Switch 2 hardware appears to be officially out in the wild, but it doesn’t sound like anyone will be able to play the console early. A day-one patch is needed for it to fully work, according to someone who uploaded a brief unboxing video of the new Nintendo console to YouTube.
The video published by a user named a2dubai is simply titled “Nintendo switch 2 unboxing” and is less than eight seconds long. It shows an apparent Switch 2 box sitting on a table next to the existing Switch. The person opens it to reveal exactly what you’d expect: a Switch 2 screen and the corresponding Joy-Con wrapped in plastic.
Why don’t they keep the camera rolling and turn it on? “Nintendo locked the switch 2,” a2dubai writes in the comments section. “It needs update to function so I am waiting for June 5th to unlock it.” Even so, fans are already pushing the pre-launch adopter to do a full unboxing of the new hardware. More videos might follow, though Nintendo will surely be looking for any reason it can find to keep a lid on the new hardware until it’s supposed to actually come out on later next week.
A big software update for the Switch 2 was previously reported by The Game Business’ Chris Dring who listed it as one of the potential reasons why media and content creators won’t be getting much early access to the hardware to test it for pre-release reviews. Unlike previous hardware launches, Nintendo reportedly won’t be making the Switch 2 available to many in the press until a day before launch at the earliest.
That suggests that the Switch 2 consoles currently sitting on store shelves will require an internet connection and download before it can start playing any games. That could be bad news for fans already frustrated that Nintendo is leaning into Game Key Cards and other initiatives this console generation that place less emphasis on physical media and products that work directly out of the box without the need to connect to the Mario maker’s servers.
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