The Kat Take: Switch 2's Record-Breaking Launch and Splatoon's Intriguing Spin-Off

The Nintendo Switch 2 is officially the fastest selling Nintendo console ever

According to Nintendo’s official release, it has sold 3.5 million units worldwide since launching just over a week ago. That’s faster than the Wii and the Switch in similar time periods – the Wii was able to sell 3.2 million units by the end of 2006, while Switch sold 2.7 million units in March 2017. All that without a traditional Mario or Zelda single-player adventure. Impressive.

I talk about why I think this happened in the first part of this newsletter and what the road ahead might look like. In the second section, I’ll delve into the surprise announcement of Splatoon Raiders and what it says about Nintendo’s approach to the Splatoon series (it’s good!). And of course, I’ll cover the rest of the news from the Switch 2’s busy first week.

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The Kat Take: Switch 2’s big launch was expected. What’s next?

In the first issue of Nintenkats, I spoke with analysts about the Switch 2’s prospects on the eve of its launch. Most expected a big launch due to pent up demand and solid supply, and that’s pretty much exactly what has happened.

While the Switch 2 has been a hot item since launching a week ago, it’s seemingly pretty easy to just walk into a store and pick one up – and many fans are doing exactly that. One person I know went to a Brooklyn GameStop and was told she would have to go all the way to the Bronx to get one, whereupon she went to a nearby Target and was able to snag the last bundle. I’ve seen similar reports across the U.S. – by and large, if you want a Switch 2, it’s not too hard to get one.

The Switch 2’s generous supply has helped it outpace the Switch and the Wii, the latter of which was hard to find even into 2007. It’s aided by the simple hunger for a new console among fans. I love my original Switch and even I was kind of framerates that would sometimes drop into the low 20s. Tears of the Kingdom in 2023 felt like the Switch’s last hurrah, and after that it felt like Nintendo was playing out the string with remasters and second-tier releases.

On that note, the Switch 2’s backward compatibility has played better than I could have imagined, at least among enthusiasts. Pokémon Scarlet and Violet’s improvements have garnered the lion’s share of attention, but it’s far from the only Switch release to see substantial improvements on the Switch 2. It’s as if a substantial part of the Switch 2’s library received a free remaster even without a patch. When I talked to John Linneman for my upcoming issue of Nintenkats, he praised Switch 2’s backward compatibility, and I have to agree. It’s helped me see a lot of games that I previously passed over – like Link’s Awakening – with fresh eyes.

The Guardian - 5/5
GameSpot - 9
GamesRadar - 4.5
By Why Tho? - 4.5
Game Informer - 8.25
IGN - 8

Much of the criticism has centered on the open world, which IGN’s review describes as “uninspiring,” with challenge templates that quickly become tiresome. But it’s balanced by Mario Kart World’s wild Knockout Tour, which is just a blast to play. It’s in essence a 24-player version of Tetris 99 or F-Zero 99, with players seamlessly eliminated over the course of multiple tracks. The races are often pure chaos, especially if you get stuck in the middle of the pack, but it’s immensely fun to battle into the final four and race for the finish line.

I’m not sure if I’ve mentioned it in this space, but I’m actually not the world’s biggest Mario Kart fan. I’ve enjoyed basically every iteration over the years, but I rarely enjoy playing it on my own, so I’ve been surprised by how much Mario Kart World has buoyed the launch lineup for me. I often find myself throwing it on for a few matches on a whim, making it the perfect bedtime game. Outside of Mario Kart, the Switch 2’s performance improvements have pushed me to pick up Echoes of Wisdom again, which I enjoyed but ultimately dropped when other games came across my table.

Mario Kart World should be enough to carry the Switch 2’s lineup for now, with Donkey Kong Bananza, Pokémon Z-A, and Metroid Prime 4 bridging the summer and the holiday period. There is the little matter of when Nintendo will host its anticipated Nintendo Direct, which will help set the agenda for the latter half of the year. Switch 2 was conspicuously absent from SGF and the Xbox showcases, fueling rumors that Nintendo is asking publishers and developers to save announcements for its own stream. Splatoon Raiders’s sudden announcement on the My Nintendo app, which I’ll cover in the next section, further muddled matters. Is Nintendo planning a Direct or not? My money is on “yes,” but as always, Nintendo moves in mysterious ways.

One way or another, the Switch 2’s launch is seemingly going to plan, with even lesser elements like Game Chat getting their share of praise. Going into the Switch 2’s release, one of the biggest questions was whether there was an appetite for “just another Switch.” So far, the answer is a resounding “yes.” Now Nintendo just needs to support it, and based on its recent history, there’s no reason to suppose it won’t.

Splatoon Raiders is an intriguing next step

Okay, Splatoon Raiders. On Tuesday, Nintendo unexpectedly announced what appears to be a single-player spin-off for Splatoon. Its official summary reads, “In the role of a mechanic, players will go on an adventure in the mysterious Spirhalite Islands alongside the splat-tacular Deep Cut trio.” More info will be shared at a later date, meaning it’s unlikely we’ll be seeing Splatoon Raiders before late 2026.

Interestingly, when I saw the announcement, my mind immediately went to The Sims. Based on conversations with sources with knowledge of the situation at EA, one of the key concerns around a potential Sims 5 is that it would basically be hitting the reset button on a decade of progress. Project Rene was meant to be the solution to this dilemma, but development has seemingly not gone well, leaving The Sims to spin its wheel.

How does this relate to Splatoon Raiders? Splatoon is another successful live service game that is in danger of becoming stale with a fourth entry. It’s also huge, especially in Japan – where Splatoon 3 sold 3.45 million copies in its first three days of release and set an all-time launch sales record. It’s obvious what Splatoon means to Nintendo just by how it’s presented in the newly-opened store in San Francisco, where an Inkling statue stands alongside Zelda, Mario, Animal Crossing, and other big name Nintendo franchises (by contrast, Metroid gets one solitary section, and Star Fox doesn’t feature at all).

It strikes me that Splatoon Raiders is the perfect pivot at the perfect time for Splatoon. It gives Splatoon 3 – which is getting a free update patch for Switch 2 – more time to breathe, and it appears to meaningfully expand what is one of Nintendo’s most enjoyable new worlds. They key, it turns out, is not to water down the core game (sorry, Project Rene), but to capture the original’s core strengths in a new and new interesting way.

Obviously, we have to see how Splatoon Raiders turns out – there’s every chance that it will be a dud that doesn’t resonate at all with fans of the series. But I like the spirit of experimentation, and it’s immediately more interesting to me than a straightforward Splatoon 4 announcement. It’s one to watch.

Nintendo Headlines: Backward compatibility tests, Splatoon 3 notes, and praise for Game Chat

With the Switch 2 launch in the rearview mirror, fans are not taking the time to really dig into everything that it has to offer (a product, it must be said, of Nintendo declining to send out review units ahead of time). Speculation is also starting to pick up about when Nintendo will host its next Direct, which usually comes a week or two after SGF is finished. While we wait, here are some of the headlines making their away around the Mushroom Kingdom.

• Splatoon 3’s 10.0.0 patch notes can be read right here. Main takeaway? 60fps main hub.

• Good Vibes Gaming tests out all of the Switch 1’s free upgrades on Switch 2 in the video above. Like I said, pretty good!

• I recapped SGF and the Xbox Showcases over the weekend, which had little in the way of Switch 2 news but plenty of games that should eventually make their way to the platform. I also talked a bit about what the Xbox’s handheld might mean for Switch 2.

• On a personal note, I’m quite excited for Scott Pilgrim EX and Mina the Hollower, both of which featured at SGF. The former is a sequel to one of my favorite beat-em-ups ever, while the latter looks like a wonderful tribute to the Game Boy Color. Both will be playable on Switch and Switch 2.

• Switch 2’s Game Chat “looks awful, but is FUN,” with The Verge writer Andru Marino say that it’s become their new meeting room.

• Koei Tecmo says that the Switch 2 is closer to the Xbox Series S than PS4 in terms of raw computing power.

• Mario Kart World fans have developed coin farming tricks to unlock every vehicle fast. One can apparently be done AFK.

• Haunted Chocolatier will have a larger world than Stardew Valley, according to creator ConcernedApe. Still no word on when it will release.

Mailbag: Steam Deck or Switch 2?

One of the perks of being a premium subscriber is that you get to submit questions to the weekly mailbag. No submissions, this week so I’ll pull a question from the Axe of the Blood God Discord that popped up during my recent Switch 2 livestream: For those of you with a Steam Deck: do you see yourself opting to use the Switch 2 over it for the foreseeable future?

The Steam Deck has come up lot in my conversations around the Switch 2. Just this morning, a friend of mine who plays a lot of Steam indies asked which platform they should spring for. There’s no reason to believe that the Steam Deck will meaningfully impact the Switch 2’s sales, but as someone who owns both, each platform does have its own unique strengths.

Up until this point, I’ve favored my Steam Deck for more graphically intensive games and for tinkering (I love it for mods), while my Switch has been about Nintendo exclusives. Now that the Switch 2 is out, though, I’ll probably be playing on Nintendo’s platform for the foreseeable future, if only because I prefer the form factor. Playing on Switch 2 also means that I can pivot to Mario Kart World any time I want. A significant benefit!

Does that mean I’ll stop using my Steam Deck? Probably not. I expect plenty of games to pop up on Steam before they make their way to Switch 2, and I still have a large Steam library. I have no plans to pick up an Xbox Ally, though — I have enough handhelds floating around my house as it is.