Preview: Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour Is Underwhelming

Recent console launches tended to include a piece of software that might feel a bit more like a tech demo than a game. With the Nintendo Switch, we got 1-2 Switch. The PS5 came with Astro’s Playroom as a free install. Nintendo decided Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will be a paid app that launches alongside the console on June 5, 2025, and after playing it I really am surprised it will be n additional purchase. Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is structured as something like a museum tour, with players’ avatar wandering around the console’s parts and learning about it as they do. You can talk with other visitors, with most of them hyping up the system by expressing their excitement or trying to encourage the person playing to take part in the “experiences” within the app. My trial session lasted 15 minutes, but that still meant I got to try some minigames, a tech demo, and a quiz. Image via Nintendo The quiz is one of the most basic of experiences, and these can be taken to earn medals. So the one I went through involved the Joy-Con 2, asking things like how many cameras it had, details about buttons, and so on. Basically, you commit to a quiz, read a handful of signboards with insight about them, then go answer. If you miss a question, the signboard with the correct response will be highlighted so you can retake it and get the answer “right.” In the case of the tech demo, I tested out one in the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour preview. It involved shaking the Joy-Con 2 controllers like maracas. Since this wasn’t a traditional game, which would award medals based on performance, it instead listed some testing objectives. One involved rolling the beads in the “instruments.” Another involved changing its appearance. Yet another tasked me with switching the insides from “beads” to “balls.” It’s essentially a means of seeing how the HD rumble and haptic feedback changes and mimics certain sensations. It’s fine and all, as well as an easy way to earn a medal, but I wasn’t excited to test it out. Image via Nintendo As for the minigames, I got to play three. However, one felt like another tech demo disguised as a minigame, while another seemed like a quiz in disguise. One of these involved dodging spiked balls, with medals awarded for surviving 20 and 30 seconds. However, the mouse controls were used to move a UFO out of the way of the hazards. Clearing it unlocked a part two that added stars to collect to the mix, with points awards earning more medals. It was the most game-like of the three and fine? Again, I wasn’t excited and after earning medals, I doubt I would return to it. The quiz-like minigame was an FPS test. Various balls, like ones used for soccer, tennis, and basketball, would go past on the top and bottom of the screen. I had to determine what the framerate was. In the case of tennis, it was much trickier due to the speed. But this wasn’t exactly fun. Especially as the medals were only awarded if you got all the answers correct. Image via Nintendo As for the other minigame that felt like a tech demo, that was a rumble test that also involved the mouse mode. When it started, I’d need to move the Joy-Con 2 on a surface and feel the rumble. When I found the point where it was strongest, I’d need to press a button. Between one and two medals are awarded based on how “close” your guess was. Well, I got two medals on the first try, so I was done. So why do you earn medals? Because some of the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour experiences are locked away behind them. I’m not impressed with Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. It isn’t captivating in the way that Astro’s Playroom on the PS5 was, and that was a free experience. Yes, the Japanese eShop lists it as a 990 yen application at the moment. I just worry there isn’t enough there after spending 15 minutes with it and testing out a selection of its activities. Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will come to the Switch 2 on June 5, 2025. The post Preview: Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour Is Underwhelming appeared first on Siliconera.

Apr 3, 2025 - 21:16

Preview: Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour Is Underwhelming

Recent console launches tended to include a piece of software that might feel a bit more like a tech demo than a game. With the Nintendo Switch, we got 1-2 Switch. The PS5 came with Astro’s Playroom as a free install. Nintendo decided Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will be a paid app that launches alongside the console on June 5, 2025, and after playing it I really am surprised it will be n additional purchase.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is structured as something like a museum tour, with players’ avatar wandering around the console’s parts and learning about it as they do. You can talk with other visitors, with most of them hyping up the system by expressing their excitement or trying to encourage the person playing to take part in the “experiences” within the app. My trial session lasted 15 minutes, but that still meant I got to try some minigames, a tech demo, and a quiz.

The quiz is one of the most basic of experiences, and these can be taken to earn medals. So the one I went through involved the Joy-Con 2, asking things like how many cameras it had, details about buttons, and so on. Basically, you commit to a quiz, read a handful of signboards with insight about them, then go answer. If you miss a question, the signboard with the correct response will be highlighted so you can retake it and get the answer “right.”

In the case of the tech demo, I tested out one in the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour preview. It involved shaking the Joy-Con 2 controllers like maracas. Since this wasn’t a traditional game, which would award medals based on performance, it instead listed some testing objectives. One involved rolling the beads in the “instruments.” Another involved changing its appearance. Yet another tasked me with switching the insides from “beads” to “balls.” It’s essentially a means of seeing how the HD rumble and haptic feedback changes and mimics certain sensations. It’s fine and all, as well as an easy way to earn a medal, but I wasn’t excited to test it out.

As for the minigames, I got to play three. However, one felt like another tech demo disguised as a minigame, while another seemed like a quiz in disguise. One of these involved dodging spiked balls, with medals awarded for surviving 20 and 30 seconds. However, the mouse controls were used to move a UFO out of the way of the hazards. Clearing it unlocked a part two that added stars to collect to the mix, with points awards earning more medals. It was the most game-like of the three and fine? Again, I wasn’t excited and after earning medals, I doubt I would return to it.

The quiz-like minigame was an FPS test. Various balls, like ones used for soccer, tennis, and basketball, would go past on the top and bottom of the screen. I had to determine what the framerate was. In the case of tennis, it was much trickier due to the speed. But this wasn’t exactly fun. Especially as the medals were only awarded if you got all the answers correct.

As for the other minigame that felt like a tech demo, that was a rumble test that also involved the mouse mode. When it started, I’d need to move the Joy-Con 2 on a surface and feel the rumble. When I found the point where it was strongest, I’d need to press a button. Between one and two medals are awarded based on how “close” your guess was. Well, I got two medals on the first try, so I was done.

So why do you earn medals? Because some of the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour experiences are locked away behind them.

I’m not impressed with Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour. It isn’t captivating in the way that Astro’s Playroom on the PS5 was, and that was a free experience. Yes, the Japanese eShop lists it as a 990 yen application at the moment. I just worry there isn’t enough there after spending 15 minutes with it and testing out a selection of its activities.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will come to the Switch 2 on June 5, 2025.

The post Preview: Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour Is Underwhelming appeared first on Siliconera.