This week, the big Switch 2 reveal dominated online gaming conversations, with people gushing about their excitement for games like Mario Kart World on one hand (and falling in love with a playable cow in particular), and recoiling from the price on the other. Also, with season two of HBO’s The Last of Us almost upon us, it seems we may be in for a fresh new wave of conversations about the big moral and ethical issues at the heart of those games, so brace yourselves for that. Read on for these dispatches from internet-land and more.
2 / 10
Let me get this out of the way first: I’m not a Nintendo girlie. A couple of decades ago, my parents gave me a choice between N64 or PlayStation for my birthday, and I chose the team with the badass bandicoot and didn’t regret it. It wouldn’t be until 2019 that I’d pick up a Switch and still, it wasn’t until the summer of last year, 2024, that I’d put serious miles on it. The slim form factor and enormous game catalog made it a perfect companion for NYC subway trips, picnic hangs with friends, and late-night gaming in bed with a machine that didn’t tire my arms the way the heavier Steam Deck does. It was the platform on which I enjoyed the hell out of a recent replay of Final Fantasy VII, and I was all in for the Switch 2 as I dreamed of a better screen, more processing power, and cool new modes like the long-rumored and now-confirmed mouse mode. – Claire Jackson Read More
3 / 10
A Nintendo Switch 2 will set you back $450. Mario Kart World will be $90 for the physical version. There’s a tutorial for the new hardware and its features complete with demos and minigames called Switch 2 Welcome Tour. It will also cost money. Nintendo is preparing to launch its most anticipated console ever and seems ready to squeeze fans for (almost) everything it can. – Ethan Gach Read More
4 / 10
We are two weeks away from the premiere of The Last of Us’ second season. The HBO live-action adaptation will be based on The Last of Us Part II, and anyone who’s played it knows it builds heavily off the first game’s ending. As such, showrunners Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann are doing promotional interviews for the new season and were naturally asked by IGN about the moral conundrum presented at the end of the first game. And y’all, I think it’s bizarre that someone who led two of my favorite games of all time manages to make them less interesting every time he weighs in on their characters’ actions. – Kenneth Shepard Read More
5 / 10
After Nintendo held its big Switch 2 Direct showcase on April 2, press and content creators around the world had a chance to put the new console through its paces. Attendees were able to play multiple games, including Nintendo’s first-party offerings like Mario Kart World and Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, as well as big third-party ports like Cyberpunk 2077 and Elden Ring. From the sound of it, the Switch 2 is exactly what it looks like: a bigger, better version of one of the best video game consoles of all time. – Kenneth Shepard Read More
6 / 10
I absolutely adore PowerWash Simulator. I’ve adored it for three years now. It’s the console game I keep coming back to; curling up on the couch, putting on a podcast, and cleaning the muck off an ice rink or UFO. It got me through a horrible bout of covid, it offers me comfort when I’m feeling down, and it keeps adding increasingly peculiar and excellent DLC. Please, you have to know, I love this game. So now, here’s everything wrong with it that I desperately hope to see fixed in the forthcoming sequel. – John Walker Read More
7 / 10
Today, during Nintendo’s big Switch 2 Direct, we got a bunch of trailers for upcoming games and finally learned that the new console will be launching June 5. But the real star of the show wasn’t a new Donkey Kong game or voice chat, it was a simple yet badass cow on a scooter built out of a boombox. – Zack Zwiezen Read More
8 / 10
Back in January, I lamented the idea that the Switch 2 would simply be an upgraded Switch. Not because I wouldn’t buy one—I’d be there day one regardless—but because what I’ve loved about Nintendo for so many decades is the company’s desire to just be strange. From the clamshell two-screen bizarreness of the DS to the out-of-nowhere stick-waving delight of the Wii, you could count on Nintendo to make things a bit odd. It didn’t look like that was happening at all this year…until the reveal of the camera. – John Walker Read More
9 / 10
In 2012, renowned developers Scott Murphy and Mark Crowe launched a Kickstarter to spiritually revive their classic Space Quest series, a game to be called SpaceVenture. Some 13 years later, following numerous delays and botched half-launches, the game has finally arrived on Steam. And oh no, it’s so bad. But before we confront its awfulness, let’s take stock of how we got here. – John Walker Read More
10 / 10