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Nintendo Switch 2
The Nintendo Switch 2 is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released in most regions on June 5, 2025. Like the original Nintendo Switch, it can be used as a handheld, as a tablet, or connected via the dock to an external display. The Joy-Con 2 controllers can be used while magnetically attached or detached from the console. Compared to the original Switch, the Switch 2 has a larger liquid-crystal display (LCD), more internal storage, and updated graphics, controllers, and social features. It supports 1080p resolution (Full HD) and a 120 Hz refresh rate in handheld or tabletop mode, and 4K resolution with a 60 Hz refresh rate when docked, as well as HDR support on both the tablet and compatible external displays.
Games are available through physical game cards and Nintendo's digital eShop. Some game "key" cards contain no game content and require players to download the game via an internet connection. Select Switch games can use the improved Switch 2 performance through either free or paid updates. The Switch 2 retains the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, which is required for some multiplayer games and provides access to the Nintendo Classics library of older emulated games; GameCube games are exclusive to the Switch 2. The GameChat feature allows players to chat remotely and share screens and webcams.
Nintendo revealed the Switch 2 on January 16, 2025, and announced its full specifications and release details on April 2. Pre-orders in most regions began on April 5. The system received praise for its social and technical improvements over its predecessor, though the increased prices of both the console and its games library were criticized. More than 3.5 million units were sold worldwide within four days of release, making the Switch 2 the fastest-selling Nintendo console. As of June 2026, the Switch 2 has sold over 23 million units worldwide. Mario Kart World, available as a bundled inclusion at launch, is its best-selling game with over 15 million copies sold.
Nintendo released the original Switch in March 2017, which was developed in the wake of the commercial failure of the Wii U. The Switch was promoted as a hybrid console with handheld, tabletop, and docked configurations, with Joy-Con controllers that can be separated from the main unit for the handheld or tabletop configurations. Compared to the other major consoles on the market at the time – the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One – the Switch had less-powerful computational hardware to keep the unit's price low, but sufficient to power the type of games Nintendo typically publishes; part of the company's long-term Blue Ocean Strategy to differentiate itself from the other console manufacturers. By December 2025, the Switch became Nintendo's best-selling console and the second best-selling gaming console overall, following the PlayStation 2. At the time of the Switch 2's announcement in January 2025, over 146 million Switch units had been sold worldwide.
Nintendo began pre-production of its next console shortly after the Switch's release, with a team reviewing the performance limitations of the Switch and identifying what hardware changes could be made to address them. This also provided enough time to plan out the hardware so as to be able to ship software development kits (SDKs) to game development partners. Formal development of the Switch 2 (codenamed "Ounce") started in 2019, led by producer Kouichi Kawamoto, hardware director Takuhiro Dohta, and technical director Tetsuya Sasaki. Though past Nintendo consoles have generally featured a new type of hardware experience, such as the hybrid mode of the original Switch, the Switch 2 team found that developers had adapted to writing their games toward the Switch mode and decided it would not be helpful to introduce significant hardware changes, and instead focus on computation performance improvements to give developers more tools. Hardware components were selected to balance performance and battery life along with expanding the memory to support newer games.
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said the company sought to make the transition to its successor smooth for consumers, and backward compatibility was a key part of the design; Nintendo said, "Nintendo Switch is played by many consumers, and we decided that the best direction to take would be for consumers to be able to play their already purchased Nintendo Switch software on the successor to Nintendo Switch". As Nintendo prioritized improving the hardware, backward compatibility was more complex to implement than it had been for consoles such as Nintendo 3DS or Wii U, which have similar hardware to their predecessors. The Switch 2 uses a hybrid of software and hardware emulation to avoid a more taxing software-only solution. The name was partially influenced by the backward compatibility. Nintendo also considered "Super Nintendo Switch", similar to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System following the Nintendo Entertainment System, but decided this would diminish the compatibility feature. The new Joy-Con controllers were redesigned from the ground up. With the larger screen on the console, simply scaling the older Joy-Con to match size was not sufficient as their longer size would make it more difficult to hold and trigger the shoulder buttons. As such, Nintendo included more rounding-off of the corners and extended the shoulder buttons further towards the side of the controller. The HD Rumble feature was improved and surpassed the limits of the original Joy-Con, heightening its intensity to levels that are comparable to the controllers on the GameCube.
Rather than the rail system used on the original Switch, the new Joy-Con are connected using magnetic connections. Nintendo had originally explored magnetic connections for the first Switch model but the connection was determined to be too wobbly. With the Joy-Con 2, they refined the magnetic approach, making the connection stronger and easily removed with a mechanical release system. With this new system, the Joy-Con now audibly snap when the magnetic connection is made, which Dohta said helped to symbolize the Switch branding.
The capability of the Joy-Con to be used as computer mice was an idea introduced by Kawamoto who also played games on personal computers, as mouse control would not only allow the Joy-Con to help replace the screen's touch controls when the console is docked, but also could be used to introduce new forms of gameplay. Kawamoto said this idea represented Gunpei Yokoi's concept of "lateral thinking of withered technology" that has been part of Nintendo's approach for several decades. The Pro Controller was also similarly redesigned for the Switch 2, smoothing out the motions of the joysticks, and adding an audio jack and two programmable buttons in the grips that the player can customize.
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Nintendo Switch 2
The Nintendo Switch 2 is a video game console developed by Nintendo and released in most regions on June 5, 2025. Like the original Nintendo Switch, it can be used as a handheld, as a tablet, or connected via the dock to an external display. The Joy-Con 2 controllers can be used while magnetically attached or detached from the console. Compared to the original Switch, the Switch 2 has a larger liquid-crystal display (LCD), more internal storage, and updated graphics, controllers, and social features. It supports 1080p resolution (Full HD) and a 120 Hz refresh rate in handheld or tabletop mode, and 4K resolution with a 60 Hz refresh rate when docked, as well as HDR support on both the tablet and compatible external displays.
Games are available through physical game cards and Nintendo's digital eShop. Some game "key" cards contain no game content and require players to download the game via an internet connection. Select Switch games can use the improved Switch 2 performance through either free or paid updates. The Switch 2 retains the Nintendo Switch Online subscription service, which is required for some multiplayer games and provides access to the Nintendo Classics library of older emulated games; GameCube games are exclusive to the Switch 2. The GameChat feature allows players to chat remotely and share screens and webcams.
Nintendo revealed the Switch 2 on January 16, 2025, and announced its full specifications and release details on April 2. Pre-orders in most regions began on April 5. The system received praise for its social and technical improvements over its predecessor, though the increased prices of both the console and its games library were criticized. More than 3.5 million units were sold worldwide within four days of release, making the Switch 2 the fastest-selling Nintendo console. As of June 2026, the Switch 2 has sold over 23 million units worldwide. Mario Kart World, available as a bundled inclusion at launch, is its best-selling game with over 15 million copies sold.
Nintendo released the original Switch in March 2017, which was developed in the wake of the commercial failure of the Wii U. The Switch was promoted as a hybrid console with handheld, tabletop, and docked configurations, with Joy-Con controllers that can be separated from the main unit for the handheld or tabletop configurations. Compared to the other major consoles on the market at the time – the PlayStation 4 and Xbox One – the Switch had less-powerful computational hardware to keep the unit's price low, but sufficient to power the type of games Nintendo typically publishes; part of the company's long-term Blue Ocean Strategy to differentiate itself from the other console manufacturers. By December 2025, the Switch became Nintendo's best-selling console and the second best-selling gaming console overall, following the PlayStation 2. At the time of the Switch 2's announcement in January 2025, over 146 million Switch units had been sold worldwide.
Nintendo began pre-production of its next console shortly after the Switch's release, with a team reviewing the performance limitations of the Switch and identifying what hardware changes could be made to address them. This also provided enough time to plan out the hardware so as to be able to ship software development kits (SDKs) to game development partners. Formal development of the Switch 2 (codenamed "Ounce") started in 2019, led by producer Kouichi Kawamoto, hardware director Takuhiro Dohta, and technical director Tetsuya Sasaki. Though past Nintendo consoles have generally featured a new type of hardware experience, such as the hybrid mode of the original Switch, the Switch 2 team found that developers had adapted to writing their games toward the Switch mode and decided it would not be helpful to introduce significant hardware changes, and instead focus on computation performance improvements to give developers more tools. Hardware components were selected to balance performance and battery life along with expanding the memory to support newer games.
Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said the company sought to make the transition to its successor smooth for consumers, and backward compatibility was a key part of the design; Nintendo said, "Nintendo Switch is played by many consumers, and we decided that the best direction to take would be for consumers to be able to play their already purchased Nintendo Switch software on the successor to Nintendo Switch". As Nintendo prioritized improving the hardware, backward compatibility was more complex to implement than it had been for consoles such as Nintendo 3DS or Wii U, which have similar hardware to their predecessors. The Switch 2 uses a hybrid of software and hardware emulation to avoid a more taxing software-only solution. The name was partially influenced by the backward compatibility. Nintendo also considered "Super Nintendo Switch", similar to the Super Nintendo Entertainment System following the Nintendo Entertainment System, but decided this would diminish the compatibility feature. The new Joy-Con controllers were redesigned from the ground up. With the larger screen on the console, simply scaling the older Joy-Con to match size was not sufficient as their longer size would make it more difficult to hold and trigger the shoulder buttons. As such, Nintendo included more rounding-off of the corners and extended the shoulder buttons further towards the side of the controller. The HD Rumble feature was improved and surpassed the limits of the original Joy-Con, heightening its intensity to levels that are comparable to the controllers on the GameCube.
Rather than the rail system used on the original Switch, the new Joy-Con are connected using magnetic connections. Nintendo had originally explored magnetic connections for the first Switch model but the connection was determined to be too wobbly. With the Joy-Con 2, they refined the magnetic approach, making the connection stronger and easily removed with a mechanical release system. With this new system, the Joy-Con now audibly snap when the magnetic connection is made, which Dohta said helped to symbolize the Switch branding.
The capability of the Joy-Con to be used as computer mice was an idea introduced by Kawamoto who also played games on personal computers, as mouse control would not only allow the Joy-Con to help replace the screen's touch controls when the console is docked, but also could be used to introduce new forms of gameplay. Kawamoto said this idea represented Gunpei Yokoi's concept of "lateral thinking of withered technology" that has been part of Nintendo's approach for several decades. The Pro Controller was also similarly redesigned for the Switch 2, smoothing out the motions of the joysticks, and adding an audio jack and two programmable buttons in the grips that the player can customize.
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