Nintendo Switch 2: Launching on June 5!
Having remained tight-lipped about their new console months after the initial teaser, Nintendo finally showed off the much hyped Switch 2 on last night’s Nintendo Direct stream. And it’s looking to be quite a big upgrade over its predecessor both in specs and even the games that appear to be coming out for the new console.
Given that we’ve already waited quite a while for details on the Switch 2 though, let’s just go and check out all the things we’ve seen from the live:
Hardware improvements across the board
Physically, the Switch 2 is much bigger than the original Nintendo Switch. It’s 4.5 inches tall and 10.7 inches wide compared to the 4 x 9.5 inch dimensions of the original. The display’s much bigger obviously, coming in at 7.9 inches while still being just as thin as the original Switch.
It’s not just a bigger version of it either. It’s now a 1080p LCD screen with support for HDR and even variable refresh rates of up to 120FPS. We can probably expect a smooth experience on the interface and supported games. Given that it’s LCD, we can’t help thinking that an OLED version may launch later down the line, kind of like the original Nintendo Switch OLED.
The dock’s a lot more rounded at the edges and now sits a bit lower, letting us see the status bar on top of the Switch 2’s display. When docked, the Switch 2 can now even output at 4K/60FPS while still keeping HDR support, probably with upscaling from its custom Nvidia chipset. The dock even comes with a fan to help temper down temperatures.
Speaking of its custom Nvidia chip, Nintendo didn’t provide any specific details about it. It supports Wi-Fi 6 but that’s all we know so far.
GameChat and GameShare features for Switch 2!
Apart from the hardware, Nintendo’s also adding new systems to the Switch 2 in order to make it more fun to use with friends and family, depending on the game of course. GameShare for instance, allows the Switch 2 to share supported games with other Switch users so you technically only need one game cartridge!
You can even use it to share a game with the older Nintendo Switch according to Nintendo’s own homepage. The older system can’t share a game they have on the Switch 2 nor with each other though.
On the other hand, GameChat is a feature that should let a group of up to 12 people chat with each other while playing games, even allowing you to share your screen in real time and even while playing different games. You can even connect a compatible USB-C camera, if you want to be able to see each other.
It’s actually the whole point of the new C button on the redesigned Joy-Cons. You can just use it to immediately bring up the Chat without needing to pause your game. And yes, you can also use GameShare via GameChat at least, for compatible titles.
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Announced Games: New and upgraded titles
Let’s talk about the games. Nintendo placed all of their major IP front and center for the Switch 2, with titles like Mario Kart World, Kirby Airstriders, Switch 2 versions for Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom, Pokemon Legends ZA, and many others.
Additionally, there’s a number of third-party titles being developed in collaboration with Nintendo in order to release it on their platform like Street Fighter: Fighter’s Edition, Hogwarts Legacy, Split Fiction, Madden NFL, Hollow Knight: Silksong, Cyberpunk 2077, and even Elden Ring, among many others.
Given that some of those titles can be quite taxing to run even for bigger consoles and PC, it’s definitely interesting to see how the handheld console is able to handle them. Especially when accounting for features like say, Path Tracing for Cyberpunk.
Apart from the new games coming to the Switch 2, players can also get free updates that can improve performance and add new features like GameShare for select Switch games like Super Mario Odyssey, Super Mario 3D World w/ Bowser’s Fury, The Legend of Zelda: Link’s Awakening, The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom, Pokemon Scarlet & Violet, and more.
Hopefully this means I can now start catching those 7-star Tera Raids at a much smoother frame rate. And with less disconnections too.
Red cartridges and Game-Key Cards
As a final note, the game cartridges themselves are looking slightly different. They’re red for one, which makes them stand out from the original black cartridges. It also offers much faster speeds compared to the original according to some reports.
Nintendo also appears to be implementing this new Game-Key Card system where you buy a physical cartridge that doesn’t appear to carry the actual game. Rather, it will trigger a download of the game after inserting it into the console instead.
Definitely kind of weird, considering most people probably go physical for that feeling of ownership and possibly to save on space in the local storage. Fortunately, the Switch 2 does start with a bigger storage of 256GB; way, way bigger than the 32GB that the original started with.
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