Games Inbox: Is the Nintendo Switch 2 becoming a failure?

The Wednesday letters page is concerned what the decline of Fortnite means for gaming, as one reader has some ideas for Pokémon Pokopia DLC.

Games Inbox is a collection of our readers’ letters, comments, and opinions. To join in with the discussions yourself email gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Expensive times
So that Nintendo Switch 2 news was a bit of a surprise, huh? I thought something was up when it turned out US sales were down over Christmas, which was clearly not a good sign. As for what’s going wrong, it’s obvious the price is the number one problem, especially when Nintendo is known for cheaper hardware and games. I think the games line-up is a big issue too though and it seems madness to me that we have virtually no idea what’s coming out on the console this year, and it’s already nearly April.

Nintendo knew these sales figures long before we did so surely they could see the damage that this secrecy is doing. How do they expect anyone to want to buy their new console if there’s literally nothing to look forward to on it?

That and no real Christmas game are definite mistakes, but I think the biggest issue is just that nobody’s in the mood for buying expensive consoles – or expensive anything – right now. And that definitely is going to affect Project Helix and PlayStation 6. If I was Sony I’d just keep the PlayStation 5 going for another five years and try and make it cheaper each time. I bet they don’t though.
Focus

Blaming Nintendo
Woof to the idea of the Switch 2 being the fastest-selling console ever. I guess it was at launch but cutting production plans by 30%? That’s a lot! There’s obviously a lot going on here, but I think many people have said that the Switch 2 has seemed off since it was first announced. All the reveals have been bad, a lot of the games have been weird choices for a first year, and no hint of a new Mario or Zelda is just silly.

Fans can exist on just a tiny amount of hype for years, just ask any Rockstar Games fan, so all Nintendo had to do was have a few seconds of footage, or a name, or a bit of artwork or something. Instead, they’ve given us nothing but Metroid Prime 4 and Mario Tennis 34, or whatever it is.

I have the console and it’s great but I’m not happy with the marketing or the games. It was an expensive machine and I want to see my purchase be justified, which his not happening at the moment. Nintendo might not be able to control wars and RAM prices, but they have absolute control of what they say about the console and its games.
Kascogine

Price conscious
This Nintendo news should be a wake-up call to the whole games industry. Microsoft and Sony would be crazy to release expensive next gen consoles at the moment, because Trump and AI and all the other problems are still going to be here next year and probably the year after too.

You can’t react to a cost of living crisis by increasing prices instead of lowering them. I mean, you can but then you’re going to regret it, as Nintendo is proving right now. Games and consoles are too expensive and the company that recognises that problem is going to clean up. In the meantime, indie devs are the solution that already exists.
Zeiss

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

Day of reckoning
Epic Games is laying off 1,000 people? After doing almost the same thing two years ago? If it wasn’t obvious by now the games industry is in deep trouble right now. Everything is too expensive to make and buy and the market is not growing at all.

If Fortnite falls then companies are going to be in an absolute shambles working out what to do about it. For a start it’s going to make the games industry look like a failing state and investors aren’t going to touch it with a barge pole.

Fortnite failing means there are no guarantees at all, especially as this happened the same day that the Switch 2’s bubble burst. We are in for rough times ahead, gamers, and as usual no company seems to be doing anything about it.
Royston

GTA who?
I’ll be honest, I genuinely forgot GTA 6 is coming out this year. It’s been so long, with so many delays, that it doesn’t feel like a game that’s actually coming out. Especially as the graphics look so much better than anything else, and by such a long way.

I honestly can’t imagine a future where it’s out and it’s just another video game, like the way we think of GTA 5 at the moment. If it’s as successful as we all know it’ll be it’s going to dominate everything else for months, maybe years.

We might as well number the years of the games industry as before GTA 6 and after GTA 6, like BC and AD. It’s going to be crazy when it all kicks off.
Fybo

Things can only get worse
Something with the Switch 2’s success hasn’t been passing the vibe check for a while. Firstly, it’s blockbuster success in Japan seems to be built on a much cheaper Japanese language model. The price discrepancy is so large I think Western buyers have a right to know for how much they are basically subsidising that machine. When buying the console Nintendo may as well just ask you to post £50 to some random dude in Tokyo.

Then in the UK at least the Black Friday price cut from last November seems to have been stealthily introduced as the new price point (i.e. £385 for the base and £409 for the Mario Kart bundle) for retailers. That combined with the fact the Mario Kart bundle still hasn’t sold out (it was a time limited launch window product) did make me wonder how popular Nintendo’s machine was really proving beyond diehard fans?

Continued poor third party game and accessory sales being another factor in that conversation. I mean the attachment rate for the webcam is less than 4%! GameChat should be put out of its misery, like Kinect on the Xbox One was.

Saying all that… If you are thinking of getting the console (it will see new iterations of Zelda and Mario eventually after all) now is the time to buy. The Iran War and RAM crisis mean prices are only going to rise in the year ahead, and if Nintendo have warehouses of stock the chance of a revision of the console that would still need to be manufactured reduces. So it is worth jumping now.
Marc

Gotta add ‘em all
Just to add to the Pokémon Pokopia love but you can’t help but notice there’s a lot of environments that just aren’t in the game. There’s no snowy area at all, not really a proper desert or water area, and not much in terms of ghosts or metal. There’s some of these pokémon types in there but not as much as some others (so many fighting types!) so I think it’s pretty clear what they could do in terms of expansions.

I’d be there day one though as this is one game where it won’t seem forced and people are actually wanting more of what it’s selling. It’s been one of the best surprises I’ve played in a long time.
Gordo

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Marathon not a sprint
I was not surprised to see someone writing in to comment at how Marathon’s structure has put them off playing the game. I was surprised we haven’t seen more people commenting one way or another on what is surely to go down in history as one of the most Marmite games of this generation.

Cards on the table, I adore it and have been amazed at how it’s pulled my old group of online friends back to regularly playing together multiple times each week. I’ve even enjoyed quite a bit of solo running and playing as a rook, even if my aging reflexes mean I’m unlikely to complete Cryo Storage until three days before reset, if ever.

What is strange is how Bungie have taken everything they learned from Destiny and focused on a single game mode seemingly designed solely for the 10% of their player-base who were ever able to complete raids.

Destiny’s genius was that at its core, it catered to so many players and play styles. That large player-base would all find something they enjoyed in the game and for those who were hooked, offered difficult activities such as Master Nightfalls, raids, and dungeons.

Marathon feels like they nailed that endgame content yet did not build out the game to appeal to a more casual audience, potentially confining Marathon to a small but hardcore player-base.

I do highly recommend you at least give it a try if you’ve ever enjoyed a Bungie title. The gunplay is great, the level design and objectives feel tight, and as long as you treat all your weapons as disposable, or start your night with a free kit, losing all your kit doesn’t feel too bad.
DarKerR (gamertag)

Inbox also-rans
Personally, I can’t foresee any problem with a man driving a giant truck while also playing a racing game at the same time. I mean, what could possibly go wrong?
Tension

The thing that makes me laugh is that it’s called Crimson Desert but there isn’t actually a crimson desert in the game, because they didn’t think of that at the time. What a mess.
Kuros

Email your comments to: gamecentral@metro.co.uk

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MORE: Games Inbox: Is Marathon worth playing?

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