Night at the Museum

Remember school trips? I used to love school trips. For a whole week, that’s all your class would talk about. Days learning about what you were going to see, entire subjects crafted around it. The day itself, milling about a farm, or a museum, or a car park, on one unfortunate occasion. And then, Friday, writing about what you’d learned. Great times, and something, I think, that needs to be brought to the adult workplace. I think I would appreciate a trip to an old windmill far more now than I ever would have at 10 or 11.

The entire Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour experience feels like a school trip, to me. In the days building up to its release, all I would talk about is the Switch 2. Over a few sessions, I learned all about how the Switch 2 was made, why certain decisions were taken, and a little more about how computer mice worked. And now, I’m writing about what I learned. Amazing.

Nintendatural History Museum

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is, as the name suggests, an introduction to the Nintendo Switch 2. You select an avatar character from a group in line to enter a Nintendo Switch 2 museum, enter the facility, and learn about the console. The museum, a massive Switch 2, is made up of 12 areas, each dedicated to the Switch 2 make up. You’ll traverse from the left Joy-Con, across the screen, to the right, delve under the hood, and even spend time learning about some of its accessories.

Each area has a number of stamp stations to find at notable points on the console, a collection of minigames showing off the Switch 2’s various features, and a bunch of quizzes so you can put the knowledge you’ve learned to the test. Across 10 or so hours, I was given a crash course in the Switch 2, and came out the other end feeling genuinely enlightened for it. Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is a very interesting little thing, and one I’m legitimately pleased to have played.

No, you’re not going to get a Digital Foundry deep teardown of the machine. But, if you’re wondering how the mouse controls actually work, how the dock has been improved, or how HD rumble 2 works, Welcome Tour gives you what you’re looking for.

Specialist Exhibition

The minigames are split into two types; score attack games and tech demos. Completing both gives you medals, which you then use to unlock more minigames, as well as harder iterations of existing games. The score attack games, for my money, aren’t overly compelling. They seem to focus mainly on mouse controls, and, after a while, leaning forward to use the coffee table as a big mouse mat becomes tedious. You’re not really getting too much depth from them, either. Using your cursor to dodge falling objects is the sort of thing that gets you banned from using the computer at school. You expect a bit more than simple flash games when you’re at home.

The tech demos are where the Welcome Tour feels a bit more up to speed. HD rumble was impressive (when actually used) on the Switch, and it’s even more so here. Seamlessly going from a maraca filled with 20 beads to one giant rubber ball and back again is very cool! Playing Super Mario Bros.’ World 1-1 in its original resolution on a 4K TV is very cool! Even if I had to sit like a foot from the screen to see what I was actually doing.

Image Credit: Nintendo

There are two areas dedicated to both the Switch 2 Camera and the Switch 2 Pro Controller. You’re able to explore these areas freely, and learn about them as you would the rest of the museum. If you don’t have either accessory, however, you’ll not be able to actually play the minigames dedicated to them. If you enter a simple code in front of the attractions attendant, however, they’ll recognise you have a fast pass, and give you the medals you’d have earned if you’d played them. It’s a pretty nice way to ensure your progress isn’t halted because you didn’t spend £60 on a webcam.

Rejected Permission Slip

It’s not perfect. No school trip is. It’s not really designed to be played in one sitting. If you set a day aside, you’re going to get very bored, very quickly. A couple of hours here and there is more than enough to keep you engaged. The variety of mini-games, too, is lacking. I get the mouse controls are the big new thing on Switch 2, but I’d roll my eyes every time I was asked to use them. If anything, Welcome Tour has convinced me they have no viable future in my hands. They’re not all duds, but I’d have liked something else.

Image Credit: Nintendo

Then there’s the big elephant in the corner of the room. From the moment it was unveiled, it’s been argued it should be a pack in. And, look, I do get it. When you’re 5 years removed from Astro’s Playroom coming with every single PS5, anything remotely tech demo-y is inevitably going to be compared to that. I do think, from a publicity perspective, Welcome Tour would have benefitted from being on every Switch 2 out of the box. At the same time, in the event that it was in every Switch 2, and it launches for £10 extra, I think the story then becomes “Well I’d prefer the console to be cheaper and not have that game in it.” Kind of feels like it was on a hiding to nothing the moment the trailer rolled.

Conclusion

Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour is an interesting and enjoyable deviation from work. From the moment you walk through the door to the moment you complete the final test, I felt like I was learning something new. Will I return? Probably not. There isn’t much actual game here, in the same way there was with Astro’s Playroom, to be fair. But, at just under a tenner, the price of admission is one I was happy to pay. A lovely virtual school trip, I think.

Featured Image Credit: Nintendo