Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour is sort of a dangerou...

The Nintendo Switch 2 is sort of right here. Within the latest Nintendo Direct, we received our first actual take a look at Nintendo’s newest console and among the video games that will probably be obtainable. On the entire, the brand new console seems to be nice, though it is more expensive than most people were expecting.

Throughout the Nintendo Direct, we additionally discovered about one of many video games that will probably be obtainable at launch. It is referred to as Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour, and it seems to be about as enjoyable because the identify suggests. It looks like a missed alternative for Nintendo, particularly as considered one of its rivals has proven simply how good video games might be at demonstrating the features of new hardware.

What’s Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour?

A guided tour of the Swap 2 {hardware}

Nintendo

Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour is a sport designed to showcase among the new options of the Swap 2. Within the Nintendo Direct for the brand new console, Tetsuya Sasaki, the {Hardware} Design Lead for the Nintendo Swap 2, acknowledged that the sport was meant to “assist gamers higher perceive the Swap 2 {hardware}.”

The concept is sensible. A number of the modifications to the Swap 2 aren’t instantly apparent simply by wanting on the gadget. When connected, the Pleasure-Cons look identical to the Pleasure-Cons from the unique Swap, however the brand new Pleasure-Cons join magnetically relatively than by way of the awkward sliding locking mechanism of the present mannequin.

By presenting the {hardware} modifications with a sport, Nintendo will get to indicate off all of the {hardware} updates within the Swap 2. The sport may introduce gamers to among the new capabilities of the Swap 2, similar to the way in which that you should utilize a Pleasure-Con as if it had been a mouse.

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The Astro’s Playroom vibes are robust

Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour seems to be quite a bit just like the PS5 title

Sony

My rapid impression upon seeing the transient clips of the sport that had been featured within the Nintendo Direct was that it was quite a bit like Astro’s Playroom. When you’ve not performed it, Astro’s Playroom is a short-but-sweet 3D platformer that comes pre-installed on the PS5 and is designed to introduce gamers to the capabilities of the DualSense controller, similar to adaptive triggers, haptic suggestions, and the built-in touchpad.

Astro’s Playroom is not simply a good way to study what the DualSense controller can do, nevertheless; it is a genuinely enjoyable platformer in its personal proper. You begin by flying into the PS5, and the totally different ranges are primarily based on the elements of the PS5, with the central plaza primarily based on the PS5’s CPU and different ranges primarily based on the GPU, reminiscence, SSD, and cooling system.

The primary glimpse of the Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour zooms in on the participant’s miniature character, who’s standing (you guessed it) on the floor of a Pleasure-Con, subsequent to a large Swap 2. It looks like an nearly precise copy of the idea of Astro’s Playroom, however that is the place the comparisons finish.

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Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour is not any Astro’s Playroom

Astro’s Playroom is an entire lot of enjoyable to play

Nintendo

Astro’s Playroom is a genuinely good sport. Except for being a extremely intelligent solution to introduce you to the options of the DualSense controller, it is a ton of enjoyable to play. The extent design is nice, and whereas the problem is not excessive, there are many nostalgic artifacts to gather to make sure that you discover each beautiful inch of the sport.

Astro’s Playroom is not a protracted sport; you may end it over the course of some hours, nevertheless it would not really feel unfairly quick. It is a blast from begin to end, particularly in case you’ve used some or the entire previous PlayStation gadgets that make an look all through the sport. Finally, it is filled with attraction and actually sort of looks like a Nintendo sport.

To this point, we have solely seen glimpses of Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour, nevertheless it’s already clear that it is no Astro’s Playroom. There are some mini-games and tech demos which you could play to find out about options such because the mouse controls and the up to date rumble. They do not look vastly spectacular, nevertheless; whereas Pace Golf seems to be mildly entertaining, one of many tech demos actually has you shaking a maraca 20 instances.

It will get even worse, nevertheless. It seems that one of many key methods you may study concerning the new {hardware} on the Swap 2 is by wandering round and discovering elements with query marks above them. While you work together with them, you get a brief sequence of slides explaining thrilling data similar to the place the magnets are positioned, as a result of youngsters love studying about inside {hardware}, proper?

Evidently Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour is not actually a sport in any respect. It is extra like an interactive information to your new gadget, with a number of mini-games thrown in to attempt to hold issues fascinating. It is not one thing I can think about spending a lot time with, and I definitely could not ever see myself finishing it like I did with Astro’s Playroom.

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There’s one other main distinction, and that is the worth

Do we actually need to pay for a tour of our {hardware}?

Sony

The actually surprising factor about Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour, nevertheless, is that in keeping with the Nintendo Direct, it should launch as a paid digital sport on the identical day because the Nintendo Swap 2. You learn that proper: you are going to must pay for what seems to be like a mediocre digital tour of your new Swap.

As compared, Astro’s Playroom comes preinstalled on each PS5. Not solely is it a vastly superior sport, nevertheless it’s additionally utterly free. Even in case you do not buy every other video games, you may hearth up your brand-new PS5 and instantly begin taking part in a superb platformer. It actually looks like insanity that Nintendo goes to cost individuals who have simply shelled out $450 for a console much more cash to play a digital console tour.

On the time of writing, there is no details about how a lot Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour goes to value. Different launch titles similar to Mario Kart World are going to value an eye-watering $79.99, and I am unable to think about even Nintendo may justify charging that a lot for Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour. Even when it is solely a fraction of the worth, you continue to must pay for a sport that feels prefer it needs to be included free of charge.

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This looks like a missed alternative for Nintendo

Nintendo makes unbelievable video games, however this is not considered one of them

Nintendo

It appears very odd that Nintendo appears to have copied the idea of Astro’s Playroom (a sport that takes place on the console itself) however have utterly missed the issues that made it nice. Astro’s Playroom completely showcased the options of the PS5 controller, it did it in a method that was extremely enjoyable, and it did it free of charge.

Based mostly on the few clips we have seen up to now Nintendo would not verify any of these packing containers. It is exhausting to think about gamers slogging by way of everything of Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour, so there could also be a variety of issues that they do not study. As compared, I wager there are many individuals on the market who lined each inch of Astro’s Playroom.

Growing video games prices cash, however Nintendo is hardly strapped for money. Whereas Astro’s Playroom was free, in 2024, Sony launched the actually wonderful Astro Bot, a standalone platformer that you simply most undoubtedly needed to pay for. It was one other triumph, and certainly not less than among the gross sales of that sport should have come from individuals who performed and beloved Astro’s Playroom.

The entire thing is simply actually disappointing. Nintendo has made a few of my favorite platformers ever, so that they clearly have the chops to make one thing nearly as good as Astro’s Playroom, and Nintendo followers would have lapped it up. As a substitute, we get what quantities to a elaborate {hardware} handbook, and now we have to pay for the privilege.

Nintendo Swap 2

Nintendo’s Swap 2 encompasses a extra highly effective chip, the next decision display, and upgraded Pleasure-Cons.