Monday, June 30, 2025

Nintendo Switch 2: Three Things


Well, I bought Nintendo Switch 2 on Friday.  Correction, I purchased it earlier in the week, and it was ready to be picked up on Friday.  I experienced my first bit of anxiety regarding this new system after opening and taking everything out of the box, but I was unable to locate what was understood to be a business card-sized redemption code for Mario Kart World.  I recalled that the box hadn't been taped and was hoping that someone at Best Buy hadn't snagged it out of the box earlier in the day.  The wording on the box even stated, "Full Game Download," and "To be downloaded on included system.  See inside panel for instructions," and I wasn't able to find any panel, inside or otherwise, that could direct me to anything to do with the download.  After a frantic Google search, I found out that all I had to do was to connect to the Nintendo eShop, and the game would be available to download, so the download code is directly tied to the console and not a specific code which would be then tied to the Nintendo account that used it.  I'm not sure how I feel about that, but there it is.

The second hiccupy thing I ran into was with the original Switch Pro Controller.  I'd read that the original Pro Controller was compatible with the Switch 2, and I've found that to be true.  The complication came when I realized that switching the Pro Controller between the Original Switch and the Switch 2 is cumbersome when having to pair it back and forth.  With the Original Switch, I can just plug the USB cable into the controller and the console dock and it almost immediately connects/pairs (as in fewer than 5 seconds), but when I tried this method with the Switch 2, nothing happened; yes, I went to the alternate pairing methods page/tab/section.  I don't know if this was an initial setup hiccup or if you just can't pair the Switch Pro Controller with the Switch 2 using only a cable, but the process of pairing between the Switch 2 and the Original Switch has made me now want a Switch 2 Pro Controller, but only after they're back in stock at Costco.

The biggest "Well, huh" moment came when The Squire wanted to play a game on our original Switch, but was unable to because of Nintendo's recently implemented game card sharing system.  All of this future confusion and complications are likely due to having my linked Nintendo profile connected to multiple Switch systems, including the Switch 2.  I feel like this is going to need a flow chart, otherwise I'm likely to talk myself in circles and still not come across as making any sense.


Okay, I guess it's less of a flow chart and more of some pictures with a bunch of confusing arrows and some descriptive non-descript text.

So we have the original switch that is, according to Nintendo, my primary switch, which is where digital games go when I purchase them.  So, any purchased digital games can be played by any account on the original Switch.  Then we have the OLED Switch, which I have also linked my Nintendo account, but other accounts on the OLED Switch cannot play digital games because they're not authorized accounts according to Nintendo; other accounts on the OLED Switch can't play the "Virtual Console" apps (NES, SNES, Game Boy, etc) because they're not part of our online family plan.  Then on Friday, when we got the Switch 2, I used the OLED Switch to perform the system/account transfer link, which I'm thinking might be part of my problem, and downloaded Mario Kart World.

My frustration came to a head when I opened up the Original Switch and The Squire tried to play Hatch Tales.  This is when I found out that you're only able to link your Nintendo account between two systems max, even with exclusive Switch 2 games like Mario Kart World.  What I've found out in the last couple of days is that if I want to play Mario Kart World, I need to have the Switch 2 linked to the Switch OLED.  If I want to play any digital games that I've purchased with my Nintendo account on the Switch OLED.  I need to have it linked to the Original Switch, which then means that I have to unlink the connection between the OLED and the Switch 2 and link it between the OLED and the Original Switch.  Did I just say that twice?  Maybe, but that's what the non-flow chart flow chart is supposed to be for.

I'm thinking that some of my problems might be alleviated if I reset the Switch 2 to factory settings and connect it as a primary link to the Original Switch.  Maybe having the Switch 2's primary link to the Switch OLED, which doesn't have my primary linked account.  My one hangup is I'm slightly afraid that if I do perform a factory reset on the Switch 2 that I won't be able to redownload Mario Kart World, because I've already downloaded it.  I'm 87.47% sure that that's not how this actually works since the game seems to be tied to the console, but there's that lizard-part of my brain that's telling me that doing a factory reset on the Switch 2 will somehow erase something to do with the eShop recognizing the "paid connection" between the console and Mario Kart World.  

Or maybe not, and I'm just conflagrating the situation?  I just returned from looking into doing everything in the last couple of paragraphs, and I was able to play both Mario Kart World on the Switch 2 and Hatch Tales on the Original Switch, which means that my Switch OLED is not currently linked to either system.  So maybe the Switch OLED will now just be a physical game card-only system for the sake of convenience?  I did run into an issue last night when The Squire was quickly clicking through the 'link to a different Switch' prompt and unlinked between the Switch 2 and the OLED and linked the Switch 2 to the Original Switch, which immediately kicked me out of the digital game I was currently playing (Car Quest).  Which is a terrifying prospect of playing a digital game if I'm away from the house (ie, work) and The Squire is home and wanting to play Hatch Tales or Flashback (he likes the title music).

If you've gotten this far in the article, or even if you've just skipped to the last paragraph, I want to emphasize that this article is not in response to buyer's remorse of any kind.  I think part of the inception for this article is that I've never had to deal with this level of backward compatibility across multiple console systems before.  It's also something that I hadn't anticipated with Nintendo's game sharing system, and something that I hadn't heard of in the 25 days since the console was first released.  I am having a lot of fun with Mario Kart World, and I'm sure I'll be able to work out a system regarding the Switch OLED, the Original Switch, and the Switch 2 that I'll eventually be happy with once all of this newness has worn off.



~JWfW/JDub/The Faceplantman/Jaconian
I Know How To Keep A Woman Satisfied


P.S.  I also found this Reddit thread pretty useful in terms of the transfer process from the Switch to the Switch 2.  It answered some questions I didn't know I had, as well as a few "features" that I don't recall reading about before I started the account linkage.

P.P.S.  I have not played any online matches in Mario Kart World, so I have nothing to add regarding the apparent hate after a recent update modified the way random tracks are chosen.

No comments:

Post a Comment