Thank goodness Nintendo officially revealed the Switch 2 on Thursday morning, so we can finally talk about it without resorting to rumors and leaks.
Nintendo has pulled back the curtain on its newest home/handheld console, and just as everyone expected, it’s a stronger and more powerful Nintendo Switch. The two-minute reveal trailer is extremely short on essential information on the console, unfortunately. Aside from a look at what it looks like and a teaser of a new game, there’s not much to talk about.
But let’s talk about it anyway. Here’s everything new you can see in the Nintendo Switch 2 reveal trailer.
Mouse-like Joy-Cons with a mysterious new button
What is this new button for?
Credit: Screenshot: Nintendo/YouTube
The big question with every new Nintendo console is “what weird things do the controllers do now?”
With the first Switch, the “gimmick” (if that’s even the right word) was that they could be detached from the base unit and used either as two separate controllers, or together as one. This still seems to be the case with the Switch 2, but there are some very noticeable differences this time around. For starters, they attach to the system magnetically now, as opposed to sliding on and off a rail as they did before.
However, this is only a minor procedural change. Beyond that, there’s a mysterious new button on the right Joy-Con below the Home button. It’s unmarked, although the internet has had to call it the “C” button. I’ve seen speculation that it might have something to do with voice chat, and that would make sense, but nothing has been confirmed yet.
Mashable’s Speed of Light
The real juice, however, lies in the fact that the Joy-Cons can apparently be used as computer mice. The video is not great obvious about that, but at one point, the Joy-Cons slide onto a flat surface, with the part that connects to the Switch 2 facing down. Over the past few weeks, there have been many rumors suggesting that there would be mouse functionality on the new Joy-Cons, and I can’t think of any reason for Nintendo to include that part in the video if that wasn’t the case.
Bigger screen
This is a big boy.
Credit: Screenshot: Nintendo/YouTube
This isn’t a surprise or anything, but the actual unit appears to be 15 to 20 percent larger than the original Switch. Part of that is the screen, for which we still don’t have exact measurements. However, it looks massive compared to the old Switch, with slimmer bezels that make it more of an edge-to-edge display than the original Switch had.
Not much to say about it, really. This screen looks much bigger and better. Hopefully it’s sharper than 720p this time around.
A new stand
This seems much stronger.
Credit: Screenshot: Nintendo/YouTube
This will obviously be buried under the more substantial and exciting changes, but the Switch 2 has a full body brace now instead of the tiny little thing that the original Switch had. My Switch launchpad broke after three months, and I don’t think I ever used it as much as I intended. This will apparently be more stable.
Mario Kart 9apparently
Last but certainly not least, there was a very quick look at a new video game in this trailer. Yes, just one, and it’s not much.
The tweet may have been deleted
This is definitely a new one Mario Kart game. Take it from me, a person who has played for about 300 hours Mario Kart 8: This is different. Donkey Kong has been redesigned to look more like the one in the movie, there seem to be more racers on the track than before, and the track itself looks really big. There’s also a roadside bar in the shape of Yoshi’s head, which is adorable.
I really, really I wish Nintendo had shown us more, as there was nothing new or surprising in this video. We’ll have to wait until April 2nd, when Nintendo has confirmed that there will be a Direct to explain and expand on all of this.
