Some Thoughts on the Switch 2

The gaming world has been abuzz with discussion of Nintendo’s next console for quite some time now. Rumored to be launching early next year, the successor to the Switch has many people talking about their hopes and expectations for the new hardware. I thought it would be fun to lay out my wishes for the new system, which I’ll dub the Switch 2 for the sake of convenience.

Super Smash Bros. Ultimate is so good, I want to keep playing it forever.

While nothing about the console has officially been revealed yet, I’ll be very surprised if it doesn’t stick to the Switch’s hybrid console format. I think it’s a great approach to hardware, and the system’s sales figures point to plenty of other people feeling the same way. The convenience factor of being able to play your games on the go or docked has made more traditional consoles feel obsolete to me, so I really hope they don’t mess with the formula too much here. I wouldn’t mind having multiple models available that include a portable-only variant, such as the existing Switch Lite, but I hope the Switch 2’s DNA remains the same.

Playing Link’s Awakening at a higher framerate would be lovely.

My next wish for the Switch 2 is better performance. I don’t expect anything too crazy here, as the aforementioned portability means it still won’t be able to match the specs of a PS5 or Xbox Series X, but it would be nice to see games run better on the new console. Many Switch games that I adore have issues with stuttery framerate, including Link’s Awakening, Metroid Dread and Kirby and the Forgotten Land, and I would appreciate better hardware leading to smoother performance. Keep the graphics as they are, in my opinion. Nintendo is very adept at making their first-party games visually appealing with strong art direction and stylized graphics over realism and high polygon counts, and I’m perfectly fine with that. Just make the experience of actually playing the game smoother and I’ll be a happy customer.

Let me keep playing Metroid Dread forever.

Finally, I hope the Switch 2 has full backwards compatibility. Shigeru Miyamoto has made some vague comments about the matter, but nothing else has been laid out about the company’s plans for this feature. I have a large library of both physical and digital Switch games, and I’d hate to have to hold on to the previous console to keep playing them. Ideally, I hope they stick with the same cartridges to ensure physical games still work, and use the My Nintendo account system to make sure digital purchases carry over. Great strides have been made in regard to backwards compatibility in recent years, with Valve, Microsoft and Sony all taking steps to make digital libraries move with you. I hope Nintendo goes all-out with this for the Switch 2.

There you have it, my shortlist of desired features for the Switch 2. It sounds like it may be revealed later this year, so I likely won’t be waiting too long to see if my wishes are granted. I’d like to think I’m not asking for too much here, just some improved performance and backwards compatibility using the same hybrid hardware. Here’s hoping the new console is a good one!

Rediscovering Handheld Gaming

I recently got a Switch Lite. I’ve had an original model for several years now, but it’s been docked for at least 90% of its life. Something about the way the Joy-Cons connect to the tablet has always felt uncomfortable to hold to me, so I started thinking about buying a Lite for a more comfortable handheld experience. Since I got my Lite, I’ve noticed that it and my Steam Deck have started to overtake my TV and PC monitor for my gaming time, and it has me thinking about how far portable gaming has come since I was a little gamer.

Lyn in Fire Emblem on Game Boy Advance.

Lyn in Fire Emblem Warriors on Switch.

I played plenty of games on my Game Boy Pocket and Game Boy Color as a kid, but my favorite handheld was the Game Boy Advance. Released in 2001, it felt like a massive upgrade. It was capable of playing SNES ports, which blew my mind at the time. I can vividly remember feeling like the future had arrived when I played Super Mario World on my GBA during a flight. Looking back now, it’s cute how quaint that sense of wonder seems in hindsight. I have two handheld devices in my house now that can play Doom Eternal, a video game from 2020. As shown above, my favorite Fire Emblem character can now be rendered in full 3D on the Switch, when she was once confined to sprites.

A portable game like Metroid Dread would have been unthinkable when I was a kid.

Aside from the technical stuff, getting back into handheld gaming has reminded me just how comfy it can be. While the Steam Deck is a behemoth, I find it pretty comfortable to hold thanks to the big grips on the back, so both it and the Switch make for nice couch or bed gaming. There’s something relaxing about just stretching out with a portable game and getting lost in that little screen for a bit. Being able to pick it up and move to another room is always convenient, especially when the TV is occupied.

One feature that’s especially nice with modern handhelds is being able to make progress across devices. Thanks to cloud saves, I can play games on my Switch Lite and pick back up where I left off on the docked console. The same is true for my Steam Deck and desktop PC. I’ve also been playing games on my iPad recently, and it too has seamless gaming across Apple devices. It’s nice to be able to go back and forth between devices without worrying about losing progress.

I can take my very favorite game, Resident Evil, on the go nowadays.

It’s exciting to see how far handheld gaming has come since the original Game Boy days. We’ve gone from only having monochromatic 2D games to ports of just about everything you could want. I love being able to take my games with me wherever I go, and there are ample options for doing that in the modern age.

Thoughts on the Steam Deck

Following several months of rumors, Valve’s portable gaming PC known as the Steam Deck has finally been unveiled and is available to pre-order. Personally, I’ve been excited for this device since I first heard speculation about a “Steam Pal” being announced this year, and I’m happy with what I see in the final product. It’s a handheld that can play your Steam library but also allows users to install other games, stores, launchers and even operating systems.

Like many gamers, I have a pretty sizable Steam library and a ton of games I’ve gotten from other stores and various bundles. Being able to play them on the go or while chilling in bed with a more comfortable form factor than a laptop is very appealing to me. The Deck drew immediate comparisons to the the Nintendo Switch, and for good reason. It’s very similar in design and function, though the Deck is more powerful, doesn’t have detachable controllers and does have track pads like those on the Steam Controller. As a happy Switch owner, I’m looking forward to having 2 gaming devices that can be used both as handhelds and docked to my TV. With the Steam Deck, you don’t get Nintendo exclusives, but it will let me run my portable games at higher settings and has so many other great games available that I see them as being complementary devices in my household.

So, what will I be playing on it? There’s been some discussion already about some big games not being compatible with SteamOS (such as online multiplayer juggernauts Fortnite, Warzone and Apex Legends), but I’m not too worried about that. I’m actually pretty excited to play a ton of old games on a handheld. Think DOS games like Theme Hospital, Sword of the Samurai or Harvester. There are also some games I’m curious to try out on a beefier handheld. The one that immediately comes to mind is Resident Evil HD, a game I already own on Switch and would like to compare the performance of between the Switch and Deck versions. Plus, being able to play excellent AAA games like Doom Eternal at 60 fps on something that looks like a Game Gear is admittedly pretty cool. Overall, I’m happy the Steam Deck exists and am looking forward to getting my hands on it once it ships.