As part of today’s Switch 2 Reveal Nintendo Direct, the company made so many announcements that it was hard to keep up with at times. The two biggest reveals – and likely the reason most of us tuned into it, of course, were when the new console will be available for sale, and how much it’s going to cost.
While we’re happy to see these two key items officially confirmed, the reveals are very much in line with what fans and pundits have suspected for a while.
First up is the launch date. The Switch 2 will arrive June 5. The console will also be available in a bundle that comes with a digital copy of Mario Kart World. The standard version is priced $449.99, £395.99, €469.99, whereas the MKW bundle will set you back $499.99, £429.99, €509.99.
Pre-orders will be available starting Tuesday, April 8 in the UK, and April 9 in the US.
The standard version comes with 256GB of internal storage that has faster read and write speeds compared to the original Switch.
The console has the same side in handheld mode, but makes better use of the space. The screen size has been increased to 7.9 inches, supporting 1080p at up to 120fps. It’s still an LCD, but it does support HDR.
The Dock also supports HDR at up to 4K. The Switch 2’s Joy-Con 2’s have been upgraded and tweaked, and they now attach to the console magnetically. The console has two USB-C ports, one on the top and another on the bottom.
Another exciting feature is GameChat, which is cross-game voice chat feature that utilises a noise-cancelling microphone that’s built into the console.
You’ll be able to use some Switch carts with the new system, but you’re going to need faster extended storage. The Switch 2 only supports MicroSD Express cards.
As recently confirmed, the vast majority of Switch games will work with the new console, meaning your existing library of games will be available when you pick up a Switch 2. Some games are being updated to take advantage of the increased power.
Upgraded games will have the Nintendo Switch 2 Edition label to distinguish them from the classic version
