If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Nintendo has made the Switch 2 exactly what it should be.

The recent announcement of the Switch 2 was pretty much exactly what I thought it would be, a souped up version of the Switch. For some this might be disappointing. Perhaps they were hoping that Nintendo would showcase something that would be graphically on the same level as the PS5 and Series X if not even more powerful. However, if history has taught us anything, it’s that Nintendo hasn’t been concerned about having the latest and greatest graphics hardware in a long, long time.

And why would they? It’s not like it’s hurt their sales much.

After all, the Wii was a success for them despite not being able to compete graphically with its Sony and Microsoft alternatives. The Wii U didn’t go as planned, but Nintendo followed it up with one of the most successful consoles of all-time in the form of the Switch. Even with inferior hardware compared to its contemporaries, the Switch has continued to not only maintain relevance in the gaming market but continued to remain profitable.

As the old saying goes, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it. Nintendo has seen massive success with the Switch, so much so that their competition has begun releasing their own handheld systems to compete with it. What incentive does Nintendo really have to change then and go a different direction with the Switch’s successor? Yes, there certainly does need to be decent hardware improvements in the Switch 2, and it seems like that will be the case even if it still won’t be on the same level as Sony and Microsoft’s consoles.

The secret to Nintendo’s success has been the strength of their first party titles as well as Nintendo’s keen ability to market to families. My own kids are working their way through Princess Peach Showtime right now and they are loving it. We were playing Mario Kart 8 together before that and they were having a blast. Through Nintendo Switch Online I’ve been able to show them several of the games that I grew up playing and they’ve even had some fun with those too. Nintendo is the company that people tend to think of when they think of gaming as a family and that’s exactly what Nintendo wanted.

Not only that, but it’s been confirmed also that the Switch 2 will be almost completely backwards compatible with both physical and digital Switch games, something that makes all Switch owners very happy. It also gives you no reason to not upgrade to the Switch 2 since you (most likely) won’t be losing any of your games in the process. We have yet to see what titles aren’t able to make the move, but I imagine that list will be quite small. As for new titles, we know that right out of the gate we are going to be getting a new Mario Kart game as well as a new Pokemon title. And those are just the beginning. We haven’t seen yet what the full slate of launch titles will be.

What Nintendo hit on with the Switch was a winning formula that combined just enough hardware power with the convenience of mobility as well as increased third party support. It’s a formula that is still serving them well all these years later, and it’s one that they are going to continue to bank on for the years to come through the Switch 2. I’m no prophet or gaming industry insider, but it seems to me that Switch 2 is going to be exactly what it needs to be.

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