The Nintendo Switch 2 has been revealed, here’s everything we know so far

Because the world turns, so do the console generations. The Nintendo Swap is over seven years old, so it’s due for a refresh. Nintendo Swap 2 rumors have been swirling for years, however now we have now some indicators of life. The corporate officially revealed the sequel to its most profitable house console ever in a quick trailer on January 16.

The Swap 2 seems functionally similar to the unique system, albeit with a bigger show, magnetic Pleasure-Cons and a sleeker design. The corporate additionally reaffirmed that the upcoming console might be backwards appropriate with Swap video games.

Whereas the reveal did verify some rumors and have a couple of attention-grabbing particulars for many who had been paying shut consideration, Nintendo continues to be largely holding its playing cards near its chest. We’ll have to attend till a particular Nintendo Direct on April 2 for all of the juicy info. Annoyingly, that date is a Wednesday and never a Two-sday.

The Nintendo Swap 2 was introduced on January 16

The rumor mill had heavily suggested that Nintendo would pull again the curtain on the Swap 2 on January 16, and that turned out to be the case.

The corporate hasn’t modified the core kind issue. It is a transportable console with removable Pleasure-Cons. The Swap 2 could be positioned in a dock for big-screen gaming. There are some important variations from the unique console, nevertheless.

The obvious one is that the next-gen Pleasure-Cons will now not slide into place mechanically. As a substitute, they’re going to connect to the primary unit magnetically. There’s a small connector that is probably used to cost the controllers and maybe take away the necessity to hyperlink them by way of Bluetooth. It is unclear at this level if Pleasure-Cons from the unique system might be appropriate with the Swap 2.

One different large (and really welcome) change is the addition of a second USB-C port on the highest of the system. That ought to make it a lot simpler to plug in equipment whereas the Swap 2 is docked. It is nice to see that Nintendo has saved the headphone jack as properly. Let’s simply hope that Bluetooth headphone assist is dwell from the leap this time and Nintendo would not depart everybody waiting four years for that characteristic.

The kickstand is getting an improve as properly. As with the Swap OLED, it spans the size of the console. However, in keeping with the trailer, this one seems absolutely adjustable, so you’ll be able to tweak the viewing angle to 1 that works for you.

Nevertheless, there are nonetheless an ideal many unknowns concerning the upcoming console. We do not actually know the specs but, or what sort of show it makes use of. We additionally do not know something about battery life, the UI or launch video games. We’ll probably be taught a complete lot on April 2.

When will the Nintendo Swap 2 come out?

2025. That is all we all know for certain at this level.

It is extremely unlikely that Nintendo will launch the console earlier than the devoted Direct on April 2, and never solely as a result of that is initially of Nintendo’s subsequent monetary yr. Nevertheless, accent producer Genki, which has been a serious supply of leaks in current months, claims the console will be released in April.

In any case, we must always be taught the discharge date through the April 2 Direct if we’ve not already by then.

When can I attempt the Nintendo Swap 2?

Nintendo is planning a worldwide roadshow to let players go hands-on with the console. These occasions begin in New York and Paris on April 3-6, with others happening all through the next two months. That lends credence to some recommendations that Nintendo will launch the Swap 2 in June.

Ticket registration for the Swap 2 Expertise occasions within the US (in New York, Los Angeles and Paris) starts on January 17 at 3PM ET and can stay open till January 26. A Nintendo Account is required to enroll. Nintendo will randomly choose the recipients of the free tickets.

The complete listing of Nintendo Swap 2 Expertise occasions is as follows:

North America:

• New York, April 4-6, 2025

• Los Angeles, April 11-13, 2025

• Dallas, April 25-27, 2025

• Toronto, April 25-27, 2025

Europe:

• Paris, April 4-6, 2025

• London, April 11-13, 2025

• Milan, April 25-27, 2025

• Berlin, April 25-27, 2025

• Madrid, Might 11th of September, 2025

• Amsterdam, Might 11th of September, 2025

Oceania:

Asia:

• Tokyo (Makuhari), April 26-27, 2025

• Seoul, Might 31-June 1, 2025

• Hong Kong, To be introduced

• Taipei, To be introduced

Will the Nintendo Swap 2 have some weirdness?

Every thing we have seen and up to now about this console has been pretty, properly, conventional. It seems like the unique Swap, however higher. That is superior, however will there be any of that unpredictable Nintendo magic? Perhaps! There are two puzzling additions that people cannot make conceal nor hair of.

Eager eyes can have observed a brand new button on the underside of the fitting Pleasure-Con. It it not but clear what this does. Might it provoke voice chat throughout gameplay? Might it calibrate the controllers? Might it create a room-sized hologram of Bowser in your front room? We’ll have to attend and see.

Now onto the up to date Pleasure-Cons. There seems to be a brand new sensor on the connecting facet of every controller. It seems a whole lot like an optical sensor, which is what a pc mouse makes use of. This has led to hypothesis that gamers will be capable to flip the Pleasure-Con over and use it like a mouse. Of notice: the trailer exhibits the Pleasure-Cons transferring alongside a flat floor, connector facet down and searching suspiciously like a mouse.

However why would anybody even need this? I can consider three phrases. New Mario Paint.

Is the Nintendo Swap 2 backwards appropriate?

The corporate confirmed in November 2024 that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be backwards compatible. It should additionally characteristic entry to Nintendo On-line, so customers will be capable to play all of these outdated retro titles.

Within the preliminary Nintendo Swap 2 press launch, Nintendo reiterated that bodily and digital Swap video games will work on the brand new system. Nevertheless, it famous that “sure Nintendo Swap video games might not be supported on or absolutely appropriate with Nintendo Swap 2.” Extra particulars about which video games these are might be revealed later.

What about specs?

The rumors concerning specs are in all places, so it’s powerful to pin down. We all know one factor for certain: It’ll be extra highly effective than the traditional Swap {hardware}, which was already antiquated again in 2017. One analyst allegedly bought a maintain of a spec sheet from the Korean United Each day Information that stated the Swap 2 would boast an eight-core Cortex-A78AE processor, 8GB of RAM, and 64GB of inside eMMC storage. This tracks for me, as these specs are about as underpowered in 2024 as the unique Swap was in 2017. Nevertheless, some stories do indicate that the console will embody 12GB of RAM.

One other supply means that the eight-core CPU might be packaged inside an NVIDIA-produced Tegra239 SoC (system on a chip). Given the present Swap runs on an NVIDIA chip, that makes a whole lot of sense. The CPU might be extra highly effective, however it’s the Swap 2’s new GPU that might be a serious differentiator. It is all-but-confirmed that the Swap 2 will assist DLSS, NVIDIA’s “deep studying supersampling” upscaling tech, which might permit the console to render video games at a low decision internally whereas outputting a high-resolution picture. (Enjoyable truth: We truly wrote about how perfect DLSS was for the Nintendo Switch 2 when the know-how was introduced alongside the RTX 20 sequence again in 2018.)

There are nonetheless questions in regards to the Swap 2 and DLSS: Will the system assist newer DLSS features like frame generation? Will current video games be robotically tidied up by NVIDIA’s algorithm? Whatever the precise implementation, DLSS upscaling might be an enormous leap over the rudimentary methods obtainable to Nintendo Swap builders.

As for the show, there are lots of conflicting rumors. Early stories from strong sources recommended the Swap 2 would have an 8-inch show LCD show. The Swap 2’s show actually seems bigger than that of the unique Swap in a side-by-side comparability within the reveal trailer.

Some analysts have recommended this could be an OLED display, whereas others have stated it could be a Mini-LED display. A Mini-LED show is mainly an LCD show that has a backlight manufactured from (shock!) mini-LEDs quite than edge lighting. This permits for native dimming, making the blacks extra black. I’m hedging my bets right here. I believe it’ll be a typical LCD, to chop prices, with an OLED or Mini-LED mannequin coming later down the road. Nevertheless, Mini-LED screens are barely cheaper than OLED shows, in order that’s actually a risk at launch.

As for decision, current reporting means that the console will output 1080p in handheld and 4K when docked. That is significantly better than the OG Swap. In the meantime, it isn’t but clear if the Swap 2 will ship efficiency or visible upgrades to unique Swap video games.

How a lot will the Nintendo Swap 2 value?

We do not have an excessive amount of info concerning value however we do have loads of historical past to work with. The unique Nintendo Swap launched at $300, which is just about the “magic quantity” with regards to Nintendo console releases in recent times. The Wii U additionally got here in at $300.

Nevertheless, there are many rumors circulating that Nintendo might be upping the asking value for the Swap 2. Quite a few retailers have reported it’ll be $400, or doubtlessly much more costly. Nevertheless, the identical analysts who say the console might be $400 had been additionally pretty sure it could be out by the top of 2024 and, properly, that did not occur.

Dipping again into historical past, there’s some priority for a value uptick. The GameCube was $200 and the Wii was $250. The Wii U and Swap elevated to $300 and, properly, numbers prefer to go up. A $400 price ticket would make it practically as costly as a PS5 and Xbox Collection X. That might additionally put it on the identical value because the 256GB LCD Steam Deck.

Once more, we must always get affirmation of the worth through the April 2 Nintendo Direct.

Will we find out about any launch video games?

Not a lot. The reveal trailer supplied a peek at a brand new Mario Kart recreation. Nintendo launched Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U over a decade in the past and it has been milking that money cow ever since, having offered greater than 64 million copies of the sport throughout that console and the Swap. It is positively time for a brand new entry!

It is actually been a long time since we’ve gotten a correct 3D Mario journey as properly, so a brand new one might be a launch title. That might be one heck of a system vendor. Aside from that, your guess is pretty much as good as mine. Previous as prologue, we will count on one thing from Ubisoft and an off-the-wall title like 1-2-Swap.

If there’s a gimmick or hook concerned with the console, we’ll additionally get a recreation that takes benefit of that. A twin launch of Metroid Prime 4, identical to Breath of the Wild and Twilight Princess earlier than that, can also be a risk.

It is all however nailed on that we’ll be taught rather more in regards to the Swap 2 launch lineup through the April 2 Nintendo Direct. You will positively wish to set your Alarmo for that one.

That is every thing we all know in regards to the Nintendo Swap 2 immediately. We’ll replace this text with rumors we belief and with info we collect immediately from sources. Any modifications made to the article after its preliminary publishing might be listed beneath.

Replace, January 15, 2025, 12:10 PM ET: This story has been up to date to incorporate rumors a few potential console announcement for this week.

Replace, January 16, 2025, 10:33AM ET: This story has been up to date to incorporate official particulars in regards to the Nintendo Swap 2 from the reveal trailer and press launch.