Polygon.com / 26.07.25

Nintendo is fighting the attention war, not the console war

As successful as the Nintendo Switch 2s launch has been (and it has been very successful), it came with plenty of impatience. Its compact day one game lineup, led by Mario Kart World and Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, left some potential buyers a bit underwhelmed. It was a notable step down from the PlayStation 5s packed 2020 launch lineup, which brought us Astros Playroom, Spider-Man: Miles Morales, Demons Souls, and Sackboy: A Big Adventure all at once. For the Switch 2, was one tentpole first-party game really enough to make a pricey system worth buying? Not even two months later, the narrative is already shifting. Donkey Kong Bananza followed Mario Kart Worlds opening jab with a strong right hook on July 17. The Game of the Year contender has reignited buzz around Nintendo, quickly wrenching the spotlight back from Death Stranding 2: On The Beach just as it felt like the Switch 2s new console shine had faded. Did Nintendo narrowly avoid a strategic misfire? Should it have released...
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