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Every gamer has been sitting twiddling their thumbs impatiently ready for Nintendo to inform us all about the successor to its much-adored Switch console. Last week, it lastly put us all out of our distress – the gaming large has, in the end, unveiled the Nintendo Switch 2.
Confirmed for launch later this 12 months, the Switch 2 has been the worst-kept secret in console historical past. Leaks had been virtually raining down on us by the time it launched the two-minute first-look trailer. While gentle on element, the trailer verified the rumours of magnetically hooked up Joy-Cons, a bigger show, a refreshed design, plus a brand new Mario Kart recreation.
More particulars will probably be revealed at a Nintendo Direct occasion on 2 April. According to Nintendo, the Switch 2 will help unique Switch 2 titles and provide full backwards compatibility with each bodily and digital games from the original Nintendo Switch.
But what else do we all know? While the trailer didn’t give us a lot, the hearsay mill has been churning for a number of years at this level, with earlier rumours suggesting the console was pushed again twice. So, we could have already got a good suggestion. These are the newest information and rumours on the launch date, worth, specs and extra. We’ve even began seeing third-party builders announce what titles they are going to be bringing to the platform.
Nintendo Switch 2 launch date: When is the console popping out and when are you able to pre-order?
While Nintendo hasn’t announced an actual launch date for the Nintendo Switch 2, the firm has confirmed it should arrive in 2025.
Based on present leaks and a little bit of knowledgeable hypothesis, we are able to slim down after we may see it hit retailer cabinets. On 13 January 2025, games insider Nate the Hate was the first to accurately announce Nintendo’s plans to unveil the Switch 2 on 16 January 2025. In his podcast, he speculated that the Switch 2 may launch in May or June this 12 months, a declare supported by the games trade publication VGC.
To have a good time the launch of the Nintendo Switch 2, Nintendo is internet hosting hands-on expertise days round the globe. They’ll happen in April, May and June, which makes us assume the console may very well be launched in a kind of months, shortly after the expertise days. With the closing expertise day set for 1 June in Seoul, we’re leaning in the direction of a launch in the first week of June.
If you’re excited about getting up shut with the Nintendo Switch 2, you’ll have to register for Nintendo’s free draw, and you could have a Nintendo account. Registrations for the draw opened on 17 January, and can shut on 26 January. The UK expertise day will happen at the Excel in London from 11 to 13 April.
As for pre-orders, we stay in the darkish, however our present predictions are that you just might be able to pre-order one after Nintendo hosts its Nintendo Direct on 2 April. When Nintendo launched the authentic Switch in January 2017, pre-orders went dwell that very same day.
Nintendo Switch 2 worth: How a lot will the console value?
Nintendo remained tight-lipped about the console’s worth in its first-look trailer and is unlikely to disclose extra particulars till nearer to the launch date. Although there have been some rumours, their reliability isn’t assured, and costs may change.
Still, it appears possible the Nintendo Switch 2 will value the similar as or greater than the Nintendo Switch OLED, which is presently priced at £309.99. Analysts who spoke to IGN predict a worth of round $400 (£330), $50 greater than the Switch OLED in the US.
On 12 January 2025, an alleged worker at French retailer Micromania claimed the Switch 2 would value €399 – €50 greater than the OLED mannequin. If the UK sees an identical £50 worth hike, the Switch 2 may value £359.99 at launch.
Nintendo Switch 2 design
Nintendo gave us a fast first take a look at the Nintendo Switch 2 on 16 January with a flashy first-look trailer. While visually spectacular, the trailer left many particulars unexplained, together with a radical breakdown of the console’s design and the capabilities of its new buttons. But right here’s what we’ve gleaned from the trailer.
Just from the design alone, the Nintendo Switch 2 seems like a extra grown-up console in comparison with the authentic’s playful, brightly-coloured look. While the blue and pink accents are nonetheless there, they’re extra delicate – restricted to the edges of the Joy-Cons and thumb sticks – whereas the remainder of the console boasts a smooth black end. The recreation cartridge slot continues to be in the similar place, and your Switch 1 cartridges will work on the new mannequin.
When Nintendo positioned the Switch 2 alongside the OG mannequin throughout the trailer, the dimension distinction was placing. The console is noticeably bigger, and so are the Joy-Cons and the show. In a earlier report, OnLeaks and 91mobiles claimed that the Switch 2 options an 8.4in show.
The largest upgrades appear to come back to the Joy-Cons. Instead of the conventional rail-locking system, the trailer exhibits the Joy-Cons clicking on, doubtlessly magnetically – a closely rumoured improve. This may imply no extra fiddling round to slip them in place and making them extra steady, however extra importantly, it may lastly clear up the dreaded Joy-Con drift.
There’s additionally a brand new sq. button on the proper Joy-Con, slightly below the Home button. What is that this mysterious button? It’s unclear for now, however rumours counsel it may very well be for a brand new chat characteristic on the system.
One second in the trailer confirmed a Joy-Con sliding throughout a floor like a mouse, hinting at mouse-like performance that might open up a wealth of prospects.,
In phrases of the dock, it seems broadly the similar however has rounded corners as a substitute of these sharper ones discovered on the authentic Switch, simply making it look rather a lot sleeker. Hopefully, we’ll be taught extra in the coming weeks and months.
Nintendo Switch 2 launch games: What titles will come to the console?
Nintendo solely revealed one recreation for the Switch in the reveal trailer – a brand new Mario Kart recreation working on the system. Excited followers have forensically analysed frames in the trailer and have seen that there are as much as 24 gamers on a race course without delay. Tracks additionally seem a lot wider – Mario Kart titles have all the time restricted players to 12 racers without delay, and that’s already chaotic sufficient.
Speeding round the observe on every thing from bikes, karts and snowmobiles to quadbikes, lowriders jet skis and, sure even a cheetah, are some acquainted faces, together with Mario, Luigi, Wario, Waluigi, Bowser, Yoshi, Toad, Peach, Daisy, Rosalina, Pauline, Donkey Kong, Baby Mario, Baby Luigi, Toadette and extra (although they’ll’t all be made out clearly).
But what different games can we count on to see? In Nate the Hate’s podcast, the games insider speculated a brand new 3D Mario recreation will probably be launched in December 2025, and third-party releases may embrace the Final Fantasy 7 Remake, Assassin’s Creed Mirage and Metal Gear Solid Delta.
Third-party builders have began revealing titles for the Switch 2, although none are main AAA. They’re all basically small indie choices – we’re nonetheless ready for the main builders to announce their games.
- Yooka-Replayee – Playtonic Games
- Littlelands – Rafael Martin and Kyle Creamer
- Bestiario – Wiggin Industries
- Synth Beasts – Radhood Advance
- Aurascope – Nick Oztok
- My Time at Evershine – Pathea Games
- Secret Forest – Zelcar Games
Nintendo Switch 2 specs
Nintendo has by no means been all that involved with technical specs, so even when it hosts its Nintendo Direct occasion, the gaming large nonetheless won’t go into any substantial element. Prior leaks may give us some thought, nonetheless.
The Nintendo Switch presently makes use of Nvidia’s (now very outdated) Tegra X1 chip, which includes a 256-core Maxwell GPU. The rumours so far counsel Nintendo will probably be sticking with Nvidia for the Nintendo Switch 2, regardless of stiff competitors from AMD, which offered the chip for Valve’s highly effective Steam Deck.
In September 2022, an Nvidia worker said that the Nintendo Switch 2 would make use of a brand new Nvidia Tegra chip, particularly the Tegra T239 – a beforehand unconfirmed circuit that older rumours prompt the Switch 2 would use.
Nvidia’s sources as soon as once more backed up these claims in late February 2024. Games leaker Moore’s Law is Dead stated in a YouTube video that the leak from Digital Foundry about the T239 processor is an “almost entirely correct summary” of the Nintendo Switch 2. The insider claimed that the T239 has an Ampere GPU structure and makes use of Samsung’s 8nm course of node with 8GB, 12GB or 16GB of 128-bit LPDDR5 reminiscence. That may make it as highly effective as the PS4.
While there was no phrase on 4K help, a 2021 patent filed by Nintendo prompt it was engaged on 4K upscaling. VGC added to this hearsay in September when its sources had been proven the Nintendo Switch 2 at Gamescon. According to the publication: “One Switch 2 demo is understood to have been an improved version of the Switch launch title Zelda: Breath of the Wild, running at a higher framerate and resolution than the original game.”
VGC’s supply noticed The Matrix Awakens working on the machine, which was used as an Unreal Engine check demo for the PS5 and Xbox Series X. “The demo is said to have been running using Nvidia’s DLSS upscaling technology, with advanced ray tracing enabled and visuals comparable to Sony’s and Microsoft’s current-gen consoles,” the report reads.
In September 2024, photographs of prototype parts leaked on a Chinese web site. According to Digital Foundry, the leak “was genuine”. Alongside the alleged photographs, one other consumer leaked a reported full spec checklist of the console. The leak said it might have 256GB of storage, 12GB of RAM and HDMI 2.1 ports.
Based on the leaked specs, the Switch 2 gained’t be as quick as the PS5 or Xbox sequence X, but it surely has extra RAM than the Xbox Series S, making it extra much like the Steam Deck. We’re unlikely to listen to official details about the specs till the console is in the fingers of consultants who teardown the gadget.
The greatest Nintendo Switch offers
Nintendo Switch OLED: Was £309.99, now £270.23, Amazon.co.uk
With the Switch 2 formally on the method, the Switch OLED is beginning to come down in worth. Amazon has discounted the console by £40. “Its colourful display, better build quality and bigger storage make buying the Nintendo Switch OLED a no-brainer,” we mentioned in our review of the console.
We’ve rounded up the best Nintendo Switch games for every kind of player
