At this head , it ’s a give that a young Nintendo console table will launch with some kind of tech demo . I think that the company might kick that rule to the bridle this time after1 - 2 Switch , but that ’s not the compositor’s case . In fact , it ’s double down on that with theNintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour . Positioned as an introduction to all of the console ’s feature of speech , it ’s a complete thought for a light pack - in for a new console .

Except that it ’s not a detached camp - in . It is a game that costs money , a fact that got an hearable joke out of a elbow room full of press who attend aSwitch 2 hands - onevent this week . It seemed like an absurd business decision to me , but I was willing to hear Nintendo out when I really played a bit of Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour for myself .

Now I ’m even more baffled .

A fact about mouse controls appears in a pop-up in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour.

Nintendo

An interactive manual

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Touris , basically , an synergistic instruction manual . The app place players on aNintendo Switch 2 , which is embellish in informational booths and signs that explain every single console feature in point . I could walk on a Joy - con and take all about the larger shoulder buttons and glide across the fundamental screen like an shabu pond to larn about the fresh cartridges .

As an informational tool , the app does seem handy , even if a lot of the data it provides is fairly obvious to anyone who has used a Switch . The claw , though , is that Nintendo try out to gamify a typically tedious learning process by making everything a minigame . Some kiosks are presented as quiz where I ’m shew signs that explain new features and then am tested on my reading inclusion .

There ’s a meta game to it all , as I can collect medals for doing unlike labor which unlock more attractions and give me access to different parts of the console . That ’s whereWelcome Touris a petty more fun as an idea . One game showed me how precise the mouse controls are by having me move a little starship around to dodge falling spike balls . It ’s bare , but it really does a large business at showing how 1:1 the control feel compared to looser motion controls . Another game had me dragging the black eye - con back and off and feeling for the point where the HD rumble is at its height . I was on the dot on the money with my surmise , effectively trade me on how improved the tech is .

A UFO dodges spike balls in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour.

Nintendo

Some trickier technical school construct get creatively explain here too . One quiz showed me unlike vivification of a rebound chunk and ask me what frame rate each was actuate at . It was an easy quiz , but it did make it clear exactly what the difference between 60 and 120fps is . Similarly , another kiosk had me playing World 1 - 1 ofSuper Mario Bros. , except the entire tier stretched across the covert to emphasize precisely how much information 4 K displays show .

It ’s all precious and kid - well-disposed , but I can not think of a weirder up charge for a video game console . Most of the information in here could have been a PDF . It ’s just a aggregation of fact sheet fastball point splayed out in a apt room . The minigames , while sorcerous , all feel like they were progress quickly inGame Builder Garage . It ’s more an app than a game , and it ’s not one I can imagine many people paying money for .

I ’m not certain why Nintendo has grown so allergic to load down - in game . MaybeWii Sportswas a picayune too pop and the society regard that it could have made bank charging for it alternatively of giving it off for free . But then , would it have been that popular ? It being a freebie was the appeal , just as the original Switch being an cheap alternative to advanced cabinet was a big part of its full adoption charge per unit .

you may belike see where I ’m going with this . The Switch 2’scontroversial pricing strategyis give-up the ghost to be a real test for Nintendo and the power of the Switch firebrand . Will people still shell out $ 80 for arereleased Kirby gamejust because them ’s the brakes?Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Touris , in some comically low stake way , that tension in a microcosm . What are you uncoerced to devote for ? What has value to you in a plot ? Would even a measly $ 5 be worth it to spend a few hour horn in around a decent ironware tutorial ?

I ’ll get a elbow room full of make noise chuckles do those question .

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tourlaunches on June 5 for Nintendo Switch 2 .