The Switch 2 is more than a decent successor to the highly popular original. It packs enough improvements to warrant a higher price, and a larger, 1080p screen is a most welcome upgrade. While I like what Nintendo did with it, I’m not planning to board the Switch 2 train anytime soon. Here’s why.

I'm Holding Out for Third-Party Switch 2 Joy-Con Alternatives

My original plan was to wait for reviews and then get a Switch 2 day one if Nintendo managed to improve the original’s janky, drift-prone thumbsticks.

Well, Nintendo didn’t send early samples to reviewers, so I had to wait about a week before Switch 2 reviews started pouring in. And surprise, surprise, not only does the Switch 2 pack poorly-made, janky-feeling thumbsticks, but it looks like they’re as prone to developing drift as those found in the original.

Now, I understand why Nintendo didn’t opt for Hall effect joysticks. The new Joy-Con design includes a magnetic attach mechanism, and Hall effect joysticks are highly susceptible to magnetic interference. But TMR joysticks, which are also drift-free, are quite resistant to interference and cost about the same as Hall effect ones, so there’s no excuse for not including drift-free thumbsticks this time around.

Besides, despite Nintendo claiming to have redesigned Joy-Con thumbsticks, to me, they don’t feel that much better than those on the original Switch. They’re still not as precise as the thumbsticks found on handheld PCs, even on some relatively affordable retro handhelds, which is a crying shame.

So instead of getting a Switch 2 now, I’ll wait for third-party manufacturers to release Joy-Con alternatives. Even if we don’t get options featuring Hall-effect or TMR thumbsticks, at least some will feature higher-quality joysticks compared to the ones in the first-party Joy-Cons.

They’ll also pack a genuine, useful d-pad instead of the compromise found on first-party Joy-Cons. While it’s cool being able to enjoy two-player action with one pair of Joy-Con controllers, the Joy-Con d-pad is nigh unusable when you want to use it as, well, a d-pad.

Only a Single Switch 2 Exclusive Has Piqued My Interest So Far

Poor quality Joy-Con thumbsticks aren’t the only reason I’m waiting out a few years before getting a Switch 2. As of this writing, there’s only one Switch 2 exclusive I consider a must-play: Donkey Kong Bananza.

Despite the game being a genuine GOTY contender, and despite Donkey Kong being one of my favorite video game series of all time—I’ve beaten Donkey Kong Country 1 and 2 at least half a dozen times on the SNES—I won’t get the console just for one game.

Mario Kart World looks fine, but I’ve never been a massive Mario Kart fan. I usually scoop up the single-player content and then play multiplayer for a few hours before setting it aside and playing a few multiplayer races every few months.

Then we’ve got Metroid Prime 4, but that one isn’t actually a Switch 2 exclusive since it's slated for the original Switch as well. Besides, I’ve never played the Metroid Prime trilogy, so I’ll have to dive into the first three games before checking out the fourth (I hope Nintendo will remaster the other two games sooner or later).

As for the rest of the Switch 2 exclusives, Drag x Drive doesn’t pique my interest; I’m not a fan of multiplayer games, so I don’t care about The Duskbloods and Splatoon Raiders, and while Fast Fusion looks awesome, I can wait a few years before checking it out. I also don’t care at all about Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment.

Since I own a gaming PC and multiple handheld PCs, I’m not interested in the Switch 2 as my primary gaming platform. I got a Switch Lite back in 2020 because it had a bunch of cool exclusives, but also because I wanted a handheld console to play indie games on. This time around, though, I’m only interested in exclusives, so I can wait a few years until the library (hopefully) fills up a bit.

I just hope Nintendo will start announcing more Switch 2 exclusives soon because, at the moment, the Switch 2 looks like a poor choice for a secondary gaming platform, something that the original Switch excelled at.

Only One Switch 1 Game I Plan to Revisit Has Gotten a Switch 2 Upgrade

Aside from Switch 2 exclusives, I’m also interested in revisiting some OG Switch exclusives I had played on my Switch Lite but never finished because the experience was less than great.

The Switch 2 upgrade program is just what those games need to shine, especially since the main reason I stopped playing every single one of them was poor performance on my Switch Lite. I’m ready to pay the $10 fee for a Switch 2 upgrade patch if that means I’ll be able to enjoy said games on Switch 2 in higher resolution and at 60 FPS.

But so far, only Tears of the Kingdom has gotten a Switch 2 upgrade patch. As of this writing, there’s no info about when other games on my “Switch 2 replay” list, which includes titles such as Astral Chain, Xenoblade Chronicles Definitive Edition, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and Fire Emblem: Three Houses, will receive a Switch 2 upgrade.

I don’t ask for much here. All I want is a 60FPS mode at a higher rendering resolution, and I’ll be a happy camper. I hope Nintendo will provide a Switch 2 upgrade, or at least a patch that unlocks the frame rate for games I want to revisit before I get my hands on a Switch 2.

A Switch 2 OLED Might Come Out Earlier Than We Think

Poor thumbsticks aren’t the only hardware-related thing that puts me off from buying a Switch 2. I also have issues with the screen, which has slower motion performance than even ancient LCD monitors.

Now, I’m not a stickler for motion performance. I game on a quite slow VA gaming monitor and I’m not bothered by its less-than-stellar response times, even in fast-paced first-person shooters.

However, considering that the Switch 2’s screen is about a third slower than the Steam Deck LCD’s screen, which has much worse response times than even my monitor, I think I’ll wait for the Switch 2 OLED, or at least a hardware revision that comes with a faster LCD screen.

Granted, I did play a bit of Mario Kart World on a Switch 2, and the amount of ghosting wasn’t deal-breaking. Still, I’d rather wait a few years to see whether we’ll get a model with an OLED or a faster LCD screen than buy a Switch 2 right now.

Personally, I reckon we’re going to get a Switch 2 OLED sooner than we think. The Switch OLED has seen lots of success and there’s definitely a market for a Switch 2 OLED.

Also, we already have one device that has been announced that packs a VRR-capable OLED display, the Lenovo Legion Go 2, meaning the VRR issues on handheld-sized OLED screens have likely been resolved. I believe Nintendo will release the Switch 2 OLED sooner rather than later, as the company has nothing to lose and everything to gain.

I Have a Massive Backlog of Games to Play In the Meantime

While I’m waiting for all the stuff I’ve listed above to come to fruition, I won’t have a shortage of games to play.

Firstly, there’s my fairly large Steam backlog. I’ve got 82 games in my “To Play” Steam collection. Next, my Epic Games store library includes almost 60 games I plan to check out (I know, I’m that weird one who actually plays some of the free Epic Games store games). Lastly, my PC Game Pass “Play Later” list is 28 games strong.

Tallied up, this comes down to 170 games in total I can enjoy while waiting for the Switch 2 to reach the point where I find it worthy of my hard-earned cash.

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The Switch 2 is a great little console and one of the best handhelds on the market, and I say this as a handheld PC connoisseur. But the lack of must-play exclusives, the slow cadence of Switch 2 upgrade patches, hardware-related issues, and the fact that we’ve still not gotten even a single third-party Joy-Con alternative, coupled with the fact that I have multiple devices to enjoy games on means that I have no reason to get a Switch 2 anytime soon.