Despite No Switch 2, 2024 Wasn’t A Total Disaster For Nintendo

The Switch is smoking. it may not go away with a whimperbut the needle is empty. The 2024 release calendar is spotty at best, and even some of the more notable games that do appear on handheld hybrid platforms (a very small number) struggle to run on the nearly eight-year-old technology. By the way, almost eight years passed between the release of the SNES and the release of the PlayStation 2.

Nintendo has found a way to keep the Switch alive until 2025, barely, but this year feels like waiting in line at the DMV Switch 2 at a glance It’s just that the office closes before you can be called to the front desk. While everyone else is focusing on the future, Nintendo is stubbornly clinging to the Switch’s present, going so far as to launch an all-out war against Switch emulator enthusiasts and ROM pirates to prevent the platform from completely transforming into a hacker’s paradise.

The most notable thing about 2024 is what we don’t see or get, rather than any actual moves or announcements Nintendo makes. There’s no word yet on the Switch 2, except that it will be released in the next few months and will be backwards compatible with the existing Switch 2. No major mario or Salda games; instead we got two great but flawed smaller spin-offs from these franchises. There are no major changes to the Switch itself, and the best proof of that is The eShop is still a slow garbage festival. Not even the price dropped A $300 portable gaming tablet Starting from 2017.

Instead, 2024 for the Switch is best suited to continuing to play the best indie games, and almost all of them are coming to the Switch. It’s also a good year to continue exploring The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Almost two years later, it remains the system’s most ambitious and wide-ranging achievement. Anyone who first bought a Switch during this holiday season before the Switch 2 was released might have regretted it were it not for the fact that Nintendo’s current console still boasts one of the best catalogs of games in gaming history.

hardware

What else is there to say about the Nintendo Switch? The promise it offers for mobile gaming or big-display gaming is as compelling as ever, though its ability to truly deliver a smooth, seamless gaming experience has eroded over time. The gap between how even small and medium-sized games perform on Switch and other platforms like PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC continues to widen. Frame rate issues, visual detail, and loading times all get worse, while competing portable consoles like steam deck and ASUS ROG Ally Offering fewer tradeoffs at a slightly higher price, at least when it comes to third-party ports and independent releases.

So where will the Switch 2 go from here? Nintendo’s much-speculated successor has yet to be revealed, but if the alleged leaks that keep popping up are to be taken seriously, it seems like a more straightforward upgrade to existing hardware than Nintendo has done in quite some time. Whatever gimmicks it offers, such as magnetized Joy-Cons that stick to the side of the screen instead of sliding, don’t seem to be at the heart of the new console. It might even be called Nintendo Switch 2.

I shouldn’t spend this section writing about the future Switch on the current state of the Switch, but it more accurately describes what most of 2024 will feel like for current Switch owners: What’s Behind the Lockdown Red Curtain We’ve Got Hands on Something was growing impatient and frustrated. As for what Nintendo will actually announce this year, there’s a clock. its name is almo It uses motion sensors to play video game music to users. Reviewers got their hands on it early, but the actual stuff won’t ship until early 2025. Zelda Theme Switch Lite This year. This might be the best looking special edition yet.

software

While the Switch hardware is still barely there, the user interface, interface, and actual navigation of the home screen, online store, and app-only functionality feel increasingly grim. It’s slow, poorly optimized, and confusing. The smoothness of the center row of tiles belies a complete lack of options when it comes to customizing or quickly browsing for any meaningful information about your system, games, or the broader Nintendo ecosystem.

The eShop is a particular pain point. I sigh silently every time I have to open the store to buy a game, check out what’s on sale, or try to check out a game that was just released. It feels like the store is a mini-marathon to launch, and even longer to load the actual parts of it alone. Ending up in the store is just the beginning of the headache, with shovels and cheap bootlegs of famous games littering the catalog as you scroll through it. That’s not great, and it doesn’t help that Nintendo seems slow to respond to legitimate concerns about it. It’s an ominous sign that the digital purchasing experience on Switch 2 may or may not change.

The current console does receive a minor update to its feature set in 2024, but the main purpose is just to fix existing bugs. October’s Firmware update 19.0.1 This way, when the console goes into sleep mode, the game will still download, which is a major boon for players who buy a game in the middle of the night and then wake up the next morning to find that the game still hasn’t finished installing, and is a good one overall Indicators of how far Nintendo’s attention has gone beyond current systems.

Instead of upgrading current systems, Nintendo has spent much of 2024 vigorously threatening legal action against anyone who might copy Switch games elsewhere. A settlement has been reached The creator who owns Yuzuan emulator popular on competing PC gaming handheld devices such as Steam Deck, please abandon the software and take it offline. it does the same thing Another Switch emulator called Ryujinx. it prosecutes the accused Pirated games or even just stream them. it has Github delete backup and Follow the Switch Reddit Group. Some of these may be responses to the following statements one million copies tears of kingdom Pirated when it launches. The new crackdown may also be an attempt to lock down the Switch 2 before its release and avoid the mistakes of its predecessor, which saw homebrew enthusiasts quickly jailbreak it.

Network and services

Nintendo Switch Online continues to expand. Includes a host of new Game Boy Advance classics throughout 2024 Golden Sun 1 and 2, F-Zero: Maximum speed, The Legend of Zelda: The Triforce of the Gods and four swordsand metroid zero mission. mom 3 Even came to service, although only in Japan. The rest of the catalog is also joined by an eclectic group of retro games, ranging from Super Type R on SNES vector man On the Sega Genesis. Xbox Game Studios brings many games such as killer instinct and perfect darkness. The original Game Boy library was flooded Mega Man and Donkey Kong Country game.

This is an impressive product Basic service for $20 per year and $50 per year expansion pack add-onalthough whether it’s still good value for money is still debatable. One of the attractions of expansion packs is access to new DLC, such as additional content Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Edition Course, but as Nintendo’s first-party game releases stalled and its online multiplayer was quickly abandoned, that particular perk has disappeared. This is still a major blow to Nintendo’s retro offerings, as Sony now allows its PlayStation Classics to allow any game to be purchased individually. It’s now 2024 and fans still have to pay $50 a year in rent The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time Runs on Nintendo 64 emulator.

However, the biggest addition to Switch Online this year isn’t a game at all. It turned out to be Nintendo music streaming service Allow fans to play game soundtracks on their mobile phones, for example Donkey Kong Country 2Mysterious Bramble Blast and original chip music title music metroid vanguard On the NES. It would be nice if fans could also purchase the music and download it DRM-free. In addition, Nintendo also uses Switch Online to Start game testing A secret project that looks like an MMO mashup, minecraft. The service is also used to offer one-week free trials of various eShop games, e.g. cursed golf and vampire survivor. Switch Online is more valuable than ever, but it still lacks one thing its competitors have: access to a Netflix-like library of new games.

sports meeting

Nintendo has done a great job of making an off-year year still feel full of big games. The Switch’s 2024 calendar is a mix of remakes and smaller spin-offs, helped by a good year for indie games. Growth accelerated in the first half of the year Mario vs. Donkey Kong, Princess Peach: It’s show time!and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door. Then it takes things home The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Super Mario Party Extravaganzaand Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood.

The numbers are certainly there for 2024, but this definitely feels like the second year Nintendo has rested its starters. echo of wisdom Some very clever and original ideas were tried, but nothing great enough. Mario & Luigi: Brotherhood is an excellent RPG-lite sequel, but it doesn’t really change the series like other Switch games. Arguably the best Nintendo game coming to Switch in 2024 Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year DoorIt is a remastered version of a twenty-year-old GameCube game. In an alternate universe, the game will be available on the platform without a high-definition upgrade, just through the Switch Online back catalog.

Luckily, the Switch has another great year of indie games to fill the void. Some of the top games of 2024 —Balatero, 1000x resistance, Lorelai and Laser Eyes, animal well, Arco, Botany Estate, thank god you are hereand neva river– All content arrives in a timely manner even if their ports to other consoles are delayed. Microsoft’s multi-platform push has also made Switch a success Panmentan excellent Renaissance murder mystery RPG, while some third-party GOTY contenders such as Unicorn Overlord and Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is the current date.

The Switch’s 2024 library isn’t quite at the heights of years past, but there’s still plenty to play, an incredible feat for a console that’s long overdue for a replacement. There’s more to come. port Donkey Kong Country Returns and Xenoblade Chronicles X It will arrive in early 2025. Metroid 4announced many years ago will still come to this platform, just like Pokémon Legends: ZAis the next game in the hit series, following an unprecedented one-year break for new Pokémon games. Nintendo is clearly saving the best for the Switch 2 launch.

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