Nintendo Switch 2 reveal: Stellar showing with some... questionable choices

It's been a long time since I've put on my Press Hat™ for a big console reveal, and watching the avalanche of Nintendo Switch 2 news yesterday had me feeling a bit nostalgic.

Overall, I thought the reveal video was stellar, with Nintendo quickly establishing that Switch 2 is at least up to par with current-gen consoles (4K, HDR, and 120fps!?) and the launch lineup looks solid so far with plenty of third-party support. Mario Kart World seems like a really smart and much-needed evolution of the series, which hasn't had a brand new entry in nearly 12 years (not counting the Switch updates to 8).

And just when I thought for sure we'd see a new 3D Mario game, Nintendo instead gave us Donkey Kong Bananza – and it looks super fun! I just want to smash all the things in that game. But as much as I enjoyed it, the Direct also left a lot of questions unanswered, forcing people to go through Nintendo's website to find even basic information like pricing.

• Why the heck didn't they mention the $450 Switch 2 price tag (for the standard bundle; $500 with Mario Kart) in the stream? Was this supposed to be some kind of savvy PR move to prevent sticker shock?
  
  It shouldn't be: We're already used to new consoles being expensive, and the success of the Steam Deck and its competitors also show that people are willing to pay a premium for an upgraded portable gaming experience.
  
• $80 first-party games: Oh boy. I won't wade into the ethics of increasing game prices here – I'm mixed on it – but I never thought Nintendo would be the one leading the way. In recent years, it has more or less followed the industry standard $50 to $60, and dipped its tow into the $70 waters with Tears of the Kingdom.
  
  For now, the $80 standard seems limited to first-party Switch 2 games like Mario Kart World, and even then it's inconsistent (Donkey Kong is $70 for some reason). But Nintendo has loudly sent a message to the industry by setting this new precedent, and I expect Microsoft, Sony, and the other big publishers to follow suit at some point.
  
  All that speculation a few months ago of Grand Theft Auto 6 possibly costing $100 doesn't seem so far-fetched anymore...
  
• There's plenty of other things I'm still unsure about, like the C button + Game Chat, which I'd like to see running in real life first because it didn’t look great in the Direct at all (gave me flashbacks to Microsoft trying to push Kinect). I also have no clue how useful the mouse function of the new Joy-Cons will be outside of a limited number of games/experiences.

A bunch of hands-on previews went up earlier today based on a press event in NYC, so I'll be combing through those for some answers and impressions. I'm not sure yet if I'll buy a Switch 2 right at launch (the US economy is currently crashing after all 🫠) and the Steam Deck has become my go-to portable console these days.

But I'm still excited about it and I think the industry is much stronger when Nintendo succeeds.