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Q: IS THE NEW NINTENDO SWITCH 2 ANY GOOD?

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Welcome to a bit of an exclusive peek behind the curtain as to how I produce this column each month. First of all, I spend a good hour or so procrastinating by aimlessly scrolling through social media. Then, when I've truly exhausted my social feed, and usually my faith in humanity, I'll write something topical about the intersection between video games or technology and real world cars or car culture. Not this month, though this month it's all video games, because I'm entirely preoccupied with the biggest news in gaming this year: the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2 console.

At least Nintendo did me a favour with its choice of launch game for its brand new console. Mario Kart World is undeniably a racing game, though how much relation it bears to real cars is up for debate. Let's just say I don't recommend mushrooms as a fuel additive.

Mario Kart World is predictably brilliant and its battle royale Knockout Tour mode in particular is powerfully compulsive. Between that and the huge open world in which the races now take place, it's easily the biggest shakeup to the Mario Kart formula since the first game. If it's not too presumptuous to assume that you, a TG reader, are into racing games, Mario Kart World is worth the price of a Switch 2 alone.

But that makes it sound like the console itself is just a means to a