Nintendo Switch 2 is announced with a 2025 release date

On By Littum

Nintendo announced a sequel to its popular Switch console in a short video on Thursday that showed off the new hardware. The Switch 2 will arrive sometime this year with a larger handheld screen, magnetic controllers, and backwards compatibility that will allow people to play original Switch games.

While the reveal was short on details, the video showed a few seconds from what appeared to be a new game in the Mario Kart franchise. Citizens of the Mushroom Kingdom raced on a new track with 24 drivers on a dusty desert track. Nintendo declined to answer questions about the new game.

Nintendo’s video ended with a promise to share more details about the console in April, when the company will hold demonstrations around the world.

The release of a new video game console is an important financial decision for companies such as Nintendo, Sony and Microsoft. They sometimes have difficulty persuading users to adopt new hardware and often take a loss on production costs.

Nintendo has a checkered history with console releases. There have been huge successes like the original Nintendo Entertainment System from 1983 and failures like 1995’s Virtual Boy and 2012’s Wii U, leading some industry analysts to recommends that Nintendo leave the console business to focus on software like the Mario and Zelda franchises.

Released in 2017, the Nintendo Switch revived the company’s financial prospects by sacrificing a long-standing market for handheld devices such as the Game Boy and Nintendo DS. The Switch can be played anywhere, either connected to a television or on the go.

According to the company’s sales records, the Switch has sold more than 146 million unitsmaking it one of the best-selling consoles in history.

The Switch 2 arrives as Nintendo transforms into a global entertainment company. It has opened theme parks with Universal Studios around the world and produced blockbuster movies including “The Super Mario Bros. Movie” and upcoming adaptation of its Legend of Zelda series. At the end of last year, it even produced an alarm clock.