Nintendo Switch 2: Date Of Launch, Price Point, Features And More

Switch 2, Nintendo's handheld portable gaming console, will be launched on June 5, the company announced on Wednesday at their live event 'Switch 2 Direct'.

The console will cost $449.99, it said. Preorders for Switch 2 in North America will open on April 9 at select retailers. The console package will include Joy-Con 2 controllers, a Switch 2 dock, an HDMI cable, a USB-C charging cable, and a Switch 2 AC adapter.

Here are the key features of Nintendo's Switch 2.

Nintendo showcased its handheld console's prominent features — the most prominent of which is its detachable 'joy-cons', which can now be snapped on with a magnet-powered system, building on its predecessor's design where they were slid on instead.

The detachable joy cons can also be used like a mouse to play various games, they can also be used as a one handed joysticks in tandem with the mouse feature.

Nintendo has reported that the console will support games that would utilise these unique features for novel gaming experiences.

The console comes comes with 256 GB of internal storage , which is eight times that of its predecessor which had 32 6GB storage.

The console has a bigger screen at 7.9 inches with same thickness, has double the pixels, and supports 1080p resolution as well as 120 frames per second. It has a vivid LCD screen with HDR support, which provides more contrast between light and dark areas.

The game can connect to television screens via its dock and is HDR supported. The dock has a built in fan for stable performance.

It also has an additional USB-C cable port to support a personal camera and a tabletop mode.

The Switch 2 will only use micro-SD express cards, whereas the regular micro SD cards (used in the previous Switch) will not be compatible.

It will also sport a new stand with an adjustable angle.

The console has an exclusive 'c' button to access it's 'game chat' menu. 'Game chat' is a feature where players can communicate with each other remotely while playing games on the console, using a microphone that picks up the player's voice from a distance.

The player's voice can be heard even with outside noise, and it works in both handheld and console mode.

Players can also share their game stream while playing different games and adjust the size of the game screen.

It also has a personal game camera which broadcasts the user's face on the screen while playing, customising the placement of the player's head on stream and inside games to make the player's face represent their player character.

Nintendo Switch 2's game chat will be in open access until March 26, 2026, after which players will need a Nintendo Switch Online membership to use it.

The chat comes with parental controls with different settings.

The console also has 'Gameshare', a feature that facilitates a user to temporarily share compatible games with other Switch owners, (not just for Switch 2) who can locally play them on their screens. It also supports online play and can host up to three players at once.

It will be available via software updates, with 'Club House Games 51' being the first game to support the feature. This feature be available for many other games, including ones exclusive to the Switch 2

Other games that may be compatible with this feature might be 'Big Brain Academy', 'Super Mario Odyssey' and 'Captain toad: Treasure Tracker' as they were shown along with the above-mentioned games when discussing video games that support the feature.

The device will also be backwards compatible with most Nintendo games but the game publisher did put out a disclaimer saying that certain games published by it may not be compatible and would release information regarding the ones that aren't on its website at a later date.

The console will also have revamped and updated versions of game exclusives for its previous generations, which uses the console's enhanced technical features.