On April 2, with much fanfare, Nintendo finally announced what the industry had been suspecting for months. Yes, there was a Switch 2 on the way – and to fans’ great excitement, it would be launching on June 5.
For a few lucky people, the chance to try it out came sooner than expected, via a Nintendo hands-on event in Paris.
Over the course of three hours, we put the Switch 2 through its paces, and got the chance to play the new Mario Kart World, the first 3D Donkey Kong game in 25 years and a host of other third-party games that simply had no business running as well on a handheld as they did.
Here’s what we found out.
The stats
Honestly, we still don’t know that much about the immense processing power behind the Switch 2. But we know the basics: the new console will boast 256GB of memory – a considerable improvement on the earlier Switches (the first one only had 32GB), and which can be improved upon even further with microSD cards.
The only downside was the battery. The new console takes three hours to charge and lasts between 2.5-6.5 hours, depending on what games it’s playing. That’s not a lot of charge at all – certainly less than the upgraded Switch OLED with its whopping 4.5-9 hours of battery life.
Then again, processing power doesn’t come cheap, and the Switch 2’s awesome power comes thanks to a custom bit of kit from gaming giant NVIDIA. While no further details have been released in terms of what that means, the software is capable of playing massive games like Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts Legacy and even the new Hazelight game Split Fiction without breaking a sweat.
We tested all of the above, and while the team was at pains to stress that the games we were playing were still demo versions, they ran smoothly, without noticeably larger loading times. It’s not hard to imagine a world where the Switch 2 renders consoles obsolete going forward. Who needs a bulky Xbox when you can dock your Switch and play at home or on the go without breaking a sweat?
The screen
This is a bigger beast than its predecessor, though it still weighs in at around the same, at about 500g. It feels great to hold, and comes in a lovely matte black colour – though no information on colourways was forthcoming, it seems obvious that they would be included further down the line.
The Switch 2 has a much bigger 7.2-inch screen (compared to 6.2 inches), that displays games in 1080p, and (bonus) it’s thinner than its predecessor, coming in at 1.4cm width. Oh yeah – and there’s no OLED screen, as with the later Switch models. This is just LED for now, which essentially means slightly less crisp visuals.
Despite that, the graphics were absolutely gorgeous. We played Mario Kart World on both the big and small screen, with no noticeable difference in quality. Later on, when I got the chance to try out Nintendo’s flagship game Tears of the Kingdom, you could see the light rippling off the water of the lakes Link was swimming in. There was even lens flare from the sun; the world immediately felt a lot more immersive and detailed than it ever has.
There is also a dock. While it looks roughly the same as earlier models, it’s also bigger, and rightly so – when the Switch 2 is docked, it will be capable of outputting videos at a 4K resolution, and playing games at up to 120FPS. That’s no joke – it’s certainly much better than any of the current models, and explains why the new dock contains a fan to help the switch cool down faster.
The Joy-Cons
This is probably the flashiest upgrade of the entire product. Nintendo was at pains to show us everything that could be done with the brand-new Joy-Con controllers, and no wonder: in addition to a gyroscope, they contain HD rumble packs and (best of all) mouse control functionality.
We tried these out with the updated Mario Party Jamboree party pack (itself upgraded with brand-new games). This was Nintendo at its most inventive: in one mini-game, we had to spray paint walking bombs, using the mouse to point and click at the item we wanted to coat in paint. In another, we played puck hockey; in another, we had to use the mouse to wind up toy cars and launch them across the screen.
The mouse functionality was clearly the most notable bit of kit here – an answer, perhaps, to the years-long requests from fans to add one in. The Joy-Con can be turned on its side, and the side that connects to the Switch’s body becomes the base of the mouse, while the R and ZR levers become the mouse buttons.
As the staff members told us, this Joy-Con mouse could be used on a mouse mat, table, or (if you’re using it at a party) even trouser legs. I tested this; it worked impressively well. The Joy-Mouse was surprisingly sensitive and accurate – accurate enough to play PC games like Civilisation 7 without a noticeable difference in quality.
Plus, say goodbye to the faff that comes with slotting the controllers back into the console at the end of the day. Now, they’re magnetically attached, and snap back into place with pleasing ease. It’s just a small touch but goes a long way towards making the product feel high-end.
The games
Nintendo hasn’t been launching many games on its current Switch recently – adding to the speculation that the Switch 2 was on its way.
Turns out, the sleuths were right, and the new product is going to be launched with a tonne of new titles. On the first day itself, that includes Mario Kart World, as well as the two Zelda games and the first 3D Donkey Kong game in 25 years.
Later, it’ll be joined by a host of new and third-party titles: too many to mention here, but the highlights include the new Pokemon Legends: Z-A, Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and (most excitingly) The Duskbloods.
We had the chance to try out a couple of these games, primarily Mario Kart World, which has been changed up in fun new ways. Say goodbye to doing endless loops of a racetrack – now, the tracks can all be explored as one massive, interconnected world in Free Roam, and there’s a knockout round in which players can (a la Fall Guys) compete against up to 23 others in a Battle Royale-style tournament race.
Donkey Kong Bananza was also available for demo, and (naturally) the graphics looked a whole lot better than any other time we’ve seen the ape on screen. No more platformers: this was a fully realised 3D world in which DK could punch his way through the floor, ceiling and pretty much any rocky surface you’d care to mention.
As for The Duskbloods? Sadly, no taster was forthcoming, but the Direct event promised us a game that was darker than most of Nintendo’s fare: a Bloodborne-esque gothic adventure from Miyazaki in which “player takes on the role of a member of the Twilight Blood Clan, a bloodline endowed with supernatural powers”. We can’t wait.
GameChat
This was one bit of functionality that remained a mystery. Nintendo made a lot of the upcoming GameChat function during its Direct event, and with good reason: it’ll allow players to link up remotely, chat, share their screen, and use video chat, all while playing their favourite games together. There’s even an upcoming GameShare feature, which lets users share the games they own with friends.
It sounds promising, but no more than that. The Joy-Cons came equipped with a mysterious ‘C’ button that we were told would boot up GameChat, but we never got the chance to test it out, and Nintendo didn’t demonstrate it. This one will likely remain a mystery until closer to launch.
The pricing
All this doesn’t come cheap. According to the Nintendo live event, the upcoming Switch 2 will be priced at £395.99.
That goes up to £429.99 with the inclusion of the new Mario Kart World game, and doesn’t include any of the add-ons that we were shown over the course of the demonstration: the camera (£58.99), controller (£74.99) or micro-SD card (£49.99).
But you get what you pay for, and one thing’s for certain: this looks to be a seriously sophisticated bit of kit. Nintendo's clearly banking on it being a runaway success, and it's hard to see how it won't. Goodbye consoles; this could be the future of gaming.
Verdict
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Nintendo Switch 2
the new console will boast 256GB of memory – a considerable improvement on the earlier Switches (the first one only had 32GB), and which can be improved upon even further with microSD cards.
The only downside was the battery. The new console takes three hours to charge and lasts between 2.5-6.5 hours, depending on what games it’s playing. That’s not a lot of charge at all – certainly less than the upgraded Switch OLED with its whopping 4.5-9 hours of battery life.
Then again, processing power doesn’t come cheap, and the Switch 2’s awesome power comes thanks to a custom bit of kit from gaming giant NVIDIA. While no further details have been released in terms of what that means, the software is capable of playing massive games like Cyberpunk 2077, Hogwarts Legacy and even the new Hazelight game Split Fiction without breaking a sweat.
This is a bigger beast than its predecessor, though it still weighs in at around the same, at about 500g. It feels great to hold, and comes in a lovely matte black colour. The Switch 2 has a much bigger 7.2-inch screen (compared to 6.2 inches), that displays games in 1080p, and (bonus) it’s thinner than its predecessor, coming in at 1.4cm width. Oh yeah – and there’s no OLED screen, as with the later Switch models. This is just LED for now, which essentially means slightly less crisp visuals.
There is also a dock. While it looks roughly the same as earlier models, it’s also bigger, and rightly so – when the Switch 2 is docked, it will be capable of outputting videos at a 4K resolution, and playing games at up to 120FPS. That’s no joke – it’s certainly much better than any of the current models, and explains why the new dock contains a fan to help the switch cool down faster.
The Joy-Cons are probably the flashiest upgrade of the entire product. Nintendo was at pains to show us everything that could be done with the brand-new Joy-Con controllers, and no wonder: in addition to a gyroscope, they contain HD rumble packs and (best of all) mouse control functionality.
Launching June 5.
Buy now £395.99, Amazon
