nintendo switch 2

What we’re expecting from Nintendo’s Switch 2 announcement Wednesday

c button, gaming, Mario Kart, metroid prime 4, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, nintendo switch 2, switch 2, switch 2 launch / Mike M. / April 2, 2025

Implausible: Long-suffering Earthbound fans have been hoping for a new game in the series (or even an official localization of the Japan-exclusive Mother 3) for literal decades now. Personally, though, I’m hoping for a surprise revisit to the Punch-Out series, following on its similar surprise return on the Wii in 2009.

Screen

Likely: While a 720p screen was pretty nice in a 2017 gaming handheld, a full 1080p display is much more standard in today’s high-end gaming portables. We expect Nintendo will follow this trend for what looks to be a nearly 8-inch screen on the Switch 2.

Possible: While a brighter OLED screen would be nice as a standard feature on the Switch 2, we expect Nintendo will follow the precedent of the Switch generation and offer this as a pricier upgrade at some point in the future.

Implausible: The Switch 2 would be the perfect time for Nintendo to revisit the glasses-free stereoscopic 3D that we all thought was such a revelation on the 3DS all those years ago.

C Button

Close-up of the — C-ing is believing. Credit: Nintendo

Likely: The mysterious new button labeled “C” on the Switch 2’s right Joy-Con could serve as a handy way to “connect” to other players, perhaps through a new Miiverse-style social network.

Possible: Recent rumors suggest the C button could be used to connect to a second Switch console (or the TV-connected dock) for a true dual-screen experience. That would be especially fun and useful for Wii U/DS emulation and remasters.

Implausible: The C stands for Chibi-Robo! and launches a system-level mini-game focused on the miniature robot.

New features

Switch 2, with joycons slightly off the central unit/screen. — Credit: Nintendo

Likely: After forcing players to use a wonky smartphone app for voice chat on the Switch, we wouldn’t be surprised if Nintendo finally implements full on-device voice chat for online games on the Switch 2—at least between confirmed “friends” on the system.

Possible: Some sort of system-level achievement tracking would bring Nintendo’s new console in line with a feature that the competition from Sony and Microsoft has had for decades now.

Implausible: After killing it off for the Switch generation, we’d love it if Nintendo brought back the Virtual Console as a way to buy permanent downloadable copies of emulated classics that will carry over across generations. Failing that, how about a revival of the 3DS’s StreetPass passive social network for Switch 2 gamers on the go?

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Nintendo patent explains Switch 2 Joy-Cons’ “mouse operation” mode

gaming, Joy-Cons, nintendo switch 2 / DJ Henderson / February 7, 2025

It’s been a month since we first heard rumors that the Switch 2’s new Joy-Cons could be slid across a flat surface to function like a computer mouse. Now, a newly published patent filed by Nintendo seems to confirm that feature and describes how it will work.

The international patent was filed with the World Intellectual Property Organization in January 2023, but it was only published on WIPO’s website on Thursday. The Japanese-language patent—whose illustrations match what we’ve seen of Switch 2 Joy-Con precisely—features an English abstract describing “a sensor for mouse operation” that can “detect reflected light from a detected surface, the light changing by moving over the detected surface…” much like any number of optical computer mice. Schematic drawings in the patent show how the light source and light sensor are squeezed inside the Joy-Con, with a built-in lens for directing the light to and from each.

A schematic diagram of the Switch 2’s Joy-Con light sensor Credit: Nintendo / WIPO

A machine translation of the full text of the patent describes the controller as “a novel input device that can be used as a mouse and other than a mouse.” In mouse mode, as described in the patent, the user cradles the outer edge of the controller with their palm and places the inner edge “on, for example, a desk or the like.”

In this configuration, the user’s thumb can still access the analog stick (which is now pointing horizontally) while the index and middle fingers are positioned so the two shoulder buttons “can be operated as, for example, a right-click button and a left-click button,” according to the patent. The patent describes this configuration as “easy to hold” or “easy to grip.” It also goes to great lengths to explain how the shoulder buttons wrap around the curved top corner of the controller and thus are “easy to press” by pushing either downward or closer to horizontally with a finger.

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Switch 2 sports ~7.9-inch screen, 33% bigger tablet surface—Ars video analysis

gaming, nintendo switch 2 / Shannon Garcia / January 17, 2025

A scaled comparison between the Switch 2 and the Steam Deck OLED shows Nintendo’s system has a larger screen despite being narrower. Credit: Nintendo / Valve / Ars Technica

This measurement method requires some judgment calls to decide where the edges of certain Switch 2 elements begin and end in the relevant frames. Issues of distortion associated with the camera lens (or video editing on Nintendo’s part) might also affect the precision of the measurements. Still, the results of this calculation should be close enough for a first-order estimate.

Overall, the Switch’s expanded screen size would give it something of a leg up over portable PC competition like the Steam Deck (or Steam Deck OLED) and ROG Ally X. To get a significantly bigger screen on a gaming handheld, you have to look to the Lenovo Legion Go or monsters like the upcoming Acer Nitro Blaze 11. Yet despite the larger screen, the Switch 2 still comes in significantly narrower than competition like the Steam Deck (10.48-inch width with Joy-Cons for the Switch 2 versus 11.7 inches for the Steam Deck).

As for the new Joy-Cons, a lengthening of roughly 13 to 18 percent along either axis should make holding them a little less cramp-inducing for adult hands. And the additional surface area on the joysticks (~43 percent larger) and buttons (~60 percent larger) should make them significantly more comfortable under the thumbs.

We won’t really know how the comparative hardware battle will shake out, though, until we get crucial details from Nintendo about things like the Switch 2’s thickness, weight, screen resolution, and hardware power (not to mention the price, of course). For now, though, at least we can look at these images and measurements and imagine how the next Nintendo console will feel in our hands.

Switch 2 estimated dimensions

(As calculated by Ars Technica, based on freeze frames from the teaser trailer)

Google Docs embed

HTML table

	A	B	C	D	E	F	G	H
	Switch 2 (approx.)		Switch			Switch OLED
	mm	in	mm	in	S2 % +	mm	in	S2 % +


Tablet width	196.1	7.72	173	6.81	13.35%	176	6.93	11.42%
w/ Joy-Cons	266.3	10.48	239	9.41	11.42%	242	9.53	10.04%
Tablet height	115.7	4.56	102	4.02	13.43%	102	4.02	13.43%

Tablet footprint area	22,689	35.17	17,054	26.43	33.04%	17,952	27.82	26.39%
w/ Joy-Cons	30,811	47.75	24,378	37.78	26.39%	24,684	38.26	24.82%


Screen width	175	6.89	137	5.39	27.74%	155	6.10	12.90%
Screen height	98.5	3.88	77	3.03	27.92%	87	3.43	13.22%
Screen diagonal	201	7.91	157.5	6.20	27.62%	177.8	7.00	13.05%

Screen area (^2)	17,237	26.72	10,549	16.35	63.40%	13,485	20.90	27.82%


Joy-Con height	116	4.57	102	4.02	13.73%
Joy-Con width	42.4	1.67	35.9	1.41	18.11%

Joy-Con footprint area (^2)	4918	7.62	3,662	5.68	34.32%

Joystick diameter	17.94	0.71	15	0.59	19.60%
Joystick surface area (^2)	253	0.39	177	0.27	43.04%

Face button diameter	9.15	0.36	7.24	0.29	26.38%
Face button surface area (^2)	66	0.10	41	0.06	59.73%

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Report: After many leaks, Switch 2 announcement could come “this week”

gaming, Nintendo, Nintendo Switch, nintendo switch 2, Switch, Tech / Beth Washington / January 13, 2025

Nintendo may be getting ready to make its Switch 2 console official. According to “industry whispers” collected by Eurogamer, as well as reporting from The Verge’s Tom Warren, the Switch 2 could be formally announced sometime this week. Eurogamer suggests the reveal is scheduled for this Thursday, January 16.

The reporting also suggests that the reveal will focus mostly on the console’s hardware design, with another game-centered announcement coming later. Eurogamer reports that the console won’t be ready to launch until April; this would be similar to Nintendo’s strategy for the original Switch, which was announced in mid-January 2017 but not launched until March.

Many things about the Switch 2’s physical hardware design have been thoroughly leaked at this point, thanks mostly to accessory makers who have been showing off their upcoming cases. Accessory maker Genki was at CES last week with a 3D-printed replica of the console based on the real thing, suggesting a much larger but still familiar-looking console with a design and button layout similar to the current Switch.

On the inside, the console is said to sport a new Nvidia-designed Arm processor with a much more powerful GPU and more RAM than the current Switch. Dubbed “T239,” Eurogamer reports that the chip includes 1,536 CUDA cores based on the Ampere architecture, the same used in 2020’s GeForce RTX 30-series graphics cards on the PC.

Report: After many leaks, Switch 2 announcement could come “this week” Read More »