What will we see during Nintendo’s Switch 2 presentation? –

On April 2, as you no doubt know, it’s time for Nintendo to finally (and fully) show off the successor to the Switch, a console that launched in 2017 and was described at the time as technically obsolete – but which has not only survived, but rather thrived in the best way. Two clear examples of how incredibly well it has performed are the fact that it lived for more than eight years before finally being replaced in 2025 and that Switch 2 is so incredibly similar to its predecessor.

In many ways, this makes the Switch 2 quite unique, as Nintendo has followed a regular pattern of significant upgrades since the NES and Gamecube era. They have put a whole new groundbreaking spin on each new piece of hardware, leaving the Game Boy behind in favor of the Nintendo DS, and then the Nintendo 3DS, and leaving the Gamecube behind in favor of the Wii, Wii U and Switch. Another thing that makes the Switch 2 unique is how much we know about it even before it’s released.

For the past year, we have known that it has its own Joy-Cons that attach with magnets, that it is supposed to look like the Switch and that its performance is being compared to the PlayStation 4. All this makes the upcoming announcement on April 2 feel in some ways like a bit of an old story. Whereas for two decades we have grown accustomed to Nintendo offering big surprises when they announce new hardware, there is much to suggest that there will be no surprises at all when it comes to hardware.

For my part, this actually feels a bit sad. Although the parallel has several flaws, it’s as if the ending of a movie has been spoiled far in advance. On the other hand. had we known nothing and Nintendo unconditionally showed Switch 2 on April 2, I think many fans would have been disappointed. By showing what the console looks like in advance, expectations will be at a good level and most of us are probably most curious about games, a price tag and features now, which is a pretty good position for Nintendo. Aside from the turn their hardware has taken over the past two decades, they’ve actually had pretty unexciting hardware in terms of performance, and there’s certainly nothing wrong with the Switch design.

But do they have any hardware surprises left? As for the hardware itself, I would say no, I don’t think they have anything left like a super stylus hidden in the chassis, an extremely powerful battery, a built-in projector or anything like that. That would just be leaked already, like everything else. But hardware, when we talk about video games, usually includes features, and here I think Nintendo can provide that.

We already know that the device will be backwards compatible, which will hopefully provide some nice features around automatic improvements around things like resolution and HDR. It’s also conceivable that the online support – which frankly is rather neglected by Nintendo – will be revamped properly, where it would be nice to see them offer something new. Earlier there were rumors of a somewhat metaverse-like concept with groups where you can hang out with others and do things together. Often these kinds of glorified gameplay menus tend to be slow and frustrating to use, but I would love to get the opposite from Nintendo with a smooth way to find your friends, play together, share clips and photos, and more.

Another rumor circulating is that Nintendo is preparing to add the Gamecube to its Switch Online subscription, which would certainly open up a lot of fun possibilities and probably means we can also look forward to the Switch a year or so later, since it is very closely related hardware. It is conceivable that several Gamecube classics could be equipped with online support, not least F-Zero GX, Phantasy Star Online, Super Monkey Ball and Wave Race: Blue Storm – and if there are automatic graphical improvements of the kind I suggested above, that should include the Gamecube as well.

In addition, I think the performance, which many have already dismissed as too bad, will surprise. Nintendo is a master at squeezing the maximum out of their hardware and their games already look good on Switch. They generally don’t make photorealistic games and with the style they use, the graphics will go a long way. I freely admit that I wasn’t very impressed with the ones we got to see of Mario Kart 9, but I suspect it will be all the more rewarding when we can really explore it at home. I still factor in the likelihood that we will see a really good-looking game, and a low-scoring bet is that it will be Metroid Prime 4: Beyond.

Then there’s the chance that Nintendo has a new accessory on the way that will shake things up. Of course, I can’t even guess what it is, because it’s kind of in the nature of things that surprising accessories actually surprise by not being easily predictable. I’m more cautious about this particular one, though, because everything leaks these days (including the new Gamecube controller behind the rumor of Gamecube games for Switch Online).

So, when will the console successor come out and what will it cost? I assume Nintendo will announce the release date, and actually I think it will be sooner than people expect. I’m putting my money on May or June. The price tag will be $399, which makes the device relatively inexpensive. That said, I’m not sure if price tags are something they’ll be talking about during the event.

Then there are the games. The most likely expectation is that we will see a huge amount of great announcements, with Nintendo itself having Mario Kart 9 and probably Metroid Prime 4: Beyond up front and supported by a Switch 2 version of The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Besides, they have something else too, and I assume many third parties want to get in on the action with great games. That probably includes Microsoft, which could announce the remake of The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion and a whole battery of Xbox games. We can also probably assume that fairly recent titles such as Assassin’s Creed Shadows, Monster Hunter: Wilds, Split Fiction and Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 will be announced for the format, plus possibly something from Sony as well, although that is more unlikely.

In short, I think we can look forward to a promising event next week, though it may feel a bit safer and less surprising than we’re used to from Nintendo in particular. Quality hardware with unexpected feature and release news, and lots of games, and that’s hard to complain about. Stay tuned to hear what’s happening.