It ’s almost meter . After a tantalization of an initial reveal back in January , the wait for firm detail on theNintendo Switch 2is eventually coming to an terminal . ComeApril 2 , we ’ll likely know the organization ’s specs , terms , release escort , and its launch games . It ’s a moment players have been look to for eld and something that ’s certain to fill up online water coolers until the system ’s proper launching . I ’m just as eager and impatient to see it as you are .
To bolt down at least one hr during this last stretchability , how about we collectively take one last flavor at the past ? In January 2017 , Nintendo held aproper live conferenceto repeal the chapeau on the Nintendo Switch . It was a huge effect that had a revolving door of executives taking the stage to conk out down the scheme ’s feature and take the air through its launch lineup . It ’s the product of a bygone earned run average of E3 - style mechanical press conference that has been supplant by the kind of cold , pre - recorded video package we ’re probable to see on April 2 .
Still , that intro is a good way to set up expectations for what ’s coming . rent ’s take one last saunter down memory lane together and reflect on the Nintendo ’s playbook from its Switch reveal .
Hardware presentation brings the drama
First matter ’s first : Wow , recall live degree presentment ? These things just had a different energy to them . There ’s just a different kind of stress that comes from an executive milk an audience that ’s eager to hear every detail . Nintendo President Tatsumi Kimishima makes a meal out of announcing the system ’s $ 300 damage decimal point , lack of region shut away , and its March release day of the month as cameras dramatically flash . That last detail is significant here for anyone seek to deduce the Switch 2 ’s release date ahead of time . Nintendo would degenerate the console table only two month after the show . If history retell itself , that might mean we ’re in store for a June release appointment .
One thing that ’s really underappreciated about this whole showcase is how well Nintendo pitched the Switch . The highlight of the intact stream come early on when Shinya Takahashi walks through the story of innovations in Nintendo console and explain how each one is present in the Switch . His musical note about the GameCube ’s handgrip being an early attack at portability feel revelatory at the fourth dimension . The Switch 2 does n’t need as originative a sales pitch , but I ’ll be odd to see how the mouse - con is contextualized in April . You could get a connection to the DS ’ stylus there .
From there , we got an extended segment explaining how the system works in detail . Battery life , wireless multiplayer , and the Joy - cons all got a spotlight . My favorite “ of the prison term ” details here are that Yoshiaki Koizumi dedicated a moment of leg meter to foreground both Amiibo support and social media communion . These were authoritative enough feature to foreground at the time , and now both are virtually dead by the end of the Switch ’s life . I ’m personally go for to see some similarly go steady Switch 2 gimmick introduced that I can wistfully reverberate on come Switch 3 reveal .
A hilarious launch software sales pitch
In retrospect , it ’s kind of obvious that Nintendo did n’t quite sympathise the baron of its own organisation . The Legend of Zelda : Breath of the Wild may be the greatest system launching game ever , but it ’s easy to draw a blank just how dire the residuum of that lineup calculate . The first game to get a spotlight?1 - 2 Switch . The second?Arms . Two strikes !
Okay , this was n’t quite as untamed as it sound in context . Nintendo led with those game for a very good rationality : They were both positioned as tech demos for what the Joy - confidence trick could do . Yoshiaki Koizumi hyped up the controllers a little too well when describing HD Rumble and its IR sensors ( the very in high spirits production value of the pre - filmed video here really helped ) . The idea that you could feel ice move around in a methamphetamine sound exciting , but it was concentrated to picture what that really intend . I guess1 - 2 Switchmakes sensory faculty as a real demo , one that stressed the Switch ’s potential as a political party system of rules , but it ’s hilarious to see its emplacement in the current in retrospect – specially with its dramatic cowboy introduction that made it experience like Nintendo was let on something much more matured here .
Just as funny is the fact that Nintendo followed that up withArms , another failed attempt to launch a Modern IP built for Switch . It ’s not that this was a bad reveal . Nintendo was distinctly trying to create the nextSplatoonhere by let on a fresh IP with the same energy . The musical theme of Nintendo create a competitive fight game was exciting , and this was a ok way to hype up motion controls by showing how player could befuddle dissimilar punches base on how they curved their controller . But hindsight really is 20/20 here . I got a good belly laugh learn a translator say “ Oh . Spring Man come through ” with no touch of emotion , a harbinger of what was to issue forth .
Okay, now we’re cooking
Nintendo really did n’t put its best foot forward there , but the next batch of game gave a much better vision of what the Switch ’s lifespan would look like . In fact , it was almost more out front of its clip than Nintendo may have realized . Splatoon 2was the first big IP to get a segment , showing that Nintendo was quick to double down on the Wii U ’s most promising invention . That would go on to solidify it as one of the caller ’s top franchise , with Splatoon 3 becoming a orca app in 2022 . It ’s a entirely absurd segment in retrospect , too . The whole thing is a buttoned up live show build for press at this percentage point , until Hisashi Nogami take the stage in a lab coat and starts talking about squid in character as a researcher . Completely different energy . I love it .
Super Mario Odysseycame next right at the center of the stream , and that ’s where thing really heat up up . It ’s easy to blank out how masterful this reveal was . A photographic camera trash through a city skyline , Mario skip up from a manhole , straight up human beings walk around . Just a gravid “ WTF ” moment that held the possession gimmick of the game close to its breast . It ’s the first mo of the current where Nintendo really sells the estimate that players are getting console - quality games on the go .
Things really get interesting , though , when Nintendo makes a play for its more hardcore playerbase . Several RPGs get herald next , and it all kick off with what might be the most significant present moment of the current in retrospect . A teaser lagger forXenoblade Chronicles 2plays , complete with a Monolith Soft logo kvetch the video off . It seemed a little recess in 2017 — and was position as such with a short section – but we now know that this was the starting line of an conglomerate . Xenoblade Chronicles has gone on to become one of the Switch ’s most important enfranchisement , withXenoblade Chronicles 3nabbing a Game of the Year nominating address andXenoblade Chronicles X : Definitive Editionbecoming one of the Switch ’s last bragging releases . Pay attention to what belittled franchise get a public eye on April 2 , because they just may loosen what the Switch 2 ’s biggest power players will be that generation .
Third-party blowout
What ’s particularly interesting about the stream looking back now is how much emphasis Nintendo put on third - party reinforcement . The companionship had lose a flock of developers in the Wii days thanks to that organisation ’s alone control setup , something that pull in Nintendo criticism at the time . It ’s no longer a talking point in 2025 , but it ’s leisurely to draw a blank how severely Nintendo had to work to get there . Over 10 arcminute of showtime was dedicated to highlighting as many partners as possible , alleviating fright that only Nintendo was grow for its console ( “ Over 80 games are in development , ” Koizumi stressed ) .
We got a vague teaser forFire Emblem warrior , setting the microscope stage for Koei Tecmo ’s several Nintendo - themed Musous to come . Square Enix got a spotlight to bring out Switch translation ofDragon Quest 10and 11,as well asDragon Quest Heroes 1and2 . Atlus got in the mix with aShin Megami Tensei Vtrailer , and Square pop up again withOctopath Traveller . Both confirm that the Switch would have some major third - party exclusives ( and both would go on to become defining game for the system , too ) .
To emphasize its partnerships even more , Nintendo trotted out executive director from other studio to hype the system up . Toshihiro Nagoshi represent Sega , Todd Howard made a cameo to showThe Elder roll volt : Skyrimrunning on Switch , Suda51 revealedNo More Heroes 3 in an awkward section that exit the flow ’s translator stumbling , and EA ’s Patrick Söderlund closed thing out to reveal that Fifa was arrive to Switch . That last affair was a huge deal at the time . This was during an era where Xbox was dedicating full segments to EA Sports games . A Nintendo console getting those game really sent the substance that it would be play on the same level as its challenger .
A truly grand finale
The last 10 minutes sound off off with a scrap of house cleansing . We get a sizzle reel of game , which affirm thatMinecraft , Sonic , Lego biz , and more are coming to Switch . A rundown of what comes with the cabinet follows , and then some recorded messages from Nintendo of Europe and America . It all build up to Reggie Fils - Aimé teasing outThe Legend of Zelda : Breath of the Wild ’s release date . Again , Nintendo absolutely makes a meal out of this thing . There ’s a whole bit where no one want to be the one to say the loss particular date and keep passing the vaulting horse to a different executive director . It feels like we ’re about to get it , but then we go back to a recap of the Switch ’s release date .
“ We do have one last thing to share with you today . Before we do – ” Oh my god , just say it already !
Finally , after minutes of teases , we ’re treat to a spectacularBreath of the Wildtrailer . wholesale open world shots . The Master Sword bathed in golden luminance . tremendous monsters . shielder run through fire Greenwich Village . Zelda cry in Link ’s branch as the rain pours down . It ’s positively epical stuff — and it ’s all crest off with the revelation that it ’s coming in two months as a launching secret plan . End of stream . It ’s the kind of unbelievable finale that made you forget about all the awkward second that came before it . The Nintendo Switch comes off looking like a must buy organisation on those few proceedings alone .
Looking to Switch 2
So , what are the takeout food here looking ahead to the Switch 2 ’s big moment ? The big one for me is that Nintendo is in a way different place now than it was in 2017 . This was a stream designed to put a down and out company back on top . This was designed to address the worst component part of the Wii and Wii U era and establish the Switch as something more than a cursory console table where you’re able to play Nintendo ’s apparent movement games . On April 2 , Nintendo will instead walk into that stream at the top of its biz , with no indigence to convince players that it can save . We ’re probable in for a very dissimilar show as a resolution .
For one , I have to imagine that the Switch 2 ’s first shown game will look very , very different . We ’re not dealing with an experimental Nintendo trying to reinvent its game after a dud Wii U life . Instead , Nintendo is heading into this launch as a company that ’s more confident in how bighearted a hit its existing franchises can be on a widely take on console table . Metroid Prime 4 : Beyondcould stand - in as a great opener , and a expert Joy - con demonstration too ( who knows ? Maybe the shiner - con can be used to rove Samus ’ morphball around ) . I imagine we ’ll see less teasers this sentence too , as Nintendo has seriously dial back that strategy after it backfired withMetroid Prime 4 .
I imagine that the use of third - party partners will look very different this prison term around , too . The 2017 stream was a snatch of a statement from Nintendo , but things are very different heading into the Switch 2 . There ’s no longer a worry that Nintendo is n’t going to have support from the major players . Even Xbox and PlayStation have published games on the platform . Amid that , Nintendo ’s first - party efforts have stolen the show this generation , so it ’s advantageously position to put itself first . I ’m certain we ’ll still see some swelled porthole and task herald , but there just is n’t a need to have Todd Howard to pop up to win over sceptic anymore . That ’s the self-aggrandizing thing that ’s changed from 2017 to now .
Otherwise , I suppose the playbook wo n’t be too unlike . We ’ll likely get all the of import details like cost and battery life , with perhaps a bit more emphasis on raw specification this time if they ’re impressive enough to advertise . We ’ll likely seeMario Kart 9positioned as a Brobdingnagian launch game like Zelda was , even if that wo n’t of necessity feel hoity-toity in the same manner . I have a hard time picture we ’ll see a new Zelda game tease considering how nigh we still are toTears of the Kingdom ’s release , but new Mario , Fire Emblem , and Animal Crossing games feel like they ’re next in line for a reveal . That should give Nintendo enough to forge with , set the stage for a promising year one batting order that makes the ascent feel worthwhile .
There are plenty of other question marks that could be answered though . How will online sour this clip ? Are sometime Switch games getting boosted acclivity ? Will we see more retro biz total to Switch Online or are we starting from scratch again ? It feels like there are more logistics to cover this sentence than there were in 2017 when we simply did n’t know what to expect at all . Nintendo probably wo n’t answer every burn question on April 2 , but train yourself for an outpouring of selective information . Whatever happens , it in all likelihood wo n’t be boring .
