Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour is sort of ...

The Nintendo Switch 2 is sort of right here. Within the latest Nintendo Direct, we acquired our first actual have a look at Nintendo’s newest console and a number of the video games that will likely be out there. On the entire, the brand new console appears nice, though it is more expensive than most people were expecting.

Through the Nintendo Direct, we additionally discovered about one of many video games that will likely be out there at launch. It is referred to as Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour, and it appears about as enjoyable because the title 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 a number of 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. Loads of the adjustments to the Swap 2 aren’t instantly apparent simply by wanting on the gadget. When connected, the Pleasure-Cons look similar to the Pleasure-Cons from the unique Swap, however the brand new Pleasure-Cons join magnetically quite than by means of the awkward sliding locking mechanism of the present mannequin.

By presenting the {hardware} adjustments with a sport, Nintendo will get to point out off all of the {hardware} updates within the Swap 2. The sport can even introduce gamers to a number of the new capabilities of the Swap 2, equivalent to the way in which that you should use a Pleasure-Con as if it have been a mouse.

Associated

All 54 games that were just announced for the Nintendo Switch 2

Nintendo simply streamed its huge Swap 2 hybrid console showcase – listed here are all of the video games we now know to be coming to the corporate’s next-gen gadget.

The Astro’s Playroom vibes are sturdy

Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour appears loads just like the PS5 title

Sony

My rapid impression upon seeing the temporary clips of the sport that have been featured within the Nintendo Direct was that it was loads 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, equivalent to adaptive triggers, haptic suggestions, and the built-in touchpad.

Astro’s Playroom is not simply an effective way to be taught what the DualSense controller can do, nonetheless; it is a genuinely enjoyable platformer in its personal proper. You begin by flying into the PS5, and the completely different ranges are based mostly on the parts of the PS5, with the central plaza based mostly on the PS5’s CPU and different ranges based mostly 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 an enormous Swap 2. It looks like an nearly actual copy of the idea of Astro’s Playroom, however that is the place the comparisons finish.

Associated

Sony PS5 review: The reigning champ

The PlayStation 5 won’t be new anymore, however it’s nonetheless a surprising console.

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

Astro’s Playroom is a complete lot of enjoyable to play

Nintendo

Astro’s Playroom is a genuinely good sport. Apart from being a very intelligent technique 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 issue 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, however it would not really feel unfairly brief. It is a blast from begin to end, particularly for those who’ve used some or the entire previous PlayStation gadgets that make an look all through the sport. Finally, it is stuffed with appeal and actually sort of looks like a Nintendo sport.

Thus far, we have solely seen glimpses of Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour, however it’s already clear that it is no Astro’s Playroom. There are some mini-games and tech demos you can play to study options such because the mouse controls and the up to date rumble. They do not look massively spectacular, nonetheless; whereas Pace Golf appears mildly entertaining, one of many tech demos actually has you shaking a maraca 20 instances.

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

Plainly 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 just a few mini-games thrown in to attempt to hold issues fascinating. It isn’t one thing I can think about spending a lot time with, and I actually could not ever see myself finishing it like I did with Astro’s Playroom.

Associated

Best platforming games for Nintendo Switch: Every top platformer

When you’re into platformers, we have got you coated with these very good choices.

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 really surprising factor about Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour, nonetheless, is that in response to the Nintendo Direct, it is going to launch as a paid digital sport on the identical day because the Nintendo Swap 2. You learn that proper: you are going to need to pay for what appears 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, however it’s additionally fully free. Even for those who do not buy every other video games, you may hearth up your brand-new PS5 and instantly begin enjoying 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 isn’t any details about how a lot Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour goes to value. Different launch titles equivalent to Mario Kart World are going to value an eye-watering $79.99, and I can not 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 need to pay for a sport that feels prefer it needs to be included without spending a dime.

Associated

We finally know what the Nintendo Switch 2 C button does

All in regards to the Nintendo Swap C button.

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 fully missed the issues that made it nice. Astro’s Playroom completely showcased the options of the PS5 controller, it did it in a approach that was extremely enjoyable, and it did it without spending a dime.

Primarily based on the few clips we have seen thus far Nintendo would not test any of these containers. It is laborious to think about gamers slogging by means of everything of Nintendo Swap 2 Welcome Tour, so there could also be loads of issues that they do not be taught. As compared, I wager there are many individuals on the market who coated 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 really wonderful Astro Bot, a standalone platformer that you just most undoubtedly needed to pay for. It was one other triumph, and certainly at the least a number of 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, in order 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, a better decision display, and upgraded Pleasure-Cons.