The Nintendo Change 2 has been introduced, here is all the things we all know

Because the world turns, so do the console generations. The Nintendo Change is over seven years old, so it’s due for a refresh. Nintendo Change 2 rumors have been swirling for years, however now we’ve some indicators of life. The corporate officially revealed the sequel to its most profitable house console ever in a short trailer on January 16.

The Change 2 seems to be functionally similar to the unique system, albeit with a bigger show, magnetic Pleasure-Cons and a sleeker design. The corporate additionally reaffirmed that the upcoming console will likely be backwards suitable with Change video games.

Whereas the reveal did verify some rumors and have just a few fascinating particulars for many who have been paying shut consideration, Nintendo remains to be largely retaining its playing cards near its chest. We’ll have to attend till a particular Nintendo Direct on April 2 for all of the juicy info. Annoyingly, that date is a Wednesday and never a Two-sday.

The Nintendo Change 2 was introduced on January 16

The rumor mill had heavily suggested that Nintendo would pull again the curtain on the Change 2 on January 16, and that turned out to be the case.

The corporate hasn’t modified the core kind issue. It is a transportable console with removable Pleasure-Cons. The Change 2 may be positioned in a dock for big-screen gaming. There are some important variations from the unique console, nevertheless.

The obvious one is that the next-gen Pleasure-Cons will now not slide into place mechanically. As a substitute, they’re going to connect to the principle unit magnetically. There’s a small connector that is doubtless used to cost the controllers and maybe take away the necessity to hyperlink them through Bluetooth. It is unclear at this level if Pleasure-Cons from the unique system will likely be suitable with the Change 2.

One different huge (and really welcome) change is the addition of a second USB-C port on the highest of the gadget. That ought to make it a lot simpler to plug in equipment whereas the Change 2 is docked. It is nice to see that Nintendo has stored the headphone jack as nicely. Let’s simply hope that Bluetooth headphone help is stay from the bounce this time and Nintendo would not go away everybody waiting four years for that characteristic.

The kickstand is getting an improve as nicely. As with the Change OLED, it spans the size of the console. However, in response to the trailer, this one seems to be absolutely adjustable, so you may tweak the viewing angle to at least one that works for you.

When will the Nintendo Change 2 come out?

2025. That is all we all know for positive at this level.

It is extremely unlikely that Nintendo will launch the console earlier than the devoted Direct on April 2, and never solely as a result of that is at first of Nintendo’s subsequent monetary 12 months. Nonetheless, accent producer Genki, which has been a significant supply of leaks in current months, claims the console will be released in April.

In any case, we must always be taught the discharge date throughout the April 2 Direct if we have not already by then.

When can I attempt the Nintendo Change 2?

Nintendo is planning a worldwide roadshow to let players go hands-on with the console. These occasions begin in New York and Paris on April 3-6, with others going down all through the next two months. That lends credence to some strategies that Nintendo will launch the Change 2 in June.

Ticket registration for the Change 2 Expertise occasions within the US (in New York, Los Angeles and Paris) starts on January 17 at 3PM ET and can stay open till January 26. A Nintendo Account is required to enroll. Nintendo will randomly choose the recipients of the free tickets.

The complete record of Nintendo Change 2 Expertise occasions is as follows:

North America:

• New York, April 4-6, 2025

• Los Angeles, April 11-13, 2025

• Dallas, April 25-27, 2025

• Toronto, April 25-27, 2025

Europe:

• Paris, April 4-6, 2025

• London, April 11-13, 2025

• Milan, April 25-27, 2025

• Berlin, April 25-27, 2025

• Madrid, Might 9/11, 2025

• Amsterdam, Might 9/11, 2025

Oceania:

Asia:

• Tokyo (Makuhari), April 26-27, 2025

• Seoul, Might 31-June 1, 2025

• Hong Kong, To be introduced

• Taipei, To be introduced

Will the Nintendo Change 2 have some weirdness?

Every little thing we have seen and thus far about this console has been pretty, nicely, conventional. It seems to be like the unique Change, however higher. That is superior, however will there be any of that unpredictable Nintendo magic? Possibly! There are two puzzling additions that folk cannot make conceal nor hair of.

Eager eyes could have observed a brand new button on the underside of the best Pleasure-Con. It it not but clear what this does. Might it provoke voice chat throughout gameplay? Might it calibrate the controllers? Might it create a room-sized hologram of Bowser in your lounge? We’ll have to attend and see.

Now onto the up to date Pleasure-Cons. There seems to be a brand new sensor on the connecting aspect of every controller. It seems to be a whole lot like an optical sensor, which is what a pc mouse makes use of. This has led to hypothesis that gamers will be capable of flip the Pleasure-Con over and use it like a mouse. Of notice: the trailer reveals the Pleasure-Cons shifting alongside a flat floor, connector aspect down and searching suspiciously like a mouse.

However why would anybody even need this? I can consider three phrases. New Mario Paint.

Is the Nintendo Change 2 backwards suitable?

The corporate confirmed in November 2024 that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be backwards compatible. It can additionally characteristic entry to Nintendo On-line, so customers will be capable of play all of these previous retro titles.

Within the preliminary Nintendo Change 2 press launch, Nintendo reiterated that bodily and digital Change video games will work on the brand new system. Nonetheless, it famous that “sure Nintendo Change video games is probably not supported on or absolutely suitable with Nintendo Change 2.” Extra particulars about which video games these are will likely be revealed later.

What about specs?

The rumors concerning specs are in every single place, so it’s powerful to pin down. We all know one factor for positive: It’ll be extra highly effective than the traditional Change {hardware}, which was already antiquated again in 2017. One analyst allegedly received a maintain of a spec sheet from the Korean United Day by day Information that stated the Change 2 would boast an eight-core Cortex-A78AE processor, 8GB of RAM, and 64GB of inside eMMC storage. This tracks for me, as these specs are about as underpowered in 2024 as the unique Change was in 2017. Nonetheless, some stories do indicate that the console will embrace 12GB of RAM.

One other supply means that the eight-core CPU will likely be packaged inside an NVIDIA-produced Tegra239 SoC (system on a chip). Given the present Change runs on an NVIDIA chip, that makes a variety of sense. The CPU will likely be extra highly effective, but it surely’s the Change 2’s new GPU that will likely be a significant differentiator. It is all-but-confirmed that the Change 2 will help DLSS, NVIDIA’s “deep studying supersampling” upscaling tech, which might permit the console to render video games at a low decision internally whereas outputting a high-resolution picture. (Enjoyable reality: We really wrote about how perfect DLSS was for the Nintendo Switch 2 when the expertise was introduced alongside the RTX 20 collection again in 2018.)

There are nonetheless questions concerning the Change 2 and DLSS: Will the system help newer DLSS features like frame generation? Will current video games be routinely tidied up by NVIDIA’s algorithm? Whatever the precise implementation, DLSS upscaling will likely be an enormous leap over the rudimentary strategies accessible to Nintendo Change builders.

As for the show, there are various conflicting rumors. Early stories from stable sources instructed the Change 2 would have an 8-inch show LCD show. The Change 2’s show actually seems to be bigger than that of the unique Change in a side-by-side comparability within the reveal trailer.

Some analysts have instructed this could be an OLED display, whereas others have stated it will be a Mini-LED display. A Mini-LED show is principally an LCD show that has a backlight made from (shock!) mini-LEDs relatively than edge lighting. This enables for native dimming, making the blacks extra black. I’m hedging my bets right here. I believe it’ll be an ordinary LCD, to chop prices, with an OLED or Mini-LED mannequin coming later down the road. Nonetheless, Mini-LED screens are barely cheaper than OLED shows, in order that’s actually a risk at launch.

As for decision, current reporting means that the console will output 1080p in handheld and 4K when docked. That is significantly better than the OG Change. In the meantime, it is not but clear if the Change 2 will ship efficiency or visible upgrades to authentic Change video games.

How a lot will the Nintendo Change 2 value?

We do not have an excessive amount of info concerning worth however we do have loads of historical past to work with. The unique Nintendo Change launched at $300, which is just about the “magic quantity” relating to Nintendo console releases lately. The Wii U additionally got here in at $300.

Nonetheless, there are many rumors circulating that Nintendo might be upping the asking worth for the Change 2. Quite a few shops have reported it’ll be $400, or probably much more costly. Nonetheless, the identical analysts who say the console will likely be $400 have been additionally pretty sure it will be out by the tip of 2024 and, nicely, that did not occur.

Dipping again into historical past, there’s some priority for a worth uptick. The GameCube was $200 and the Wii was $250. The Wii U and Change elevated to $300 and, nicely, numbers prefer to go up. A $400 price ticket would make it almost as costly as a PS5 and Xbox Collection X. That may additionally put it on the similar worth because the 256GB LCD Steam Deck.

Once more, we must always get affirmation of the value throughout the April 2 Nintendo Direct.

Will we learn about any launch video games?

Not a lot. The reveal trailer provided a peek at a brand new Mario Kart recreation. Nintendo launched Mario Kart 8 on the Wii U over a decade in the past and it has been milking that money cow ever since, having offered greater than 64 million copies of the sport throughout that console and the Change. It is positively time for a brand new entry!

It is actually been a long time since we’ve gotten a correct 3D Mario journey as nicely, so a brand new one might be a launch title. That may be one heck of a system vendor. Aside from that, your guess is pretty much as good as mine. Previous as prologue, we will count on one thing from Ubisoft and an off-the-wall title like 1-2-Change.

If there’s a gimmick or hook concerned with the console, we’ll additionally get a recreation that takes benefit of that. A twin launch of Metroid Prime 4, identical to Breath of the Wild and Twilight Princess earlier than that, can also be a risk.

It is all however nailed on that we’ll be taught rather more concerning the Change 2 launch lineup throughout the April 2 Nintendo Direct. You will positively need to set your Alarmo for that one.

That is all the things we all know concerning the Nintendo Change 2 right now. We’ll replace this text with rumors we belief and with info we collect instantly from sources. Any modifications made to the article after its preliminary publishing will likely be listed beneath.

Replace, January 15, 2025, 12:10 PM ET: This story has been up to date to incorporate rumors a couple of potential console announcement for this week.

Replace, January 16, 2025, 10:33AM ET: This story has been up to date to incorporate official particulars concerning the Nintendo Change 2 from the reveal trailer and press launch.