While Xbox is following PlayStation and choosing the more sustainable route when it comes to console customization, Nintendo seems perfectly happy to keep releasing limited edition hardware that requires customers perform a full, separate retail purchase with each and every new paint job.
While it may not be the most environmentally friendly or even practical way forward, I can’t deny that the particular special system Nintendo announced earlier today looks pretty damn slick. The Mario Red Edition Switch OLED, which costs $349.99 (the same as the vanilla Switch OLED, by the way), is scheduled to release on October 6 and can currently be pre-ordered on websites like My Nintendo Store, Best Buy and GameStop.
The good news? This console is aesthetically nice. You’re basically getting a regular Switch OLED and accompanying Joy-Cons with a fresh new coat of red paint, coupled with some cool Nintendo details like a jumping Mario silhouette printed on the rear of the dock and themed Mario coins printed atop the HDMI and ethernet port section.
The bad news? As far as I can tell, that’s about all which sets this limited edition console apart from your run-of-the-mill Switch OLED. It doesn’t look to include a copy of a game I’m very much looking forward to, Super Mario Bros. Wonder, which launches several weeks after this shiny red console on October 20. It also doesn’t seem to feature any sort of interesting, unique boot-up sequences or sounds, like say, the Starfield accessories I covered a while back.
To be fair, I guess this falls right in line with past Switch limited edition consoles, like the recent Tears of the Kingdom release and the amazingly neon Splatoon 3 system, something I’m still kicking myself for not snagging when it came out. Nintendo doesn’t seem keen on doing much past the general look of a bundle’s specific Joy-Cons, dock and the tablet itself.
With lots of rumors circulating regarding a possible Switch successor, this could potentially be the last special Switch OLED we get before a Switch 2 is announced. And what a way to go out, celebrating what looks to be a fantastic side-scrolling platformer in Super Mario Bros Wonder.
If I didn’t already have a white Switch OLED, I might be jumping on this one come October.
Read the full article here
