Although video games and the experience they provide are quite subjective, some titles that have come out this year have perhaps earned their bad rep. The good news is that they can serve as a lesson in hindsight for their developers and publishers while also allowing the rest of the industry to learn from their mistakes.

With that being said, it’s time to take a look at some of the worst games that 2025 has brought to our libraries.

10. TRON: Catalyst

TRON: Catalyst had the potential to put a unique spin on the popular TRON movies with its unique art style and top-down action perspective. However, Bithell Games dropped the ball here by playing it too safe, with the resulting experience never pushing its players beyond a certain limit and feeling quite underwhelming as a result.

Make no mistake, Exo’s adventures and the central conflict between the Core and Automata are a solid premise for a video game. But Bithell failed to capitalize on its source material in ways that mattered. The result is a game that seems ambitious on the surface but is largely forgettable thanks to its execution.

Its combat never challenges its players while its level design and narrative are merely serviceable instead of being great ways to present complex themes like corporate greed, time travel, and dystopian societies. Although it does have its takers, TRON: Catalyst should have been the definitive TRON experience for fans and newcomers alike. It’s a damn shame it didn’t make the most out of its source material, though.

9. Spirit of the North 2

Just like the previous title on this list, Spirit of the North 2 has the dubious distinction of wasting a fantastic premise. Infuse Studio had an opportunity to build on the mechanics and story it set up in the original game but instead failed to do more with its take on a fox and raven working together to dispel the influence of a truly malicious antagonist.

It’s rare that a game uses its opening act to make its players the catalyst for all the calamity that they will have to deal with as they continue their playthrough. That’s just what Spirit of the North 2 does, however. But that inspired piece of narrative flair soon falls flat in the wake of an uninspired world with insultingly simply puzzles and lacklustre exploration.

While its world-building was on point for the most part, this is a game that remains largely forgettable once you roll the credits on its relatively short adventure. We really hope that Infuse pulls up its socks and does more with a world that looked pretty darn good but had so little in it that it may have been okay to let it succumb to the influence of the dark shaman who was trying to corrupt it.

8. Creature Keeper

While Creature Keeper does deserve some slack considering it’s an indie title developed by a single individual, it does earn its place on this list thanks to the egregious wasted potential on display throughout its runtime. It’s ambitions to be a rival to Pokemon or Palworld are clear to see but it wastes the potential of capturing friendly beasties to battle at your side in favor of a befriending mechanic that’s more reliant on how many treats you currently carry in your inventory.

That lackluster approach carries over to its combat and world-building, seriously limiting its potential to be more than a passing distraction in a world filled with more entertaining titles. Sodland is not a place you might find yourself going back to in the interim between your last great game and the release of your next big one.

7. Captain Blood

A game that broke out of development hell and is based on a fairly interesting pirate novel should have been quite the entertainer, right? However, SeaWolf Studio’s take on piracy quickly disabused us of that notion, with Captain Blood failing to capture the highs and lows of the 1685 Spanish Main in an adventure that certainly needed more time at sea before it became a true swashbuckler.

Its hack n’ slash gameplay loop failed to make the most out of a combat system that seemed reasonably good but was ultimately let down by clunky controls and a main story that failed to dig up any narrative gold. Captain Blood is sadly the worst pirate we ever heard of.

6. Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour

It’s puzzling that a behemoth like Nintendo failed to learn from its rival Sony when it came to creating an experience that introduced Switch 2 owners to their shiny new handheld. Unlike Astro Bot, which was a free add-on for PS5 owners, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour fails to highlight any of the new device’s best features in a way that justifies its $10 price tag.

The best way we can explain it is by comparing it to a tour of a large office given to you by an intern who is clearly unpaid, and subsequently disinterested in what they do there. It’s quite disheartening to see such a half-hearted attempt from a studio that generally makes incredible games especially for its homegrown consoles. Nintendo will certainly want to revisit this title and perhaps get back to the drawing board for future additions.

5. Ambulance Life: A Paramedic Simulator

It’s rather surprising that Aesir Interactive followed up its excellent Police Simulator: Patrol Officers with Ambulance Life: A Paramedic Simulator. While one would expect that the studio would take what worked in its last outing and develop it to add new wrinkles to the subsequent one, what we were given was a buggy, uninspired mess that failed to capture the tension and impact of what a paramedic working under pressure would experience in the field.

Instead, we were left trying our best to get our patients loaded up in the ambulance while its day one patch rendered its diagnostic mechanic all but useless, leaving us with a bunch of patients whose pain and suffering were indicative of our own emotions playing this title’s mind-numbing minigames. Honestly, you’d be better off actually training to be a paramedic in the real world if you want to see what that feels like in action.

4. Still Wakes the Deep: Siren’s Rest

This DLC chapter to one of 2024’s most terrifying horror games is probably a surprising presence on this list much like the main game’s terrifying threats. However, Siren’s Rest fails to deliver on an exciting promise of uncovering more of what made the Biera D oil rig fall to the depths of Davy Jones’ locker.

With ten years passing between the DLC and the base game, a new protagonist looking to get more answers about the ill-fated oil rig fails to find the answers she needs thanks to a less linear approach to discovering secrets and annoying pathing issues that seriously limited her ability to find what she was looking for. The relatively shorter runtime also worked against it, making Siren’s Rest the weakest part of the experience that The Chinese Room brought to the table in a horror game that had us at the edge of our seats last year.

3. Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror

We’ve seen everything that Dollhouse: Behind the Broken Mirror brings to the table before. There’s an amnesiac protagonist who needs to visit a desolate location filled with the secrets of her past. There are spooky dolls, maniacal clowns, and a whole host of horrors standing in her way. There are puzzles to solve, and secrets to unlock.

But unfortunately, these staples of the horror genre take a backseat to a lackluster narrative, egregious pacing issues, badly synced audio, and severely limiting mechanics that make this game quite difficult to recommend. SODESCO’s attempts to build up its Dollhouse franchise needs a lot of work, and fast.

2. Game of Thrones Kingsroad

netmarbleNeo’s attempt to leverage of the success of HBO’s largely successful take on Westeros may have been a good attempt if it wasn’t for its progression systems that seemed hell-bent on eating into our wallets before allowing us to uncover more of its take on George R.R. Martin’s fictional world.

Trying to worm your way into the affections of the lords and ladies of the land is a tedious grind if you take the free-to-play route, taking a lot away from a Game of Thrones experience that brought an impressive character creator and a lot of cool moments with series staples like Jon Snow. It’s an unpolished take on Westeros that only the Lannisters might be able to successfully navigate given their seemingly deep pockets.

1. MindsEye

Build a Rocket Boy would certainly wish that their gaming debut was not the belle of the ball on this list but here we are. MindsEye brought a gorgeous yet empty open-world to its players, populating it with enemies and NPCs that were quite dumb by modern standards.

Those problems were further exacerbated by a boring combat loop, a mediocre main story, and a very puzzling endgame loop that we still cannot make sense of. Its bugs and frame drops only added to the confusion while Build a Rocket Boy’s poor damage control efforts have relegated their pilot project to the depths of gaming hell. As it stands, MindsEye’s best feature is that it serves as a bad example, and a benchmark in what not to do when making a new game.

What were your thoughts on these titles? Were there any others that you think deserve a place on this list? Hit us up in the comments and fire away at the games you thought were a let-down this year!

Nintendo Cube, known for the Mario Party series, is the developer in question. It’s best known for more recent entries in the former, including Super Mario Party Jamboree (which is getting a Nintendo Switch 2 edition with new content on July 24th). It also delivered the well-received Clubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics.

However, Nintendo Cube also has duds like Everybody 1-2-Switch and Animal Crossing: Amiibo Festival on the Wii U to its credit. You can add Welcome Tour, which received extensive backlash for costing $10 when it’s essentially a tech demo. It also bombed among critics with a 55 Metascore based on 46 reviews.

The complete list of accessories needed to play through all of the exhibitions in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour are the USB camera for one minigame, a Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller or Joy-Con 2 Charging Grip for one minigame, and a TV or monitor that runs at a resolution of 4K for one minigame and one tech demo. In the case of the controller requirement, any controller that includes GL and GR buttons will work for the minigame.

Finishing minigames in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour rewards players with medals, and in order to 100 percent complete the game, every single medal has to be collected. Due to needing these accessories, 3 of the medals from the game are essentially locked behind the player needing to spend extra money. In its entirety, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour features 34 different minigames and tech demos.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour was announced back in April during a Direct showcase dedicated to revealing more details about the console. While essentially a way to teach players how some of the different features of the console work, unlike a title like Astro’s Playroom on the PS5, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is a paid game with a $10 price tag. What is essentially a tech demo needing players to spend money on it instantly became a source of some controversy surrounding the Switch 2.

In response, vice president of product and player experience at Nintendo of America, Bill Trinen, spoke about how the $10 price tag for Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour was not exorbitant. Rather, he said that the game is a “robust piece of software.”

“For some people, I think there are people who are particularly interested in the tech and the specs of the system and things like that, for them I think it’s going to be a great product,” said Trinen. “It’s really for people that want more information about the system rather than necessarily a quick intro to everything it does.”

“And for that reason and just the amount of care and work that the team put into it, I think it was decided that, ‘Yeah, this feels like $9.99 is not an exorbitant price. It feels like a good value for what you’re getting out of the product.’”

Earlier this month, a trailer was released for Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour that showed off some of its 12 different locations, as well as a few minigames that would make use of the console’s unique features.

In case you’re interested in trying out Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour for yourself, here’s everything you need to know.

There are 12 locations in total, and minigames are built around various features. For example, you can use the mouse to guide a UFO to avoid falling spike balls for as long as possible, take a quiz to guess the frame rate of videos and more. Completing minigames unlocks Medals used to unlock new minigames.

Players can also uncover various secrets about the console, like its screen, the back of the dock, and more (including the meaning of the gap between the console and its Joy-Cons). Learn all the secrets, and you can attempt a quiz to test your knowledge. As you explore the exhibit, you can collect Stamps to unlock access to further areas, including inside the console.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour launches alongside the console on day one for $10. Check out our feature for more details.

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach

A new Kojima Productions title is like an event unto itself, and Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is no exception. Bigger, weirder, brimming with new concepts and gameplay mechanics, it takes Sam Porter Bridges to a new continent to attempt to reconnect it. A heavier focus on action, new traits and proficiency levels, new BTs, a day/night cycle, deeper stealth mechanics, changing weather, new characters, Magellan Man – all of this is only scratching the surface. One thing is for sure, though – it’s distinctly Hideo Kojima. Death Stranding 2 arrives on June 26th for PS5.

Mario Kart World

Everyone expected Grand Theft Auto 6 to roll in with an $80 price tag, but as it turns out, it was-a Mario all along. Based on the tens of millions that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe sold, Mario Kart World is unquestionably the killer app. And to be fair, Nintendo hasn’t been slouching in terms of evolving the mechanics. Tracks are now part of a large open world, teeming with optional activities, collectables, and challenges. Tons of new racers and karts await alongside cosmetics to unlock. The core gameplay is rife with new power-ups, moves, and even things like Rewind. There’s a lot here, but is it enough? We’ll find out when Mario Kart World launches on June 5th alongside the Switch 2.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour

Is Welcome Tour going to be a surprisingly fun experience like Astro’s Playroom? Most likely not, but as a playable exhibit gamifying all the mechanics of the Switch 2, Nintendo could do worse. With mini-games and quizzes, it promises a learning experience into everything that makes up Nintendo’s console. “Free” would have been the best price point, but as it stands, $10 isn’t too much to ask. Let’s hope it offers some bang for our buck when it launches alongside the Switch 2.

Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut

Like a Dragon has evolved beyond the confines of Yakuza into brand new locations and gameplay mechanics, but Yakuza 0 remains timeless. It’s coming to the Nintendo Switch 2 as the Director’s Cut, packing new cutscenes (some of which provide a sense of closure, per the voice cast) and English voiceovers. You can also team up with other players in online PvE battles, selecting from 60 characters. Don’t let the fact that it was originally launched in 2015 distract you from playing arguably the best Yakuza game in the franchise.

MindsEye

How can a game generate hype despite the lack of extensive gameplay and details, especially about two weeks from launch? Your guess is as good as mine, but Build A Rocket Boy’s MindsEye has inexplicably figured it out. The idea of a single-player action adventure in a futuristic city from Leslie Benzies of Grand Theft Auto fame is certainly appealing, make no mistake. But MindsEye could end up sublimely brilliant or precisely what the short teasers have revealed. Either way, we’re keen to see the result when it launches on June 10th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine – Master Crafted Edition

As if upcoming updates for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, like the free Horde-like Siege Mode, weren’t enough, Sega, Relic Entertainment, and SneakyBox are bringing back the original Space Marine. Launching on June 10th for Xbox Series X/S and PC for $40, the Master Crafted Edition features improved visuals, including 4K resolution support, remastered audio, and modernized controls. It also packs in all the DLC, like armor sets, Golden weapons, Map Packs, and Chapter Packs, and promises cross-play for its 8v8 PvP matches. While it’s a shame that PS5 players will miss out, Space Marine 1 is a must-play for any fan of 40K.

The Alters

Numerous teases of conflicts and gruesome outcomes later, 11 bit studios’ oft-delayed sci-fi survival/base-building title The Alters is finally launching on June 13th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. As Jan Dolski, players arrive on a hostile planet and discover the rest of their crew dead. With no other recourse to managing the giant moving base and needing to outrun a deadly sun, he creates Alters – each a living, breathing Jan with unique skills, occupations, wants, needs, and mood swings. Harvest materials meet their demands, survive various hazards, and maybe you make it back home with all limbs intact.

FBC: Firebreak

Years after Control, the Hiss still occupies the Oldest House. With resources depleting and no other options, the Bureau turns to Firebreak, which ventures into different locations to tackle paranatural threats. As a three-player co-op shooter, players choose a Crisis Kit, Perks, and weapon before diving into a Job, from destroying hundreds of thousands of sticky notes to stopping a powerful Furnace. It’s a new initiative for Remedy, better known for its single-player titles, but with no FOMO, a $40 price, and free content updates, FBC: Firebreak may be worth checking out when it launches on June 17th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC.

Lost in Random: The Eternal Die

Zoink’s underappreciated Lost in Random is getting a rogue-like sequel courtesy of Thunderful, and this time, the focus is on the former Queen. Now going by Aleksandra, she’s trapped inside the Black Die. Together with Fortune, she must escape its four regions, facing various enemies and bosses to escape. With more than 100 relics to custom, fast-paced real-time action and the same gorgeous art style, Lost in Random: The Eternal Die launches on June 17th for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC, and Nintendo Switch.

Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition

Who could have thought that Night City, in all its glitz and gore, would ever become playable on a Nintendo console? Probably not PS4 and Xbox One players who can’t experience Phantom Liberty. Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition brings the base game to Switch 2 players with every update and the acclaimed expansion, with relatively decent performance. Best of all? The physical version contains the entire package on a cartridge. No Game-Key shenanigans. Like every other Switch 2 title, it’s out on June 5th.

Rematch

Sifu developer Sloclap’s newest title is something…unexpected. Launching on June 19th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, Rematch is a soccer (or football for the rest of the world) title where players compete in 5v5 matches. Promising an accessible experience with deep mechanics and a focus on player skill, its open beta saw a positive response on Steam last April, with almost 134,000 peak concurrent players. Here’s hoping the game can capture that magic and keep the momentum going, especially at $30.

System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster

Almost six years after its announcement, System Shock 2’s enhanced edition will launch on June 26th for Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, PS4, PS5, Nintendo Switch and PC. Now known as the 25th Anniversary Remaster, it includes mod support on PC, new Trophies and Achievements, Ultra-widescreen support, and 4K resolution support. PC players can select 144 FPS, while Xbox Series X and PS5 can opt for 120 FPS. If it’s as compelling as System Shock remake, expect System Shock 2: 25th Anniversary Remaster to be another winner.

Tron: Catalyst

After the visual novel mystery of Tron: Identity, Bithell Games is back with Tron: Catalyst, an action-adventure take. This time, players control Exo, who gains the Glitch, a mysterious power that could upend the Arq Grid. With beat ’em up mechanics, light cycles and the ability to rewind time with glitches, Catalyst could be another solid addition to the franchise when it launches on June 17th for Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, PS5, and PC.

Street Fighter 6 Years 1-2 Fighters Edition

With Mortal Kombat 1 support ending and Tekken 8 recovering from Season 2’s changes, Street Fighter 6 remains the premiere mainstream fighter. It’s coming to Switch 2 on launch day, and along with all DLC fighters from Years 1 and 2, it includes cross-play and two exclusive modes. Gyro Battle has players fighting with gyro controls and Calorie Contest, which is pretty much the same but with a calorie mechanic. Regardless, you still get an excellent fighting game with a stellar roster (including the upcoming Elena) and some great online features.

Zombie Army VR

For those still gaming in VR, be it on Steam, Quest 2 or PlayStation VR2, Rebellion’s Zombie Army series should help fill the increasing void. Out on June 12th, the campaign is new but offers the same World War 2 weaponry and over-the-top action of the franchise, complete with gruesome X-ray Kill Cams. There’s only two-player co-op, but it’s better than nothing.

WHAT IS IT?

Let’s start with the basics- what exactly is Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour? It is, in a nutshell, a tech demo presented in the form of a guided tour that is meant to offer key details on the Nintendo Switch 2, its features, and its hardware. It will deliver that information through a mix of minigames, tech demos, and more.

HOW IT IS STRUCTURED

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will see players controlling a tiny avatar character that you will move around on a large recreation of the Nintendo Switch 2 console. You will be able to walk around on the Switch 2 tablet, its screen, its buttons, and what have you, and will even be able to go into the console’s interiors, learning more about it as you go.

FEATURES AND TECH DETAILS

As you would expect, Nintendo is using Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour as an opportunity to succinctly convey key information about the console’s tech and features to as many people as possible. That means those who want to familiarize themselves with the basics can learn more about the Switch 2 Joy-Cons’ magnetic connectors, how the mouse functionality works (more on that in a bit), and other tech details.

EXHIBITS

The entirety of Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will be presented as one giant exhibit, with multiple smaller exhibits for players to walk around and explore. From roaming the different exhibit halls that resemble a giant Switch 2 to discovering and engaging with a variety of minigames, it seems like there will be a good bit of things to do.

QUESTION MARKS AND SIGNS

As you’re walking around the exhibits in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, you’ll spot question marks, dialogue prompts, and the like scattered everywhere. Interacting with these will uncover new information in a variety of ways. Let’s speak about some of those…

MINIGAMES

As you would expect, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will obviously feature several minigames that it will use to demonstrate some of its new features and capabilities. One tech demo, for instance, will turn your Joy-Cons into a virtual pair of maracas, asking you to shake them around and sense and play around with the beads inside to highlight the improved HD Rumble 2 feature. Another HD Rumble 2 minigame will task you with flipping a Joy-Con and using it as a mouse to find a single invisible point on the screen using only the vibrations you feel through the controller.

MORE MINIGAMES

There’s more minigames to speak of. For instance, there’s Speed Golf, which will have you use a Joy-Con as a mouse to, you guessed it, play golf. There’s also Dodge the Spike Balls, which is exactly what you think- you play as a tiny UFO in mouse mode and have to avoid a barrage of spike balls of different sizes, with the game serving as an advertisement of sorts of how precise and accurate the Switch 2’s mouse controls can supposedly be. Dodge the Spike Balls will also have a more difficult variant, where rather than simply dodging spike balls, you will also have to collect stars that will frequently appear amidst the barrage. Different minigames will also record high scores.

QUIZES

Scattered throughout the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour exhibits, you’ll also find what are known as Insights Quizes, which will present you with sets of questions that you’ll pick answers out of provided options for to test your knowledge about the Switch 2, its tech, and its hardware. The HD Rumble 2 quiz, for instance, will ask you about the console’s controllers, how the feature works on the inside of the controllers, and more.

TECH DEMOS

As we’ve touched on, several tech demos will also be featured in Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour to show off the console’s capabilities and improvements over its predecessor. One tech demo that stands out, interestingly enough, is titled Super Mario Bros. 4K Demo, which has you play through the iconic level 1-1 from the original Super Mario Bros. The entire level is presented on a single screen, and more of it appears as you move and scroll forward.

SECRETS

Curiously, several times, Nintendo has said that Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will also feature a number of hidden secrets and surprises tucked away, which likely means that players are going to be encouraged to poke around. Obviously, given the game’s very nature (if it can even be called a game, that is), you probably shouldn’t expect anything too elaborate or meaty, though it definitely does sound like there will be at least some digging to do for those who enjoy that sort of thing.

MAP MENU

At any time while moving around the exhibits, you’ll also be able to pull up a map menu that will let you conveniently scroll through all of your discovered activities on the side, and jump directly to them if you wish. Activities that you discover and engage with will automatically fill out your map, including the stamps that you’ve discovered, tech demos and minigames you have found, and more.

FILE SIZE

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour isn’t going to be a particularly large or beefy game, and as you would expect, that is going to be reflected in its file size. As per its eShop listing, it will weight in at roughly 2 GB, which is pretty small even by Switch 2 standards- which, as we have seen from other games, is going to have larger file sizes than the Switch 1 (though still nowhere quite as large as what we see for most games on other platforms).

PRICE

Nintendo Switch 2 games are going to be pricier than they were on the Switch (and, in some cases, like with Mario Kart World, pricier than most games are on any other platform out there), but Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will be much cheaper. The tech demo will be available for a price of $9.99.

WHY IT ISN’T A FREE PACK-IN

Many have argued that even a $10 price is unreasonable for Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, given what it is and what it is offering, and arguably, the fact that we have had free pack-ins over the years like Wii Sports and Astro’s Playroom does kind of add more weight to that. Speaking to IGN about the game’s price and the decision to not include it as a pack-in with the Switch 2, Nintendo of America’s Bill Trinnen said, “For some people, I think there are people who are particularly interested in the tech and the specs of the system and things like that, for them I think it’s going to be a great product. It’s really for people that want more information about the system rather than necessarily a quick intro to everything it does.

“And for that reason and just the amount of care and work that the team put into it, I think it was decided that, ‘Yeah, this feels like $9.99 is not an exorbitant price. It feels like a good value for what you’re getting out of the product.’ “

DIGITAL-ONLY

When Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour launches, those who wish to partake will only be able to do so through digital purchases. Nintendo has confirmed that physical copies of the game will not be made available.

Metroid Prime 4

The Metroid Prime games have been one of the biggest games in recent years, and funnily enough at one point, Metroid Prime 4 was supposed to be an early release title for the original Switch. It’s finally coming out for the Switch 2 (and even the original Switch) after undergoing plenty of delays, and it looks absolutely fantastic. Samus looks quite resourceful, decked with so many powers and weapons, and it’s going to be an absolute blast. It’s scheduled to come out sometime this year.

In a conversation with IGN during its Nintendo Voice Chat podcast, Fils-Aime recounted a story about an argument he had with Shigeru Miyamoto surrounding whether or not Nintendo should offer Wii Sports as a pack-in title for the console. According to the story, Miyamoto was quite against including the title as a free pack-in with the console.

“It’s an understatement to say that Mr. Miyamoto pushed back,” said Fils-Aime. “During the development of the Wii and the Wii Sports software, you know again the goal was, we wanted the system to be attractive not only to the most active players, but to new players, and to bring them into the video gaming experience. And we saw Wii Sports as the way to be able to do that because each of these sports made great use of the [Wiimote]. Each sport was known by a global population… and my recommendation was that we pack Wii Sports in with the hardware.”

“And literally, when I first made this suggestion, Mr. Miyamoto said ‘Reggie, Nintendo does not give away software for free. You don’t understand how hard our developers work to create compelling content like this,'” continued Fils-Aime. “Now, fortunately, because my SNES came packed in with software, I knew that in fact the company has given away software in the past. But it was against a very strategic objective. And that was my commentary back to Mr. Miyamoto. That, by including Wii Sports, we would immediately have value in the hardware as the consumers opening it up and setting it up. But more importantly, we would have a touchstone piece of software that so many consumers would experience”

“It’s what led to Wii Sports being played in bars, being played on cruise ships, being played in retirement homes. It became this universal experience. But he was not happy when I first made the suggestion, to the point where, on a subsequent visit to Kyoto and the headquarters, the team showed me software that would become Wii Play. Those themselves were fun as well, but they didn’t have the connective tissue that Wii Sports had with all of the experiences. So then I proceeded to piss Mr. Miyamoto off again by suggesting that we bundle Wii Play with the Wii Remote.”

“In the end, in the Americas and in Europe, Wii Sports was packed in with the Wii. It was not in Japan, which created a bit of a test market, and it was obvious that, in the markets where Wii Sports was packed in that the Wii became much more of a phenomenon. Wii Sports itself became much more of a phenomenon. And we did pack the Wiimote with Wii Play, and I think it became the fifth best selling piece of software in the history of Wii.”

Incidentally, Nintendo hadn’t released any pack-in games with the Switch when it launched back in 2017. Rather, the company has been focused on selling even titles like 1-2-Switch separately, sticking to the philosophy that Miyamoto had told Fils-Aime about in the story.

Speaking to IGN, vice president of Product and Player Experience at Nintendo of America, Bill Trinen, spoke about how the company believes that the $9.99 price tag for Welcome Tour is not an exorbitant one. Rather, the title offers more than people might expect, and that it is a “robust piece of software.”

“For some people, I think there are people who are particularly interested in the tech and the specs of the system and things like that, for them I think it’s going to be a great product,” said Trinen. “It’s really for people that want more information about the system rather than necessarily a quick intro to everything it does.”

“And for that reason and just the amount of care and work that the team put into it, I think it was decided that, ‘Yeah, this feels like $9.99 is not an exorbitant price. It feels like a good value for what you’re getting out of the product.'”

Trinen also believes that players will be more receptive to the price tag for Welcome Tour once they actually get to see the game in action through an upcoming Treehouse Live event.

“It’s an interesting product,” Trinen began. “We’re actually getting ready today, we’re going to be doing some Nintendo Treehouse Live segments and covering a lot of games in detail. That’s one of them. And I think people will be able to see through Treehouse Live probably a little bit more maybe than you were able to see on the show floor. It’s a pretty robust piece of software. There’s a lot of great detail in there.”

Welcome Tour will allow players to understand all the various features of the Nintendo Switch 2 by allowing them to explore the console with a miniaturised avatar. During their exploration, players will come across various kiosks and signs that will reveal more details about specific features, depending on where on the console they are. The game will also feature some mini-games that will allow players to get more familiar with some of these features.

An example of the mini-games that was shown during the Switch 2 Direct had a player making use of the Joy-Con 2’s mouse-like capabilities through a mini-game dubbed Speed Golf. Through this, players can learn how to use the Joy-Con 2 as a mouse, as well as letting players angle their shots by making use of the controller’s built-in accelerometer.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will be available on the console as one of its launch titles on June 5. The company has also been seeing a bit of controversy with regards to the console’s pricing, as well as the pricing of some of its other games. Nintendo of America president Doug Bowser believes that players that can’t afford a Switch 2 should instead look at other products in the Switch line-up.

It is worth noting, however, that unlike other console tech demos, like PS5’s Astro’s Playroom, players will have to purchase Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour to access it. The title will be available on the console at launch on June 5, and the fact that it will be a paid release means that there might be quite a bit of content for players to discover.

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour will feature a host of smaller games that players can check out in order to learn about some of the console’s features. As shown in the video showcase, players will be able to explore the Switch 2’s hardware by having their characters in miniaturised form walking around on it.

Along the way, players will find various signs that explain different features of the console. This includes things like the new magnet-based mechanism used to attach and detach the Joy-Con 2 controllers.

One of the mini-games shown off in the video is a golf game. Titled Speed Golf, the mini-game allows players to learn how to use the new mouse feature on the Joy-Con 2 controller, allowing them to aim their shot and angle. Another one, dubbed Dodge the Spiked Balls, has the player take on the role of a flying saucer that is avoiding spiked balls around them.