The Nintendo headlines have been overrun with the fear of price hikes and potential new pre-order date rumors, but we are taking a short and sweet reprieve in the form of the official Mario Kart World Direct showcase today. As we reported shortly after the game’s debut, Nintendo has had an official, dedicated Direct show set for weeks and today is the day.
The internet is ablaze with theories and rumors then the new Switch 2 pre-order date will land, but another far better and more reliable date has now surfaced. Yesterday April 30 was spotted hidden within some Target wishlist data, and then an April 23 date in Canada surfaced suggesting we could see the same in the U.S., but now a reliable leaker is targeting a third date.
Here we go again folks, it looks like we might have a new pre-order date for Nintendo Switch 2 in Canada – this might very well indicate what we see here in the U.S. too. Pre-orders were still set to go live in Canada after they were delayed in the U.S. only to have Nintendo confirm that it wants to have the pre-sale begin at the same time north of border and delayed those too. But a new, typically reliable source is suggesting Canadian pre-orders could go live next Wednesday.
The new Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order date might have been leaked by Target, but there is something suspect about this time and date. Nintendo was initially scheduled to start taking pre-orders in the U.S. on April 9 before it officially announced a delay to give it time to assess the potential impact of Trump’s tariffs that were announced just hours after. We are still awaiting official word from Nintendo for the new date, but Target might have just given us an idea of when this could happen…maybe.
Update: 4/16: Nintendo has now confirmed tomorrow’s Mario Kart World Direct showcase will be a relatively short and sweet 15-minute broadcast.
With the full official reveal of Nintendo Switch 2, the release date, the announced $450 starting price, and the debacle that immediately followed after pre-orders were officially delayed in the U.S. (and Canada), one thing that might have raced under your radar was this week’s official Mario Kart World Direct showcase. It has been a busy couple weeks for Nintendo to say the least, and while it officially debuted the new Mario Kart game during the Switch 2 Direct alongside some Treehouse gameplay footage thereafter, it still has more to show us on the keystone Switch 2 launch game and it is set to go live later this week.
The official debut of Nintendo Switch 2 has been a tumultuous one, rife with emotional highs and lows – some might even suggest Nintendo has thus far botched what was widely expected to be the biggest console launch in history. I’m going to give it about as much of a temporary pass on the disastrous pre-order situation as the rest of the world is getting on Trump tax, but it’s hard to ignore the fact that Nintendo has managed to go from delivering what was the most affordable console gaming platform to one of the most expensive in a matter of weeks.
The Switch 2 situation is well, a situation. We all know Trump has now, at least temporarily, backpedaled on some of the new tariff levies directly affecting the pre-order and likely launch of Switch 2. This prompted financial analysis firms to present a potential price hike situation only to they themselves course correct the supposedly incorrect deductions of this data to suggest it is unlikely we see major price hikes on Switch 2 at launch. This sounds like good news to me and a recent report courtesy of Bloomberg suggests Nintendo has been stockpiling Switch 2 units in the U.S. for months now to help soften the blow Trump might (will likely) have on its bottom line.
Now that the Switch 2 unveiling hype has died down and we are entering the pre-order stage, I began to wonder to myself if the Switch 2 is worth it over my Switch OLED. It’s easy to assume the Switch 2 is the obvious choice – but for many players, especially casual gamers or families, the Switch OLED might actually be the better value. Here’s why:
Update: After a shocking report made headlines yesterday suggesting an inbound price hike on Switch 2, the DFC Intelligence firm via Forbes is clarifying its statement further – there perhaps won’t be a price jump at retail after all:
Apologies for the misunderstanding created on our part by not clarifying the reference to a 20% hardware price increase over the next two years applied to the hardware side in general and not just the Switch.
In the case of the Switch 2, we believe much of the 20% increase was already baked into the $450 price. It is not likely Nintendo will raise the price, and if they do, we don’t expect it to be 20%. Also much of that increase is in the form of NOT discounting prices. So not necessarily a price increase but where we model a 20% price decrease in the next year or so we have the prices holding steady.
As we all know by now, Nintendo officially delayed the pre-order date here in the U.S. indefinitely, with not even a whisper of when it might be ready to start taking orders. Just this morning it also officially delayed the pre-order date in Canada less than 24 hours before they were scheduled to go live on April 9. The release date remains firm for June 5 as of right now, but why has Nintendo delayed the inevitable? Well, we know it’s because of Trump’s tariffs announcement, but if the release date is still intact, why wait to take pre-orders?
So many of our burning questions leading up to last week’s Switch 2 Nintendo Direct have been answered at this point, but what about those Hall effects sticks? We have now seen the new Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza, we have details on the console’s battery life, and we know how the Switch 2 Edition game upgrades will work (for the most part). But we still don’t know when pre-orders will go live in the U.S. after Nintendo cancelled the April 9 kick-off date, and there were still questions up in the air as to whether or not Nintendo was leveraging Hall effect technology on the new Switch 2 controllers…until now.
Update 4/8: Noooooo, Nintendo has now officially announced that pre-orders for Switch 2 in Canada will also be delayed to a later date. Nintendo has made an official statement to the press confirming that pre-orders in Canada will also be delayed to fall in-line with the U.S.
What time will Switch 2 pre-orders go live? Well, at this point we don’t even know what day they are going live here in the U.S., but north of the border Walmart has other major retailers have announced the official date and time Switch 2 pre-orders will begin, perhaps giving us a better idea of how things might shake out in the U.S. once Nintendo is ready to let us score one.
While the unveiling of the new Switch 2 was exciting, some aspects have left people asking for answers. Nintendo avoided mentioning things like battery life, accessory compatibility, game upgrade pricing and more. So let’s discuss everything Nintendo didn’t tell us, the good and the bad.
Late yesterday morning, Nintendo issued an official statement to the press saying that it would be delaying Switch 2 pre-orders in the U.S. indefinitely, however this isn’t the case everywhere in the world. The company apparently needs time to assess the impacts of sweeping levies put in place by the Trump administration earlier this week before it will be ready to begin taking pre-orders of its next-generation console stateside – this is, however, not the case north of the border.
In a disappointing but unfortunately not surprising turn of events, reports are surfacing today suggesting Nintendo will officially be delaying the Switch 2 pre-order date in response to Trump tariffs. Nooooooo!
Nintendo’s Switch 2 is now official and it comes with a bevy of new features that we got to experience when we went hands-on with the handheld for nearly six hours yesterday. While we learned a lot about the handheld during its announcement, it wasn’t exactly clear whether it would support ray tracing. Well, we now know that the Switch 2 does indeed support ray tracing for games. In fact, Nintendo also confirmed that the Switch 2 uses NVIDIA’s DLSS tech to improve your gameplay experience. Head below for more details.
I was lucky enough to get an exclusive look at the new Switch 2 at Nintendo’s hands-on unveiling event in NYC. I got to play with the Switch 2, the docked console, the new Joy-Cons, the new Pro controller, the new titles, and so much more. I wanted to bring you along to get a taste of what this event was like!
After nearly a decade, Nintendo finally returned with a true successor to the original Switch. The Nintendo Switch 2, unveiled at Nintendo’s Direct event, brings long-awaited upgrades across the board – from display and performance to multiplayer features and accessories. I spent some hands-on time with the device at press-only Nintendo event yesterday, and as someone who has owned every Switch variant from the OG Switch to the Switch OLED, here are my thoughts.
Hot on the heels of Nintendo’s Switch 2 announcement, Lexar has now made its 1TB PLAY PRO microSD card official, making it the “world’s first 1TB microSD Express Card.” Designed specifically for the new Nintendo Switch 2, this new model is built on the new SD card standard that combines PCI Express 3.0 and NVMe 1.3 interfaces, and it is said to deliver a significantly improved performance over the regular non-Express ones. The new PLAY PRO microSD Express cards are already listed on Amazon with prices starting at $49.99 shipped for the 256GB variant. Head below for a closer look and more details.
Nintendo might not have served up the price and pre-order date as part of the Switch 2 Direct, but do now have the official details. Switch 2 will launch on June 5 after pre-orders go live next week on April 9 with pricing kicking off at $450, and Best Buy has now announced some official details on its Switch preorder and launch plans you’ll want to be aware of.
Alongside the official complete reveal of Switch 2 today, as well as its official accessories and some of the exclusive new games, Nintendo also debuted the new Switch 2 game cartridge design as well as something known as Nintendo Switch 2 Game-Key Cards. Let’s take a closer look at both.
Alongside the reveal of the new Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza Switch 2 exclusives, not to mention the official price and release date of the console, we also got details on the new GameChat feature and new Switch 2 accessories. Nintendo has now updated its official Switch 2 site with additional details on each of them as well as the official price.
Just after giving us a complete look at the new Switch 2, the official price, and when preorders will start, Nintendo has also now officially unveiled the Mario Kart World. The game will be available as part of an optional console bundle when preorders start next week, but there is also an upcoming dedicated Direct presentation for the game and a price some folks might not be happy with.
Nintendo just hosted its widely anticipated Switch 2 Direct with a few missing pieces of information – the price and the pre-order date. We know the system is releasing on June 5, 2025, but it has just issued a press release offering up the official price and pre-order dates now!
The official Switch 2 Direct presentation goes live soon, like very soon at 9 a.m. ET, and will be covering all of the details Nintendo dishes out right here. And in celebration, we are once again highlighting all of the best Switch game deals up for grabs right now!
Nintendo has now released an official new teaser video specifically showcasing the new “C” button on Switch 2, and right on the morning the highly-anticipated Nintendo Switch 2 Direct will go live. The day has finally come and it will only be a matter of hours before the scheduled Switch 2 Direct presentation goes live at 9 a.m. ET, so we will keep this one short and sweet.
The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct goes live today. After months of questions and speculation, Nintendo will take the virtual stage this morning to fully reveal the Nintendo Switch 2. After a first-look official trailer finally ended years of waiting back in January, Nintendo is set to host a lengthy Direct event this morning on Switch 2 and it’s all set to go live in just a few hours time now.
While it likely won’t be long now until we find out for sure, some believe that a newly surfaced Nintendo FCC filing is confirming the existence of the new Switch 2 Pro Controller – or some sort of new gamepad anyway.
Update: According to the official Nintendo Today! app, the Treehouse presentations detailed below will last for 4 hours and 3 hours, respectively.
As you already know from our Countdown to Nintendo Switch 2 Direct feature this morning, the show is set to go live tomorrow morning and we now have some additional official details. Nintendo has now issued a press release and some extra details to look forward to on its official X (Twitter) page regarding not just the Switch 2 Direct, but also some follow up coverage that will highlight gameplay.
The Nintendo Switch 2 Direct goes live in just over 24 hours now. After years of rumors, leaks, and speculation that finally culminated in an official reveal of the next-generation of Nintendo gaming earlier this year, the flagpole for this stage of the Switch 2 launch is just over the next hill folks! All of the details you need on the Switch 2 Direct are waiting down below alongside everything we know thus far on pre-order dates and a quick look back at the major announcements over the last couple months await below.
Update 4/1: You will now see the official Switch 2 teaser video these images were pulled from yesterday inside of the Nintendo Today! app.
Well folks, we are less than 48 hours out from the official Switch 2 Direct showcase, and Nintendo has finally served up another official image of Switch 2….sort of. The Nintendo Today! app in the U.S. still shows the “2 Days to gGo” teaser video that isn’t particularly interesting, but folks in the Japanese timezone are already seeing the “1 Day to Go” image, and it’s a new one that shows the Switch 2 in three different forms.
Holiday season is when console makers tend to ship a ton of units. They’re a popular gift idea that’s pretty much guaranteed to be a slam dunk no matter which age group you’re buying for. This rings especially true with Nintendo, as it can appeal to kids, adults, and even elderly folks as well. So it’s not crazy to wonder why Nintendo would release Switch 2 during the spring or summer. Continue reading to find out what time of year Nintendo and other console makers tend to unleash their new systems.
Our countdown to the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct rolls on and today we are turning our attention back to the games. The internet has been ablaze the last few days with a string of pre-order date leaks – Best Buy says they begin on April 2 right after the Direct showcase and leaked internal documents say April 9…we will see – but whenever it releases (likely June), it’s really all about the games, and if you’re not talking Mario and friends, you’re talking Zelda.
Just after Best Buy Canada specifically posted an official announcement that Switch 2 pre-orders would start on April 2 – the same day as the Switch 2 Direct, a new report has surfaced saying that might not be the case. Details below.
We are under a week away from the official Switch 2 Direct presentation – five days in fact – and we have now made it to the half way point in our Countdown to Nintendo Switch 2 Direct feature series. That means it’s time to gather up all of the latest features, leaks, and rumors we have been discussing in the lead up to the official full reveal of Switch 2 and you’ll find everything waiting down below.
Update 6/9: Nintendo has now official delayed the release of the live-action Zelda movie – not by all much though:
This is Miyamoto. For production reasons, we are changing the release date of the live-action film of The Legend of Zelda to May 7, 2027. It will be some weeks later than the release timing we originally announced, and we will take the extra time to make the film as good as it can be. Thank you for your patience.
Way back in November of 2023 Nintendo issued an open letter on behalf of itself and Sony Pictures to announce that a live-action Zelda film was in the works. Details and development updates on the project have been largely quiet since then, but it has now confirmed an official release for the upcoming live-action Zelda movie!
Nintendo Switch is nearly a decade old at this point, and honestly, I’m very impressed by just how good some games look and perform given the constraints of its dated hardware. That being said, frame drops and stuttering are apparent at times, and I’m wondering if Switch 2 could resolve these issues for existing games. While we won’t know for certain until the next generation Switch is out in the wild, that can’t stop us from hoping and speculating for the time being.
Our countdown to the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct continues today with a closer look at the launch games, and more specifically the rumors, leaks, and details on the upcoming 3D Mario game. We are now just 6 days away from the full reveal of Nintendo Switch 2 and more than likely the first-party games it will be launching with (in what is likely just a couple months now) so let’s dive in.
What are Nintendo Switch 2 Edition games? While today’s Nintendo Direct wasn’t the presentation we have all been waiting on (for years now), there were some exciting announcements and new game footage for some highly anticipated titles. It debuted the new Nintendo Today! app you can download for FREE right now as well as the new Virtual Game Cards – a system where by you can lend digital games and load up titles on two different Switch consoles. But there’s also some potentially interesting mentions of Switch 2 games in the fine print here.
Update 4/2: Alongside the new images we featured 2 days ago, the new Nintendo Today! app has once again been updated with a new Switch 2 teaser video for Direct day specifically highlighting the “C” button. If Nintendo waited for the final day to specifically highlight the “C” button, chances are this is perhaps a more significant new feature than any of us might have ever thought. You’ll find the new images waiting down below.
Update: Best Buy has removed the announcement with the purported leak…there are also reports sourced from other retailers suggesting this date was mentioned in error.
Heads up folks, Best Buy might have just leaked the official pre-order date for Nintendo Switch 2! An official Best Buy Canada announcement, that will likely get taken down at any minute, just specifically stated that pre-orders for Nintendo Switch 2 will officially go live on April 2.
The next Nintendo Direct showcase goes live today folks. Yesterday Nintendo officially announced a new, second Direct set to broadcast to the Mushroom Kingdom this morning ahead of next week’s prime time show where it will fully reveal the next-generation Switch 2 – just six days and counting now. This morning’s show will be entirely focused on Switch games, delivering 30 straight minutes of upcoming titles and you can follow along with us below.
The rumors were true. It’s not the Switch 2 Direct we are all waiting for but Nintendo’s has decided it will host a new Direct presentation to focus on 30 minutes of new Switch games this week too. The whole thing kicks off tomorrow morning and we have all of the details for you down below.
While I have purchased just about every major game console over the last 15 years or so, I’ve arguably owned more Nintendo Switch consoles than any other. This is due to the fact that not only do standard, Lite, and OLED models exist, but also a bunch of different colorways. Nintendo is one of the rare instances where I allow myself to splurge with color, and Switch 2 so far has been a letdown. Continue reading to find out why I think we could see more colorways sooner rather than later.
The countdown to next month’s official Switch 2 Direct is officially on – only 8 more days folks! But some details are emerging today from what appear to be sources very close to the launch of Switch 2 with details on the release date for the console, and perhaps even more interesting, a 3-stage release plan for the Switch 2 launch games.
Nintendo dropped its new Super Mario Bros. Wonder Switch OLED bundle to celebrate Mario Day! This bundle includes the best Mario has to offer and some other goodies to help sweeten the deal. However, with the unveiling of Switch 2 looming, it looks like it could be the final official Switch 1 bundle.
The Countdown to the Nintendo Switch 2 Direct rolls on: T-9 Days. There are nine days left until Nintendo takes over the internet again to fully unveil the new Nintendo Switch 2 and our countdown to the big day continues now. Yesterday we detailed everything we know about the upcoming pre-orders to get gamers ready, including some reliable sources claiming the pre-sale will begin right after the April 2 Direct presentation (all of the details you need are right here), and today we are going to be going over the most exciting early details that have been floating around on Switch 2 hardware specs – display upgrades, core graphics performance that support enhanced games, new Joy-Con features, and more.
