The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct today gave us more information on the next handheld to shake up the market. Though two particular parts of the announcement that were met with delight may be familiar to Xbox fans, especially those still reeling from the doomed announcement of the Xbox One.
GameShare is Family Sharing in a different font
Yes the Nintendo Switch 2 boasts game sharing, the ability to share your games with friends and family who don't even own the game. As long as you own it, GameShare will work with up to four consoles at a time including the original Switch and Switch Lite.
It's incredibly consumer friendly and almost makes up for the eyewatering price of the handheld which will be $449 and game prices of $80, setting the tone for future game price hikes. Almost.
Back in 2013, when the Xbox One was revealed, Microsoft had planned to include a feature called 'Family Sharing', which would have allowed players to share their library with up to 10 people designated as family members.
This was meant to improve access to games without the need for physically sharing discs but unfortunately was paired with the announcement of the controversial 'always-online' DRM policy. The backlash included accusations of the scheme being a direct attack on the used game market.
Yet another example of Microsoft being ahead of their time and trying to push the industry in a direction it wasn't ready for, but considering the reaction to Nintendo's announcement today, the audience is now willing and ready. So come on Xbox, enough messing about and give us the Friends and Family pass!
Nintendo Switch 2:- Launches June 5- $449 / $499 with Mario Kart- Pre-Orders on April 9- Digital Games are now $80 pic.twitter.com/ZiDIkDuGTVApril 2, 2025
That's not all, there'll be an optional in Switch 2 camera for voice chat. Perhaps the Kinect is making a comeback but not in the form we expected. A reincarnation if you will.
Again as much as we loved the Kinect, it being bundled with the console and forced on an unwilling audience didn't go down well and despite later releasing a Kinect-less bundle, the damage to public perception of the Xbox One was done.
Over to you. Do you think that the Xbox One with it's original plans for Family Sharing and the bundled Kinect would have gone down better with todays gaming audience? What did you think of the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal?
