A behind-the-scenes look at Nintendo Switch 2

NEW YORK – Nintendo's Switch 2 is bigger and amended than its predecessor of 8 years past arsenic the video crippled developer pushes to bring its marque into “a caller era" wherever societal experiences are astatine the forefront.

The Associated Press and different members of the media got an exclusive look this week astatine Nintendo's latest handheld, TV-console hybrid, which dives head-first into the societal satellite of online gaming.

The Switch 2 volition hit the marketplace June 5 astatine a terms of $449.99.

“You’ll beryllium joining america arsenic we measurement into a caller epoch of Nintendo,” Doug Bowser, Nintendo of America’s president, told those successful attendance earlier they scattered to trial retired the caller Switch.

What are immoderate of the Switch 2’s caller features?

Video and audio chats and game-sharing functions are immense parts of the caller console. One of the Switch 2's Joy-Cons — it's controllers — adjacent has a “C” fastener to rapidly entree “GameChat." Click the fastener and up pops model views to others players' gameplay, lined up astatine the bottommost of the user's surface successful squares similar a video league call.

A camera attachment — sold separately — allows gamers to task themselves into those windows alternatively of sharing their ain screen, portion immoderate games fto the camera-user look successful the crippled itself. A microphone is present built into the console for audio.

Another feature, “GameShare,” allows users to stock the crippled they are playing temporarily with different consoles that don’t person it.

And past there’s a relation to power the console’s Joy-Cons similar a machine rodent — an entreaty toward the increasing PC-based gaming assemblage — thing developers are excited for radical to try.

“Because of the situation were in, it’s a hands-on experience,” Takuhiro Dohta, the console’s director, said done a translator astatine the media event.

Kouichi Kawamoto, the Switch 2’s producer, called the rodent diagnostic a “fun,” “engaging” mode to acquisition gaming.

It tin beryllium utilized connected aggregate surfaces, not conscionable a rodent pad, helium said.

“We person made adjustments truthful that you tin power the rodent connected your pants,” Kawamoto said done a translator astir sitting down and utilizing your ain limb arsenic a rodent surface. “There were immoderate radical successful improvement wherever that was their preferred mode of playing.”

Testing retired the Switch 2

The media demo country had a presumption to trial retired the rodent relation connected a wheelchair hoops game. Players utilized some Joy-Con “mice” for that one. Using some astatine the aforesaid clip was a gaming acquisition dissimilar many, oregon any. This peculiar presumption had a creaseless pad that the Joy-Cons slid astir connected seamlessly. Another presumption without the pad worked conscionable good connected a hard table aboveground — that 1 was a world-building crippled with little precision required.

The archetypal crippled played was Mario Kart World — included successful the console’s bundle package. That was successful handheld mode. The 7.9 inch LCD surface is bigger and it feels it. Next to a past procreation Switch OLED Model, there’s a stark difference.

The handheld graphics were evidently amended successful 1080p. In the docked mode, Nintendo says the strategy is capable to enactment 4K solution for compatible games. It wasn't instantly wide if the docked games that were demoed were compatible, but the graphics looked amended than the first-generation Switch. Especially successful Hogwarts Legacy. Wow.

The Joy-Con controllers, which are present magnets that click into place, are upgrades from the slide-into-place mechanics successful first-gen. The AP didn’t walk capable clip with the demo portion to get a large work connected however sturdy they are, but developers were asked astir what 1 newsman thought was a “flimsy” transportation and had this to say:

“It whitethorn astatine archetypal glimpse look flimsy, but if you’ve really touched it, I deliberation you’ll spot that it’s not arsenic flimsy arsenic it looks,” Kawamoto said done a translator. “We did our champion to marque definite it’s strong.”

The caller Mario Kart World featured a thrilling Knockout Tour mode that pits 24 players against each different successful a contention wherever the tract is culled astatine 5 checkpoints until 1 racer remains.

Switch 2's artillery beingness and terms analysis

Among the wishes from Switch fans was an accrued artillery life. Developers weren’t capable to committedness that, chiefly due to the fact that they said artillery beingness depends connected the situation and conditions the console is operating in. The Switch 2 does uses much energy. But they did accidental it has a larger artillery to compensate for that.

“With Switch 2, due to the fact that of things similar ‘GameChat’ ... There’s variability of artillery beingness adjacent wider than the Nintendo Switch,” Dohta said.

The Switch 2 volition outgo $150 much than its predecessor astatine launch. Joost van Dreunen, writer of “One Up: Creativity, Competition, and the Global Business of Video Games,” said the Trump administration’s tariffs person deed the video crippled console manufacture astatine a fragile moment. He believes the console costs astir $50 much than it would person without the tariffs, which helium says interaction video crippled hardware due to the fact that console devices are manufactured and shipped from China and the surrounding region.

One of the Switch 2s that media members demoed said “Made successful China” successful the tiny font connected the backmost of the console.

Nintendo didn’t code pricing, with a institution moderator declining to reply a reporter’s question connected the outgo during the media event.

When asked astir spot shortages, hardware costs and the pandemic, however, developers did accidental those factors impacted improvement successful presumption of the fig of consoles they could produce.

“Yes, for illustration covid surely had a ample interaction successful the development,” Tetsuya Sasaki, the console’s method director, said done a translator. “Even with the spot shortage we were moving with our partners and had to beryllium originative successful moving our mode done that. ... And yea adjacent the Nintendo Switch was hard to get astatine 1 point.”

A fewer different games that Nintendo announced

In summation to Mario Kart World, 2 much Switch 2 exclusives diagnostic its marquee characters: Donkey Kong Bananza, a 3D escapade with the large ape punching his mode done a immense underground world, arriving July 17, and Kirby Air Riders, a racing crippled from the manager of the Super Smash Bros. series, owed aboriginal successful the year.

The caller console volition beryllium backwards compatible — capable to play carnal and integer Switch games — but not each crippled from the predecessor console volition person that capability. Also, users volition request to acquisition a microSD explicit representation paper for the Switch 2. The Nintendo Direct connected Wednesday revealed that mean microSD cards volition not beryllium compatible with the system.

___

Associated Press reporters Sarah Parvini successful Los Angeles and Lou Kesten successful Washington contributed to this report.

Copyright 2025 The Associated Press. All rights reserved. This worldly whitethorn not beryllium published, broadcast, rewritten oregon redistributed without permission.