Nintendo has announced a June 5 launch date and a $449.99 price tag for its latest gaming console, the Switch 2, which will introduce interactive chat and screen share functions to connect gamers. The company revealed a more vibrant display on the Switch 2, a larger screen and several games that will launch with the console.
A select group of gamers got their hands on the latest Nintendo Switch console at an event in New York. Central to its updated system is a new “C” button on its Joy-Con controller, which will launch a new “GameChat” feature that requires a subscription to Nintendo’s Switch Online service.
It allows players to “communicate with friends and family while playing a game,” and lets them share their game screen with others. A built-in microphone will also allow chatting with other gamers.
Perhaps the most contemporary function yet for the Switch 2 is the ability to use the Joy-Con controllers like a computer mouse. The developer displayed multiple ways to use the new function, such as angling a club in a golf game.
“Be able to see your friends, hear your friends play with them all on the same screen. Being able to use the Joy-Cons as a computer mouse, which is pretty cool. Shoot a basketball, cast spells in Hogwarts Legacy, all sorts of fun new things with that computer mouse,” says Ryan Kryska, a reporter for The Associated Press.
The new console will be backward compatible—able to play physical and digital Switch games—but users will need to purchase a microSD express memory card for the Switch 2. The presentation revealed that normal microSD cards will not be compatible with the system. However, data from the original Switch can be transferred to the new console.
The Switch 2’s launch price is significantly higher than the original Switch’s $299 price tag.
The Trump administration’s tariffs have hit the video game console industry at a fragile moment, analysts say. The tariffs impact game hardware because console devices are manufactured and shipped from China and that region at large.
This article and video were provided by The Associated Press.
[People playing Mario Kart World video game on the new Nintendo Switch 2 gaming console]
[People playing Donkey Kong Bananza video game on the Nintendo Switch 2 gaming console]
[New Nintendo Switch 2]
Ryan Kryska (interview): “Nintendo has announced that its new Switch 2 will launch on June 5th of this year, at a price of $449. It’s been eight years since Nintendo debuted its first-generation Switch. This one’s got some new features that includes a C button to game share. Be able to see your friends, hear your friends play with them all on the same screen. Being able to use the Joy-Cons as a computer mouse, which is pretty cool. Shoot a basketball, cast spells in Hogwarts Legacy, all sorts of fun new things with that computer mouse.”
[Joy-Con being used like a computer mouse]
[C button for game sharing]
Ryan Kryska (interview): “This new Switch 2 incorporates a lot of things that are popular in the gaming world right now, like playing with each other online, in a virtual environment where you can see and feel like you’re with each other.”
[Media looking at the new Nintendo Switch 2]
[Man recording himself playing Mario Kart World]
[People playing Super Mario Party Jamboree, Nintendo Switch 2 Edition]
Ryan Kryska (interview): “So, one of the new games that Nintendo has debuted at this media event here in New York is Mario Kart World. It has a new game mode called Knockout, where you go through the race and racers are knocked out of the race each lap until you get down to your eventual top four and then a winner.”
[People playing Mario Kart World]
Ryan Kryska (interview): “Nintendo Switch is going up against a few products. The Steam Deck could be one of them. And then you got your home consoles, the PlayStation, the Xbox. And, you know, Nintendo kind of prides itself on being Nintendo. There’s a difference in the Nintendo products that you won’t get in Sony and Xbox and vice versa. There are things in Sony and Xbox that you won’t get in Nintendo. So, this really is sort of a complementary system of consoles, and it just depends on your preference.”
[People playing Donkey Kong Bananza]
[People playing Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition]
[People playing Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, Nintendo Switch 2 Edition]
[People playing Kirby and the Forgotten Land: Star Crossed World, Nintendo Switch 2 Edition]
[Person playing with Nintendo GameCube controller]
[People playing Yakuza 0 Director’s Cut on Nintendo Switch 2]
[Nintendo Switch 2 packaging]
[People playing Hades II on Nintendo Switch 2]
[People playing Drag x Drive on Nintendo Switch 2]
[Nintendo Switch 2 console, including “Made in China” inscription]
[Play controller]
[Person playing Hogwarts Legacy on Nintendo Switch 2]
[People playing Split Fiction on Nintendo Switch 2]
[People playing Street Fighter 6: Years 1-2 Fighters Edition on Nintendo Switch 2]
This script was provided by The Associated Press.