Because the world turns, so do the console generations. The Nintendo Swap is over seven years old, so it’s due for a refresh. Nintendo Swap 2 rumors have been swirling for years, however now now we have some indicators of life. The corporate officially revealed the sequel to its most profitable dwelling console ever in a short trailer on January 16.
The Swap 2 appears to be like functionally similar to the unique system, albeit with a bigger show, magnetic Pleasure-Cons and a sleeker design. The corporate additionally reaffirmed that the upcoming console shall be backwards appropriate with Swap video games.
Whereas the reveal did affirm some rumors and have a number of attention-grabbing particulars for individuals who had been paying shut consideration, Nintendo remains to be largely holding its playing cards near its chest. We’ll have to attend till a particular Nintendo Direct at 9AM ET on April 2 for all of the juicy info. Annoyingly, that date is a Wednesday and never a Two-sday.
The Nintendo Swap 2 was introduced on January 16
The rumor mill had heavily suggested that Nintendo would pull again the curtain on the Swap 2 on January 16, and that turned out to be the case.
The corporate hasn’t modified the core kind issue. It is a transportable console with removable Pleasure-Cons. The Swap 2 could be positioned in a dock for big-screen gaming. There are some important variations from the unique console, nevertheless.
The obvious one is that the next-gen Pleasure-Cons will not slide into place mechanically. As an alternative, they’re going to connect to the principle unit magnetically. There’s a small connector that is seemingly used to cost the controllers and maybe take away the necessity to hyperlink them through Bluetooth. It is unclear at this level if Pleasure-Cons from the unique system shall be appropriate with the Swap 2.
One different huge (and really welcome) change is the addition of a second USB-C port on the highest of the gadget. That ought to make it a lot simpler to plug in equipment whereas the Swap 2 is docked. It is nice to see that Nintendo has stored the headphone jack as nicely. Let’s simply hope that Bluetooth headphone assist is stay from the bounce this time and Nintendo does not go away everybody waiting four years for that characteristic.
The kickstand is getting an improve as nicely. As with the Swap OLED, it spans the size of the console. However, in keeping with the trailer, this one appears to be like absolutely adjustable, so you possibly can tweak the viewing angle to 1 that works for you.
Nonetheless, there are nonetheless an excellent many unknowns concerning the upcoming console. We do not actually know the specs but, or what kind of show it makes use of. We additionally do not know something about battery life, the UI or launch video games. We’ll seemingly be taught an entire lot on April 2.
When will the Nintendo Swap 2 come out?
2025. That is all we all know for positive at this level.
It is extremely unlikely that Nintendo will launch the console earlier than the devoted Direct on April 2, and never solely as a result of that is initially of Nintendo’s subsequent monetary 12 months. Nonetheless, accent producer Genki, which has been a serious supply of leaks in latest months, claims the console will be released in April. Different reviews have put the discharge window someday in June.
In any case, we must always be taught the discharge date in the course of the April 2 Direct if we have not already by then.
When can I attempt the Nintendo Swap 2?
Nintendo is planning a worldwide roadshow to let avid gamers go hands-on with the console. These occasions begin in New York and Paris on April 3-6, with others happening all through the next two months. That lends credence to some recommendations that Nintendo will launch the Swap 2 in June.
Ticket registration for the Swap 2 Expertise occasions within the US (in New York, Los Angeles and Paris) starts on January 17 at 3PM ET and can stay open till January 26. A Nintendo Account is required to enroll. Nintendo will randomly choose the recipients of the free tickets.
The total listing of Nintendo Swap 2 Expertise occasions is as follows:
North America:
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New York, April 4-6, 2025
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Los Angeles, April 11-13, 2025
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Dallas, April 25-27, 2025
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Toronto, April 25-27, 2025
Europe:
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Paris, April 4-6, 2025
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London, April 11-13, 2025
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Milan, April 25-27, 2025
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Berlin, April 25-27, 2025
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Madrid, Might Sept. 11, 2025
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Amsterdam, Might Sept. 11, 2025
Oceania:
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Melbourne, Might 10-11, 2025
Asia:
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Tokyo (Makuhari), April 26-27, 2025
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Seoul, Might 31-June 1, 2025
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Hong Kong, To be introduced
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Taipei, To be introduced
Will the Nintendo Swap 2 have some weirdness?
Every little thing we have seen and to date about this console has been pretty, nicely, conventional. It appears to be like like the unique Swap, however higher. That is superior, however will there be any of that unpredictable Nintendo magic? Possibly! There are two puzzling additions that folk cannot make conceal nor hair of.
Genki, the equipment producer, simply revealed a touchdown web page for his or her Nintendo Swap 2 equipment. This touchdown web page incorporates a video that features a very detailed take a look at a Swap 2 mockup. pic.twitter.com/Db7RSk4YlQ
— Bob Wulff (@BobWulff) January 8, 2025
Eager eyes may have observed a brand new button on the underside of the suitable Pleasure-Con. It it not but clear what this does. Might it provoke voice chat throughout gameplay? Might it calibrate the controllers? Might it create a room-sized hologram of Bowser in your front room? We’ll have to attend and see.
Now onto the up to date Pleasure-Cons. There seems to be a brand new sensor on the connecting facet of every controller. It appears to be like a whole lot like an optical sensor, which is what a pc mouse makes use of. This has led to hypothesis that gamers will be capable to flip the Pleasure-Con over and use it like a mouse. Of be aware: the trailer reveals the Pleasure-Cons transferring alongside a flat floor, connector facet down and looking out suspiciously like a mouse.
However why would anybody even need this? I can consider three phrases. New Mario Paint.
Genki reveal isnt a mockup, its straight up simply the Swap 2, optical sensor is actually flashing on this shot @Stealth40k #Switch2 pic.twitter.com/COeLsonqMd
— Ash (@Ashinarii) January 8, 2025
Mouse management isn’t the one “too unusual for any firm however Nintendo” rumor floating round. A patent filed by the corporate suggests you possibly can swap the Swap 2’s Pleasure-Cons, snapping them onto both facet of the console. That might align with the magnetic Pleasure-Con attachment scheme.
However very like the bizarre mouse rumors, it doesn’t essentially align with, nicely, any logical cause for why you’d need to do this. The patent suggests it may enable for extra person alternative in the place the headphone jack is. However because it’s Nintendo, the corporate that introduced us Labo cardboard peripherals and the Sport Boy Advance e-reader attachment, now we have to surprise if there are… quirkier designs at hand.
Is the Nintendo Swap 2 backwards appropriate?
The corporate confirmed in November 2024 that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be backwards compatible. It’ll additionally characteristic entry to Nintendo On-line, so customers will be capable to play all of these previous retro titles.
Within the preliminary Nintendo Swap 2 press launch, Nintendo reiterated that bodily and digital Swap video games will work on the brand new system. Nonetheless, it famous that “sure Nintendo Swap video games might not be supported on or absolutely appropriate with Nintendo Swap 2.” Extra particulars about which video games these are shall be revealed later.
Will previous video games be enhanced in any approach?
The unique Swap has, to place it mildly, struggled to run some of the late-generation software that is come down the pike. Might these video games be enhanced to make the most of the elevated horsepower of the Swap 2? We don’t know. We additionally do not know if any of those releases will obtain graphical upgrades, maybe profiting from upscaling tech.
What is going to the cartridges style like?
It’s possible you’ll do not forget that the unique Swap cartridges taste absolutely awful. This was on function, to discourage people from placing the video games of their mouth. Will the successor comply with go well with and proceed to dip cartridges in a foul-tasting bitter coating? Solely time will inform.
What about specs?
The rumors concerning specs are all over, so it’s robust to pin down. We all know one factor for positive: It’ll be extra highly effective than the traditional Swap {hardware}, which was already antiquated again in 2017. One analyst allegedly acquired a maintain of a spec sheet from the Korean United Each day Information that stated the Swap 2 would boast an eight-core Cortex-A78AE processor, 8GB of RAM, and 64GB of inside eMMC storage. This tracks for me, as these specs are about as underpowered in 2024 as the unique Swap was in 2017. Nonetheless, some reviews do indicate that the console will embody 12GB of RAM.
One other supply means that the eight-core CPU shall be packaged inside an NVIDIA-produced Tegra239 SoC (system on a chip). Given the present Swap runs on an NVIDIA chip, that makes a variety of sense. The CPU shall be extra highly effective, but it surely’s the Swap 2’s new GPU that shall be a serious differentiator. It is all-but-confirmed that the Swap 2 will assist DLSS, NVIDIA’s “deep studying supersampling” upscaling tech, which might enable the console to render video games at a low decision internally whereas outputting a high-resolution picture. (Enjoyable truth: We really wrote about how perfect DLSS was for the Nintendo Switch 2 when the expertise was introduced alongside the RTX 20 collection again in 2018.)
There are nonetheless questions in regards to the Swap 2 and DLSS: Will the system assist newer DLSS features like frame generation? Will current video games be routinely tidied up by NVIDIA’s algorithm? Whatever the precise implementation, DLSS upscaling shall be an enormous leap over the rudimentary methods accessible to Nintendo Swap builders.
As for the show, there are a lot of conflicting rumors. Early reviews from strong sources advised the Swap 2 would have an 8-inch show LCD show. The Swap 2’s show definitely appears to be like bigger than that of the unique Swap in a side-by-side comparability within the reveal trailer. Some people have frightened that the Swap follow-up may actually be too big, particularly for youths.
Sure analysts have advised this could be an OLED display, whereas others have stated it will be a Mini-LED display. A Mini-LED show is principally an LCD show that has a backlight manufactured from (shock!) mini-LEDs fairly than edge lighting. This enables for native dimming, making the blacks extra black. I’m hedging my bets right here. I feel it’ll be a typical LCD, to chop prices, with an OLED or Mini-LED mannequin coming later down the road. Nonetheless, Mini-LED screens are barely cheaper than OLED shows, in order that’s definitely a chance at launch.
As for decision, latest reporting means that the console will output 1080p in handheld and 4K when docked. That is significantly better than the OG Swap.
Extra tenuous “leaks” have intimated that the Swap 2 may additionally assist a quicker microSD card commonplace often called microSD Specific. This enables for significantly faster switch charges than the widespread UHS-I playing cards supported by the Swap right now. It’s technically been around for a number of years, however we’ve solely not too long ago began to see microSD playing cards that make the most of the spec hit the market.
We really examined one of them from SanDisk for our microSD card buying guide and located it may attain sequential learn speeds as much as round 900 MB/s. With the present Swap, microSD transfer speeds prime out nearer to 100 MB/s.
So, in idea, all of this might carry a large increase in load instances and basic storage efficiency for the Swap 2 (although it’s nonetheless not more likely to be on par with the SSDs within the PS5 or Xbox Sequence X/S). However once more, these rumors are removed from concrete. It’s additionally price noting that microSD Specific playing cards price considerably greater than what we often see right now — the SanDisk card we examined, for example, begins at $45 for simply 128GB of storage.
Lately-unearthed FCC filings additionally point out that the console will support WiFi 6 and NFC. The latter signifies that the Swap 2 will proceed Amiibo integration.
How a lot will the Nintendo Swap 2 price?
We do not have an excessive amount of info concerning worth however we do have loads of historical past to work with. The unique Nintendo Swap launched at $300, which is just about the “magic quantity” on the subject of Nintendo console releases lately. The Wii U additionally got here in at $300.
Nonetheless, there are many rumors circulating that Nintendo could possibly be upping the asking worth for the Swap 2. Quite a few shops have reported it’ll be $400, or doubtlessly even more expensive. Nonetheless, the identical analysts who say the console shall be $400 had been additionally pretty sure it will be out by the tip of 2024 and, nicely, that did not occur.
Dipping again into historical past, there’s some priority for a worth uptick. The GameCube was $200 and the Wii was $250. The Wii U and Swap elevated to $300 and, nicely, numbers wish to go up. A $400 price ticket would make it practically as costly as a PS5 and Xbox Sequence X. That might additionally put it on the similar worth because the 256GB LCD Steam Deck.
Once more, we must always get affirmation of the value in the course of the April 2 Nintendo Direct.
Can we learn about any launch video games?
Not a lot. The reveal trailer provided a peek at a brand new Mario Kart recreation. Nintendo launched Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U over a decade in the past and it has been milking that money cow ever since, having bought greater than 64 million copies of the sport throughout that console and the Swap. It is positively time for a brand new entry!
It is definitely been a long time since we’ve gotten a correct 3D Mario journey as nicely, so a brand new one could possibly be a launch title. That might be one heck of a system vendor. Aside from that, your guess is nearly as good as mine. Previous as prologue, we will count on one thing from Ubisoft and an off-the-wall title like 1-2-Swap.
If there’s a gimmick or hook concerned with the console, we’ll additionally get a recreation that takes benefit of that. A twin launch of Metroid Prime 4, identical to Breath of the Wild and Twilight Princess earlier than that, can be a chance.
It is all however nailed on that we’ll be taught way more in regards to the Swap 2 launch lineup in the course of the April 2 Nintendo Direct, which begins at 9AM ET. You may positively need to set your Alarmo for that one.
That is all the things we all know in regards to the Nintendo Swap 2 right now. We’ll replace this text with rumors we belief and with info we collect immediately from sources. Any modifications made to the article after its preliminary publishing shall be listed under.
Replace, February 24, 2025, 12:30 PM ET: This story has been up to date to incorporate hypothesis about storage and details about the brand new microSD Specific commonplace.
Replace, January 24, 2025, 12:36 PM ET: This story has been up to date to incorporate hypothesis about worth, potential recreation enhancements and the style of cartridges.
Replace, February 5, 2025, 9:30AM ET: This story has been up to date to notice the time when the April 2 Nintendo Direct begins.
Replace, March 6, 2025, 2:30PM ET: This story has been up to date to notice latest FCC filings to point the presence of WiFi 6 and NFC assist.
Jeff Dunn contributed to this report.
This text initially appeared on Engadget at https://www.engadget.com/gaming/nintendo/nintendo-switch-2-is-launching-soon-heres-everything-we-know-so-far-153308958.html?src=rss
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