Nintendo Reveals Launch Date, Price for Switch 2

Nintendo has announced a June 5 launch date and $449.99 price tag for its latest gaming console, the Switch 2, which will introduce interactive chat and screenshare functions to connect gamers. In its 60-minute Nintendo Direct presentation on Wednesday, the company revealed a more vibrant display on the Switch 2, a larger screen, and several games that will launch with the console.

• Central to its updated system is a new "C" button on its Joy-Con controller, which will launch a new "GameChat" feature that requires a subscription to Nintendo's Switch online service. It allows players to "communicate with friends and family while playing a game," and lets them share their game screen with others. A built-in microphone will also allow chatting with other gamers.

• Perhaps the most contemporary function yet for the Switch 2 is the ability to use the Joy-Con controllers like a computer mouse. The developer displayed multiple ways to use the new function, such as angling a club in a golf game.
• The new portable console features a 7.9-inch LCD screen that displays in 1080p. Nintendo also revealed in the livestream that, when docked, the system will be able to support 4K resolution for compatible games.
• Miss the GameCube? Nintendo said Switch Online subscribers will be able to access a limited selection of GameCube titles such as The Legend of Zelda: Wind Waker and F-Zero GX. The new console will be backwards compatible—able to play physical and digital Switch games—but users will need to purchase a microSD express memory card for the Switch 2. The presentation revealed that normal microSD cards will not be compatible with the system. However, data from the original Switch can be transferred to the new console.
• The Switch 2's launch price is significantly higher than the original Switch's $299 price tag. A separate bundle that includes a new game, Mario Kart World, will also be available for $499.99. The Trump administration's tariffs have hit the video game console industry at a fragile moment, says games industry researcher Joost van Dreunen. "At the beginning of a new hardware cycle, all of a sudden we're looking at this price hike," says van Dreunen. "I had originally predicted that the Switch 2 would be $400. Now it's announced that it's $450. That $50 difference is a Trump tax."

(More Nintendo Switch stories.)