Calling this a '2' seems like a mistake.

2 implies it's a whole quantum shift in approach and I just don't believe this could live up to that- this thing probably has marginal improvements in performance at most, maybe higher frame rate or w/e, and Nintendo isn't known for insipid serializing with numbers but rather making bold creative decisions from one console to the next that reflect a ground up rework. That hasn't always worked for them, (as with the wii u,) but that was their approach- taking big leaps of faith and hoping it pays off in the market, making weird new consoles that accomplish different things. The difference in form factor and performance from the snes to n64 to GC to Wii to WiiU to Switch was so pronounced- that doesn't seem to be the case here and I think it reflects a cynical, "this console is perfectly stable and market performant, let's just make another," attitude rather than the expectedly insane stunt associated with releasing an actually new Nintendo console that looks completely unlike the last. This is just another Switch (duh) but that just says, to me, "we thought this console was perfect," but if that were really true they would have been better off leaving it alone.

Even if it was substantially more powerful Nintendo has never succeeded in the market on the power of it's console's performance alone; Nintendo has never nor will they ever compete with Microsoft or Sony or Nvidia in trying to make the most powerful machines. Their success comes from a brand associated with unadulterated and joy-inducing gaming with a catalogue of mostly casual games with instantly recognizable characters to match. I don't think a clinically numbered/iterated version of the same console except a little bit better is serving either their brand or their long term interests.

If they had called this a Switch plus or some nonsense like that and postured this not as a new console but rather a counter point to the switch lite- where the switch lite was a more budgetary and streamlined option this could have been the premium, high quality option with more QOL features- I think that would have been the move.

But no- this is a new console with what is going to become it's own exclusive catalogue of games. It's going to engender future devs and indie to work on the new console and progressively fracture/migrate the rather nice indie ecosystem associated with the current Switch. That was a sector they were actually competing with Steam viably in and I don't think, again, it does them any favors to rock the boat in this way- maybe the indie scene on the S2 will grow again, who knows, but I have doubts and I hardly think the risk-reward ratio makes any sense on this if they take this gambit only to claw back a sub-percent of the market from Steam in a best case scenario.

It's not going to be as powerful as a ps5, it's not going in a brand new direction like the Gamecube vs Wii was, it's not clear that it's going to gain any ground in the indie scene- what they gain out of this maneuver isn't clear so this doesn't make a great deal of sense to me.

t. a man who can't spell georgous