A Nintendo fan expresses disappointment with the Switch 2's lack of innovation and must-have games, while also discussing expectations for a Zelda anniversary direct, explaining roguelite terminology, and debating the strategy behind third-party game exclusivity.
Games Inbox I’ve been a big fan of Nintendo for years. Although I didn’t grow up playing their games – I was a ZX Spectrum, thenkid in the 80s and 90s – I came to love them from the GameCube onwards.
Needless to say, the Switch is one of my favourite consoles of all time and I’ve played dozens of games on that platform.partly because I wasn’t blown away by the launch line-up and partly because I still have plenty of games I’ve not got round to on Switch.was when I was kind of expecting them to win me over and, well… it hasn’t. And that’s a problem.
Once all the real enthusiasts and early adaptors have the console it’s the folks like me you need to start buying consoles. I know they werein year one but I’m not sure year two will look quite the same if this is the level of effort we’re seeing going into 2027.could twist my arm, but we need to see it soon.
The cynic in me suspects the bean counters will use that full reveal to soften thefor a unique take on the week in gaming, alongside the latest reviews and more. Delivered to your inbox every Saturday morning. That does sound very possible. The price hike is in September and that’s also when they often have a new Nintendo Direct.
After that insanely brief showing at the June Direct, they need to show it off in more depth, with a solid release date. Normally I would be happy to go into the game blind, but I’m currently not sold on it and still would like to know how different it will be beyond visuals. At this point I’d be happy if even the dungeons are remixed so there’s at least some sense of novelty for veteran players.
Beyond Ocarina Of Time there’s the movie, which they could show a new trailer for, and possibly a Twilight Princess release on Nintendo Switch Online. I’m sure there would be other Zelda merch to flog and it is the franchise’s 40th anniversary after all. If Nintendo can have a blowout for Mario’s anniversary then I’m sure they will want to have one for Zelda too. I remember my excitement when first looks at Nintendo Switch were revealed.
I got my pre-order in at GAME with Zelda and 1-2-Switch . Then when my son saw mine he decided he wanted one, so we hunted around and amazingly found one available at Fast forward nearly a decade and Switch 2 has been out for a year and I’ve had no real interest in buying it.
Maybe it’s because I’ve gotten older, but I think it’s because it hasn’t had the Nintendo quirkiness or innovation of the original orWorld and Donkey Kong Bananza haven’t excited me at all. The inner child in me is very disappointed in Switch 2, sadly. I hope by its second anniversary there will be a must-have game to change my mind.
As far as I’m concerned Rogue was a character in the X-Men films and the term is often used in cliche heavy action movies to describe an anti-hero who’s stopped following orders, i.e. ‘our agent’s gone rogue. ’ Will I be asked to stay behind after class for asking this question? Am I the only reader who doesn’t understand this terminology? I could ask AI but I feel we should preserve some measure of human interaction.
You mention Hades in your Realm Of Ink review. Perhaps if I play one of those games, I’ll understand what a roguelite is. But currently the term baffles me. Hades looks like an isometric hack ‘n’ slash game.
Is that a genre? Also, in your Realm Of Ink review you mention short term buffs. I’m afraid I don’t know what those are either. Yes, a long time ago there was a game called Rogue which took a heavy toll on players, as every time you died you lost everything and started completely from scratch.
Other games that work in the same way are called roguelikes, while similar games, where you retain some items or abilities between deaths, are called roguelites. Buffs are small upgrades that improve existing abilities or items – the opposite of nerfs, which make them worse.
These are all well-established terms but if people are interested we could try including small descriptions in future reviews, although Wikipedia – rather than AI – will provide a more detailed explanation.pivot back to exclusivity… they’re keeping the games that nobody on other formats wants to buy? Last year’s Gears Of War Reloaded sales on PlayStation were terrible, as were a few others like Indiana Jones And The Great Circle and Avowed.
Why not just make the ones people will actually spend money on multiformat ? The logic doesn’t go beyond. It’s the same with Sony and its PC ports… if people were buying enough of the games then they’d still be coming, but sales are so low that PR concerns are outweighing actual money.
I worry about the same coming from the latest Nintendo Direct – Stellar Blade, Devil May Cry 5, Metaphor: ReFantazio, etc. I don’t think many people with Switch 2’s are chomping at the bit to pay high prices for those in 2026. The port of Persona 3 Reload sold less than 10,000 copies on release in Japan, of all places, and you’d think that franchise, format, and territory were a good fit.
That Resident Evil 4 remake is coming too is such a no-brainer it barely qualifies as news… what would be news is who at Capcom thinks people are going to spend £40 on it three years later? Why are these sales dwindling? Well to hook in another GC story in the last week… the demographic/age profile of current gamers likely explains it. We did suggest that might be the reason, but it seemed a bit uncharitable.
Speaking of which, some of those Switch 2 ports could do well and apparently all the Resident Evil games have so far, which, agreeing with your logic, is why they’ll probably be more. Well, that Nintendo Direct was certainly polarising, to say the least.
I’d personally grade the Direct a C+, with Xenoblade Genesis and the Switch 2 editions of Xenoblade Chronicles 1 to 3, Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, Muramasa: Revenant Blades, Final Fantasy Resonance, Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, the Star Fox 64 demo shadow drop, Kingdom Hearts 4, and Zelda: Ocarina Of Time remake being highlights of show for me. I’ve been holding off playing Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and Metaphor: ReFantazio until the inevitable Switch 2 editions so very excited to experience those two highly acclaimed Japanese role-playing games for the very first time this year.
Definitely intend on triple-dipping on Devil May Cry 5 too, because Capcom need to get the message that fans are ready for a sixth mainline game already. I’m also looking forward to Switch Sports Resort as well, because these games are breezy, highly intuitive fun times.
And seeing how much my dear mother enjoyed the original on the Wii – the only game she’d really played and enjoyed – this’ll be the perfect opportunity to try to coax her into gaming again. Ah bless her. What I’d love though is Nintendo to make another Ring Fit Adventure because as someone that loves going to the gym and, obviously, gaming that was a magical concoction of converging hobbies for me!
Genuinely feel for people that thought the Direct was a major let down though, but as per tradition I’m firmly in the camp that has always appreciated Nintendo’s more niche and overtly Japanese-oriented endeavours, like Fire Emblem, Xenoblade, et al. So naturally I was quite content with what was shown. Even if the conspicuous absence of any substantial Mario Kart World DLC or actual gameplay footage of the Zelda: Ocarina Of Time remake was a glaring oversight.
Also, still think Nintendo should’ve saved the Star Fox reveal for the Direct, for more oomph. All in all, I’d rate Summer Game Fest by far and away the best showcase this year and seriously evoked that E3 magic for me.
The combination of Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, PlatinumGames’ redemption arc with the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles licence with The Last Ronin, Alien: Isolation 2, Cuphead 2 tease and Mighty Cuphead Adventure, gen ATLAS, Virtua Fighter CrossRoads, Resident Evil – Code: Veronica remake, and Final Fantasy 7 Revelation was just peak gaming hype restored. No other major showcase this year came even close for me!
If Sony are angry at Xbox why don’t they just say that’s it, no more games on our system. Yes, Sony will be losing money but at this moment Xbox needs PlayStation more than the other way round. All Sony has to do is say the ones that’s been announced can stay, after that you’re on your own.
And as for Xbox, I’ve got a feeling, around the time the new Call Of Duty comes out or just after, Game Pass will change again. I think Xbox don’t know which way it’s facing at the moment and with the new hardware just around the corner they need to find a compass very quick. As a loyal GameCentral reader, we want to make sure you never miss our articles when searching for gaming stories.
We have all the latest video games news, reviews, previews, and interviews, with a vibrant community of highly engaged readers. Even before RAMpocalypse, and before that the crypto GPU boom, I always imagined that for consoles to keep pace with things it would need capable hardware at a higher cost but with a mobile phone style payment environment.
Consoles have gone up in price for the first time in any generation, and they usually were initially sold at a loss, whereby they were offset by games, etc. That model no longer works and if it does return it won’t be in the next generation. Steve Balmer famously scoffed that no one will pay more than $400 for a phone, when the iPhone was revealed.
The Steam Machine thingy was supposedly launching in January this year and rumoured to be around £800. It now looks like that will be £1,200. Stuff just costs more to make, whether we moan or not. Project Helix is supposedly a dual boot machine so that Steam will run on it; this gamer would absolutely sign up for a three year loan for £60 a month.
Maybe there will be a £40 a month model including Game Pass but where if you cancel you have to send the box back if you don’t buy it outright, like a Sky box. This won’t be most people’s cup of tea, granted. But if this can stop the bean counters declaring another brutal wave of redundancies after – what was it? – over 10,000 at Xbox alone last year.
If anyone from Xbox hardware is reading this, this gamer would love some top end ray tracing chip in it please! That magic is stunning.makes total sense to me. Code: Veronica never got the love it should’ve so hopefully that will change now. David Harbour says Lily Allen's album 'wasn't my experience' of marriage breakdownNew Inbox updates appear every weekday morning, with special Hot Topic Inboxes at the weekend.
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