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Article Date: 17.06.2025

RATED - "Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour"


I think Wii Sports spoiled us to quite a large degree. A high-quality game with innovative new controls, and it's free with the console? Sounds amazing! And it was! But it has since ignited this discourse where every time Nintendo releases a new console with a game that looks to introduce players to a new console, the players are left asking "why isn't it free with the console". I think a core reason why games such as Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour and 1-2-Switch haven't been included with the console is because Nintendo doubts whether people actually want these games included with their console. Most pack-in games aren't really free, their price is just usually folded into the price of the overall console. While people claimed to want 1-2-Switch, would they have wanted it knowing that it made their Nintendo Switch potentially more expensive? It's maybe possible. 1-2-Switch, similar to Wii Sports does have a fairly broad appeal. But for Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, you really need to have an interest in technology to really get anything from it.



Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is all about four main aspects: collecting stamps by visiting various areas, trying out tech demos, performing well at minigames and taking quizzes on the knowledge the game has taught you. Collecting stamps is the main method of progression, as it unlocks new areas of the map. The stamps are attributed to the various buttons and components you find on all of the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware, meaning you'll be spending a few minutes to find that one hardware feature you completely forgot about, such as the "NFC Touchpoint" for scanning amiibo.



There's the insights, which are really the main meat of the game. Each section of the map has a large handful of related insights, which provide a lot of information about why they designed all of the Nintendo Switch 2 hardware in particular ways. This includes very minute details, such as the Pro Controller face buttons being placed at various heights to suit how fingers naturally move across them and how one of the feet on the Nintendo Switch 2 Dock is designed and positioned in such a way so that it stops the dock from tipping over if the cables at the back are accidentally yanked around. It's a truly impressive level of detail and the tone of the writing along with the various call-backs to old Nintendo hardware feels very reminiscent of the "Ask Iwata/Ask the Developer" interviews. People joked that this game is a "paid manual", but it's not. It's a paid tour of the hardware development process. As mentioned before, if you don't have an interest in technology, this game really won't be for you.


Moving on, the tech demos are distinctly not games, as the NPCs will often remind you. They're there to demonstrate various new features, such as the High Dynamic Range (HDR), 4K resolution, variable refresh rate (VRR), HD Rumble 2, etc. The tech demos relating to refresh rate were quite comedic, as the game gives you the funny option to reduce it to a single frame per second, giving the impression that the game is being lagged to death. On the other hand, the HDR demo seemed somewhat unimpressive. Fireworks are set off, and the game allows you to view the difference in lighting effects. I could tell the difference, but it was really rather minor. Oh well, I'm sure it's very impressive in the right context.


Lastly, the minigames. They're varied and quirky in a way that reminds me a lot of the WarioWare series, and each one rewards you with up to three medals depending on your performance, with the third medal being hidden until you achieve two medals. Some of these minigames have brutal standards when it comes to the third medal. You'll be asked to use the HD Rumble 2 to determine where a vibration is coming from within 2 pixels, use mouse controls to mimic the breast stroke to swim 50 meters in 8 seconds and find individual roaming pixels that move across your 4K TV. Third medals definitely aren't for everyone; you'll need to have pretty good FPS-gamer reflexes to keep up with how quickly the minigames will ask you to move the mouse around. And many of these minigames do use mouse controls, which is a minor gripe. I get that mouse controls is one of the big new features of the console, but after a while, it did leave me wanting some more button or motion-based minigames. A favourite of mine was a demonstration of the new GL/GR buttons found on the new Pro Controller and Charging Grip, which are used in a minigame that asks you to rapidly input increasingly complex button combinations to "unlock" the next stage. It gets very complicated but is very addicting.



Aside from the main gameplay, the overall presentation of the game, the graphics and the music, are perfectly serviceable. Nothing to particularly write home about, but they do a decent job of immersing you in this bizarre, world-sized tech exposition. As for the price of the game, it costs about £8 in the UK and by the time I had fully 100%'d the game, I had spent over 10 hours, which seems like a good amount of time for that price. £8 isn't as good as "free", but I've gotten my money's worth.


Verdict:


+ The insights were genuinely very interesting for an tech enthusiast like myself

+ The minigames are varied, quirky and deviously challenging at their most difficult

+ The overall atmosphere of a digital "tech expo" is immersive...

- ...if a bit dull at times.

- Almost all the minigames use mouse controls, which can feel samey after a while


74/100


I personally adored how detailed this game got with all the hard work that goes into hardware-design, but if you're looking something with more universal appeal like Wii Sports or Nintendo Land, this won't be for you. This is for the real tech geeks.