Nintendo (NTDOY) on Wednesday announced it will release its highly anticipated Switch 2 console on June 6 for $449. The system is one of two major releases this year, including Take-Two Interactive’s “Grand Theft Auto 6,” that should help buoy the video game industry, which has dealt with stagnant growth following pandemic era highs.
The company is kicking things off with a slew of new games including “Mario Kart World,” “Elden Ring,” Hogwart’s Legacy,” “Donkey Kong Bananza,” “Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4,” and more.
Nintendo has carried over a number of the same concepts from the original Switch to the Switch 2, though, it’s also clearly learned from the past. The new hybrid console gets a larger, improved 7.9-inch 1080p display.
That’s a large step up from the original Switch’s 6.2-inch panel. Nintendo has also upgraded the screen’s refresh rate, which now tops out at 120 frames per second. The higher a display’s frame rate, the smoother a game’s performance. The Switch 2’s dock also gets improvements, including 4K and HDR video support.
Like the Switch, the Switch 2 includes detachable controls, the aptly named Joy-Con 2s. Nintendo says the Joy-Con 2s, which can each serve as individual controllers, now connect to the Switch magnetically and can be used as mice in compatible games.
Nintendo has also implemented a new chat feature that lets you communicate with friends and family while playing games. According to the company, a microphone built into the Switch 2 will pick up your voice from across a room, drowining out background noise.
The company is also launching its Nintendo Switch 2 Camera, which allows you to stream video of yourself while playing games similar to game streaming services like Amazon’s Twitch. Nintendo, however, is playing it safe, including parental controls that allow you to keep younger players from streaming.
What’s more, Nintendo is making it easier to play games with your friends in the same room with what it calls GameShare. The feature will let you digitally share compatible games with across up to three other consoles. If you wanted to play games with someone on the original Switch, you would have to do it on your TV or in handheld mode. But you couldn’t play across your own individual Switches, GameShare changes that.
Nintendo’s original Switch, which debuted in 2017, is its most popular home console. As of December, the company sold some 150 million units and 1.3 billion games for the system. That’s helped propel Nintendo shares some 76% over the last 5 years and 27% throughout the last 12 months.
