After months of rumors and whispers, Nintendo has officially announced the Switch 2. This isn’t a revision or different model of the current Switch like the Switch OLED or the Switch Lite. This is a brand new, more powerful console – a different system entirely that will have new games exclusively made for it by Nintendo and other developers.
Nintendo had already confirmed Switch 2’s backwards-compatibility with the current Switch. Meaning, the vast majority of Switch games will be playable on Switch 2.
The trailer itself wasn’t flashy. It did a sufficient job of communicating what’s different about the console: it’s bigger, has a better kickstand, looks to have more robust analog sticks (thank goodness), hopefully this time without drift. The aesthetics of the the system look sleek. It definitely doesn’t look like a toy.
Yet perhaps the most intriguing hardware addition is what looks to be mouse-functionality in the Joy-Con. For those saying Nintendo played it safe with Switch 2’s hardware and it lacks innovation, I’d say this is a piece of innovation that everyone would be talking about right now if it hadn’t leaked early.
Being able to use the Joy-Con as a mouse will open Switch 2 up to first-person shooters and real-time strategy games in a way no Nintendo console, or any console, has had so far. Microsoft has been releasing their first-party content on Switch, and they have the rights to three different well-known real-time strategy IPs: Age of Empires, Warcraft, and StarCraft. Not to mention, it opens up the Metroid Prime series to different possibilities as a first-person game. Metroid Prime 4 will undoubtedly have mouse support when it releases this year, not to mention it could possibly be patched into Metroid Prime Remastered. Interesting.
A new Mario Kart game was shown. We still don’t know if it will be called Mario Kart 9 or something else, but we at least have confirmation that Switch 2 will have its own Mario Kart game.
Nintendo ended the trailer by announcing a full Nintendo Direct dedicated to Switch 2 on April 2nd, when they will undoubtedly talk more in-depth about launch games and launch date. We’ll likely see more of Metroid Prime 4 and Mario Kart. Final Fantasy VII Remake/Rebirth and Hollow Knight: Silksong are also possibilities. No way Silksong can’t be finished by now. It’s been almost ten years since the first Hollow Knight launched on PC.
However I’m not sure about the FromSoftware games on Nintendo consoles anymore since Sony now has some stock ownership in them. Otherwise, I would expect all of their Soulslike games (Elden Ring, Dark Souls, Sekiro) to get Switch 2 ports.
Also, given what Hideki Kamiya just said on X about the Switch 2 leakers, I think it’s safe to assume the Okami sequel is coming to Switch 2 as well.
Other than, pretty much every major AAA game of the last six years should be coming to Switch 2.
If Nintendo does what they did with the first Switch leading up to its launch in 2017, launch of Switch 2 should be in June, two months after the big Direct for the system in April. Nintendo better have their first-party Switch 2 software info locked up tight because the leakers will be coming for it.
So mark your calendars for the April 2, 2025. It seems far off now, but it will be here before we know it.
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