Daniel Robson 
The Nintendo Switch 2 in all its glory. (Courtesy of Nintendo)
At last, the Nintendo Switch 2 is here! Well, kind of.
I wrote in my predictions for 2025 that the announcement of Nintendo's successor to the immensely popular Switch was around the corner. On January 16 we finally got to see the new hardware. But ... that's about it for now.
Compared with the colorful, aspirational video that announced the original Switch with scenes of cool young people carrying their games to the basketball court, esports tournament, and a rooftop party, this was probably the most bare-bones hardware reveal imaginable.
What We Know
The short video posted by Nintendo shows footage of the original Switch morphing into its new younger sibling through computer animation, finally showing us the new machine.
Slightly bigger than its predecessor and with a bigger screen, plus an added USB C port and a mysterious new square button and optical sensor, it otherwise looks entirely familiar to the 150 million existing Switch owners.
Beyond that, the trailer also gave us a brief glimpse of a new Mario Kart game, a scene with a set of JoyCons racing around. It also showed a couple of on-screen messages to confirm backward compatibility with most Switch games and an upcoming hands-on event, and that was it.
There was no price information, no release date, and the presentation was so dry you might almost forget this was a gadget for playing games.
Why So Brief?
Of course, this was all Nintendo really needed to do this time around. The Switch 2 finds Nintendo in a much stronger position than in 2016, when its previous console the Wii U was barely selling and its dominance over gaming was in serious question.
Nintendo had a lot to prove with the unveiling of the Switch. It also had a revolutionary core concept that was unlike any other gaming hardware to date — allowing players to plug into their TV or take their game on the go.
The idea seemed too good to be true, and Nintendo had to paint that picture with its first Switch trailer. Nowadays we are used to it — the Switch is one of the most successful game consoles of all time. It has spawned a whole category of high-end portable consoles such as Valve's Steam Deck. We're already sold on the concept, so Nintendo doesn't need to spell it out.
Upcoming Games
Still, I was quite surprised that we didn't see teasers for a few more games, and a little disappointed that we'll have to wait until a Nintendo Direct livestream on April 2 to find out more. The form factor of the new hardware is so similar to the old one that Nintendo will need to convince families why they need to upgrade.
That persuasion will come in the form of games like Mario, Zelda, Smash Bros, Pokémon, and Animal Crossing that play exclusively on the new Switch and not on the old one.
I have absolutely no doubt whatsoever that Nintendo is working on a killer lineup of games. But so far, the only confirmed title is a new Mario Kart game — and even then, only a teaser, with no title or concept yet revealed.
Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is the most popular game on Nintendo Switch, with 72.7 million copies sold. It is also the fifth-highest-selling game of all time. So it makes sense that Nintendo would show a new entry alongside the hardware reveal. In fact, Mario Kart 8 was originally released on Wii U in 2014 and then upgraded for Switch as a Deluxe version, meaning that the current game is 11 years old. A new version is long overdue, and this will go a long way to selling gamers on the new console.
More Possibilities
So what other games can we expect? This is only educated guesswork, but I'd put money on a new 3D Mario Bros game in 2025 to follow up on the excellent 2017 game Super Mario Odyssey and the new open-world direction hinted at in 2021's Bowser's Fury.
Given how Nintendo has been pushing Donkey Kong lately, with a co-starring role in The Super Mario Bros Movie and his own area at Universal Studios Japan, a new DK game this year seems likely. A new Zelda game of the scope of Breath of the Wild or Tears of the Kingdom seems unlikely at this stage. But a new upgraded version of those two games to make use of the new hardware seems like a no-brainer.
Metroid Prime 4 was announced several years ago as a Switch game, but I think we'll see it come to Switch 2 as well. Pokémon Legends: Z-A promises to follow up on Arceus when it is released this year and will surely work better on the upgraded Switch 2.
Nintendo usually releases a game to make use of the new hardware gimmicks, from Wii Sports to 1-2 Switch, so I’d imagine a brand new game that shows off what the Switch 2 can do. And I'm sure we'll see new Animal Crossing and Splatoon games at some point. Basically, we can expect Nintendo to roll out all its biggest series on Switch 2.
Microsoft Releases
And not only Nintendo. Microsoft has pledged to release games on the Switch 2. Xbox head Phil Spencer told the Gamertag Radio podcast that he is "really looking forward to supporting them with the games that we have. I just think they're such an important part of this industry."
Although Xbox is a rival console platform, the Microsoft-owned brand has recently been releasing its games for Steam, Switch, and PlayStation. And Spencer has stated this trend will continue to grow. Rumors suggest we may even see Halo, Xbox's flagship series, coming to Switch 2.
Meanwhile, as part of its negotiations to acquire Activision, Microsoft has already promised to bring Call of Duty games to Nintendo hardware, so the question is not if but when.
And of course, the current Switch has been a bridge to success for many other game publishers large and small, a trend which will surely continue on the new platform. Expect to see the likes of Sega, Square Enix, Capcom, Electronic Arts, Ubisoft, NetEase, and many more release games on the new console, as well as a plethora of smaller indie games.
Upgrading a Game Changer
Nintendo has never named a hardware iteration "2," preferring to add new gimmicks or reinvent its offering from scratch with a new name to match a new concept. Its "sequel" hardware has had names like the Super Nintendo Entertainment System, the 3DS, the Wii U, and so on.
This time it has instead chosen to capitalize on the success of the Switch and double down on more of the same for its next console, which is exactly what gamers want. Why do something totally new when the status quo is so great?
And yet while it was not explicit, the video did hint at a new innovation. The scene I mentioned earlier with a set of JoyCons racing around the screen, along with the mysterious new optical sensor, appears to confirm rumors that the new controllers can be used as a mouse.
Why? We can only speculate, but it could be something as simple as a pointer that makes PC-like games easier to play. Or it could be a way to let younger players enjoy games like Mario Kart by pushing the controllers around the floor like toy cars.
In any case, it's always fun to see how Nintendo wrings new gameplay ideas out of changes to its hardware. That said, these ideas are often short-lived, like the HD Rumble feature of the current Switch. The feature allowed for sensitive vibrations in the controllers, but barely any game developers other than Nintendo found ways to implement it in their games.
Will the mouse fare better? Is it even a mouse? Time will tell.
Another Evolution?
The new hybrid handheld console will bring about one more evolution. This will be Nintendo's first time to allow users to carry their online account across to a new hardware generation.
Players will likely be able to access games they bought on the original Switch, as well as their friend lists and other features, as the Nintendo Switch Online service makes the leap to Switch 2. This will be an important part of convincing fans to buy the new console. While it's not a new innovation — Xbox and PlayStation have been doing this for years — it's nice to see Nintendo catch up at last. Keep an eye out for details as the launch approaches.
Starting April 2, the Nintendo Switch 2 Experience will visit cities around the world including New York, Tokyo, and London. There, attendees will be able to try the new console and presumably its initial batch of games for themselves.
After years of speculation, we are just a few months away from holding the Switch 2 in our hands and finding out how Nintendo will revolutionize the game industry for one more generation.
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Author: Daniel Robson
Daniel Robson is the chief editor of videogame news site IGN Japan. Read his series Gamer's World on JAPAN Forward, and find him on X (formerly Twitter).
