{"id":26043,"date":"2025-09-26T00:01:37","date_gmt":"2025-09-26T00:01:37","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/?p=26043"},"modified":"2025-08-22T04:50:28","modified_gmt":"2025-08-22T04:50:28","slug":"lets-tour-the-welcome-tour","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/2025\/09\/26\/lets-tour-the-welcome-tour\/","title":{"rendered":"Let’s Tour the Welcome Tour!"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>When the Nintendo Switch 2 released earlier this year, one of the launch games was the download only Welcome Tour.\u00a0 It was set up like a museum, and you controlled a little person as they walked around a giant Switch 2 and its accessories.\u00a0 You could play mini-games, try tech demos, and take quizzes on facts about the new console.\u00a0 To me, it sounded like a lot of silly, quirky fun.\u00a0 And I love games that have museums in them, whether it be Namco Museums or Animal Crossing.\u00a0 There was only one problem.\u00a0 They charged you for it.\u00a0 It really should\u2019ve come with the system, and that\u2019s what it\u2019s going to be known for from here on out.\u00a0 I really wanted to boycott it and not buy it to support that kind of behavior.\u00a0 But here\u2019s the thing.\u00a0 I only believe in boycotting if it doesn\u2019t hurt yourself.\u00a0 And the game still sounded interesting enough to me that I didn\u2019t want to miss out on it.\u00a0 Life is too short to miss out on what you think is fun.\u00a0 So I got it.\u00a0 It was only ten bucks anyway, and I can spend more money than that on fast food!\u00a0 So I figured I\u2019d take you all on a tour of the Welcome Tour!<\/p>\n

Area A: Left Joy Con 2 Outside<\/strong><\/p>\n

The first place you visit is a giant left Joy Con 2 controller.\u00a0 There\u2019s an information desk and a lost and found and everything.\u00a0 There are two games you can play here.\u00a0 One is Dodge the Spiked Balls.\u00a0 You use the mouse mode on the Joy Con 2 to move a UFO around to avoid falling spiked balls as you catch stars for points.\u00a0 It\u2019s really hard, especially when you must control two UFOs at once!\u00a0 The other mini-game is Find the Strongest Rumble.\u00a0 Here you use the mouse to move a cursor on a grid.\u00a0 The controller will rumble harder as you get closer to a point, and you must try to pinpoint where it is the strongest.\u00a0 And it\u2019s really hard, too.\u00a0 Finally there is one tech demo called Maraca Physics where you shake the Joy Cons like maracas.\u00a0 You can choose to have a bunch of little balls or one big ball and you can feel the difference!<\/p>\n

Area B: Nintendo Switch 2 Console Outside (Screen)<\/strong><\/p>\n

To unlock the next area in the sequence, you must get all the stamps in the previous area.\u00a0 They\u2019re not hard to find as they are around the main parts of the devices.\u00a0 I only had trouble with one at the very end of the game.\u00a0 Anyway, I hear these kinds of \u2018stamp rallies\u2019 are popular in Japan.\u00a0 Anyway, the next area is on the main Switch console where you walk around the screen.\u00a0 You can even skate and slip and slide on the smooth screen surface!\u00a0 The first game here is Guess the Frame Rate.\u00a0 I\u2019m not one of those people who can pinpoint the exact frame rate of something.\u00a0 I can sometimes tell if one frame rate is smoother than the other, but I can\u2019t tell if it\u2019s 30 or 60 or whatever FPS.\u00a0 The next game is Touch Ten, and it\u2019s really fun!\u00a0 It\u2019s like Twister, but you use your fingers instead of your hands and feet!\u00a0 Two can play at the same time, too.\u00a0 It shows off how many touch points you can have on the screen.\u00a0 I\u2019m surprised the makers of the Twister board game haven\u2019t tried to make a Switch 2 game out of that!\u00a0 Tech demos include HDR Fireworks, where you can toggle the brightness of the fireworks to show off the Switch 2 graphical capabilities.\u00a0 Super Mario Bros. 4K is really cool.\u00a0 You can play the first stage of SMB with today\u2019s resolution, so the stage is really tiny!\u00a0 I wish they let you play the whole game like that!\u00a0 The last tech demo is Noise Reduction, where you can speak into the microphone and it shows how it can only record your voice and not any noise around it.<\/p>\n

Area C: Right Joy Con 2 Outside<\/strong><\/p>\n

Next up is the top of the Right Joy Con 2.\u00a0 The first mini-game is called Guess the Angle, and here you must use the Switch screen and stand to move it to the right angle.\u00a0 Believe it or not, I aced this one.\u00a0 I guess I\u2019m good at telling angles.\u00a0 The next mini-game is called Speed Maze, and here you use the mouse controls to move a ball through a maze without touching the walls.\u00a0 Kind of reminds me of Irritating Stick.\u00a0 It\u2019s really hard, though.\u00a0 The one tech demo is HD Rumble 2 Sound.\u00a0 The vibrations of the Joy Con 2 can make sounds as well, so this lets you test it out.\u00a0 The original Switch could do this as well.\u00a0 I remember playing Kirby Star Allies and getting to a secret area where they played a lick of the Green Greens theme coming from the controller vibrations!\u00a0 Pretty cool!<\/p>\n

Area D: Right Joy Con 2 Inside<\/strong><\/p>\n

Now you can go inside the Right Joy Con 2 and see all the circuitry inside.\u00a0 The mini-game here is Speed Golf.\u00a0 You have to use the mouse controls like a putter to get the ball into the hole as quickly as possible.\u00a0 I really don\u2019t like the mouse controls, so I wish they gave you more time.\u00a0 I think it would be fun if they did.\u00a0 The tech demos are Dual HD Rumble 2, where you can attach the Joy Cons to the console and use it in handheld mode to simulate rolling around balls.\u00a0 Super Resolution lets you slide a bar back and forth to view pictures in different resolutions.\u00a0 I couldn\u2019t tell much of a difference, but maybe my TV isn\u2019t high tech enough.\u00a0 Or my eyes aren\u2019t high tech enough.<\/p>\n

Area E: Joy Con 2 Strap<\/strong><\/p>\n

Yes you can even walk on a giant Joy Con 2 wrist strap!\u00a0 Not a whole lot here, considering you\u2019re walking on a piece of rope.\u00a0 The mini game is Quick Click, where you use the mouse controls to hit targets.\u00a0 Since the mouse controls kind of suck, this one ends up being really hard because the time limit is so strict.\u00a0 The tech demo is HD Rumble 2 Saw where you simulate sawing different types and thicknesses of wood, and can feel the difference in the rumble.<\/p>\n

Area F: Dock<\/strong><\/p>\n

The dock is the thing you put your Switch 2 into when you want to play it on the TV.\u00a0 The mini game here is 4K Pixel Hunt.\u00a0 You have to find a pixel on the screen.\u00a0 I can\u2019t do this mini game.\u00a0 I think you may have to have a 4K TV for it to work.\u00a0 And I don\u2019t have one of those.\u00a0 Heck, one of the TVs I still use is one I got in 2006 (my first flat screen TV), and the other one I use is one I won in a raffle at our work Christmas party a couple of years ago.\u00a0 And I doubt they spent a whole lot of money on that prize!\u00a0 And even if I did have a 4K TV, I doubt my eyesight would be good enough to spot tiny pixels.\u00a0 The tech demos are Dual Mouse Water Scoop, where you use both controllers in mouse mode to simulate scooping up and playing with water with both hands.\u00a0 The other one is Echo Generator, where you can record your voice and play it back.\u00a0 You can even play it back with funny effects, like a high pitched parrot, lower pitched gorilla, or robot.\u00a0 I especially like the gorilla because it sounds like you\u2019re running out of batteries!<\/p>\n

Area G: Camera<\/strong><\/p>\n

There are only two mini games on the camera.\u00a0 The first is Feel the Shapes.\u00a0 Use the mouse controls and feel the rumble to guess the right shapes.\u00a0 It\u2019s actually not as hard as I thought it would be.\u00a0 The next game brings me to another problem I have with Welcome Tour.\u00a0 The game is called Facial Impressions.\u00a0 But you have to use the Switch camera to play it.\u00a0 Which is sold separately.\u00a0 So there\u2019s a mini-game I can\u2019t play.\u00a0 I\u2019m going to assume you use the camera and try and make your face match what\u2019s on screen.\u00a0 But I don\u2019t really know for sure since I can\u2019t play it.\u00a0 Another reason why Welcome Tour should\u2019ve been free.\u00a0 And I\u2019m not buying a Switch 2 camera.\u00a0 I don\u2019t think I\u2019d use it and I certainly can\u2019t afford it.\u00a0 The Switch 2 was expensive enough!<\/p>\n

Area H: Left Joy Con 2 Inside<\/strong><\/p>\n

We finally make our way inside the left Joy Con 2.\u00a0 The mini-games here include Color the Shapes, where you use the mouse controls to color shapes, but you can\u2019t go outside the lines.\u00a0 Man I have trouble doing that in real life coloring books!\u00a0 The other mini-game is Match the Rumble.\u00a0 It\u2019s like a memory match card game but instead of pictures, you must match the same rumbles.\u00a0 It\u2019s actually pretty fun and I was able to do well at it.\u00a0 The tech demo is called VRR Slider and you can slide a bar to make a moving Switch 2 console change its frames per second of animation.<\/p>\n

Area I: Grip<\/strong><\/p>\n

You know that piece of plastic you put your Joy Cons into when you want to hold them like a regular controller.\u00a0 Yeah that\u2019s what this is.\u00a0 It works pretty well and I don\u2019t feel like I need to get the Pro Controller because of it.\u00a0 Which is fine since I can\u2019t afford that either.\u00a0 The Grip has three mini games but no tech demos.\u00a0 The first mini game is Balloon Hunt, where you shoot down balloons like a first person shooter.\u00a0 You use the mouse controls to aim, so it\u2019s a good preview of what Metroid Prime 4 on the Switch 2 will be like.\u00a0 I only hope the mouse controls on that game will be better.\u00a0 LCD Pixel Hunt has you finding moving pixels.\u00a0 So yeah, I can\u2019t do that one.\u00a0 Finally is Scrape Off, where you use the mouse controls like a scraper to scrape off stains.\u00a0 It\u2019s about as much fun as doing it in real life.<\/p>\n

Area J: Pro Controller<\/strong><\/p>\n

Speaking of the Pro Controller, you can walk on that here, too.\u00a0 And like the camera, this one has a mini-game I can\u2019t play because you must use the Pro Controller and its extra buttons to play it.\u00a0 It\u2019s called Open the GL\/GR Locks, but that\u2019s all I can tell you.\u00a0 The tech demo is HD Rumble 2 Maker.\u00a0 You use the mouse controls to slide around on a graph to increase and decrease the strength of the rumble.<\/p>\n

Area K: Joy Con 2 Wheel<\/strong><\/p>\n

Luckily even though the Wheel is an accessory you have to buy separately, you don\u2019t have to have it here to play the games on it.\u00a0 The mini game here is called Stunt Driving.\u00a0 You use the mouse controls to steer a car around obstacles, and tilt it on its side to make the car drive on two wheels when you need to go on narrow passages.\u00a0 It\u2019s hard, but actually pretty fun and I\u2019m surprised they haven\u2019t made a full game out of that idea.\u00a0 The tech demo is HD Rumble 2 Motorcycle.\u00a0 You hold the Joy Cons like handlebars and can make motions to steer, rev up, and brake, and you can feel the rumble accordingly.<\/p>\n

Area L: Nintendo Switch 2 Console Inside<\/strong><\/p>\n

The last area is the most complex, inside the screen area of the console with all the circuits and such like a maze.\u00a0 I even had to use a guide to find the last stamp here because it was so out of the way in a place I didn\u2019t think I could walk to.\u00a0 The mini games here are Breaststroke, where you use both controllers in mouse mode to simulate swimming.\u00a0 As long as you have a big enough area to make big sweeping motions, this one\u2019s pretty easy.\u00a0 In Slot in the Shapes, you use the mouse mode to pick up and drag shapes into the correct fitting holes.\u00a0 But since the mouse controls kind of suck, this one\u2019s hard.\u00a0 The tech demo is 3D Sound.\u00a0 This one works best if you have headphones or a good speaker system.\u00a0 You guide a helicopter around so you can hear it from different angles.\u00a0 I don\u2019t have a good speaker system either so I don\u2019t know how well this works.\u00a0 Like I said earlier, all the areas have a bunch of quizzes you can take after reading facts on the console\u2019s features.\u00a0 Some complained about the quizzes but I didn\u2019t mind them.\u00a0 At the very bottom of the last area they have one final quiz with 13 questions you must get all right in a row.\u00a0 And since I didn\u2019t feel like remembering all that, and many of them were trick questions or worded poorly, I cheated and looked them up on a guide.\u00a0 I guess by then I was a LITTLE bit tired of the quizzes!<\/p>\n

And those are all the areas!\u00a0 Again, aside from the game not being free, the other problems I had are that you have to own a 4K TV, the camera, and Pro Controller to fully enjoy the whole thing.\u00a0 And I do wish the mini-games weren\u2019t so hard sometimes.\u00a0 And with that, that concludes our tour of the Welcome Tour.\u00a0 Let me know your thoughts in the comments section.\u00a0 Later!\u00a0 –Cary<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

When the Nintendo Switch 2 released earlier this year, one of the launch games was the download only Welcome Tour.\u00a0 It was set up like a museum, and you controlled a little person as they walked around a giant Switch 2 and its accessories.\u00a0 You could play mini-games, try tech demos, and take quizzes on […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":26028,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26043","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-game-reviews"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26043","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26043"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26043\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":26045,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26043\/revisions\/26045"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/26028"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26043"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26043"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"http:\/\/www.gamerdad.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26043"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}