At the beginning of this month, Nintendo held a direct where the long-awaited Nintendo Switch 2 was announced. The news left no one indifferent, and both social media and the internet turned into a battlefield between Nintendo defenders and the rest of the community in general. During the presentation, which lasted approximately an hour, both the release date and some of the games that will be available for the console were revealed, but they avoided giving any price. Regarding the technical specifications of the device, some information about its general characteristics and possibilities was given, but avoiding going into details about the hardware.
Nintendo Switch 2: prices and release date
Nintendo’s new hybrid will arrive at stores and homes globally on June 5th. However, on April 8th, pre-orders were opened through the official store. During the broadcast, the price was not mentioned, and we were prompted to visit the store to “get more information,” which obviously seemed suspicious. Avoiding disclosing the price of a console (or any other product) during its own presentation makes you think the worst, and partly, that’s how it went.
The price for the Nintendo Switch 2 will be 470 euros in Europe and 510 if purchased alongside Mario Kart World, and this is where the controversy begins. A big part of the community finds the price too high, especially when compared to other more powerful and versatile handhelds like the Steam Deck.
Personally, I imagined it would be priced between 400 and 500 euros, so the price didn’t surprise me, especially considering that Nintendo has a captive audience due to its exclusives. If you want to play the next Mario Bros, Zelda, Pokémon, etc., you’ll have to pay what they ask, end of story. Additionally, it’s well known that Nintendo’s audience is the most loyal in the console world. Not only will they never complain about the company’s decisions, but they will try to justify them in any way, even if sometimes it defies logic.
Price adjusted for the new tariffs by the U.S. government?
One of the biggest controversies following the announcement was related to the price of the console, which most players found excessive. Nintendo defenders claimed that the price was affected by recent tariffs announced by Donald Trump. But as they say, lies have short legs. A few days after the official announcement, Nintendo decided to cancel pre-orders in North America due to these tariffs. They are currently analyzing the situation, but it’s very likely that the final price will end up being much higher than originally announced.
Specialized economic analysis media indicate that the influence of these tariffs could lead to an increase in price of up to 145% in the North American market. Let’s hope Nintendo manages to handle the situation without squeezing the wallets of its users. Otherwise, we could expect a very dark period, at least in that market, which remains crucial to this day.
Exclusive prices in Japan
This truly surprised me. Obviously, there was no mention of it during the broadcast, but once it ended, internet users quickly discovered that a special version would be launched in Japan at a reduced price. It is a console available only in Japanese and with regional lock, but it also includes a significant discount, costing only about 49,980 yen, which translates to roughly 310 euros, a huge difference.
From a commercial standpoint, this decision to release an exclusive version at a significantly reduced price to ensure a high sales volume in a key market makes a lot of sense. But from the consumer’s perspective, it’s a real insult. Essentially, Nintendo is stating that they don’t care about what the Western audience thinks. To the rest of the world, they’ll sell the same product at a higher price because they know people will still pay for it. It’s an affront worthy of unscrupulous businessmen and fanatical consumers with little self-criticism.
Technical specifications of the Nintendo Switch 2
New larger and improved screen
Although there was no talk about the type of hardware powering the new console, or what components it has, they did mention its new technical capabilities. To start, the new Switch features an LCD screen slightly larger than its predecessor’s, measuring about 7.9 inches, doubling its resolution to reach 1080p (in handheld mode and 4k in dock mode) with a refresh rate of 120 frames per second, and it’s compatible with HDR.
New Joy-Con and Pro Controllers
This time, the Joy-Cons attach magnetically, potentially solving one of the biggest issues of the originals. The size of the sticks was also increased, but this was the only announcement regarding them. This makes us think they might be similar to the original ones but larger, meaning they’ll inherit the serious issue of joystick drift from the original controllers, a problem that even brought Nintendo to court due to thousands of complaints over this defect.
The size of the side buttons SL and SR has also been increased, which is appreciated. A mouse function has been added thanks to the sensors inside the controllers. The console’s speakers have been upgraded, including 3D sound. Now there are two USB-C ports, one on the top and another on the bottom. The new stand allows for angle adjustment. Device storage has been significantly expanded through the use of Micro SD Express cards of up to 256GB, although previous models compatible with the first console won’t work with its successor.
The new Pro Controller also brings some new features, such as added buttons on the back grips that can freely be configured, as well as a 3.5mm port to connect headphones, something missing in the original version.
The new cartridges were also introduced, and it was clarified that they’ll have higher speeds without much further detail. To differentiate them from the originals, they opted for the iconic red color of the brand.
New features of Nintendo Switch 2
GameChat
For this new iteration, Nintendo has opted to include a live chat system similar to Discord, called GameChat. This allows users to communicate with teammates during gameplay and share their screens during sessions. It’s worth noting that during the presentation, we saw this system in action. Although its general performance is fairly good, sharing the screen leaves much to be desired, offering low resolution, poor quality, and disastrous framerate for a modern device. Both the new Joy-Cons and the Pro Controller feature a “C” button to access this function.
GameShare
Possibly one of the console’s main strengths is its GameShare functionality, allowing users to share their game sessions via streaming, even with those who don’t own the game. It works similarly to Steam’s Remote Play Together. This feature will also be compatible with Nintendo Switch original users and allows up to three local consoles, four contacts with the host, and the game owner. However, for remote game sharing, an active subscription to Nintendo Switch Online is required. This feature works only with Nintendo Switch 2 consoles, where each must have an active subscription. It’s important to note that the GameShare feature, whether local or online, is compatible with certain games but not with the entire library.
