{"id":3502,"date":"2025-04-03T03:10:16","date_gmt":"2025-04-03T03:10:16","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/?p=3502"},"modified":"2025-04-03T18:30:23","modified_gmt":"2025-04-03T18:30:23","slug":"games-inbox-nintendo-switch-2-direct-fan-verdict","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/03\/games-inbox-nintendo-switch-2-direct-fan-verdict\/","title":{"rendered":"Games Inbox: Nintendo Switch 2 Direct fan verdict"},"content":{"rendered":"<figure class=\"img-container shareable-item wp-caption\">\n<div class=\"img-wrap\">\n\t\t<img width=\"646\" height=\"363\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"article-image wp-image-22837401 lazyload\" alt=\"A screenshot of a cow riding a bike in Mario Kart World\" loading=\"lazy\" data-src=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/04\/SEI_246035461-98bb.jpg\">\t<\/div><figcaption>The Direct was definitely good for Moo Moo Farm fans (Nintendo)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>The Thursday letters page is impressed by <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/mario-kart\/\">Mario Kart<\/a> World on <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/nintendo-switch-2\/\">Nintendo Switch 2<\/a>, as readers are concerned about game prices on the new console.<\/p>\n<p><strong>To join in with the discussions yourself email <a href=\"mailto:gamecentral@metro.co.uk\">gamecentral@metro.co.uk<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>High-end showcase<\/strong><br \/>Some quick reactions to the Switch 2 reveal:<\/p>\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li><a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/04\/02\/mario-kart-world-leads-nintendo-switch-2-launch-line-up-looks-incredible-22769735\/\">Mario Kart World<\/a> looks very nice and definitely couldn&#8217;t run on the Switch. Looks like <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/nintendo\/\">Nintendo<\/a> are going to push it as a social game, especially with the \u2018C\u2019 button screen sharing, etc. I&#8217;m not personally that interested in that aspect, but it looks quite good.<\/li>\n<li>Surprised that the Welcome Tour has to be paid for separately? Maybe the mini-games are fun but otherwise I&#8217;ll give it a miss.<\/li>\n<li>Metroid Prime 4 on Switch 2 looks very impressive. I note that they left it out of the list of upgrades, i.e. you can&#8217;t buy it for Switch 1 and then upgrade to Switch 2, at least not at launch. I guess that&#8217;s to push Switch 2 buyers to buy the Switch 2 edition.<\/li>\n<li>GameCube games on Nintendo Switch Online from day one is definitely a plus for me: The Wind Waker at the very least will keep me going.<\/li>\n<li>Lots of third party support; I need to check back later on what&#8217;s coming out at launch. I&#8217;ve been holding out on playing Cyberpunk 2077 to see if a Switch 2 edition would come out, as it&#8217;s a lot more convenient for me than on home console, so that&#8217;ll do me nicely.<\/li>\n<li>The new FromSoftware game looks like it runs better than <a data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/elden-ring\/\">Elden Ring<\/a>, which can hardly be right &#8211; looks very interesting though.<\/li>\n<li>The console price is pretty reasonable &#8211; I think it&#8217;s quite a bit less than the official price of the <a data-track=\"inline-tag-auto-link_article\" href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/tag\/playstation-5\/\">PlayStation 5<\/a> (the current Astro Bot deal notwithstanding)? By comparison, the original Switch was a bit more expensive than PlayStation 4 was at the time, if I recall correctly.<\/li>\n<li>The game prices are by contrast pretty steep and I&#8217;m surprised that Nintendo are offering digital at a discount to physical, which they&#8217;ve never done before. What that means is that those game cards must be pretty expensive &#8211; hopefully the loading times make it worth it. Personally, I think I&#8217;ll be waiting for the digital sales for a lot of these games.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Overall, this was at the higher end of my expectations for the Direct, wonder what other people thought?<br \/><strong>Mickah<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Switch 2 awakens<\/strong><br \/>Well, that was an underwhelming presentation. Graphically I felt it a major letdown, with very poor water splashes seen in Mario Kart. My fault in part, as I&#8217;d hoped for a Matrix Awakens level of graphics but those reports around PlayStation 4 level look to be spot on.<\/p>\n<p>Then those insane prices. Oh and the Welcome Tour game (also known as an instruction manual) which you have to buy\u2026 I think that \u2018C\u2019 button stands for cash, as you&#8217;ll need a lot of it for this system. Don&#8217;t get me wrong I love Nintendo, but I&#8217;ll wait five years for an updated version and hopefully better and cheaper software.<br \/><strong>Rob<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Shifting opinions<\/strong><br \/>The Nintendo Switch 2 reveal.<\/p>\n<p>A refined version of the Switch and that&#8217;s a good thing.<\/p>\n<p>Mario Kart World looks like fun but not exactly a system seller in my opinion and halfway through the trailer I thought I won&#8217;t get one at launch, I&#8217;ll wait awhile.<\/p>\n<p>Then FromSoftware appeared on screen. The Duskbloods, exclusive to the Switch 2.<\/p>\n<p>I had a sudden change of mind then saw it&#8217;s out next year.<\/p>\n<p>TL;DR. I&#8217;ll buy one next year. It looks a good console.<br \/><strong>Chevy Malibu<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Kinect V2<\/strong><br \/>So the Switch 2 \u2018C\u2019 button is for chat. All those predictions of what it might be for and it&#8217;s a very simple idea, now we know what it is.<\/p>\n<p>Controllers as a mouse and upgraded games if you pay extra for what you already own (same as Sony did for the PlayStation 5 games)<\/p>\n<p>And they are bringing out a camera that puts you in the game and control your movement and voice in the game. We all know how Kinect turned out for Microsoft and the eye camera for the Playstation.<\/p>\n<p>Don&#8217;t get me wrong I&#8217;m a huge Nintendo fan, but nothing made me go wow, I really need this. Recycled ideas that hopefully work out better than the first time around.<br \/><strong>Cassius2K<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Welcome home, good hunter<\/strong><br \/>That Mario Kart looks absolutely amazing but that looked like Bloodborne 2 (unofficial)! If Sony aren&#8217;t interested then Nintendo will be and suddenly I feel the need to clear my credit card ready for June.<\/p>\n<p>Just to add: I wasn&#8217;t the only one, from reading through some of the comments, that said how the thing basically crashed around Cyberpunk and was showing a different game!<\/p>\n<p>Also, Donkey Kong looked fantastic and I&#8217;m glad it looked like there are platform levels in the game.<br \/><strong>Simon<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Email your comments to: <a href=\"mailto:gamecentral@metro.co.uk\">gamecentral@metro.co.uk<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Sega+ Direct<\/strong><br \/>I hope I\u2019m wrong, but it seems like a decent chunk of Sega games seem to be leaving Game Pass and PlayStation Plus Extra\/Premium in recent months. I am going to make a wild prediction that Sega is going to announce their own subscription service.<\/p>\n<p>Maybe this will coincide with being available on the Switch 2 as well? Seeing that GameCube games are being predicted on the Switch 2, and these would be an upgrade on the NES, SNES and N64 games on the original Switch, there are already Mega Drive games on the Switch, so maybe Sega will do something similar.<\/p>\n<p>I look forwards to the Switch 2 part of this prediction being proved wrong by the time people read this\u2026but I like to think the Xbox and PlayStation 5 versions could potentially happen, given Sega\u2019s (quite surprising) decent library of games. Thoughts GC?<br \/><strong>NatorDom<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>GC:<\/strong> It\u2019s a plausible idea, but we think Yakuza 0: Director\u2019s Cut was the only Sega game in the Direct.<\/em><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"The First Berserker: Khazan | Launch Trailer - Smash to Black\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/Qmsk6St7lj8?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><strong>Go berserk for it<\/strong><br \/>I was extremely surprised by just how awesome The First Berserker: Khazan is. If, like me, you hadn&#8217;t heard of this game until a week or so ago, it&#8217;s basically a hybrid Souls\/ Sekiro\/Nioh game.<\/p>\n<p>Everything about it is superb: the enemies, customisation, difficulty, gear sets, build options. The best part though is the combat which is <em>so<\/em> good. All the bosses are challenging but doable. And the level design is quite linear but I actually like the gauntlet style &#8211; after a 250+ Elden Ring run including the DLC exploring every nook, it is nice just to have a high level of action throughout (although there are secrets to unlock and find).<\/p>\n<p>I was also impressed with the price. Via CD Keys I got the deluxe edition for \u00a347! That is very good value these days, for a highly polished game devoid of microtransactions and bugs. I imagine I&#8217;ll easily get 100+ hours out of it.<\/p>\n<p>Would strongly recommend it anyway!<br \/><strong>Tom<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>GC: <\/strong>It\u2019s derivative but <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/03\/27\/first-berserker-khazan-review-best-soulslike-2025-22800089\/\">we really liked it too<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Hardware bundle<\/strong><br \/>I watched and thoroughly enjoyed the Switch 2 presentation. I had even set my alarm to it.<\/p>\n<p>Mario Kart World looks amazing (and similar to Forza Horizon 2, where you have to drive from race to race yourself).<\/p>\n<p>I was hoping for a reveal of a new 2D Mario but came to accept we had had enough in the new Kart game for now.<\/p>\n<p>As the price of the console wasn&#8217;t revealed in the presentation, I got it from GameCentral and the \u00a3395.99 isn&#8217;t too bad.<\/p>\n<p>I did personally say in the Underbox (before the comments section disappeared) it&#8217;d be \u00a3399.<\/p>\n<p>It&#8217;s the apparent pricing of the games that concerns me.<\/p>\n<p>\u00a374.99 (for Mario Kart World) is quite a jump from the Switch1&#8217;s \u00a349.99 and though I can afford it, I don&#8217;t think I can justify it with my wallet.<\/p>\n<p>Second-hand will see prices still high at about \u00a360 to \u00a365.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;ll keep an eye on these game prices to see if people disagree about paying that much.<\/p>\n<p>For now, I&#8217;ll work on my Switch 1 backlog.<br \/><strong>LeighDappa<\/strong><br \/>PS: The Switch 2 game cards are red. How cool is that?<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>GC:<\/strong> It\u2019s only the physical edition that\u2019s \u00a375. You can get the digital edition for just \u00a334 if you buy it with the console.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Turtle-y worth it<\/strong><br \/>RE: Hubert and his wondering about the longevity of modern retro scrolling beat \u2018em-ups. Having played Streets Of Rage 4 and actually owning Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder&#8217;s Revenge, I would say, as a fan of this genre and as a fan of the Ninja Turtles, that these games should hold your interest. TMNT particularly, because I actually have it, I can say you get four turtles, Master Splinter, April O&#8217; Neil, Casey Jones and the Samurai Bunny from the Edo dimension.<\/p>\n<p>So eight characters to play as and Mona Lisa and Mondo Gecko as more paid-for DLC, if ya want even more. They each have 10 levels to hack, slash, spin, and hover up to, each level unlocking new super moves to snash the Foot with, as well as new skins and probably more besides, awesome boss fights and crucially that just one more go gameplay hook.<\/p>\n<p>Compared to the old arcade version, Turtles In Time, which I played very recently and the assortment of attacks, special moves, throws, rolls\/slides and jump and float attacks is a <em>massive<\/em> step up. The old one had literally three attacks, (attack, jump attack, and a two button jump-swipe). They can of course be played online, but you would likely need to find a dedicated group to arrange something. But, of course, if you had guests, especially with kids, then they\u2019ll love it.<br \/><strong>big boy bent<\/strong><\/p>\n<figure class=\"wp-block-embed is-type-video is-provider-youtube wp-block-embed-youtube\">\n<div class=\"wp-block-embed__wrapper\">\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Nintendo Direct: Nintendo Switch 2 \u2013 4.2.2025\" width=\"840\" height=\"473\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/VrTVeYm4iIM?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture; web-share\" referrerpolicy=\"strict-origin-when-cross-origin\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<\/div>\n<\/figure>\n<p><strong>Moo Moo Switch too<\/strong><br \/>No dual screen options is sad and a separate camera is a weird choice. Nintendo expecting people to pay for the Welcome Tour is a massive miss by them.<\/p>\n<p>Little more than a tech demo and should have been included. Also, a cow on a bike was not on my bingo card. Who knew.<br \/><strong>Solabound<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><strong>Half right<\/strong><br \/>Well, I got some of those predictions right (l<a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/04\/01\/games-inbox-will-gta-6-trailer-released-22826132\/\">etters page prior to the launch event<\/a>). Not that they were especially out there. But Nintendo does seem to be fully leaning into the ecosystem model, as testified by the showcase of special editions, GameCube (including F-Zero GX!) on day one and backwards compatibility. It explains the timing of last week\u2019s Direct.<\/p>\n<p>They always say that they\u2019re not in competition with Sony and Microsoft, but they really seem to be gunning for third party support here, with an impressive range of games from such publishers. This perhaps explains the paltry first party offering of, the admittedly great looking, Mario Kart World. But the new Donkey game is out close to launch, so as good as day one too. (That Firaxis tease had me thinking for a moment they were going to announce a new or special edition XCOM. Damn it!).<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s disappointing that Metroid Prime 4 isn\u2019t day one. As someone who owns a PlayStation 5 with access to games like Split Fiction, there\u2019s nothing really to get thoroughly immersed in. I\u2019m sure there will be many others who feel the same. Omitting it from the launch roster strikes me as a misstep, but again understandable if they want to encourage people to purchase third party software.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019m also disappointed that Super Mario Universe wasn\u2019t shown or a day one release. Given how long it\u2019s been since EAD last published a game, assuming they are behind the new Donkey Kong (is this confirmed?), there\u2019s a good chance they\u2019ll have a new Super Mario ready soon. But I can\u2019t see it being released this Christmas, as they\u2019ll be looking to drum up sales of Donkey Kong which it would be in competition with. Maybe the following year.<\/p>\n<p>My sense is that they\u2019ll be drip feeding new games over the coming months, including, of course, Metroid Prime 4. But I wonder what the big holiday season release will be. Surely not Prime or Pok\u00e9mon? They\u2019re no doubt holding something back. Maybe Animal Crossing?<\/p>\n<p>The console, though, looks great: HDR, 1080p and 4K resolutions, up to 120fps. Visually, many of the games looked amazing. Though no news on battery length.<\/p>\n<p>I\u2019ve already pre-ordered one (pre-orders are open now where I live). The price of both console and software doesn\u2019t seem unreasonable to me, but then I can afford it. Beyond the launch window, they could struggle, though, to match sales of the Switch 1 at this price.<br \/><strong>Ciara<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>GC:<\/strong> At time of writing, we don\u2019t know who the Donkey Kong developer is. There\u2019s a lot of games with a 2025 release date but nothing more, so it\u2019s hard to say if there\u2019s a big Christmas release being kept secret or if they hope that multiple smaller titles will make up for the lack of one.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Inbox also-rans<\/strong><br \/>From an anon, insider info. Switch 2 will be out mid-May, it will cost \u00a3350, and at least sux games will be out on release day.<br \/><strong>Anon<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>GC:<\/strong> Umm\u2026<\/em><\/p>\n<p>The Nintendo Swirch 2 Direct blew my mind although, if a game costs 75 quid a pop, I&#8217;m unsure whether I&#8217;ll get one. Cheers, and thanks for all the great work you do.<br \/><strong>Nick P<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>GC:<\/strong> Thank you.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><strong>Email your comments to: <a href=\"mailto:gamecentral@metro.co.uk\">gamecentral@metro.co.uk<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n<p><em><strong>The small print<\/strong><br \/>New Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend. Readers\u2019 letters are used on merit and may be edited for length and content.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>You can also submit your own 500 to 600-word Reader\u2019s Feature at any time via email or our <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/submit-stuff\/\">Submit Stuff page<\/a>, which if used will be shown in the next available weekend slot.<\/em><\/p>\n<p><em>You can also leave your comments below and don\u2019t forget to <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/gamecentral\">follow us on Twitter<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><title>Arrow<\/title><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/04\/02\/games-inbox-will-switch-2-nintendo-direct-a-disappointment-22832815\/?ico=more_text_links\" class=\"\">Games Inbox: Will the Switch 2 Nintendo Direct be a disappointment?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><title>Arrow<\/title><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/03\/31\/games-inbox-switch-games-will-get-switch-2-upgrades-22819796\/?ico=more_text_links\" class=\"\">Games Inbox: Which Switch games will get Switch 2 upgrades?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n<p class=\"metro-more-link\"><title>Arrow<\/title><span class=\"mor-link\" data-track-module=\"mor-link_article\">MORE: <a href=\"https:\/\/metro.co.uk\/2025\/03\/28\/games-inbox-nintendo-direct-worth-watching-22807590\/?ico=more_text_links\" class=\"\">Games Inbox: Was the Nintendo Direct worth watching?<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Direct was definitely good for Moo Moo Farm fans (Nintendo) The Thursday letters page is impressed by Mario Kart World on Nintendo Switch 2, as readers are concerned about game prices on the new console. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk High-end showcaseSome quick reactions to the Switch 2 reveal: Mario Kart World looks very nice and definitely couldn&#8217;t run on the Switch. Looks like Nintendo are going to push it as a social game, especially &hellip; <a href=\"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/2025\/04\/03\/games-inbox-nintendo-switch-2-direct-fan-verdict\/\" class=\"more-link\">Continue reading<span class=\"screen-reader-text\"> &#8220;Games Inbox: Nintendo Switch 2 Direct fan verdict&#8221;<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":506,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[12],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3502"}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3502"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3502\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3505,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3502\/revisions\/3505"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/506"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3502"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3502"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.isshicare.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3502"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}