Issue #76: Entering the Overlap – March/April 2025

HEADS-UP #1: No wall poster will be included with print copies of this issue. Instead, we're going to do two wall posters with our next issue, NF #77! That will be our big blow-out Switch 2 Launch Guide issue, so I figured we could shift things a bit to inject some extra hype for that one. You'll end up with the same numbers of posters for the year. :)

HEADS-UP #2: Thank you all for your patience through these last few months! This winter has been difficult for magazine deliveries, particularly here in my part of the United States, where multiple snowstorms have forced extended shutdowns — and we've also been dealing with devastating floods. I know lots of copies of Issue #75 were slow to arrive. If yours still hasn't shown up, I'll work with you to get that all fixed via Patreon DMs within the coming week. I know I get backlogged there a lot! I need to do better with the timeliness of my customer service, I know!

Now, on to our traditional intro letter for this issue:

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We’re heading into extra innings, everyone!

The Nintendo Switch has already had an impressively long life cycle, as it’s sailing past its eight-year anniversary as we’re sending this issue out the door — but it might just get a boost in longevity and end up extending its streak by several more years thanks to the impending arrival of the Switch 2!

That successor system has finally been revealed, so flip ahead to Pages 8 and 9 for a closer look at it. But then keep on going after that, because a few pages further, on Page 12, we’ve got the article that serves as our thesis statement for this issue’s theme, “Entering the Overlap”!

The gist of it is that we’re just about to head into the start of the Switch 2 generation — but the Switch 1 will still be active even after the Switch 2 launches. Maybe for a long time after! It’ll be boosted by the Switch 2’s backwards compatibility, and may very well carry on to hit its ninth or tenth anniversaries, or even further, slotting into a new role as a supporting system while Switch 2 becomes the primary platform for big new releases.

Our central feature in this issue looks back across the history of every previous Nintendo hardware transition to reflect on the games that were released in these kinds of overlap periods in the past. Some of the biggest NES games didn’t come around until years after the SNES was launched! Wii games kept on going and ended up outliving its successor, the Wii U. The OG Game Boy format endured for over a decade, and it’s a good thing it did, because we wouldn’t have had the Pokémon series otherwise!

Speaking of Pokémon, its big 2025 release, Legends: Z-A, is a perfect poster child for this impending time period: It’s a Switch 1 game that won’t arrive until after Switch 2 is on sale. How will that affect its sales? Or its reception from the fans? Or how it’ll run, on a technical level?

It is, to me, a fascinating topic, and one we’ve never had the chance to cover before throughout our 12-year history, since the last time we had a home console transition, the outgoing machine, the Wii U, felt like it was dropped like a rock as soon as the Switch swept into town.

Also ahead in this issue: a Discussion section in which the NF team shares their first impressions of the Switch 2, a first look at the brand-new Mario Kart sequel due to launch alongside the Switch 2, a Top 10 wishlist for new characters I personally hope to see in that Mario Kart sequel, an extended array of Community section reviews covering the ModRetro Chromatic and its whole launch lineup and much, much more!

Then, next time: All Switch 2! Full Hype! Throwing caution to the wind and letting ourselves get far too excited! See you back here for that one!

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Print copies are in production now and will be mailed within the next week. Digital issue download links will be emailed on Monday, March 3! Thanks again for your patience, too, with the timing of the start of production of this issue. I wanted to wait to finalize it until we got yesterday's latest Pokémon news! The new info on Legends: Z-A would've gotten lost in the shuffle if we'd waited to talk about it until all eyes were on the Switch 2 after its big April 2 Direct. :)

As always, thank you all for your ongoing support! 76 issues completed now. That's nothing to sneeze at!

~ Lucas M. Thomas