In a much-anticipated online presentation Wednesday evening, Nintendo announced several key details of its upcoming Switch 2, the company’s first major new games console in more than eight years, including a June 5 release date.
Nintendo is pricing the Switch 2 at $450 in the U.S. and ¥49,980 in Japan. But in an unexpected curveball, the Japanese model will only support the Japanese language and won’t play games from other regions, unlike the current Switch. Nintendo will sell a multiregion version for ¥69,980 in Japan via its online store.
The move likely reflects the recent shift in exchange rates. The Switch sold for $299.99 and ¥29,980 in Japan upon release in March 2017, meaning a direct dollar-yen conversion would have more than doubled the price in Nintendo’s home market.
In Japan, consoles will initially be available for purchase via a lottery system from April 24 with more details forthcoming from Nintendo on April 4. (However, in response to tariffs imposed on exports from Japan, Nintendo has canceled preorders originally set to begin April 9 for customers in the United States.)
The Switch 2 follows the blueprint of the original Switch, which sold more than 150 million units to become Nintendo’s most successful home console yet. Both systems are tablet-style devices with detachable controllers and an included docking station, allowing owners to play games on their TV or on the go.
The Switch 2 has a 7.9-inch, 1080p LCD screen, up from the 6.2-inch, 720p panel on the original model. It also has HDR support and double the refresh rate, supporting games at up to 120 frames per second. When docked to a TV, the Switch 2 can output up to 4K resolution, with the dock now including a fan to cool the system.
Nintendo is including 256 gigabytes of storage in the Switch 2 and says it’s faster at reading and writing data than the previous model. The Switch 2 is also one of the first devices to support the new high-performance microSD Express standard. However, older microSD cards will no longer work with the system.
Beyond these specs, Nintendo focused on the Switch 2’s new features rather than delving into technical details. A new C button on its Joy-Con controllers brings up an interface for audio chat or, with an add-on camera accessory, video. There’s also a GameShare feature that allows sharing copies of supported games for local multiplayer.
The Joy-Con controllers themselves feature larger sticks and buttons, as well as the ability to be turned on their sides for mouse-style control. They now attach to the Switch 2 magnetically, rather than sliding onto the system via rails.
Nintendo’s Switch 2 presentation also included a handful of announcements for new first-party games. Mario Kart World is a revamped, open-world take on the hugely popular racing series that was first released in 1992, while Donkey Kong: Bananza feels designed to play off the character’s recent exposure in “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and Universal Studios theme parks. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment, the latest action-focused spinoff in the Zelda franchise, is a collaboration with Koei Tecmo.
Also announced were a large number of games from third-party publishers. The biggest surprise here was the world-first reveal of The Duskbloods, a Switch 2-exclusive title from Dark Souls and Elden Ring developer FromSoftware. Elden Ring was also confirmed for the new system.
Beyond that, big-ticket games confirmed include Street Fighter 6, EA Sports FC and Madden NFL, Borderlands 4, NBA 2K and a “director’s cut” of Yakuza 0.
And while almost all Switch games should run on the Switch 2 out of the box, the new console will also be able to play enhanced versions of those games through paid upgrades labelled “Switch 2 Edition.” The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom will both get higher resolutions and frame rates on the new machine, as will the upcoming Metroid Prime 4: Beyond alongside mouse support.
Come June, the Switch 2 will launch into a very different market than its predecessor. While the original Switch essentially set the blueprint for high-powered handheld gaming devices, portable PCs like the Steam Deck have been gaining traction in recent years, and Sony saw unexpected demand for its streaming-focused PlayStation Portal.
Nintendo still has some advantages, however. The Switch’s immense success means there are a lot of people with physical or digital software libraries that will easily carry over to the Switch 2. By continuing to use power-efficient ARM-based hardware, Nintendo is able to deliver a relatively slimline device compared to any PC-based competitors. And, of course, no one else has Nintendo’s unmatched arsenal of first-party intellectual property.
This time around, Nintendo has also succeeded in attracting more third-party games to its console. When the original Switch launched in 2017, it wasn’t capable of running many high-end titles designed for the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, and the conversions that did appear tended to come with severe technical compromises. Now, though, many big games are still released for the PS4 as well as the PS5, while the Xbox Series S has given developers another reason to work with lower-powered hardware.
For an announcement of such magnitude, however, the presentation didn’t yield many surprises. That may be because the Switch 2 is intended to be more of an iterative sequel like the 3DS or Game Boy Advance than a revolutionary product like the DS or Wii.
For the first time, however, Nintendo is in a position to add to an existing platform rather than replace it altogether. The company even made a point of announcing several upcoming original Switch games last week, and it will be more than happy if gamers continue to buy them for the older hardware. The transition to the Switch 2 should be seamless for the hundred-million-plus current owners — Nintendo's challenge now is simply to convince them to make the switch.
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