TORONTO — Nintendo bet big on innovation when it launched the Switch in 2017.
Able to transform seamlessly from a home console to a handheld gaming device, and with an attractive price point, the video game system became a hit. According to Nintendo, the Switch has sold more than 152 million units as of March 31, making it the third-highest-selling console of all time.
Eight years later, Nintendo has released the Switch's long-awaited successor. The Switch 2 doesn't break any ground, but packs a lot of extra power — at a price — while retaining what the original did well.
Iteration, rather than innovation.
With a couple of notable exceptions, the look and feel of the Switch 2 is fundamentally unchanged. The newer system boasts a significantly bigger screen when in handheld mode — 7.9 inches for the Switch 2 compared to 6.2 inches for the original — and the larger, more robust Joy Con controllers use an improved magnetic system when being attached to the sides of the unit.
The biggest changes are under the hood, with a more powerful processor and the ability to play games in 4K resolution when the unit is docked and hooked up to a television. While necessary for being able to handle the more resource-intensive games slated for the Switch 2, the upgrade in hardware means a noticeable performance boost when running original Switch games.
The extra muscle, however, comes at a cost. The Switch 2 retails at a hefty $630, a roughly 57-per-cent increase over the launch price of the original Switch.
The increases don't stop with the hardware. "Mario Kart World," the big draw in the Switch 2's initial lineup of games, is listed at just under $110, about a $20 increase over the average price of a new Triple-A game for the Switch. The price tag is softened somewhat with the option to buy a $700 bundle that includes the system and the new "Mario Kart" game.
In fairness, gaming has become a more expensive hobby across the board. In November, Sony launched the PlayStation 5 Pro console, a modest improvement over the original PS5, with the whopping price tag of $960.
Those big numbers, however, do not seem to be deterring enthusiasts from opening their wallets. Demand for the Switch 2 has outstripped supply, with Canadian gamers wanting to get their hands on the system lined up at launch parties across the country when it went on sale at midnight ET on June 5. Nintendo said in a recent press release that the Switch 2 sold 3.5 million units worldwide over its first four days, making it the company's fastest-selling console.
The Switch 2 is almost completely backwards compatible with the Switch, with most games and controllers working on the new system without issue. A significant exception, however, comes in storage.
The Switch 2 uses microSD Express cards for extended storage, which are considerably more expensive than the standard microSD cards compatible with the Switch. This is mitigated somewhat by a far more generous 256 gigabytes of internal storage (224 GB more than the original Switch), but still bad news for any Switch users hoping to use expensive large-capacity microSD cards with the new system.
Nintendo has also built improvements to its online experience into the Switch 2. The right Joy Con has an extra button that launches a "Game Chat" feature that allows communication with friends through a built in microphone, which can be upgraded to a video chat with a USB camera sold separately. The feature is free until March 31, 2026, after which a Nintendo Switch Online membership will be required (prices for individual memberships range from $25 to $64 annually).
With a new "Mario Kart" game headlining the lineup of launch titles, Nintendo once again leveraged its array of blockbuster intellectual properties to sell a new system out of the gate. There is no other place to go to play in the immensely popular "Super Mario" and "Legend of Zelda" universes. But when it comes to third-party support, Nintendo's less powerful systems have lagged behind Sony's PlayStation and Microsoft's Xbox units for some time.
That could be changing. One of the best games at launch is a port of the resource-intensive game "Cyberpunk 2077." The Switch 2 version performs very well in both docked and undocked modes, serving as an example of what the new console is capable of. And there are more intriguing ports on the way, including the 2022 megahit "Elden Ring."
The Switch 2's draw will undoubtedly be its catalogue of exclusive games, and it's unlikely to become the third-party console of choice for high-end technophiles who are looking for top frame rates and peak graphical performance. But if Nintendo has closed the gap to the point where the differences in performance are less noticeable to the average gamer, then it will have gone a long way to neutralizing the original Switch's main disadvantage.
A Switch 2 was loaned to The Canadian Press for review.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published June 13, 2025.
Curtis Withers, The Canadian Press
