The Nintendo Switch 2 is here and, despite most of my time on it spent playing MarioKart, the thing I can’t get out of my head so far is how many of the delightful little animations and sounds remind me of Google’s best designs, especially those scattered throughout Pixel.
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Ok, so hear me out.
On the Nintendo Switch 2, the software feels very similar to the first-generation console. But there are some updates, including to the noises you hear while running through the system. New bleeps, bloops, and other sounds throughout the experience are, frankly, just delightful. The gear-turning noise when opening the Settings app, the fake detach noise when you select the controller pairing page?
It’s just so fun! These also come with animations, many of which have been in place for years, but there are tweaks throughout the Switch 2’s experience.
These little additions just remind me of the whimsy and fun hidden throughout Google’s various apps and platforms.
The animations, for example, are like the little animations in Gboard when you tap on the emoji, sticker, and GIF pages. The skeumorphic sound effects remind me of the vibrations through Android – especially on a Pixel – such as when you adjust the volume or brightness, or during Pixel setup when shapes on screen are bouncing around the display with bumps from the haptic motors to simulate real objects hitting the sides of the device. Google has been doing little things like this for years, and it just never gets old, and it just kept coming to mind while using the Switch 2 this week.
Another change on the Switch is that everything is now higlighted by a purple and blue light ring which… it’s basically Gemini-branded.
I’m well aware all of this is incredibly minor, but the attention to detail is just wonderful.
This is the kind of stuff that makes me enjoy the software on these devices. Of course, there are equally a bunch of ways that both Google and Nintendo hold back their respective software experiences. Nintendo supports “themes,” but only dark or light, while Google has spent years doing basically everything but giving Pixel users the ability to apply icon packs or remove that one fixed homescreen widget.
Did you manage to get a Switch 2 this week?
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