After months of fan speculation and an outpouring of alleged leaks, we got to gaze upon the actual Switch 2. Nintendo announced the new gaming console with a short YouTube video showcasing the new hardware, which includes magnetic Joy-Con controllers, a bigger screen, and backwards compatibility with original Switch games. It also gives fans their first glimpse of what people are speculating is Mario Kart 9
Read More: Did Nintendo Just Reveal Mario Kart 9?
The reveal day lines up with leaks earlier this week indicating that Nintendo was preparing to show off the Switch 2 for real after somehow going all of 2024 without so much as a peep about its upcoming hardware, not even revealing the new deviceâs name. We didnât get a the release date today beyond the fact that itâs coming sometime in 2025, but we did get the official name. Switch successor is indeed called the Nintendo Switch 2. How un-Nintendo of them!
The trailer shows off a bigger, sleeker upgrade to the 2017 hardware thatâs sold over 150 million units. The new Joy-Con are black instead of red and blue, and the right one has a new, mysterious c-button. They attach to the screenâwhich is larger with a smaller bezelâwith magnets. But Nintendo still hasnât gone into detail on the official specs or what the hardware will be capable of. It looks cool though:
A quick segment near the end of the trailer appears to show the upgraded Joy-Con moving like a PC gaming mouse, possibly an allusion to a new optical tracking capability. The company also reiterated that the Switch 2 will play Switch games, but with a major caveat. âCertain Nintendo Switch games may not be supported on or fully compatible with Nintendo Switch 2,â a disclaimer at the end of the trailer reads. Itâs unclear which games will be included in that carve-out, but more information is promised on Nintendoâs website at a later date.
Nintendoâs official Switch 2 reveal comes after weeks of alleged leaks purporting to show everything about the new console from its motherboard to its new magnetic Joy-Con connectors. The sum total of the rumors amounted to the new device being an upgraded Switch with a bigger screen and a more powerful processor but otherwise largely the same hybrid gaming tablet everyoneâs come to love since the original launched back in 2017. And they basically all turned out to be right.
Whether the Switch 2 can pull off a similar year-one coup will depend mostly on what first-party exclusives the system launches with. The one-two punch of The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Super Mario Odyssey was a powerful recipe for success with the original hardware. Can the Switch 2 muster a similarly impressive lineup? Mario Kart 9, which certainly looks like whatâs been revealed in the Switch 2 preview trailer, would make for a great start.
One thing that might help is a steady drumbeat of third-party ports from Xbox, Ubisoft, and others. Weâll no doubt find out in the days and months ahead as the company announces the rest of the Switch 2’s official launch lineup.
Update 1/16/2025 8:43 a.m. ET: Added more info from the trailer about the Switch 2.
