After a nauseatingly interminable wait, one that was years in the making, Nintendo has finally shown off the successor to Switch. Nintendo Switch 2 was revealed in a trailer earlier this morning, providing a glimpse of the hardware as well as a brief snippet of what is likely Mario Kart 9. Take a gander:
So, what do we know about Nintendo Switch 2 beyond its amorphous 2025 release window? Let’s break it down. We know the console is backwards compatible with both physical and digital games (although Nintendo warns that some games might not be compatible and will provide a list at a later date). The Joy-Con appear to slot into the sides of the console in a different way than the original, with some speculating it’s a magnetic connection. The colorway is evocative of the first Switch with its bright red and blue hues, but for Switch 2 these colors are used more as an accent, while black is the predominant shade of the system. Beyond that, the rest is guesswork at this point. Finally, we got a fleeting look at what appears to be Mario Kart 9 (or whatever Nintendo ends up calling the game).
It won’t remain guesswork for too long, though, as Nintendo is promising to reveal more about Switch 2 with a special Nintendo Direct broadcast on Wednesday, April 2. Be sure to keep it tuned to Nintendojo as we report on the new console and what it will entail.
Source: Nintendo of America Press Release
It’s tough to re-invent the wheel with every new console. And honestly it isn’t always required. Of course the reaction to the Switch 2 is muted in comparison to the original Switch because it was the first of it’s kind. Fast forward nearly 8 years later and the handheld / home console hybrid market has changed dramatically. That being said I think the Switch 2 is pretty much what Switch owners were expecting it to be.
I look at this like the Switch was the NES and the Switch 2 is the Super NES – an evolution of what came before, not a revolution. For the mass public, casual gamers, parents etc, it’s crystal clear and straightforward that “Switch 2” is the new system just like “Super Nintendo” clearly indicated it was newer and better than the “Nintendo”. And unlike the jump from the NES to the SNES, the Switch 2 is (mostly) backward compatible. If you watch old news reports on YouTube from 1991, parents were P!$$ed that the SNES couldn’t play their existing library of NES games or use any of the peripherals etc. feeling like their investment was all for not. Will the Switch 2 hit the heights of the original Switch though? I don’t think it will, but it’ll still be extremely successful.