I got my Switch 2 yesterday. It was delivered a day ahead of the earliest I thought I could get it (even with paying a small amount extra for expadited shipping), which caused me to scramble to make sure that there’d be someone around to receive the package since the scheduled delivery time overlapped with a physical therapy appointment I couldn’t skip. I didn’t want it sitting out on the stoop where someone might spot it, recognize it as possibly containing a Switch 2, and decide to break their streak of not stealing packages for this one special occasion. It turns out I needn’t have worried. Not only did the UPS driver have the ability to bring it inside, they brought it right to my apartment door, tucking it out of general visibility around the little corner hiding my door from the view of anyone but my across-the-hall neighbor. They also didn’t buzz or knock or anything, so I only knew it happened because I heard a jingle of keys followed by the gentle metal-on-metal clatter of my door jiggling in place. I wasn’t quick enough to thank this delivery person for going the extra mile, but I appreciated their consideration all the same. Especially because of how conspicously inconspicuous the package was. Every possible gap into the box was covered in enormous tape that screamed the phrase “ELECTRONICALLY VERIFIED DELIVERY” or something like that in massive block letters over and over again. The box itself was a non-descript brown cardboard number that was perhaps four or five times as big as it needed to be and the shipping label even avoided any mention of Nintendo save for the incredibly non-specific “NOA” at the head of the return address. Clearly, keeping the package discrete had been a part of their shipping plans for the console, which I appreciated.

Unfortunately, unpacking the delivery box was all I had time for yesterday, before I had to rush back to work, and I had neither the time nor the energy to do more in the evening, when I finally got home sometime after nine and was so tired I had to rest before I could take a shower and eat dinner. Plus, with my nerve issues in my shoulder and neck, I’m supposed to wait a couple days before placing any serious demands on my upper body muscles to give my nerves time to recover after starting the stretches my physical therapist gave me (which are working really well so far, even if I’m still generally uncomfortable). I’ll probably at least unpack the Switch 2 tonight [I did not], just to get it set up and whatever, even though I’ll need to wait until at least tomorrow to set it up on my brand new TV (which also still needs to be unboxed and set up and configured). That said, since I didn’t buy any games with it and still have Final Fantasy 14 to play, I’m not exactly champing at the bit to get the Switch 2 into my hands. I mean, I’m definitely interested and I’m intrigued enough by the updates to the last two major Legend of Zelda games to want to do a full replay of Breath of the Wild at the very least, but I’m not in a hurry. There’s no urgency here. I don’t have anyone I’m sharing hype with about any of the games that came out. Which, honestly, is probably why I don’t care that much about this console. Not only are there no games I’m excited to play immediately, I also don’t have anyone to talk to about what interest or enthusiasm I might have.

The only replacement I’ve gotten for that kind of engagement is a few good, independent games reporters I’ve followed online over the years. It absolutely isn’t the same at all, since I’m just reading their reactions or occasionally having a back-and forth comment (and I absolutely refuse to ever let myself develop any kind of parasocial relationship with anyone), but it’s nice to know what other people are enjoying or what they’re enthusiastic about. So far, it seems like the general concensus is that the latest Mario Kart game, the primary launch title for the Switch 2, is actually really good. There’s been little discussion of how the game feels to play, but apparently the music is absolutely stellar (to the point that people are offering the mild complaint that there’s nowhere to listen to the soundtrack yet, other than the game itself) and the new featuers (like open exploration and grinding on rails) are actually fun. Hell, I even saw an article talking about how one of the standout new characters from the trailer, the cow, has begun taking over online matches despite there being no means of customizing the avatar (which will hopefully get fixed in the future because how could you not give the cow at least some kind of cowboy/western paraphenalia???). It has begun to look fun to me in a way no recent Mario Kart game has, enough so that I’ve already considered swinging by Best Buy on my way home from work today to pick over peripherals and see if I can land myself a hard copy of the game. I’d probably be draining the last of my entertainment budget (prior to this month’s allotment, anyway), but what else is it for if not this kind of stuff?

The only problem is that Mario Kart is forever a social game in my mind and I have no friends to play it with. None of my friends that I talk to with any regularity picked up a Switch 2 and I haven’t seen any of my local friends in four or five months (save for the person I asked to apartment sit for me, but we don’t really hang out like that), so I’d probably be playing it solo or against random people online. Which, you know, isn’t always a bad thing. I’ve found a lot of actually decent random people online over the last year and even made friends with a few of them, to varying degrees. While I don’t think the interaction of Mario Kart racing would lend itself well towards building lasting bonds, I also didn’t expect running into the same person a bunch while doing mining nodes in Final Fantasy 14 to make me a friend I talk to at least weekly in-game. I mean, it definitely won’t happen if I don’t make the space and opportunity for it to happen, so there’s little to lose by not trying. And who knows. Maybe having online Mario Kart will help m reconnect with people I haven’t talked to in a long time that I’m still Nintendo Online friends with. Anything’s possible.