The internet's favorite pastime—getting mad about video game rumors—is back in full swing, and this time the target is Nintendo.
A fresh batch of supposed Switch 2 details dropped this week, and if even half of it pans out, your wallet is about to file a restraining order.
The alleged leak points to a $499 price tag, a beefier dock, and a launch window that somehow lands right after everyone's credit card statements have recovered from the holidays.
Naturally, Reddit has already declared this the greatest betrayal since Nintendo charged for online play.
Here's the thing nobody wants to admit: the original Switch is seven years old.
The thing still runs on a chip that was considered mid-tier when it launched, and yet we're all pretending it's fine because Mario looks cute.
The bigger question is whether Nintendo can actually stick the landing.
Sony and Microsoft have spent this generation tripping over their own feet, launching $500 boxes with no games and then acting surprised when people kept playing their old consoles.
Nintendo's advantage has always been the software, and if the Switch 2 launches with a new Mario Kart and a Zelda remaster, people will pay whatever nonsense price gets slapped on the box.
But let's be honest about the leak economy.
Half of these "insider reports" are just some guy in a Discord server guessing based on a blurry photo of a factory mold.
Nintendo has been burned before, and the company's official response so far has been a wall of silence and a vaguely threatening legal letter.
What does this mean for you, the person who just wants to play games without taking out a second mortgage?
The smart move is to wait for an actual announcement, resist the urge to preorder something that doesn't officially exist, and keep your current Switch until the battery swells or the Joy-Cons drift into the shadow realm.
Hardware specs are fun to argue about online, but nobody buys a Nintendo console for the teraflops.
They buy it for the exclusives, and if the launch lineup is thin, that $499 number is going to feel a lot heavier than it looks on paper.
My take: Nintendo has earned enough goodwill to charge a premium, but not enough to coast on nostalgia alone.
Final Thoughts
If the Switch 2 shows up with a weak launch lineup and a price tag that makes a Steam Deck look like a bargain, the same fans defending it now will be the ones roasting it in six months.