Dark or Light
logo
Logo

Nintendo Officially Unveils The Switch 2, Coming Sometime In 2025

More details this April

Joseph Bradford Posted:
Category:
Hardware 0

After weeks of leaks, speculation, and anticipation, Nintendo finally ripped the band-aid off the collective games industry by revealing its successor to its highly popular handheld console, the Nintendo Switch. The aptly named Nintendo Switch 2 got an attractive sizzle reel with more information promised this April.

The new video highlights some of the changes coming to the Switch 2's ergonomics compared to the original handheld, such as larger and magnetic Joy-Cons, a larger screen, larger cooling and venting ports on the top of the unit, and two USB-C ports. 

The Switch 2 is ditching the Red and Blue Joy-Cons in favor of a (mostly) all-black look, giving the larger and (presumably) more powerful console a sleeker look. However, that Red and Blue styling is still featured on both the analog sticks as well as the connection point for each Joy-Con, making it clear which one is Left and which is Right. I like this touch as it's both a call-back to the Switch's iconic look while giving the overall visuals of the hardware a slight, sleeker refresh.

We know next to nothing about what's inside the Switch 2 other than it will be powered on an Nvidia chip like its predecessor. What this means for performance will hopefully be unveiled in April at the Switch 2's digital event ahead of its nebulous 2025 launch window. We also don't know much about the games the Switch 2 will launch with, but Nintendo did show some footage of a new Mario Kart game, which is exciting to see, especially since Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, the last entry in the series, was release way back in 2017. 

One interesting note in the trailer is the way the Joy-Cons themselves were being used. One part highlighted the Right controller being used almost like a mouse, which could open the door to so many other experiences such as potential for Civilization VII or even mouse movement in MMOs that could appear on the system. I'm very curious to see how this functionality works in practice and how game developers take advantage of it in future titles. 

Nintendo did make clear as well that the Switch 2 is backwards compatible with both physical and digital Nintendo Switch games, though it does note that "[c]ertain Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2" in today's press release, so it'll be interesting to see which ones and what is stopping them from being playable on the new console. 

We have a few months before more details are revealed, with Nintendo announcing a new Nintendo Direct: Nintendo Switch 2 to air on April 2nd. But it's exciting to see the console finally revealed, and us here at MMORPG will be very curious what kind of MMO experiences we can expect on Nintendo's upcoming handheld. 


lotrlore

Joseph Bradford

Joseph has been writing or podcasting about games in some form since about 2012. Having written for multiple major outlets such as IGN, Playboy, and more, Joseph started writing for MMORPG in 2015. When he's not writing or talking about games, you can typically find him hanging out with his 15-year old or playing Magic: The Gathering with his family. Also, don't get him started on why Balrogs *don't* have wings. You can find him on Twitter @LotrLore