If you missed it, Nintendo finally unveiled the Switch 2 this morning. It looks pretty much exactly like what the leaks said it would. It’s a bigger, presumably more powerful version of the beloved console/handheld hybrid that has magnetic Joy-Cons and can play your old Switch games, too. That might not sound that exciting to some, but it’s nice to finally have Nintendo talking about the thing instead of having to scrape the bottom of a leaking barrel for crumbs of information. We’ll get a longer presentation on the device through a Nintendo Direct on April 2, as well as some opportunities to play the thing in select cities in the days and weeks that follow. But how is the internet reacting to this first tease? There’s enough excitement, disappointment, and bewilderment to go around.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=itpcsQQvgAQ
It’s been months of waiting for official Switch 2 news. Nintendo confirmed the existence of the device last year, and it’s been a drip feed of news from leakers ever since. Now that the Switch 2 officially exists and we can put a face and name to the concept of the Switch successor, fans can finally relax after clinging to the company’s socials for all this time.
We still don’t know much about the Nintendo Switch 2, and the only game the company showed for the device was a new Mario Kart. No title was given, but the brief glimpse we saw of the game in action showed a more cartoonish art style than that of MK8 and teased what seems to be a 24-player mode. Fans seem stoked about it, and hot on the subtly revamped character designs.
One thing several people have noted is that Nintendo went out of its way to make it clear that the Nintendo Switch 2 is a new console. The Wii U had plenty of problems, but one of the biggest was the mistaken perception, based on its branding, that it could be a peripheral for the original Wii. Slapping a 2 on the name makes it clear that this is the next iteration of the thing you already love. Say what you want about PlayStation’s naming convention not being that flashy, but you know that a PlayStation 5 is the next major console from Sony. The Switch 2 name is straightforward, and that is the best decision Nintendo could have made in moving to the next system.
The reveal trailer finally removed any uncertainty about the existence of the Switch 2, but it was light on some larger details. Right now, it seems to be mostly a bigger, beefier Switch with a few extra bells and whistles. That’s pretty uncharacteristic of Nintendo, which has typically introduced some major innovation in every generational leap. So there are a lot of unanswered questions still floating around as we move toward launch. Is the bigger screen and more powerful hardware the main hook? Will Nintendo release more Joy-Cons than the sleek ones it shows in the reveal trailer? There’s still a lot we don’t know about the Switch 2.
There have been rumors that the Switch 2’s Joy-Cons would double as mice. This could be huge for strategy games like Civilization 7 that have historically been cumbersome to play with a controller. Nintendo didn’t confirm it in the trailer, but there’s a shot of the Joy-Cons seemingly being used like a mouse that has people excited for the possibilities.