Nintendo's next console, Switch 2, revealed in 1st-look trailer
Price and release date still unknown for the successor to the mega-popular Switch
Gamers got a tantalizing first look at Nintendo's next video game console, as the Japanese company released a brief trailer for the Switch 2 on Thursday morning.
The video offered very few new details about the successor to the Switch, its wildly popular portable-and-home hybrid machine that launched eight years ago, but it largely confirmed many of the rumours that had leaked through gaming sources over the last few months.
The Switch 2 is set to release in 2025, though Nintendo has yet to reveal a specific date or pricing information. Short clips of what appeared to be a new Mario Kart game played during part of the video. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, which launched early into the original Switch's life cycle, has sold over 64 million copies to date.
"I think it's exactly what everyone expected, considering the rumours," gaming podcast host and critic Camille Salazar Hadaway said of the reveal. But she said dedicated gamers will be hungry for more info, including what new games will launch alongside it.
The video promised more information in a Nintendo Direct video coming on April 2. The public will get their first look at Nintendo Switch 2 experience events held around the world running from April to June — though they'll have to register on Nintendo's website for tickets.
The sole Canadian stop on the tour announced so far will be in Toronto, from April 25 to 27.
The Switch 2 looks mostly identical to its predecessor, albeit slightly larger, with a mostly black finish. The detachable joy-con controllers appear to snap onto the main tablet component, and a new small button appears on the right-side controller.
Gaming rumours have suggested the connectors are magnetic, compared to the original Switch's slide-on mechanisms. One clip showed an animation of the joy-cons gliding on its edge, seemingly hinting at other rumours that a new feature would allow gamers to handle and use them like a computer mouse.
Owners of the original Switch — including kids and adults alike who got one over the holiday season — should breathe easy knowing their library of games won't be rendered entirely obsolete, as Nintendo clarified that most games will be playable on the Switch 2, either as digital downloads or via the physical retail cards.
Following up on the Switch's success?
The Switch has sold more than 146 million units worldwide since its launch in 2017, becoming the second-best-selling video game console in history, second only to Sony's PlayStation 2, at over 160 million units sold.
One analyst told Bloomberg that Nintendo has prepared a supply chain to enable it to sell 20 million Switch 2 units in its first year. The original Switch sold about 15 million units in its first year.
Games industry watchers have been anticipating the new device for well over a year, as eight years can be a long time for a console life cycle — and an eternity compared to other consumer tech like phones and personal computers, which release new and more powerful products annually.
Critics have specifically pointed to the Switch's aging hardware in comparing it to its direct competitors in Microsoft's Xbox Series X and Series S, and Sony's PlayStation 5.
Salazar Hadaway is particularly interested in whether it will be able to match the power of the current Xbox and PlayStation consoles, so that games on those platforms will also be available on the Switch 2 without compromises.
"I think it's obvious that the Nintendo switch, the original one, has been nearing its sunset just in terms of being able to handle certain games on the hardware," Salazar Hadaway said. "So what we need to know is what will it be able to handle the games that we want and what are examples of those games like?"
High-powered portable PC machines like Valve's Steam Deck, while aimed more at enthusiast gamers than a mainstream audience, have also entered the non-smartphone portable gaming space that Nintendo had dominated without notable competition for several years.
Lucie Lalumière, president and CEO of the Interactive Ontario industry association, welcomed the announcement, noting that the original Switch was "a welcoming platform" for smaller independent game studios, which make up a huge portion of game creators in the province.
"The Switch 2's more powerful hardware will provide the opportunity to port current titles that could not run on the Switch, and to develop new games leveraging the increased processing power and the new features that will be announced later this year," she said.
Is Nintendo done being 'weird'?
Initial impressions from games industry critics and analysts were mixed, measured by the fact that this was only a teaser.
Charles Randall, a game developer based in Brampton, Ont,. was surprised that the Switch 2 is very similar to its predecessor, even down to the name.
"Generally Nintendo has leaned towards adding new physical gameplay methods to their systems, having only rarely chosen not to," he said.
The Switch pioneered the hybrid console design that lets players easily move from playing in handheld mode to connecting it to a television. In 2006, the Wii captured new audiences with its TV remote-like controller that popularized motion controls for games.
"I think it's good in that it's more of what people want, and I think it's bad in that it opens the potential to fall into the trap of not differentiating itself enough from a predecessor to convince people to buy it," Randall said.
Andrew Webster, entertainment editor for the tech site The Verge, wrote that "instead of being surprising, Nintendo decided to be sensible," making a device that's "a continuation of a thing that's already working well."
It doesn't preclude the company from surprises in the future, he noted, pointing to the Switch's offbeat cardboard-based Labo accessories and its recent Alarmo alarm clock as examples of Nintendo's "playful streak."
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