Nintendo Switch 2 has been fully revealed, and we finally know the important details: how many limbs you have to sell to afford it and how many days you have to wait to play.
As for the first question, perhaps just one. As for the second question—a mere 8 weeks from now, as it kicks off the summer season with a launch date of on June 5, 2025.
Scorching up the summer
The start of summer is a rather unconventional time for a new system, but considering the original Switch launched at the beginning of Spring, this isn’t all too surprising. Nonetheless, it’s a very short runway between now and then, so launch day-hopefuls have a limited window to prepare their wallets.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is being sold in two SKUs, both containing the Switch 2 console, new Joy-Con 2, and a new Switch 2 Dock accessory. The memory is 256GB across the board, with additional storage available by means of purchasing microSD Express cards.
The key difference in the two SKUs is that one with just the console and the other is a limited-run bundle sporting the new Mario Kart World racing game.
For just the console, the MSRP is $449 USD and the MKW bundle is going for an eye-watering $499—right up there with the Xbox Series X’s and PS5’s of the world.
UK consumers will get access to pre-ordering a day early on April 8th, 2025. It will be £395.99 for the system-only SKU and £429.99 for the MKW bundle.
Games on Nintendo Switch 2 are also going to be a tad more expensive; the new Mario Kart World is now the most expensive Nintendo-published title to date, with an MSRP of $79.99 on its own. The new Donkey Kong Bonanza, meanwhile, is $69.99.
How to pre-order
Nintendo is taking an interesting approach to pre-orders for the Nintendo Switch 2.
For those that want to by directly from Nintendo, it will be handled via the My Nintendo Store website starting April 9th. Right now, users can “Register Interest” via the pre-order page and must be a My Nintendo user to do so, which involves making a free Nintendo Account; all Switch owners and previous Nintendo 3DS/Wii U owners have one.
The fine-print highlights important details, indicating that eligible registrants will be emailed a purchase link with a 72-hour window to complete their Nintendo Switch 2 purchase. Emails will be “prioritized on a first-come, first served basis to registrants who have purchased a Nintendo Switch Online membership with a minimum of 12 months of paid membership and a minimum of 50 total gameplay hours, as of April 2, 2025.”
In other words, you’ll need to have been an active Nintendo Switch user in order to best qualify for a Nintendo Switch 2 pre-order. Even then, pre-orders of the system and accessories will be “limited to one purchase per eligible Nintendo Account during the invitation period.” You also cannot transfer your special purchase link to anyone else; so there will be no selling/scalping of pre-order links.
Traditional retailers have also began advertising their own pre-order systems. GameStop is one such entity. It’s also offering official trade-in values for each edition of the original Nintendo Switch. Best Buy has also announced its pre-order system for the Switch 2.
Check out more details about Nintendo Switch 2:
Nintendo Switch 2 supports HDR, 120fps and 4K output | GameChat revealed for Nintendo Switch 2 | GameShare revealed for Nintendo Switch 2
