Anything can happen What were expecting from Nintendos Switch 2 announcement Wednesday We take some wild stabs ahead of the big "Nintendo Direct" presentation. Kyle Orland Apr 1, 2025 4:12 pm | 8 Credit: Nintendo Credit: Nintendo Story textSizeSmallStandardLargeWidth *StandardWideLinksStandardOrange* Subscribers only Learn moreWith its planned Switch 2 Direct presentation scheduled for Wednesday morning, Nintendo is set to finally fully pull back the curtain on a console we've been speculating about for years now. We'll have plenty of reporting and analysis of whatever Nintendo announces in the days to come. In the meantime, though, we thought it would be fun to put down a marker on some of the key announcements we expect Nintendo to make tomorrow.Rather than limiting ourselves to a single prediction, though, we've broken things down into increasingly outlandish categories of "Likely," "Possible," and "Implausible." Consider this an exercise in expectation-setting for one of the most important moments in Nintendo's recent history, and be sure to let us know what you think will happen in the comments section below.Price Yen per US dollar, charted. Credit: MacroTrends Yen per US dollar, charted. Credit: MacroTrends Likely: A $399 MSRP would reflect some of the eight years of inflation-related erosion that Nintendo has seen in the (seemingly unmovable) $299 price of the original Switch. That price point would also put the Switch 2 at rough parity with the market-proven price point of the (older, non-portable) Xbox Series X and PS5.Possible: Nintendo could surprise everyone and launch the Switch 2 at the same $299 price point that the Switch has enjoyed since 2017. Such a move, paired with the first-ever price drop for the original Switch, would supercharge interest in the new console and likely make initial Switch 2 supplies that much harder to find on store shelves.Implausible: A price of $449 or more would be pretty out of character for Nintendo, which tends to launch its consoles at the lower end of the prevailing price distribution.Release date It's beginning to look a lot like a holiday launch. Credit: Aurich Lawson It's beginning to look a lot like a holiday launch. Credit: Aurich Lawson Likely: Back in 2017, there were two months between Nintendo's wider reveal of the Switch in January 2017 and that console's launch in March 2017. The same pattern would point to a June launch for the Switch 2, timing that also lines up with the conclusion of Nintendo's currently scheduled Switch 2 hands-on experiences.Possible: Nintendo might push the Switch 2 launch to the 2025 holiday season in order to give its developers and third-party partners a little more time to work on games (and manufacturing partners a little more time to make hardware). That later launch would still capture the all-important end-of-year sales period, which represents a good chunk of all game industry sales most years.Implausible: Nintendo could try to end its Direct presentation by surprise-announcing a launch right now (or within a few days), just as Sega tried to do with the ill-fated E3 debut of the Saturn in 1995. But such a shocking move would be even tougher to pull off in today's tightly integrated online media and retail market and would give Nintendo precious little time to build the launch-day marketing juggernaut it likely wants.Launch games It has taken nearly 8 years. What's another few months for the galaxy's top bounty hunter? Credit: Nintendo It has taken nearly 8 years. What's another few months for the galaxy's top bounty hunter? Credit: Nintendo Likely: A new Mario Kart was already shown briefly during Nintendo's Switch 2 teaser in January, and the long-awaited Metroid Prime 4 seems increasingly likely to launch, at least with an enhanced Switch 2 "Edition" alongside a scaled-down original Switch version. A new 3D Mario title also seems likely for the Switch 2 launch, given Nintendo's on-and-off tradition of launching new hardware with Mario games (and how long it has been since 2017's incredibly popular Super Mario Odyssey).Possible: Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the surprise Switch hit of the early pandemic lockdowns. A new Animal Crossing game would be a good way to draw some of those lapsed Switch players back for a new, more powerful Switch 2.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 This compressed screenshot of a compressed video is by no means the resolution of the Switch 2 screen, but it's going to be higher than the original Switch. Credit: Nintendo This compressed screenshot of a compressed video is by no means the resolution of the Switch 2 screen, but it's going to be higher than the original Switch. Credit: Nintendo 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 C-ing is believing. Credit: Nintendo 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 featuresLikely: 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 2at 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?Kyle OrlandSenior Gaming EditorKyle OrlandSenior Gaming Editor Kyle Orland has been the Senior Gaming Editor at Ars Technica since 2012, writing primarily about the business, tech, and culture behind video games. He has journalism and computer science degrees from University of Maryland. He once wrote a whole book about Minesweeper. 8 Comments