Nintendo has a special stranglehold on many gamers, myself included. No matter what the company does to us, we begrudgingly accept our fate and bow to nostalgia. The second a new Mario game is revealed, we all become little kids again, excited to see what new abilities the mustachioed protagonist has. When Nintendo announced the GameCube addition to NSO, everyone jumped for joy despite needing to fork over additional money to get access to the games. There is no denying that I hate the Nintendo Switch 2, but I will be getting it on day one (or whenever I can obtain it in the US). Here is why I hate that I will once again succumb to the whim of the nostalgia factory we call Nintendo.

4 Outdated features

That I have been craving

Nintendo has always had a way of creating a console that is one generation behind every other company. Sony and Microsoft have been competing for ages, but Nintendo hasn't cared about joining the console wars. Instead, the company waits on the sidelines, examines the competition, and then releases a console that is undoubtedly more innovative than the competition's, but doesn't include features it should have had 10 years ago.

While I hate that the Nintendo Switch 2 finally has game chat, it has game chat. This is something I have been waiting for Nintendo to add for ages, so I can talk to my friends while playing a game without needing to resort to a Discord call or using Nintendo's poorly designed app. On top of this, we finally have Game Share — another feature other consoles have, but for some reason, is more meaningful on Nintendo's next console. Maybe it is the allure of watching a friend play a game from my childhood live.

3 More of the same old

But reimagined

From my perspective, Nintendo has not been making amazing games for a while. Despite this, I still purchase them. It is almost like an abusive relationship — no matter how much I say I will leave, I keep crawling back. Perhaps it is the nostalgia of remembering past titles, or maybe it is my inner child craving the dopamine rush of passing another character in Mario Kart and coming out on top. Whatever it is, I know that I became ecstatic the second I saw Mario Kart World and wanted to jump right into a race.

Nintendo games have something about them that keeps me coming back to them, whether it is Mario Kart, The Legend of Zelda, or even Donkey Kong. I am not a fan of the new Donkey Kong design, but being able to run around an open world as one of my favorite Nintendo characters already has me excited, and that is enough to ignore the new look and latch onto the title like an eight-year-old me latched onto the N64 controller.

2 Games

Can't play them elsewhere

I know that Nintendo finally has more third-party support, but let's face it, you don't get a Nintendo console to play Cyberpunk 2077. You get it so you can play any of Nintendo's console-exclusive titles, of which there will be multiple. Games like Mario Kart World, Metroid Prime 4, and Donkey Kong Bananza have already been announced, but there will undoubtedly be more 3D Mario titles; Animal Crossing, Pokémon, and more.

Nintendo has a stranglehold on its properties and won't let anyone else have them. I have always hated that these IPs aren't shared, but there is nothing a lone consumer like me can do about it. Now that Nintendo has more third-party support, we can also expect more console exclusives like Duskbloods to start popping up, and that FOMO I will feel is enough to compel me to get the system.

1 The price

Yes, the price is an issue

Like many other Nintendo fans, I am not eager to shell out $450 to purchase the console. That is, if that price remains, thanks to the possibility of Nintendo changing it based on the tariff announcement in the US. Likewise, I am not eager to pay $500 for the Mario Kart World bundle. Despite this, being a gamer who grew up with Nintendo consoles in my house, I know that I will ultimately cave, even if it means trading games to help manage the price.

I will ultimately cave in and purchase the console because I had a lot of fun playing games with friends on the Nintendo Switch. The original Switch is a solid console that offers a good gaming experience that you can take on the go. I know that the Nintendo Switch 2 system will offer that same experience, and it will again be something that I will take with me when I know I will be stuck waiting for a while, whether it is getting my oil changed, sitting in the doctor's office, or waiting for my latte at the local café.

Nintendo, I hate that I love you

Since the era of the Wii U - one of Nintendo's worst consoles, I have had a love-hate relationship with the company. I look at their games and remember my childhood, get excited, purchase the game, and get disappointed, but I still enjoy the fact that I had that experience. The cycle continues no matter what Nintendo does. While many are crying out and telling others that Nintendo has gone too far, I stand here conflicted.

I know that I shouldn't want to give in and fork over my hard-earned dollars to a company that may sell me an inferior product, but I know that I ultimately will. Whether it is because of the pull of new games and console exclusives, features that are new only to Switch 2, or because I should have received a service I should have had ages ago, Nintendo will always have that special place in my heart. This makes it, so I am willing to overlook the bad, so I can have a little bit of fun and reminisce.