Returned my Nintendo Switch 2

I remember when the first Nintendo Switch was released in March 2017. By that time, I had a decent job and was happily married. Thankfully, both things are still true. Although, depending on the day, my wife would say otherwise. In 2020, I sold my Nintendo Switch for a handsome profit. Because of COVID, demand was off the roof and since my Switch was the first batch, it can be modded. This. This made it even more desirable.

Anyway, in April 2025, when the Switch 2 was launched, I desperately wanted to relive the excitement and joy the original switch brought me. However, my inside voice kept saying otherwise. Disregarding my inner voice, I preordered the Switch 2, justifying this decision by using a gift card reducing the cost of the Switch 2 to under AUD400.

Days before Nintendo Switch 2 delivery, I had my doubts:

I have always been a huge fan of Mario and Mario Odessey remains my favourite game on the Nintendo Switch. There is something so adorable about Mario that even in my late thirties, I cannot get enough Mario.

Anyway, yesterday afternoon, the Nintendo Switch was delivered around 3:45PM and I finished work early, fully intending to dig into Mario Kart World. Moments before even opening the package, my wife asked if I could do some shopping and pickup my son from childcare. I put my Nintendo plans on hold and did exactly that.

Anyway, like any other day, once my son was home, he wants me to play with him and I also enjoy these moments (most of the time, not all though). I figured, once he falls asleep (between 8pm and 9pm), it will be Mario time.

Time flies when you are having fun

Before I knew it and by the time my son was asleep, it was past 9pm and without even thinking about it, I started watching Andor. It was almost as if, I had forgotten that an unopened Nintendo Switch 2 was still waiting for me 😔.

The next morning, I woke up and went downstairs to make coffee for myself. It was during this time that I noticed the Nintendo Switch 2 box sitting by the stairs.

I realised something. I am a lot older now with more responsibilities and more things I want to do. If you think about it, like every other human, I only have 24 hours in the day:

• 8 hours for sleeping
• 8 hours for working

Thats just leaves 8 hours for:

• creating moments with my son
• doing chores around the house
• paying bills
• doing tech stuff etc
• watching tv
• playing games
• catching up on social media
• reading blogs etc
• going for a walk/run
• doing strength exercises
• meditating
• catching up with family and friends
• homelab stuff
• .etc
• .etc

You get the point. After a full day, I am tired and prefer to do things that require the least energy, watching tv is probably the least energy intensive task one can undertake. Playing games requires energy and focus. Not to mention, it requires patience because there will definitely be a day one update waiting for you when you really want to play a game. There is a reason why it takes mere seconds for the Netflix app to launch because the developers at Netflix know that any delay results in attention swinging to something else.

Anyway, I was done fooling myself. More importantly, I didnt want to be reminded that I want to play the Switch but my priorities are elsewhere.

Therefore, this afternoon, I returned the Nintendo Switch. To my surprise, the person also refunded the entire amount to my credit card, meaning the gift card I used was also converted to cash now 😸

There is a Nintendo Switch 2 in my future and when I am good and ready, I will go buy one. Until then, I am not prioritizing gaming over other important aspects of my life.

There was a time in my life where I used to play games on launch days. I used to work according to Nintendo's and Playstation's schedule. Those days a long gone. Today, I work according to my son's and my wife's schedule and that makes me happy.

3 hours ago, my son and I were watching Mario Kart World gameplays on YouTube. He loves it, which makes me happy. In the near future, we both will play this game together. I look forward to that.

Blog written entirely on Surface Pro, using Ghost Editor on Arc browser.