Summary
- The Switch 2 closely resembles the Genki leak, featuring new details like Joy-Con straps that turn controllers into mice.
- Updated Joy-Cons now magnetically clamp into straps, with color-coded docks. 12-pin connectors may boost power and stability.
- The flexible kickstand and large screen stand out, alongside the new Mario Kart, but hardware specs and dock ports remain a mystery.
After years of speculation, months of rumors, and weeks of leaks, Nintendo has finally unveiled the Switch 2! And it’s…exactly what we’ve already seen. However, there are a few important new details to gleam.
The Switch 2 Was Finally Revealed
Nintendo’s Switch 2 reveal trailer shows off the original Switch morphing into its successor. This gives us a good chance to see its every detail up close, down to the texture of its plastic.
This is—for the most part—identical to the Genki leak I analyzed, from the USB-C port on top of the device to the optical sensors in the Joy-Cons. Seeing it in motion does reveal some new details that I couldn’t catch before, though.
Joy-Con Straps Turn the Controllers Into Mice
Let’s start with correcting my own hubris. In my leak analysis, I wrote, “I doubt [the Joy-Cons’ optical sensors will] be used as a mouse as some have speculated. I can’t imagine Nintendo wanting to cross wires with PC gaming, but who knows?”
Well, I was sure wrong, and Nintendo knew it. Mouse-like functionality looks to be exactly the optical sensor use-case that Nintendo showed off in the trailer. However, the catch is something that didn’t leak: what seems to enable this are the Joy-Cons’ straps.
These straps have two pads on their outward-facing side that appear to allow the Joy-Cons to smoothly glide across surfaces. It’s likely that this is polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), the same material computer mice use to reduce traction. The reveal render shows the Joy-Cons smoothly sliding along a flat surface, though it’s worth taking this smoothness with a grain of salt given that this is an animation.
Here’s a free money printer for Nintendo: release a Joy-Con variant that looks like a mouse (the animal) with a tail-shaped wrist strap. The internet will love it.
A Few More New Joy-Con Details
We also learned a few more details about the updated Switch 2 controllers.
First, gone are the days of sliding straps onto rails. The Joy-Con now magnetically clamps into the body of the straps, just as they now dock into the Switch 2. A button on the bottom of the strap looks to act as a release valve. Also, both the straps and the docks on the Switch 2 are color-coded to make pairing them with the correct Joy-Con even more foolproof.
Also—and this one is just for the super-geeks—there are vertically-aligned 12-pin connectors on both sides of the Switch 2 that line up with ports on the Joy-Cons. It’s hard to say what—if any—benefit this will provide, though it’s worth noting that CPU connectors on PC motherboards use these to increase power and stability. Whether that translates to anything noteworthy is something we’re yet to know.
Lastly, the scarcely used IR sensor seems to be gone from the bottom of the right Joy-Con. While there are apparently special optical sensors that can replicate this heat sensing technology, it’s unknown if the new Joy-Cons will be capable of that. If you wanted my guess, I’d say no, though I was already wrong about how the optical sensors would be used, so who knows?
The New Kickstand Is Incredibly Flexible
Without a case on the Switch, we’re now able to get a better look at the Switch 2’s kickstand.
It indeed takes the shape of a thin bar, yet what we didn’t know was just how flexible it would be. The trailer shows it bending as far back as it can possibly go until the screen is all but pointing at the ceiling. This is the same flexibility as the Switch OLED model’s kickstand, which is to say it’s everything one could want.
In addition, feet—probably made of silicone—sit on the bottom edge of the Switch 2. These will help keep the Switch 2 from sliding around surfaces when resting on its kickstand. It’s a smart addition that you’ll want to consider if you plan on buying a case for your Switch 2.
The Screen’s a Bit Smaller Than We Expected
While the Switch 2’s screen is notably larger than the original Switch’s, the leaks made it seem bezel-less. This turns out to not be the case.
Like the original model, the bezel has something of a pillar-boxing effect, given its large sides. Part of the reason for this is to account for the Joy-Con docks. The Switch OLED model largely did away with this, so it’s a bit disappointing to see the pillar-box style return with such prominence, even if it’s still couching a bigger screen.
The Switch OLED Brightness Sensor Returns
The Switch OLED placed its brightness sensor on the top of the device rather than nested below the screen as in the original Switch. This proved to make the handheld’s automatic brightness setting significantly better, and it’s great that Nintendo took note of this improvement when designing the Switch 2. In fact, the brightness sensor appears to be even larger here, which may signify an upgrade beyond what the OLED model was capable of.
There Will Be a New Mario Kart
The only new game shown off for the Switch 2 is a new Mario Kart (Mario Kart 9 perhaps). It’s hard to gleam much from the trailer other than it seems to support 24-person races going off the starting line and has what looks to be a pretty impressive draw distance. We’ll really need to see more before judging it, but it’s an unsurprising move that Nintendo is leading with its best-selling franchise.
Speaking of games, we got confirmation that backwards compatibility will include both physical and digital games. Nintendo noted there may be some limitations to which Switch games are compatible with the Switch 2, with specifics forthcoming. I’d assume the most likely goners are the handful of titles that used the IR sensor.
What We Still Don’t Know
There’s still a lot we don’t know about the Switch 2. This announcement didn’t touch on the internal specs, the ports in the dock, what the new button on the right Joy-Con is for, whether the Joy-Con grip is or isn’t the charging variety (it probably isn’t), and the type of screen.
On this last point, rumors that were correct about the Switch 2 thus far also said the device returns to an LCD display, an unfortunate downgrade from the Switch OLED model. Hopefully, it’ll at least be an improvement over the original Switch’s LCD.
Also, there’s still the minor mystery of the circle on the back of the Genki case. I thought this could indicate Qi2 charging, but there was no indication of wireless charging here. The dream of a Nintendo wireless charger is still alive.
We’ll be learning more about the Switch 2 and its games on April 2nd when Nintendo airs a dedicated Nintendo Direct. There will also be events called “Nintendo Switch 2 Experience” that will be held around the world, where a lucky few will get hands-on time with the new hybrid console.