Nintendo isn’t playing around when it comes to the Switch 2. This follow-up to one of the best-selling, most beloved consoles of all time is being shown off in a series of big ‘experience’ events in 15 cities around the world, so that the gaming public can try it out before its release on – we now know – June 5. London. Paris. Tokyo. New York. Melbourne.
It’s a massive operation for what, it is clearly hoped, will be a massive cultural and commercial property.
I got to, er, experience one of these experience events myself – ahead of the general population – at yesterday’s Switch 2 premiere in Paris. It was in the Grand Palais, no less, on the banks of the Seine. And, yes, I got to hold a Switch 2 (multiple Switch 2s, in fact). I got to play a number of its early games. I got blue-shelled (argh!) in the new Mario Kart World.
Nintendo also broadcast one of its online ‘Direct’ videos during the premiere, to us inside the Grand Palais and to everyone in the outside world, so we’re all a lot wiser about the Switch 2. Its release date, like I said, is June 5. Pre-orders open on April 8.
It will come in two varieties: just the console and the console bundled with Mario Kart World. The former will cost £395.99 and the latter £429.99. There’s a healthy lineup of launch titles, accessories and other boondoggles.
What the Direct video couldn’t convey is what we experienced in the rooms of the Grand Palais – the Switch 2 itself, its feel and its performance. But I have good news to report on that front. Based on the four or so hours we spent in its company, this is a fantastic device. It doesn’t just iterate on the original Switch, but also innovates in some quite surprising, pleasing ways.
Peter Hoskin plays MarioKart while testing the Nintendo Switch 2 in Paris
The device offers eight times more memory space than its forerunner, with 256GB provided
It will come in two varieties: just the console and the console bundled with Mario Kart World. The former will cost £395.99 and the latter £429.99
Where to start? Perhaps with the form of the Switch 2. It’s bigger, of course. It has to be, to fit a larger screen (7.9 inches, measured diagonally, compared to the original’s 6.2 inches) as well as all the beefier internal tech to make it more powerful. Its built-in storage has been increased to 256GB, eight times more space than its forerunner’s very tight 32GB. It can now manage proper HD in its handheld mode and full 4K resolution when placed in its dock and connected to a telly. In both modes, it can also pull off 120 frames per second (FPS), depending on the game.
Make no mistake, the Switch 2 is no PlayStation or Xbox – and certainly no gaming PC. Nintendo have never really run the race for cutting-edge technology. But those are impressive statistics, nevertheless, and they translate into clear visual gains.
I spent 15 minutes of my time with the Switch 2 testing it out on Cyberpunk 2077 – one of the most graphically demanding games there is – and, while it was only running at 30FPS (well below the connoisseur’s minimum of 60FPS), this was hardly a failed experiment. Night City, with all its towers, neon lights and weirdo citizens, looked great both in the hands and on screen. The Switch 2’s library is surely going to be broader as a result of this heightened performance.
But the visual benefits of the Switch 2 really showed themselves in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and its sequel, Tears of the Kingdom. Hang on, though. Aren’t they both original Switch games? Well, yes. But they – and various other titles – will be given enhanced editions that can be bought for Switch 2 or as cheaper upgrades if you already have the older versions. These enhanced editions will look better, play smoother and have various other additions.
In the case of the Zelda games, this means more detailed scenery, faster loading times and – another of the Switch 2’s upgrades – HDR. If you’re not up on the lingo, that stands for ‘high dynamic range’ and effectively means that the Switch 2, in both handheld and docked modes, can show brighter brights and darker darks than before.
Does it beat the brilliance of the screen on the glorious Switch OLED model, released in 2021? I’d have to directly compare the two to find out – but it didn’t seem like much of a downgrade. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom look stunning in their enhanced forms. Two of the best-ever games made even better.
Oh, and it’s all surprisingly light. The Switch 2 is technically slightly heavier than either the original Switch or the OLED model, though that’s barely noticeable – and the thickness is the same.
Then there are the Joy-Cons, the controllers that sit on either side of the Switch 2’s screen and can be unhitched at will. Here, unlike the sliding mechanism of the original Switch, they are attached magnetically, though still with a satisfying click. They also contain some of the Switch 2’s best innovations, at least from what I experienced yesterday.
The console’s Joy-Cons are attached magnetically and contain some of the Switch 2’s best innovations
The buzzing and vibrating the Joy-Cons emulate what’s happening on screen
They sit on either side of the Switch 2’s screen and can be unhitched at will
Its release date is June 5 and pre-orders open on April 8
Yesterday’s event at the Grand Palais was one of 15 ‘experience’ gatherings hosted by Nintendo
Such as: their haptic feedback, the buzzing and vibrating the Joy-Cons do to emulate what’s happening on screen. This was best demonstrated by a game given the very Ronseal name of Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, which, much like Sony’s Astro’s Playroom, is designed to show off the hardware (though, unlike Astro’s Playroom, it won’t be included with the console but will instead be sold separately – a very strange decision).
The Welcome Tour had one part where you shake the Joy-Cons like maracas, choosing whether each maraca contains multiple beads or a single rubber ball. The difference between the two was literally tangible. It felt as though there were actually beads or balls in the Joy-Cons, such is the sophistication of their haptic technology. The PlayStation 5’s DualSense controller finally has a real competitor.
There’s also the Joy-Cons’ new mouse mode. They can be detached, laid on their sides, and moved around and clicked just like the mouse for your desktop computer. This sounded like a pointless addition to me when I first heard about it, but, having tested it on Metroid Prime 4: Beyond, I’ve changed my mind.
This upcoming first-person shooter allows you to change freely between the Joy-Cons’ different control options. One second, you can be wielding them like you did for the original Switch, using a stick to look around and aim. Another second, you can turn one over, automatically switching off its stick so that you don’t joggle it accidentally, and aim using a mouse. The ease of choice – which was always part of the Switch’s promise – was wowing.
And what of the C-button that’s been put on the front of the console? Now we know what that stands for, too: chat. Pressing it will give you various options for socialising with your friends as you game. There’s even going to be a special camera attachment for the Switch 2, sold separately at launch, so you can see your friends. (Apparently, other, non-proprietary cameras will work as well.)
This was one of the few dud notes of the day. We didn’t get to experience the chat in action, but what we did see – via the Nintendo Direct – was underwhelming. The screen-sharing feature, by which you can watch what’s on your buddies’ screens, looked terribly blocky and laggy. The video seemed rather less than high definition.
Of course, it’s better to get the truth from Nintendo – if that’s how it looks, then we shouldn’t be shown otherwise. But while honesty is always the best policy, it doesn’t always make for good PR.
That said, we did get to try the camera in a different context – and it impressed me more than I thought it would. That context was the enhanced edition of another original Switch game, Super Mario Party Jamboree. Four of us were positioned about a metre from the camera and saw ourselves inserted, live and in full, into a series of mini-games on screen. This might be the kind of peripheral that only gets used once or twice before gathering dust, but, for those five or ten minutes we spent with it, it seemed like a kind of magic.
As for the rest of the games, there’s only so much I can say after spending limited time with them. The new Mario Kart, with its open world, is extremely exciting. Donkey Kong Bananza is a 3D platformer that has you destroying its colourful environments with wild abandon. At last, we will be able to play Nintendo GameCube releases through the Switch’s online service.
But there is not long to wait now. We’ll all get to spend time with the Switch 2 and its growing library – years, in fact – and be able to decide whether my first impressions are correct or not. And Nintendo will discover whether they’ve done enough to persuade millions of current Switch owners to upgrade their devices.
In the meantime, though, I’m in no mood for such quibbles and caveats. I’m excited.
