We got our hands on Nintendo's Switch 2 — here's what you can expect from the new console

Jonathan Ore · CBC News

· Posted: Apr 03, 2025 9:00 AM EDT | Last Updated: 3 hours ago

After a little tease successful January, the hype bid for Nintendo's adjacent console, the Switch 2, was chugging on astatine afloat velocity successful New York City Wednesday greeting — and CBC News was connected board.

In a Nintendo Direct livestream, the Japanese gaming institution announced a slew of caller games for the upcoming system, which is acceptable to merchandise connected June 5, 2025.

CBC News was among a tiny radical of media invited to get hands-on acquisition with the Switch 2 and abbreviated previews of galore of the caller games successful New York City, instantly pursuing the Nintendo Direct event.

Here's what we're capable to archer you:

WATCH | Will the Switch 2 beryllium worthy the precocious terms tag?:

How does the Switch 2 feel?

Unsurprisingly, the Switch 2 feels precise akin to its predecessor. In handheld mode, it feels somewhat wider and heavier, but if you adjacent your eyes you mightiness beryllium fooled into reasoning it's an archetypal Switch. Using a dock (now with a instrumentality to forestall overheating), you tin easy link it to a television.

The fistful of additions are notable, though. Most importantly, the JoyCon controllers nary longer descent onto the main tablet controller on a carnal rail. 

Now, they drawback connected with a beardown magnetic grip. We weren't capable to propulsion the JoyCons disconnected since a tiny carnal latch keeps them successful place; a tiny fastener has to beryllium pressed to merchandise them.

The different additions are appreciated, though subtle. A sturdier kickstand is an improvement, particularly implicit the archetypal Switch model's fragile integrative flap. A 2nd USB-C larboard connected apical of the console allows for much charging options and lets you link peripherals similar the recently announced Switch 2 camera.

The question of the joysticks feels a small smoother, fuelling speculation and anticipation that they're much resistant to drifting inputs, a frustrating improvement that tin origin unwanted question and inaccuracy successful aiming.

Innovating, oregon catching up?

Older Switch games made up a ample information of the Nintendo Direct presentation, sporting caller and enhanced features offered by the Switch 2's beefed-up innards and caller features.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its sequel Tears of the Kingdom were shown disconnected connected elephantine televisions moving astatine higher resolutions and a buttery framework rate; the archetypal versions connected the Switch 1 were known for occasional slowdown.

Ash Parrish, a games writer for website The Verge, sees these improvements much arsenic Nintendo catching up to the competition.

"You spot the graphical improvements for Breath of the Wild and you're like, 'Oh, OK, this is what this crippled should person looked like, you know, 7 years ago,' " she said.

A invited addition, successful different words, but obscurity adjacent the wonderment and grandeur of erstwhile that crippled was archetypal unveilled astir a decennary ago.

How are the games?

I tried a fistful of games, though much were playable astatine the one-day event. Mario Kart World was a standout. Most of the series' kart racing chaos is unchanged — unsurprising arsenic it builds connected the instauration of Mario Kart 8, which has sold implicit 80 cardinal copies.

That conscionable makes the additions basal retired much — an open-world benignant mode allows you to traverse areas overmuch wider than a azygous racetrack. Players tin roam the maps unneurotic with the assistance of the caller GameChat function, making it arsenic overmuch a roadworthy travel simulator arsenic a racing game.

A caller knockout mode eliminates a fistful of stragglers astatine regular checkpoints, adding a caller consciousness of hostility the typically breezy kart racer bid hasn't seen.

A abbreviated romp with the much-anticipated sci-fi shooter Metroid Prime 4: Beyond gave mixed results, but not successful the mode I expected.

The crippled mostly picks up aft the past introduction successful the Metroid sub-series that was released each the mode backmost successful 2007. Bounty huntress Samus wreaks havoc connected abstraction pirates successful a first-person presumption that has the subordinate blasting the anemic points of enemies and elephantine monsters with aplomb.

Nintendo representatives, however, encouraged america to play the crippled with the caller JoyCon rodent functionality, tipping the close controller to its broadside portion holding the near 1 normally.

This mode gave maine a batch of precision aiming Samus's vigor blaster, mimicking a bully first-person shooter you'd play with a accepted rodent and keyboard connected PC. After astir 15 minutes, though, I felt immoderate strain connected my wrist.

"Turning the JoyCon to the mode that you person to person it erstwhile you're utilizing it arsenic a rodent is not a earthy mode that your manus lays, and it doesn't marque for a comfy gaming experience," said Parrish.

The rodent enactment is antithetic successful a mode that lone Nintendo seems to get distant with. It's bizarre astatine first, but carries a traditionalist sensibility determination on the way. It mightiness unlock immoderate genuinely innovative crippled design, but that find isn't well-suited to abbreviated sessions similar the 1 astatine this media preview.

Anticipation is precocious — and truthful is the price

Media were packed into a tiny presumption country to ticker the Nintendo Direct arsenic it broadcast unrecorded connected gamers' laptop screens astir the world.

The usually subdued radical occasionally yelped successful astonishment and delight — specified arsenic erstwhile Mario drove on walls successful Mario Kart World, oregon erstwhile the logo for From Software — makers of the megahit Elden Ring — splashed onto the screen, starring into a trailer for its caller crippled The Duskbloods.

As the presumption came to an end, however, cheers of joyousness turned to murmurs: it didn't see a price.

That fig was softly sent retired successful quality releases minutes aft the Direct lawsuit — $449 US and a beefy $629 Cdn, noticeably higher than the Switch motorboat prices backmost successful 2017.

While media and gaming influencers are expected to get constricted previews of the Switch 2 successful the coming months, it won't beryllium overmuch longer earlier others volition get their mitts connected the console to assistance determine if it's worthy the terms tag.

Members of the nationalist who won a lottery-based summons strategy volition be akin Switch 2 Experience events starting successful New York this weekend. Its sole Canadian halt is successful Toronto from April 25-27.