MY RETRO LIFE
THE GENERATION GAME
PERSONAL STORIES ABOUT OUR SHARED PASSION
Are you suffering the dreaded Switch 2 FOMO? Nick isn’t, and here’s why
There’s a good chance that many of you put off reading this issue of Retro Gamer, because it went on sale on the same day as the Nintendo Switch 2.
Who can resist the allure of a shiny new console? Plenty of people, as it turns out. I watched the chaos unfolding on BlueSky as preorders opened, and while many eager customers secured hardware, a significant number were unable to do so. Me? I didn’t even try. The hardware price was in line with what I expected, but the prospect of paying £75 for a physical copy of Mario Kart World caught me off guard. If it’s not within your price range, I sympathise entirely.
The cost of the new system is something that Nintendo Of America president Doug Bowser tried to address in a statement to Canada’s CBC. “We recognise there are some people that may not be able to afford [the Switch 2’s] price point,” said Bowser. “That’s why we wanted to make the other Switch platforms available, so [people] still have an opportunity to come into our gaming universe, be a part of these characters in these worlds, and see value, if you will, in whatever rung of the platform they come in.” The online backlash was swift and vicious, with plenty of commentators drawing parallels to Don Mattrick’s suggestion that players without an internet connection should buy the Xbox 360 instead of an Xbox One, back in 2013. But I couldn’t get on board with the anger, because it struck me that the concept that had enraged so many gamers used to just be normal product strategy.