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Nintendo Switch 2
Verdict: Joy redefined
The latest Nintendo console, the Switch 2, is finally here — and a question mark block hovers over it, just like the ones above Mario’s head.
Is it worth the £395.99 asking price (or £429.99, when bundled with the new Mario Kart World)? In this economy, and with more powerful PlayStations and Xboxes available for less, that’s quite an outlay.
I could make a financial argument for the Switch 2. Its predecessor, the original Switch, has been around for eight years now. If this new console has the same shelf life, that amounts to about £50 a year…or a pound a week. Most people’s chocolate habits cost more.
But financial arguments are boring, when the Switch 2 is anything but.
Although this is mostly just a bigger, better Switch, it’s bigger and better in exciting ways. The larger, higher-definition screen is tremendously good for handheld play. Its more powerful innards mean that it can handle some very visually demanding games, including Cyberpunk 2077, which is also available now.
Peter Hoskin playing MarioKart while testing the Nintendo Switch 2 in Paris last April
The device offers eight times more memory space than its forerunner, with 256GB provided
It will come in two varieties: just the console and the console bundled with Mario Kart World. The former will cost £395.99 and the latter £429.99
Can the PS5 and Xbox Series X run these games even better? Yes. But a PC can run them even better again. And none have the easy, well, switchability of the Switch 2, which can move from your TV to your handbag in an instant. Technological domination isn’t everything.
Then there are the Switch 2’s innovations, like its new mouse mode. The detachable Joy-Con controllers can be laid on their sides and moved and clicked just like the mouse for your desktop computer. It adds to the sense that Nintendo has made the Swiss Army knife of consoles. Everything for all occasions.
The real draw, though, is the games. Neither the PlayStation nor the Xbox will ever get Mario Kart World, which is a loss for them. This first open-world entry in the madcap racing series is — much like the Switch 2 itself — an improvement on its already great predecessor.
And think of all the joys to come! A new Donkey Kong game in July, which looks as though it delivers on its hero’s full destructive potential. Followed by, presumably, new Mario and Zelda releases in future. Get saving.
