One benefit of video games is that they let you pretend to do something else for a living – or even live a completely different life. That’s been a driving force behind a lot of long-standing trends, especially in the sim and cozy game genres. If your day job is stressful and hectic, why not unwind in your simpler, virtual job? Feed the cows at your farm. Meticulously clean really dirty objects. Serve up some coffee.
As time goes on, all genres undergo an evolution. I think it goes something like this: From their purest initial expression, to iterative complexity, then to subversive reinterpretation, and ultimately to reclaiming the original intent in a more modern form.
A recent game announcement – Neverway – made me think about this genre evolution: A life sim game with farming, coffee shop talk and all, but in a horror setting.
First off all: this looks cool! And with music from Disasterpeace, no less (I’ve been a fan ever since FEZ)! This one’s definitely on my radar.
But it is also interesting from the genre evolution perspective. Horror, in a game like this? Not so cozy anymore. It will be fascinating to see what it has to say about aspects of the genre that might already be a horror-inducing: the mundanity, the repetition, the pre-scripted relationships. Or if it is simply window dressing: A new look for old ideas.
Switch 2: Five Thoughts
I’m late to this, but a work trip to Cologne kept me from writing my thoughts down. But not anymore! I finally carved out some time, so here we go.
Mario Kart World looks sick!
The Direct opened with the new Mario Kart – of course it did! The previous game was the Switch’s best-selling title, so it makes sense that Nintendo wanted to feature it right at the beginning.
And it did get me excited, especially since I like the concept of a world that you can drive around in freely. I never liked any of the previous implementations, though: At first, I enjoyed my time with Forza Horizon – Xbox’s open-world driving franchise – but the constant “festival vibe” and bro-ish energy wore thin pretty quickly. Same with the LEGO open-world driving game, for example: cute, but no staying power.
I fully expect this to be different here. It has the Mario energy I love. And it will definitely be a hit with the kids – which counts for a lot!
(Also, Mario can eat burgers now and that changes his outfit? What?!)
Silksong lives!
Ahh, Nintendo… you tried to keep this game from me, burying it deep inside a random sizzle reel. But you can’t hide it from me!
Silksong, the follow-up to Hollow Knight (arguably one of the best games ever made), is actually releasing in 2025! Now, as a seasoned Silksong hopeful, I know full well that this means absolutely nothing. They could still postpone it – or never talk about it ever again. (Indeed, the go-to emoji for people expecting Silksong news at any show is the clown 🤡. We have been before. Many times.)
But, I can't help myself: It gives me hope that I’ll one day get to play this.
Solid hardware – but is it enough to keep Valve at bay?
The biggest threat to Nintendo this generation isn’t coming from Microsoft or Sony (to be fair, Nintendo hasn’t really cared about them since the Wii era), but from Valve.
The Steam Deck has made such an impression on the market: An incredible library of games (many of which you already own from years of Steam sales!), deep discounts that pop-up every other week, and enough power to run more demanding games – all of it in a flexible handheld format.
So the question is if the Switch 2 is offering enough to keep people from buying a Steam Deck instead.
And… I’m not sure. With the price hike – not just for the console (almost 500 Euros!) but also the games (80 Euros, ufff) – the Steam Deck looks very appealing. Sure, you don’t get Nintendo games on it, and it’s a bit more hands-on since it’s basically a Linux PC. But the decision isn’t as clear-cut anymore.
Game upgrades – enhance some more
I think it was pretty clear that we would get upgraded or enhanced editions of older Switch 1 games – and we did! Nintendo seems to be adding extra content to a lot of them, which is great. I’m especially excited for the upgrades coming to Kirby and the Forgotten Land.
That said, I expected even more upgrades, especially for games that ran notoriously bad on the original Switch (looking at you, Pokémon) or had major resolution dips (yes, Xenoblade, I mean you). These might still be coming, but I thought we would get some more announcements during the Direct.
I'm excited!
A new console from one of my favorite game companies – yes, this has me excited! I will be there on day one picking up the Switch 2. but I’m also a little wary, hoping Nintendo doesn’t rest on its laurels.
Hardware upgrades are nice, but Nintendo really shines when they take risks and push in new directions – on both the hardware and software side. I just hope this isn’t too safe of a play.
Time will tell.
Did you want to talk?
This week's Nintendo Direct had one big surprise for me (and I guess many others, too): The announcement of “Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream”. The trailer is so charming, and weird, that it almost makes me forget that they put a 2026 ('26!) release date on it.
The re-introduction of Miis also makes me wonder if there will be a bigger emphasis on some sort of social networking in the upcoming Switch. It would be great to see Nintendo putting their trademark weirdness to use in that area again.
