switch and PC. But the number of developers who will say "I can make a switch port and only a switch port of my game" are few and far between. They'll once again focus on how to make gamepad work because that gives them ALL the consoles, the Steam Deck, and even helps us olds with RSI.

Metroid Prime 4 with mouse controls is gonna go so hard

I'm pretty excited for this feature honestly, I know a lot of games won't use it but still it's gonna be fun.

I was surprised to see that both left and right joycons have the mouse functionality. Was cool to see it in action with the wheelchair basketball game.