July 2nd is the End of an Era for Nintendo

Thursday, July 2 will mark the end of an era for Nintendo and Nintendo Switch. After the unprecedented success of the Wii and DS era, Nintendo ran into trouble with the 3DS and Wii U. While the 3DS eventually turned things around, the Wii U was a complete commercial flop. Some went so far as to predict that Nintendo would drop out of the console race altogether, but instead it regrouped with the Nintendo Switch, an innovative device that combined its handheld and home console games into one and is on track to become the best-selling video game console of all time.

Nintendo made sure the Switch got off to a hot start by releasing The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild as a launch title. The console also received the landmark Super Mario Odyssey during its launch year, and it carried that momentum forward with a steady stream of high-quality releases. But now that the Switch 2 has been out for over a year, Nintendo is starting to leave the OG Switch behind. Only one Nintendo-published game is 100% confirmed for the original Switch as of this writing, and it will be released on July 2nd.

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Rhythm Heaven Groove could be the key to unlocking another long-rumored Nintendo franchise secret

Rhythm Heaven is finally coming back after over a decade, and this bodes well for the future of another great Nintendo series.

The last major Nintendo-published Switch 1 game is coming soon

Rhythm Heaven Groove will be released on July 2, with the music/rhythm game potentially the last Nintendo-published Switch 1 exclusive. Rhythm Heaven Groove will also be playable on the Switch 2 through backwards compatibility, but it won't get a native release on Nintendo's latest console, as we saw with games like Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and Pokemon Legends: ZA. The jury is still out on Rhythm Heaven Groovebut it comes from a well-regarded series and should prove to be a solid swan song for the OG Switch, if indeed it turns out to be the last Nintendo-published exclusive on the platform.

It's entirely possible that Nintendo has more surprises in store for Switch 1 owners. After all, the OG Switch is one of the best-selling video game consoles of all time, and the Switch 2 has nowhere near the same install base. However, the focus is clearly on the Switch 2 at this point. When Rhythm Heaven Groove launches on July 2, it will be only the second Nintendo-published Switch 1 exclusive to do so, with the other Tomodachi Life: Living the Dream in April. Compare that to the Switch 2 output. This year so far the Nintendo Switch 2 has seen Mario tennis fever, Pokemon Pokopiaand Yoshi and the Mysterious Bookwith Star Fox coming on June 25, Splatoon Raiders on July 23, Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave on September 17 and Nintendo Switch Sports Resort on October 22.

And so there is Zelda: Ocarina of Time Switch 2 remake, which is without a specific release date as of this writing, but is confirmed to be released this year. Nintendo is clearly committed to the Switch 2 at this point, and while it's sad that the Switch 1 era is finally coming to an end, it's nice to move on to bigger things.

It's been nine years since the original Switch hit store shelves, so it's definitely had a good run. Those who have yet to upgrade to the Switch 2 can look forward to playing Rhythm Heaven Groove on the Switch this coming July 2nd, but they might want to consider upgrading to a Switch 2 soon, especially with the $50 price increase starting on September 1st.

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