Nintendo’s successor to its wildly popular Switch appears to play it safe

Nintendo will release a new game console in 2025, the Japanese entertainment giant has revealed, with a first-look video showing a machine that sticks very close to the design of its best-selling Switch.

In the video, the Nintendo Switch 2 is shown to have a larger screen than its predecessor, but it still resembles a small tablet that can be played in handheld mode or dropped into a dock to connect to a TV. The redesigned Joy-Con controllers appear to snap onto the sides of the system magnetically, rather than sliding on a rail.

The Nintendo Switch 2 sticks very close to the design of its best-selling predecessor.

Explicit details in the trailer were scarce, with the full reveal slated for April 2. Hands-on events will be held around the world – including in Melbourne on May 10 – meaning the release date will likely be some time after.

The new system will be compatible with exclusive Switch 2 software and original Switch software. An asterisk here indicates certain Switch software will not be fully functional on Switch 2, suggesting that some minor hardware features of the original system may not be supported. But more than likely, many new games will work on both the old and new systems.

Certain features of the new system pose more questions than answers.

The trailer shows the system has the usual USB-C port on the bottom edge for charging and connection to the dock, but also an additional USB-C port on the top edge, which could be used for accessories. A new button – unlabelled in the trailer – appears on the right Joy-Con beneath the Home button. At one point the Joy-Con are shown skating across a surface before snapping into the console, which lends weight to a long-held rumour that they have optical sensors that allow them to be used like a computer mouse.

In the trailer, the Switch 2 is shown running an as-yet-unannounced Mario Kart game, which is unsurprising – Mario Kart 8 is Nintendo’s second-best-selling game of all time, but is now more than 10 years old.

The original Switch was released in 2017 and has become a sales juggernaut, selling 146 million units, making it the second-best-selling home console of all time behind Sony’s PlayStation 2. But while the Switch 2 appears to be a straightforward successor, there’s still every chance it’s hiding a surprise twist.

The original Nintendo Switch sported a very similar design.

Nintendo tends to innovate in unexpected ways when it comes to hardware, rather than following the industry along the safest routes, meaning it’s had almost as many commercial flops as successes. However, those successes tend to shift the face of the entire medium.

The success of its Wii and DS machines for example, which focused on appealing to an extremely broad demographic rather than existing game players, precipitated a boom of casual gaming not only on rival platforms but on smartphones as well. And the near-unprecedented performance of the Switch has had a similar effect, seeing a major resurgence in portable gaming systems.

PC gaming giant Valve has made an impact with its Steam Deck machine and just announced it will let other vendors use its streamlined SteamOS software for their own handheld gaming PCs. Meanwhile, Sony and Microsoft are known to be working on PlayStation and Xbox handhelds for future release. All of this means Switch 2 may face much stiffer competition than its predecessor, which for most of its life has been virtually without rival.

Ultimately, it will come down to Nintendo’s exclusive games. The original Switch was home not only to Mario Kart in its first year, but also arguably the finest Super Mario and Legend of Zelda games produced to date. All eyes will be on the April broadcast to see if the new console can match that.

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