Summary
- Nintendo has dropped a two-minute teaser for the Switch 2 on its official YouTube channel.
- The upcoming gaming console will feature a bigger screen and thicker casing than its predecessor, suggesting improvements to the gaming experience.
- The bigger screen is accompanied by larger Joy-Cons, a better kickstand, and a bigger dock. More details will surface in April at the company’s Nintendo Direct event.
Japanese entertainment giant Nintendo has officially announced the successor to its best-selling console in a short teaser video. Dubbed the Nintendo Switch 2, the device features a long list of improvements, including a bigger display and an additional USB-C port.
6 Nintendo Switch 2 Offers a Larger Screen
The most obvious change for the Nintendo Switch 2 is a bigger screen. Although the company hasn’t revealed numbers yet, the upcoming console has a significantly larger screen than its predecessor.
In theory, this should result in a more immersive gameplay experience. A larger screen should make it easy to appreciate in-game details such as characters, textures, and other visual effects.
With a bigger screen, the Switch 2 features a larger and thicker casing that appears more rounded than the original. Nintendo has kept the internals under wraps, but even so, that increase in thickness could helpo to accommodate a more advanced CPU, GPU, and a substantially bigger battery.
5 Bigger Joy-Cons With Magnetic Attachment
The Switch 2 features taller and wider Joy-Cons to complement its larger screen, and everything else on the controllers has grown in size, too. They now snap onto the console with the help of magnets (as opposed to the mechanical sliding rail connection on the original Switch). There’s a small connector on the inside for communication and charging.
Instead of the brightly-colored controllers, the ones in the teaser are dark gray in color (maybe the company was going for a sleeker look?). Nintendo has also increased the size of the buttons on the Joy-Cons, as well as the release trigger. There seems to be a new square-shaped button toward the bottom of the right Joy-Con, but what it does is a mystery.
Toward the side that connects to the console, the new Joy-Cons seem to have a small lens, similar to what you’d see in a computer mouse. Further, the official video showcases the controllers sliding on a surface for a bit. Does that mean that Nintendo is introducing a mouse mode? Time will tell.
4 Two USB-C Ports Improve Connectivity
Nintendo has also confirmed the presence of not one but two USB-C ports on the Switch 2. This will allow players to attach multiple accessories to the console simultaneously. If both the ports comply with USB-C standards and support high-speed data transfer, owners should be able to connect their consoles to 4K displays through one port while charging it via the other.
And yes, the console retains its 3.5mm headphone jack, a relief for those who prefer wired headsets.
3 The Kickstand and Dock Are Bigger as Well
The Switch 2 sports a U-shaped kickstand, allowing users to place it at more angles than before. It goes without saying that the kickstand is larger than the one on the original Switch. Even the dock has a larger form factor, but it’s tough to comment on any other new features at this point.
2 Nintendo Switch 2 Will Play Old Games (But There’s a Catch)
The Nintendo Switch 2 is backward compatible, but we don’t yet know to what extent. Even though the console supports both physical and digital Switch games, some titles “might not be supported on or fully compatible” with the newer console (as mentioned in the teaser).
This could just be Nintendo acknowledging that it’s impossible to test everything rather than making a blanket 100% compatible statement, or it could relate to games that depend on accessories like Ring Fit Adventure and Nintendo Labo. We’ll have to wait to know more details about the backward compatibility.
1 Was That 24-Player Mario Kart?
One of the most interesting parts of the Nintendo Switch 2 teaser showcases a few shots of a new Mario Kart. But instead of a 12-player starting grid, the game seems to have a 24-player starting grid. Given that it has been over a decade since Mario Kart 8 came out, the trailer infers that this is Mario Kart 9.
It could be one of the exclusive titles available on the Switch 2.
The company has also announced a Nintendo Direct event on April 2, 2025. As mentioned on a dedicated landing page for the event, it will offer “a closer look at Nintendo Switch 2.” In other words, we can expect to see more details about the new console, including its technical specifications, new features, and price, at the April Nintendo Direct event.
Check out the best Nintendo Switch 2 features that didn’t leak here.
